Israel preparing for possible fourth vaccine dose

A health worker prepares a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at Ichilov medical center in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Aug 2, 2021. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

CANBERRA / DHAKA / ANKARA / KUALA LUMPUR / NEW DELHI – Israel is making preparations to ensure it has sufficient vaccine supply in case a fourth round of COVID-19 shots is needed, the country’s top health official said on Sunday. 

“We don’t know when it will happen; I hope very much that it won’t be within six months, like this time, and that the third dose will last for longer,” Health Ministry Director General Nachman Ash said in an interview with Radio 103FM.

Israel began a drive to administer booster shots at the beginning of August, and has so far inoculated about 2.8 million people with a third dose of coronavirus vaccine

Israel began a drive to administer booster shots at the beginning of August, and has so far inoculated about 2.8 million people with a third dose of coronavirus vaccine. Health officials have said that the effects of the initial shots weaken five months after inoculation, making boosters necessary. Some 6 million of the 9.4 million strong population have had one dose, and about 5.5 million have had two jabs. 

The country, once a front-runner in the global race to move on from COVID-19, became one of the world’s biggest pandemic hot spots in early September, with the highest per-capita infection rate of anywhere in the week through Sept 4, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 

Ash said last week that the surge in cases appears to have been halted, and that this can be attributed to the booster shot. 

Following the spread of the Delta variant over the summer, Israel saw new cases climb, reaching an all-time high on Sept 2, as the government instituted widespread testing for children at the start of the school year. 

The rate of severe cases per 100,000 of the population among unvaccinated people is far higher than among those who have been inoculated with two doses, showing that even with immunity waning, shots provide some protection against serious illness.

Asked about a report that Israel had promised Pfizer Inc that it would use the company’s vaccine exclusively, Ash said that the government had made no such undertaking. He said that people over the age of 18 who get their first shot are currently being given the Moderna Inc vaccine.

Australia

The Australian government has secured an additional 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine as the country continues to battle the third wave of infections.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday that the 1 million Moderna doses from European Union member states will arrive within the next week and go directly to local community pharmacies across the country.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Sunday that the 1 million Moderna doses from European Union member states will arrive within the next week and go directly to local community pharmacies across the country

"That means everyone from 12 to 59 can go along to the community pharmacy where Moderna is being administered," said Morrison.

 It comes as Australia reported 1,669 new locally acquired COVID-19 infections on Sunday morning.

ALSO READ: Australia: Entire state of NSW in lockdown virus cases jump

Of the new cases, 1,262 were from New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state with Sydney as the capital city, where the state health department also recorded seven deaths.

"There have been 177 COVID-19 related deaths in NSW since 16 June 2021," said the statement from NSW Health.

Victoria, the second-most populous state with Melbourne as the capital city, reported a further 392 new local cases.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) reported 15 new cases as Canberrans marked one month in lockdown.

The government also on Sunday launched a new vaccine campaign aimed at those who are hesitant about the vaccine, which mobilizes all Australians to make the decision to get vaccinated.

According to Greg Hunt, minister for health, 81 percent of Australians said they are willing to get vaccinated based on the latest research.

To date, about 67 percent of the Australian population aged 16 and over has had at least one vaccine dose and 42 percent were fully inoculated, according to the Department of Health.

Volunteers pack free meat and culturally sensitive supplies ready for delivery in Melbourne on Aug 14, 2021 as they help members of the local Somali community requiring assistance during Melbourne's coronavirus lockdown. (WILLIAM  WEST / AFP)

Bangladesh

Bangladesh on Saturday received a new batch of China's Sinopharm vaccines against COVID-19 as the country continued to fight the pandemic.

A plane of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the Chinese vaccine doses arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at around noon Saturday, Md. Shamsul Haque, a senior health ministry official, told journalists.

Bangladesh's vaccination drive is now running smoothly in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country thanks largely to China's continued support for vaccines.

To fight against the alarming spike in COVID-19 cases, Bangladesh has signed an agreement on the co-production of the Chinese COVID-19 vaccines locally.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed between China's Sinopharm Group, Bangladesh's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Incepta Vaccine Ltd, a local vaccine manufacturing company last month.

Bangladesh began the COVID-19 vaccination drive in January to contain the pandemic that has spread across the country.

Amid uncertainty over the timely arrival of vaccine shipment from India, the Bangladeshi government later halted administering the first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the country.

In June, the vaccination drive resumed in parts of the country with the China-donated Sinopharm vaccines.

India

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 33,236,921 on Sunday, as 28,591 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.

Besides, as many as 338 deaths were recorded since Saturday morning, taking the death toll to 442,655.

Most of the new cases and deaths were reported from the southern state of Kerala.

Currently there are 384,921 active cases in the country, with a decrease of 6,595 during the period.

A total of 32,409,345 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals so far, with 34,848 new recoveries.  

Malaysia

Malaysia recorded a fresh high of 592 single-day death toll from COVID-19 as of midnight Saturday, bringing the total deaths to 20,419, according to the health ministry.

Another 19,550 new infections were reported in the past 24 hours, with seven imported and 19,543 local transmissions, bringing the national total tally to 1,960,500, data released on the ministry's website showed.

Another 21,771 patients were released after recovery, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 1,700,730.

Of the remaining 239,351 active cases, 1,272 are being held in intensive care units and 724 of those are in need of assisted breathing.

The country reported 258,929 doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered on Saturday alone. So far, some 65.2 percent of the population have received at least one dose and 52.1 percent are fully vaccinated. 

Malaysian indigenous women from the tribe of Temuan wait outside the vaccination centre for the COVID-19 coronavirus at their village hall in Sungai Buloh on June 28, 2021. (MOHD RASFAN / AFP)

New Zealand

New Zealand has purchased 500,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine from Denmark, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Sunday, as the country struggles with a cluster of infections in its largest city.

New Zealand, which reported 20 locally acquired COVID-19 cases in Auckland on Sunday, said the vaccines will arrive within days. The latest outbreak now totals 599 infections since the first case was detected in late August.

"There is now more than enough vaccine in the country to vaccinate at the world leading rates we were hitting earlier in the month, and I strongly encourage every New Zealander not yet vaccinated to do so as soon as possible," Ardern said in an e-mailed statement.

New Zealand, which until last month had largely reined in COVID-19, has struggled to stamp out the last cluster despite a weeks-long lockdown of Auckland.

About 1.7 million people in Auckland remain in a strict level four lockdown but curbs have been eased in the rest of the country.

About a third of New Zealand's 5.1 million people have been fully vaccinated, one of the slowest paces among the wealthy nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development grouping.

Turkey

Turkey on Saturday confirmed 22,923 new COVID-19 cases, raising its tally of infections to 6,636,899, according to its health ministry.

The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 259 to 59,643, while 30,144 more people recovered in the last 24 hours.

A total of 314,046 tests were conducted over the past day, it said.

ALSO READ: Turkey administers over 20m COVID-19 vaccines

Turkey started mass COVID-19 vaccination on Jan. 14 after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine.

More than 51.41 million people have received their first doses of vaccines, while over 40.15 million had their second doses. Turkey has so far administered over 101.45 million doses including third booster jabs.