The U. S. Food and Drug Administrationlegalized the use of a third dose of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds and reduced the timeframe for all booster shots from six months to five months after the first doses. . .
The company also approved a third shot in children ages five to 11 who are immunocompromised.
Meanwhile, Pakistan reported more than 700 COVID-19 cases in a single day, its highest in two months, while India announced a vaccination drive for children amid a feared wave of Omicron.
Elsewhere, Qatar health officials say the country is witnessing a third coronavirus wave amid a surge in reported cases.
The blog is now closed. Here are the updates from January 3:
January 3, 2022 – 19:56 GMT
A remote Indigenous network in northern Ontario has asked the Canadian military to send a team of workers to help respond to a COVID-19 outbreak that the Bearskin Lake First Nation says has now inflamed nearly a portion of its residents.
Located 425km (264 miles) north of Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Bearskin Lake First Nation is accessible by air throughout the year and via an ice road during the winter.
Learn here.
January 3, 2022 – 19:53 GMT
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and his wife Isaura have tested positive for COVID-19 and are isolating, the president said.
Nyusi and his wife underwent immediate testing and were asymptomatic, but without delay made the decision to isolate themselves pending PCR results, the presidency said.
Coronavirus infections in Mozambique are at an all-time high, according to data from a Reuters tracker, with an average number of new cases surfacing for seven consecutive days.
In total, it has recorded over 2,000 COVID-19 related deaths and 192,000 infections during the pandemic.
January 3, 2022 – 19:50 GMT
Spain’s Health Ministry reported a new record in the national 14-day COVID-19 infection rate, as the figure climbed to 2,295.8 per 100,000 people from 1,775.27 registered last Thursday, before a long weekend.
The number of Covid-19 patients who have died in the past seven days stands at 249, the ministry said in a statement.
January 3, 2022 – 18:47 GMT
Turkey recorded 44,869 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the highest number since late April, according to Health Ministry data.
It also recorded 160 COVID-19 deaths in the same period.
Cases in Turkey have more than doubled in just over a week as the Omicron variant dominates the country.
January 3, 2022 – 18:43 GMT
The Premier League said it had found 94 new positive COVID-19 cases among players and staff in the last week, the first week-by-week decrease in positive results for eight weeks.
“We can now verify that between Monday, December 27, 2021 and Sunday, January 2, 2022, 14,250 COVID-19 tests were carried out on players and club staff. Among them, there were 94 new cases (0. 65%),” the league said in a statement.
January 3, 2022 – 17:41 GMT
The Canadian province of Ontario has announced restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus. All public and private schools will move to remote learning starting Wednesday and at least until Jan. 17, Canada’s most populous province announced.
Retail businesses that buy groceries in shopping centers will be able to do so at 50 per cent capacity, the province said.
Capacity at indoor weddings, funerals, and religious services, rites and ceremonies will be limited to 50 percent capacity of the particular room, while outdoor services were going to be limited to the number of people that can maintain two metres (six feet) of physical distance.
The restrictions will be in place for at least 21 days.
Among the other measures announced were closing indoor dining at restaurants and bars; closing indoor concert venues, theatres and cinemas; and shutting indoor sport and recreational fitness facilities including gyms.
January 3, 2022 – 17:37 GMT
Thousands of US schools, including in some major cities, have delayed this week’s scheduled return to classrooms following the holiday break or switched to remote learning as the Omicron variant drives record levels of COVID-19.
In New Jersey, which in recent weeks has experienced some of the case rates of any state, the top urban districts have implemented virtual categories to start the new year, adding Newark, which has only about 38,000 students.
Milwaukee’s public school system announced that its more than 70,000 students would switch to virtual learning on Tuesday due to a rise in COVID infections among staff members. Cleveland’s schools have also gone remote, while Detroit cancelled classes through Wednesday.
January 3, 2022 – 17:35 GMT
A wastewater study showed that the Omicron coronavirus variant reached most regions of Italy in December, the government’s National Institute of Health said.
