Two DC airports to soon have onsite Covid-19 testing
From CNN's Greg Wallace and Pete Muntean
A terminal at Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD) on November 10, 2020 Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images
Two airports near the nation’s capital will soon become the latest to host coronavirus testing on-site.
The Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority said Tuesday it will launch testing sites at Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport in March.
The sites will be located before the security checkpoint and will “offer both PCR and rapid testing,” the airport authority said.
“It’s voluntary, pre-security so technically open to the public but primarily meant for passengers," it added.
CNN is contacting XpresCheck, the company that will run the service, for further details.
The airport authority said it would soon announce further details including pricing.
10:25 a.m. ET, February 17, 2021
Belgium detects first cases of P.1 variant first linked to Brazil
From CNN’s James Frater
Six cases of the P.1 Covid-19 variant, which was first linked to Brazil, have been detected in Belgium, the Brussels Regional Health Inspectorate Igen Neven told CNN on Wednesday.
“We found last week, on Friday, a case that was confirmed as the Brazilian variant,” Neven said, adding it was from a patient, “that tested positive on 28 January.”
The case, “was discovered through in-depth analysis of the tests we perform on different variants,” she said.
“Backward tracing makes us assume that the case zero came back from Brazil on a flight on 23 December.”
Neven confirmed in total there are, “6 for Belgium of which 2 are in Brussels and at least 1 with a link to the Brussels region.”
“We are now conducting intensive contact tracing and will also be testing more widely.”
Europe’s Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said P.1 infections, and other potential variants, “may contribute to rapid epidemiological changes.”
10:26 a.m. ET, February 17, 2021
New York City will "run out" of vaccine doses today or tomorrow, mayor says
From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia
A medical worker prepares the Moderna Covid-19 vaccination at a vaccination site at Stevenson Family Health Center in the Bronx on February 10, 2021 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
New York City has fewer than 30,000 first doses of Covid-19 vaccine on hand according to Mayor Bill de Blasio, who adds that the weather has caused delays in shipments.
“That means we’re going to run out, today, tomorrow, we’re going to run out,” he said of the limited supply.
“On top of that we’ve got the weather problem, all over the nation there’s huge storms that are now causing delays in shipment.”
Shipments of vaccine that were expected by Tuesday and Wednesday are delayed, he said. “That means we’re going to have to hold back appointments that New Yorkers need,”
de Blasio noted.
He said as many as 30,000 to 35,000 appointments or more might not be scheduled because the city does not have supply.
New York City has administered at least 1,395,956 doses, more than the total population of Dallas, Texas.
De Blasio stressed that it's all about “supply supply supply,” adding it is “not growing the way we need it to.”
He said he appreciative of the federal government “aiming high” in its pursuit of assisting in vaccination, but added the city is going to need “a hell of a lot more help.”
9:34 a.m. ET, February 17, 2021
UN secretary general calls on wealthy nations to ensure vaccines are distributed fairly across the globe
From CNN's Jonny Hallam
In this image from UNTV video, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks during a U.N. Security Council high-level meeting on COVID-19 recovery focusing on vaccinations, chaired by British Foreign Secretary Dominc Raab, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, at UN headquarters, in New York. UNTV/AP
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on the international community to help ensure that everybody in the world is vaccinated as soon as possible.
Speaking at a virtual UN Security Council Wednesday, Guterres said although the vaccine is generating hope, "progress on vaccinations has been wildly uneven and unfair."
Guterres said: "Just ten countries have administered 75% of all Covid-19 vaccines. Meanwhile, more than 130 countries have not received a single dose."
He called for the equitable distribution of vaccines saying it is the "biggest moral test before the global community," and he warned that if affluent nations fail to quickly vaccinate people in all countries the pandemic will be prolonged: "If the virus is allowed to spread like wildfire in the Global South, it will mutate again and again. New variants could become more transmissible, more deadly, and, potentially, threaten the effectiveness of current vaccines and diagnostics. This can prolong the pandemic significantly, enabling the virus to come back to plague the Global North."
