Countries should prioritise sharing vaccine doses with Covax before vaccinating children, the World Health Organisation said today:
As many parts of the world face extreme vaccine shortages, countries with high coverage in at-risk populations should prioritise global sharing of Covid-19 vaccines before vaccinating children, adolescents.
As social distancing once again became mandatory today in the Netherlands amid soaring Covid infections, the country’s leading intensive care physician called for even tougher measures.
The country entered a partial lockdown on 13 November, under which bars, restaurants and supermarkets have to close at 8pm and people were urged to work from home.
From today, 1.5 metre social distancing was made compulsory for all adults in locations where Covid passes are not required.
Diederik Gommers, the head of the national association of intensive care units, last night urged the government to implement a tough lockdown. He said the country’s hospitals are just 10 days away from being so overloaded that intensive care doctors will have to make tough decisions about which patients get care, reports the Associated Press.
The country last week recorded a 39% rise in infections. There are currently approximately 500 Covid patients in Dutch ICUs, which reportedly have a capacity of 1,066.
He said the only way to ease pressure on ICUs is “to ensure that the admissions go down very fast. And the fastest way of reducing (admissions) is tough measures and I think that means a strict lockdown. And that includes schools because I think if you don’t close schools you don’t stop infections.”
France is to announce new Covid measures tomorrow as infections surge across the country.
Spokesman Gabriel Attal said today that the government wants to strengthen social distancing and speed up vaccinations and said they are doing all they can to save the Christmas holiday season.
They also plan to tighten regulations on using the country’s health pass.
Despite this, he said the situation is likely to worsen in the coming days. The incidence rate (infections per week per 100,000 people) is expected to rise above 200 this week.
Russia is to register a new Sputnik M vaccine for use for 12- to 17-year-olds later today, the deputy prime minister, Tatiana Golikova, has said.
The vaccine is expected to be available at the end of December, Reuters reports.
It comes as Russia has suffered a surge in Covid infections and deaths in recent weeks.
Canada has given full approval to the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the company has said.
The vaccine has been approved for those aged 18-plus, reports Reuters.
The number of Covid-related deaths in Scotland has declined for the third week in succession, confirming the most recent surge in cases, which peaked at more than 3,800 new cases a day, is tailing off.
National Records of Scotland, a government statistics agency, said there were 94 deaths last week where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate, compared with 115 the previous week. Weekly fatalities data peaked during the latest wave at 167 in one week in mid-September.
Countries should consider implementing mandatory Covid vaccination, the director of World Health Organization (WHO) Europe said today.
Robb Butler said that although “mandatory vaccine can, but does not always, increase uptake”, he suggested countries should start thinking about the issue.
It comes after Germany’s tourism commissioner, Thomas Bareiss, said he expected vaccination to become mandatory in the country. Austria plans to make it compulsory from February.
Butler told Sky News that mandates could come at the “expense of trust and social inclusion”.
But, he added:
We believe it’s time to have that conversation from both an individual and a population-based perspective. It’s a healthy debate to have.
One in four adults in England who test positive for Covid are ignoring self-isolation rules, according to a survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The research found just 75% of respondents fully followed isolation requirements for 10 days after testing positive.
It marks a fall from September, when 78% said they adhered, and a significant drop since May, when the figure was 86%.
The latest figures are based on responses collected from adults in England between 1 and 6 November.
The ONS said the attitude change between May and November was “statistically significant”.
Tim Gibbs, head of the ONS public services analysis team, said:
The latest results show that although the majority of those testing positive for Covid-19 are following self-isolation requirements, there has been a decrease since earlier this year.
It’s important that we continue to self-isolate when necessary in order to help keep everyone safe and stop the spread of the virus, especially as we are moving into the winter months.
25% of people reported carrying out at least one activity during self-isolation that did not adhere to requirements, for example, leaving the home or having visitors for reasons not permitted under legislation. pic.twitter.com/RPYrWcbJyj
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) November 24, 2021
Politicians in Italy are considering new Covid measures that could see restrictions on unvaccinated people.
Prime minister Mario Draghi’s government is today discussing the details of a “super green pass” for the vaccinated, reports Bloomberg.
The measures, which are being debated today, would reportedly only permit those with proof of vaccination to get into venues including cinemas and theatres. But it is understood tthe rules would still allow unvaccinated people to go to workplaces after testing negative.
Governments across Europe are considering new restrictions as cases surge across the continent. Meanwhile, Austria is bringing back a full lockdown.
Italy has also reduced the time people must wait before getting a booster dose of the vaccine from six months to five.
It comes after last month Italy introduced a digital “green pass”, required for all workers, prompting protests.
Hi, I’m looking after the Covid blog for the next few hours. Please get in touch with any tips or suggestions: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk
That is all from me, Martin Belam, today. I will see you again tomorrow. Miranda Bryant will be here shortly to take you through the rest of the day’s UK and global coronavirus developments.