They discovered the highly contagious variant in sewage systems in 14 of the country’s 20 regions between Dec. 19 and Dec. 25, the ISS said, compared to just one region earlier this month.
Omicron was found in 28.4 percent of 282 wastewater samples.
“Environmental surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater is proving to be a key tool, in addition to epidemiological surveillance, for the evolution of the pandemic,” said Giuseppina La Rosa, coordinator of the study.
January 3, 2022 – 16:53 GMT
The UK’s government has pledged to rush ventilation units and enough COVID-19 test kits to schools to ensure they can reopen later this week despite soaring infection rates.
High school students in England will have to wear masks when they return to class after the Christmas break and may also face merged classes due to shortages.
Learn here.
January 3, 2022 – 16:22 GMT
Italy reported 68,052 new Covid-19 cases, up from 61,046 a day earlier, the Health Ministry said, while the number of coronavirus deaths rose from 133 to 140.
Italy has recorded 137,786 virus-related deaths since the outbreak began in February 2020 and has reported 6. 4 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 12,333, up from 11,756 a day earlier.
There were 103 new admissions to intensive care units, one less than on Sunday. The total number of intensive care patients increased to 1,351 from a previous 1,319.
About 445,321 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the past day, up from 278,654 previously, the Health Ministry said.
January 3, 2022 – 15:35 GMT
Qatar reported 1,177 new infections in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections in the Gulf country to 6,842.
– وزارة الصحة العامة (@MOPHQatar) January 3, 2022
January 3, 2022 – 14:34 GMT
The US Food and Drug Administration authorised the use of a third dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged between 12 and 15 years, and narrowed the time for all booster shots to five months from six months after primary doses.
The agency also authorised a third shot in children aged five through 11 years who are immunocompromised.
The FDA said it reviewed published knowledge and real-world evidence on the protection of booster doses provided through Israel’s Ministry of Health, adding the knowledge of more than 6,300 people between the ages of 12 and 15 who won a Pfizer shot.
January 3, 2022 – 14:18 GMT
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said UK public hospitals would face “considerable pressure” in the coming weeks due to a high incidence of viral infections.
Speaking during a visit to a vaccine centre, Johnson said “the pressure on our NHS hospitals is going to be considerable in the course of the next couple of weeks and maybe more” as “Omicron continues to surge through the country”.
The Prime Minister said he was aware of the high level of hospital staff absences due to COVID-19, adding: “We are investigating what we can do to move other people to spaces that are more affected. “
January 3, 2022 – 13:53 GMT
US investment bank Jefferies Financial Group has asked staff to work remotely until January 31, according to an Instagram post from Chief Executive Officer Richard Handler.
The bank had recalled staff to its offices in October but was forced to leave home again in December due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. It had also reinstated mask-wearing in its offices, regardless of vaccination status.
Handler also said the bank would not hold organizational events or other indoor functions, and that he believes only “the most critical business trips” will take place.
3 Jan 2022 – 13:26 GMT
India has vaccinated more than 3. 8 million adolescents between the ages of 15 and 18 as the country ramped up vaccination efforts among its giant adolescent population in the face of a looming wave of COVID-19 infections.
The drive has come amid a sharp rise in cases in India, with the federal health ministry reporting 33,750 new infections and 123 deaths. The total number of cases of the fast-spreading Omicron variant detected in India was 1,700.
January 3, 2022 – 13:19 GMT
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said appropriate measures were being taken to combat the rise in COVID-19 cases, given the country’s high vaccination levels.
“The way forward for the country as a whole is to continue with the path that we are on,” he told broadcasters.
“Of course, we will keep all measures under review, but the mixture of things that we are doing at the moment is I think the right one.”
January 3, 2022 – 12:45 GMT
Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi is in mandatory isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, a government spokesperson said.
“The president has no symptoms and will continue to be closely monitored by his doctors,” John-Thomas Dipowe, acting permanent secretary for communications, said in a statement.