Guterres said, "the world urgently needs a Global Vaccination Plan to bring together all those with the required power, scientific expertise and production, and financial capacities."
He concluded by saying the world can defeat coronavirus if all nations work together to "ensure sufficient, supply, fair distribution and vaccine confidence."
9:21 a.m. ET, February 17, 2021
Increased US vaccine supply will end state-to-state discrepancies in who can get a shot, Fauci says
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
A nurse takes a Moderna Covid-19 vaccine ready to be administered at a vaccination site in South Central Los Angeles, California on February 16. Apu Gomes/AFP/Getty Images
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Wednesday that “discrepancies and difficulties” in vaccine distribution from state to state are going to disappear as more vaccine supply becomes available.
During the interview, CBS's Gayle King pointed out how every state is handling who gets the vaccine differently and asked if there should be a uniform process.
Fauci said there’s a need “to respect the ability and the right of the states who know their own situation well to make their own decisions,” and avoid dictating from above, but “there should be some sort of consistency, not necessarily identical, from state to state.”
Fauci said that who can get a vaccine differs greatly from state to state.
“Hopefully that will smooth out as we get more vaccine doses,” he said. “The cure of all of this is when the supply-demand gap closes because right now the demand far exceeds the supply. As we get into the later months, April, May, June and July, as you were mentioning just a little bit ago, I think those kind of discrepancies and difficulties are going to disappear.”
8:12 a.m. ET, February 17, 2021
Second grader says Biden made her feel she “would be safe in this pandemic” during town hall
“I was really nervous” to speak with the President, second-grader Layla said on CNN’s “New Day,” but Biden “made me feel better that I would be safe in this pandemic.”
During the town hall, Layla Salas’ mother, Jessica Salas, told Biden that her two young children often ask her about whether they will get Covid-19 and die.
Salas said her children would like to know when they will be able to get the vaccine. She called Biden’s answer to her question “so-so.”
Biden told Layla "don't be scared" and reassured her that children do not usually die from Covid-19, but said, "We haven't even done tests yet on children as to whether or not the certain vaccines would work or not work or what is needed."
“It was great that he comforted my child, which was huge," Salas said. "I would have loved to have heard an answer that said, ‘OK, we're going to approach the kids' vaccines right after we finish the priority, which are the adults right now.’ He didn't say that, but he did also acknowledge that they haven't started testing yet, so it’s understandable that he didn’t want to give information he was unsure about.”
Layla and her younger brother have been virtually learning since last March, and she said she misses being in school in person.
Watch more:
8:23 a.m. ET, February 17, 2021
EU announces bio-defense plan against Covid-19 variants
From CNN’s James Frater in London
European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen looks on as she arrives at the European Parliament to explain the European Union's vaccine strategy, in Brussels, Belgium, on February 10. Johanna Geron/AFP/Getty Images
The European Union has announced a plan called the “HERA Incubator” to combat the increased threat from coronavirus variants.
In a statement the European Commission said the HERA Incubator will “bring together researchers, biotech companies, manufacturers, regulators and public authorities to monitor variants, exchange data and cooperate on adapting vaccines.”
The core function of the HERA Incubator will be to “boost preparedness, develop vaccines for the variants and increase industrial production.” It will receive €75 million in funding to develop specialized tests for new variants, and to support genomic sequencing across the EU.
In addition, a clinical trial network which brings together 16 EU member states and five other countries including Switzerland and Israel will be created to exchange data and findings from trials.
The rapid spread of Covid-19 variants has raised concerns about the effectiveness of current approved vaccines against these mutations. With the emergence of the UK and South Africa variants that have been linked to a faster spread of infection, several vaccine makers and independent researchers ran additional tests to find out whether their shots are still efficient. For example, early results suggested the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines protect against the new variants, but are slightly less effective.
But a variant of Covid-19 that emerged in South Africa forced the country to pivot from using AstraZeneca vaccine to the Johnson & Johnson shot. The decision was made after preliminary trial data showed AstraZeneca’s shot offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by thatvariant.
