May 4 coronavirus news

By Joshua Berlinger, Adam Renton, Aditi Sangal and Kara Fox, CNN

Updated 0403 GMT (1203 HKT) May 5, 2021
22 Posts
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9:39 a.m. ET, May 4, 2021

Pfizer seeking authorization for Covid-19 vaccine to be stored at standard refrigerator temperatures

From CNN's Virginia Langmaid

Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at Kanto Rosai Hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on March 4.
Vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at Kanto Rosai Hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, on March 4. Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Pfizer has submitted information to the US Food and Drug Administration that may allow its Covid-19 vaccine to be stored at standard refrigerator temperatures, the company’s CEO said Tuesday. Such a change could help simplify distribution of the vaccine.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in an earnings meeting on Tuesday the company submitted new data to the FDA on Friday, and it may “soon” have an emergency use authorization to allow standard refrigeration for up to four weeks. 

Currently, Pfizer’s vaccine is authorized to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures, between -80 and -60 degrees Celsius, or in cold storage, between -25 and -15 degrees Celsius, for a maximum of two weeks, which can complicate distribution of the vaccine. 

According to Bourla, new data could allow the vaccine to be stored at standard temperatures, between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, for up to four weeks. 

Bourla said Pfizer is working on additional formulations that could further extend the storage time of the vaccine in both standard and ultra-cold refrigerators. 

9:04 a.m. ET, May 4, 2021

Nepal records its highest daily Covid-19 death toll so far

From CNN's Asha Thapa and Kosh Raj Koirala in Kathmandu

Men wearing personal protective equipment carry the body of a Covid-19 victim to cremate on the bank of Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal on May 3.
Men wearing personal protective equipment carry the body of a Covid-19 victim to cremate on the bank of Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal on May 3. Sunil Pradhan/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Nepal has recorded its highest daily Covid-19 death toll of the pandemic so far, with 55 deaths recorded on Tuesday.

The country has also recorded another 7,587 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, according to government data. 

As neighboring India continues to grapple with an unrelenting second wave of Covid-19, Nepal is seeing its own surge in case numbers.

It has seen a more than 1,200% rise in seven-day average of daily new Covid-19 cases since mid-April, CNN's calculation of data from Johns Hopkins University showed.

On average, the country is reporting 200 new daily cases per million people.   

Across the country 46 out of 77 districts are in either partial or full lockdown, including the capital Kathmandu, according to an official government notice on Tuesday.   

8:25 a.m. ET, May 4, 2021

Pfizer expects to file for full FDA approval of Covid-19 vaccine for people 16 and older by this month

From CNN's Naomi Thomas

Pfizer expects to file for full US Food and Drug Administration approval of its Covid-19 vaccine for 16-to-85-year-olds by the end of May, the company said during its first quarter 2021 earning teleconference Tuesday. 

“While we are currently distributing our vaccine in the US under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), we expect to submit this month a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking full approval for our Covid-19 vaccine for individuals 16 years of age and older,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in his remarks.

8:18 a.m. ET, May 4, 2021

US providing more than $100 million worth of aid to India, embassy says

From CNN's Sam Kiley in New Delhi

The United States is providing more than $100 million worth of aid to India, including oxygen supplies and "critical PPE and therapeutics," a US Embassy spokesperson in New Delhi told CNN.

“The United States is rapidly mobilizing assistance to save lives, stop the spread of COVID-19, and meet the urgent health needs of the Indian people," the spokesperson said.

Five of six planes filled with aid supplies have already arrived in India and more shipments are on the way, the spokesperson added.

"At the request of the Government of India, USAID provided these urgently needed supplies to the Indian Red Cross to ensure that they reach those most in need, as fast as possible," the embassy added.

The spokesperson deferred questions about deployment and use of materials to the Indian government.

8:25 a.m. ET, May 4, 2021

Delhi asks for military help to manage Covid-19 crisis

From CNN’s Aditi Sangal

People wait in line to refill their medical oxygen cylinders for Covid-19 patients under home quarantine in New Delhi, India on May 4.
People wait in line to refill their medical oxygen cylinders for Covid-19 patients under home quarantine in New Delhi, India on May 4. Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images

Delhi's deputy chief minister has asked India’s Ministry of Defense to deploy military aid to help manage the Covid-19 crisis unfolding in Delhi -- and across India. 

Manish Sisodia told CNN he wrote a letter to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday, asking for extra support.

Delhi needs at least 10,000 oxygenated non-ICU beds and 1,000 ICU beds, Sisodia said, explaining that the armed forces could help “to set up, operationalize and run” some of those facilities.

“Since the entire health infrastructure machinery is overwhelmed with the management of existing hospitals and the upcoming Cover Hospitals/Care Centers, it will be a timely help to the people of Delhi if the Ministry of Defense, with the considerable resources at its command, is tasked with the responsibility to provide and man the additional Covid health facilities,” Sisodia wrote in the letter.

Delhi is also currently facing an acute shortage of oxygen supplies and medical personnel.

Sisodia has requested for the Armed Forces to provide cryogenic tankers to transport liquid oxygen and for medical and paramedical teams “to supplement the medical manpower of Delhi.”