Vice President Slumber Tsogwane will take over the day-to-day duties of president until Masisi is isolated, Dipowe said.
3 Jan 2022 – 12:10 GMT
Belgium has agreed to buy 10,000 courses of oral antiviral drugs for COVID-19 developed by Pfizer and Merck.
Governments around the world are scrambling to buy Paxlovid, the tablet developed by Pfizer.
Molnupiravir, jointly developed through Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, suffers setbacks after disappointing trial results and France announced in December that it had cancelled its order for the drug.
3 Jan 2022 – 11:45 GMT
France will spend one hundred million euros to increase monetary aid to companies affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.
This will be accompanied by a lowering of the threshold for businesses to apply for state aid for loss of turnover, he said, adding that all businesses in the tourism sector, in particular, will be eligible for help to cover prices similar to COVID-like restrictions.
“We’ll be here,” he said.
January 3, 2022 – 10:54 GMT
The Australian government said the milder effect of the Omicron strain of the coronavirus meant the country could simply press ahead with its plans to reopen the economy even as new infections hit a record high of more than 37,000 and the number of other people hospitalized increased.
“We want to stop thinking about the number of cases and think about serious illness, living with the virus, managing our own health and making sure we monitor those symptoms and keep our economy going,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Channel Seven.
A record number of cases were reported in the states of Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, as well as the Australian Capital Territory, on Monday.
Learn here.
January 3, 2022 – 10:35 GMT
Israel will admit foreigners presumed immune to COVID-19 from medium-risk countries starting Jan. 9, the Health Ministry announced, revoking a ban on foreigners imposed in late November in reaction to the Omicron variant.
Those slated to be allowed in would travel from countries Israel has designated “orange”, would have to prove in advance they are either vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 and would be subject to PCR testing before and after their arrival.
January 3, 2022 – 09:59 GMT
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is spreading among people over the age of 50, but data suggests new restrictions are needed due to the increased use of booster shots among older people, U. K. Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said.
“We are seeing a shift towards the over-50s in terms of infection,” he told BBC radio. “They receive a booster: 90 of those over 50 years of age receive a booster. »
He said the government would assess the situation in England on Wednesday. “There’s nothing in the data at the moment that would make me believe we need to go further.”
January 3, 2022 – 09:30 GMT
The Tokyo government says the city has 103 coronavirus infections, the highest number since October 8.
The number of new cases in Tokyo has risen since the end of last month. Monday’s figure is higher than the 84 infections reported the previous day.
January 3, 2022 – 08:55 GMT
Qatar is witnessing the start of a third wave of coronavirus, a surge in cases made worse by Omicron, according to a fitness official.
Dr. Soha al-Bayat, head of vaccination at the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), said in a television interview that “most of the new COVID-19 cases are similar to the Omicron variant,” adding that cases have been piling up. Since November, however, a significant increase has been observed in the last two weeks.
“According to the main data available, Omicron spreads temporarily, but the symptoms are mild or moderate and there are serious complications,” al-Bayat told Qatar TV.
Learn here.
January 3, 2022 – 08:32 GMT
Pakistan reported 708 COVID cases in a single day, its number in two months, as the government warned of a fifth wave of infections and prepared to try to reach the fast-spreading Omicron variant.
The most recent data from the past 24 hours raised the positivity rate to 1. 55% since Oct. 24, according to the National Command Operations Center (NCOC), which oversees the pandemic response.
“There is now clear evidence of the onset of the COVID wave, which has been expected for some weeks,” Asad Umar, the minister in charge of overseeing anti-Covid-19 operations, said on Twitter.
January 3, 2022 – 08:15 GMT
Kuwait has asked its citizens to prevent several European countries from being severely affected by Omicron.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that they “delay their trips” in general and in particular to France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy.
It also suggested its citizens leave those countries if they are already there, “given the significant and unprecedented increase in the number of new cases. “