A potential issue that may arise as the world tries to end the pandemic is having to go through months of approval processes for adapted vaccines, in attempts to catch up with emerging variants that could cause more severe illness.
The European Commission has proposed changing current regulations to allow “the approval of an adapted vaccine with a smaller set of additional data” and is considering a new category of emergency authorization of vaccines at EU level.
“New variants of the virus are emerging fast and we must adapt our response even faster,” President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said, adding that the HERA Incubator would pull “all available resources to enable us to respond to this challenge.”
The HERA Incubator will also serve as a blueprint for the EU's long-term preparedness for health emergencies.
European leaders will meet on February 25, when the Commission hopes they will endorse and mandate the HERA Incubator.
7:25 a.m. ET, February 17, 2021
South Africa begins Covid-19 vaccinations
From CNN's Vasco Cotovio
A South African health care worker has been given the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against Covid-19 at the Khayelitsha District Hospital in Cape Town, becoming the first person in the country to receive a jab against the coronavirus.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a single dose jab that has been proven to have an average efficacy of 66% against the virus and is being rolled out to health care workers as part of a research study.
Aside from frontline staff being vaccinated on Wednesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also received his shot, in an effort to fight hesitancy among the population about taking the vaccine.
“To demonstrate our confidence in this vaccine and help allay any fears that people may have, the Minister of Health and I will join the first health care workers to receive the vaccine in Khayelitsha,” Ramaphosa tweeted on Wednesday.
South Africa initially banked on the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine but has since pivoted to using shots developed by Johnson & Johnson instead and offered its stock of AstraZeneca vaccines to the African Union.
The country paused its rollout of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after preliminary trial data showed it offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by thevariant of the virus that emerged in South Africa last year.
British Covid-19 variant is worrying and doubling every week, German health minister says
From CNN’s Stephanie Halasz and Claudia Otto
German Health Minister Jens Spahn addresses a press conference on coronavirus mutations and rapid tests in Berlin, Germany, on February 17. John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images
The number of infections with the UK coronavirus variant is doubling approximately every week in Germany, the country's health minister, Jens Spahn, said in a press conference Wednesday.
“We have to expect that this variant could become the dominant one here,” Spahn said.
The Robert Koch Institute analyzed a representative sample of over 23,000 positive PCR tests and established that Covid-19 mutations are spreading fast in Germany.
“The virus variant which was discovered for the first time in the United Kingdom especially worries us,” Spahn said. “Two weeks ago, this variant made up just under 6% of the samples examined; it is now over 20, over 22%.”
For comparison, the incidence of South African variant was much lower, standing at about 1.5%. Overall, the numbers of infections in Germany have been in decline, Spahn said.
Germany is pushing ahead with its vaccine rollout. To date, 3.5% of the population have received a first dose and almost 2% of the population have been administered both shots.
So far, 6.8 million doses have been delivered to health authorities around the country, and by the end of next week 10 million doses will have been delivered, Spahn said, projecting that the speed of the vaccinations would pick up markedly.
Speaking on Wednesday, Spahn addressed the rollout of AstraZeneca vaccine after a bitter spat between the European Union and the drugmaker over delayed supplies as well as efficacy debates.
The vaccine has been approved in the EU by the European Medical Agency, which said the vaccine demonstrated around a 60% efficacy in clinical trials. That was somewhat lower than the efficacy rate of at least 70% -- rising to over 80% after a second dose at least 12 weeks later -- in a wider analysis of clinical trials published as a pre-print in The Lancet medical journal.
The EMA approved the vaccine’s use in older patients as well, in contrast with the evaluation by the Germany's vaccine commission, which said last month it should not be given to people older than 65 years due to lack of data.
Spahn defended the AstraZeneca vaccine amid reports that some people were hesitant to take it, going as far as saying he would take the shot himself.
“One thing is important to me: when a vaccine is approved in the European Union, after a proper approval process, then it is certainly effective," Spahn said, adding that he would be like to be inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine when it was his turn.