Sisodia told CNN that he has not yet received a response to his letter, but that the defense minister is examining his request.

9:53 a.m. ET, May 4, 2021

Eight lions test positive for Covid-19 at an Indian zoo

From CNN's Swati Gupta in New Delhi

A security guard watches through the entrance gate of the Nehru Zoological Park after it was closed for visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic in Hyderabad, India on May 4.
A security guard watches through the entrance gate of the Nehru Zoological Park after it was closed for visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic in Hyderabad, India on May 4. Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images

Eight Asiatic lions housed in a zoological park in a southern Indian state tested positive for Covid-19 last month, according to the Indian government. 

The Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad collected samples after the animals showed signs of respiratory distress. 

"The eight lions have been isolated -- and due care and necessary treatment has been provided. All the eight lions have responded well to the treatment and recovering," read a statement from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 
Further analysis of the samples showed that the infection was not caused by any variant of concern, the statement said.

The Nehru Zoological Park is currently closed to visitors and an advisory has been issued to other institutions that house animals. 

"Based on experience with zoo animals elsewhere in the world that have experienced SARS-COV2 positive last year, there is no factual evidence that animals can transmit the disease to humans any further," the ministry said.

8:00 a.m. ET, May 4, 2021

EU drugs regulator begins review of China's Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine

From CNN's Amy Cassidy and James Frater

A nurse holds a vial of China's Sinovac vaccine in Bogota, Colombia on March 9.
A nurse holds a vial of China's Sinovac vaccine in Bogota, Colombia on March 9. Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images

The European Union's medicines regulator has begun a rolling review of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company, Sinovac Life Science.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said:

“The CHMP’s [human medicine’s committee] decision to start the rolling review is based on preliminary results from laboratory studies (non-clinical data) and clinical studies. These studies suggest that the vaccine triggers the production of antibodies that target SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and may help protect against the disease.
The statement added that they will "evaluate data as they become available to decide if the benefits outweigh the risks. The rolling review will continue until enough evidence is available for a formal marketing authorisation application.”

The rolling review process will enable the EMA to evaluate the Sinovac vaccine more quickly, it said, but added that it “cannot predict overall timelines.”

The EMA said it will communicate when the marketing authorization application has been submitted by the company.

8:39 a.m. ET, May 4, 2021

Short on beds, doctors in one Indian hospital struggle to care for patients gasping for air

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

Screams pierce the air as their loved ones take their final breaths. Others sit on the floor gasping to fill their lungs.

CNN's Clarissa Ward went inside a coronavirus ward at a hospital in India's Uttar Pradesh state, where five doctors are struggling to treat more than 100 patients but there are only 55 beds.

Kavita, 32, said she's been on the floor at Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College hospital for four days, begging for oxygen.

"I'm getting anxious. No one is listening to me here," she said. "I'm unable to breathe freely. No one is taking care of me."

A family desperately tried to care for their 55-year-old mother in the ICU. They said they had been in the hospital for six days before getting a ventilator and had to bring their own oxygen cylinder.

The woman later succumbed as the family cried out in anguish. Her body was left in the intensive care unit for nearly an hour before it was moved.

The hospital administrator, Dr. Gyanendra Kumar, said the supply of oxygen isn't the problem, but they are too short-staffed.

A group of men wearing masks but no other personal protective equipment tell Ward that they move about 12 bodies per day.

"We should be wearing proper PPE," one said, "but even the doctors don't have it, so how can we?" 

Watch:

7:39 a.m. ET, May 4, 2021

Nearly 4 million Covid-19 aid items have been distributed across India, government says

From CNN's Manveena Suri in New Delhi

Workers load 300 tonnes of medical aid for India at Q Hamad International Airport in the capital Doha on May 3.
Workers load 300 tonnes of medical aid for India at Q Hamad International Airport in the capital Doha on May 3. Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty Images

The Indian government has put into place a “streamlined mechanism” for allocating aid received from international actors in its ongoing fight against a deadly second Covid-19 wave.  

The health ministry said in a Tuesday statement that nearly 4 million items from 24 different categories -- including medical equipment, oxygen concentrators and ventilators -- have been distributed across 86 healthcare facilities across the country.

“The global community has extended a helping hand in supporting efforts of Government of India in this collective fight against the  global Covid-19 pandemic," the statement read.
“A streamlined and systematic mechanism for allocation of the support supplies received by India has been put into place, for effective distribution of the medical and other relief and support material,” it added.

The health ministry also said that in light of oxygen shortages in hospitals, customs are “working 24/7 to fast track and clear the goods on arrival and lead to expeditious clearance within hours," noting that basic customs duty and health tax are being waived for goods identified in the fight against Covid-19.

All items received as donations via the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) are being received by the Indian Red Cross Society, who in turn liaises with its customs agent, HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL), and the health ministry, it said.

Donations are being prioritized and distributed according to a state’s Covid-19 caseload and as per their requirements. Considerations are also going into whether or not a state is considered a regional medical hub, with donations also allocated to states with lower resources, or areas that are remote, it said.

Countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States have sent aid supplies to India.