Covid vaccine
Uber to provide 50,000 free rides for Covid vaccine seekers in Dhaka
Uber Wednesday announced that it will provide 50,000 free rides – worth Tk1 crore – for people travelling to and from vaccination centres in Dhaka.
The initiative is a part of Uber's global commitment to provide 10 million free or discounted rides to ensure efficient and equitable access to vaccines.
"We are privileged to be able to support the Bangladesh government's tireless efforts to ensure every citizen in the country is vaccinated. Safety has always been a priority at Uber, and we are determined to offer our assistance to the local authorities in their efforts to battle Covid-19 across the cities we serve," Prabhjeet Singh, president of Uber South Asia, said.
"Mass vaccination is the key to overcoming this pandemic, and we are committed to providing safer and timely transport options for people travelling to vaccination centres. This, in turn, will help communities to recover quickly from the pandemic and rebuild their lives," he added.
US mandates vaccines or tests for big companies by Jan. 4
Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4 or get tested for the virus weekly under government rules issued Thursday.
The new requirements are the Biden administration’s boldest move yet to persuade reluctant Americans to finally get a vaccine that has been widely available for months — or face financial consequences. If successful, administration officials believe it will go a long way toward ending a pandemic that has killed more than 750,000 Americans.
First previewed by President Joe Biden in September, the requirements will apply to about 84 million workers at medium and large businesses, although it is not clear how many of those employees are unvaccinated.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations will force the companies to require that unvaccinated workers test negative for COVID-19 at least once a week and wear a mask while in the workplace.
OSHA left open the possibility of expanding the requirement to smaller businesses. It asked for public comment on whether employers with fewer than 100 employees could handle vaccination or testing programs.
Read: Pfizer's request to OK shots for kids a relief for parents
Tougher rules will apply to another 17 million people working in nursing homes, hospitals and other facilities that receive money from Medicare and Medicaid. Those workers will not have an option for testing — they will need to be vaccinated.
Workers will be able to ask for exemptions on medical or religious grounds.
The requirements will not apply to people who work at home or outdoors.
Biden framed the issue as a simple choice between getting more people vaccinated or prolonging the pandemic.
“While I would have much preferred that requirements not become necessary, too many people remain unvaccinated for us to get out of this pandemic for good,” he said Thursday in a statement.
Biden said his encouragement for businesses to impose mandates and his own previous requirements for the military and federal contractors have helped reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans over 12 from 100 million in late July to about 60 million now.
Those measures, he said, have not led to mass firings or worker shortages, adding that vaccines have been required before to fight other diseases.
OSHA said companies that fail to comply with the regulations could face penalties of nearly $14,000 per violation.
Read: World could return to normal within a year: Pfizer CEO
The agency will face enforcement challenges. Even counting help from states, OSHA has only 1,850 inspectors to oversee 130 million workers at 8 million workplaces. An administration official said the agency will respond to whistleblower complaints and make limited spot checks.
The release of the rules followed weeks of regulatory review and meetings with business groups, labor unions and others.
OSHA drafted the rules under emergency authority meant to protect workers from an imminent health hazard. The agency estimated that the vaccine mandate will save more than 6,500 worker lives and prevent more than 250,000 hospitalizations over the next six months.
The rules set up potential legal battles along partisan lines between states and the federal government. Several states and Republican governors threatened to sue, contending that the administration lacks the power to make such sweeping mandates under emergency authority.
OSHA’s parent agency, the Labor Department, says it is on sound legal footing. The department’s top legal official, Seema Nanda, said OSHA rules preempt conflicting state laws or orders, including those that bar employers from requiring vaccinations, testing or face masks.
Senate Republicans immediately launched a petition to force a vote to overturn the vaccine mandate, but with Democrats controlling the chamber, the effort is nearly certain to fail.
The rules will require workers to receive either two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Jan. 4 or be tested weekly. Employees testing positive must be removed from the workplace.
Companies won’t be required to provide or pay for tests for unvaccinated workers, but they must give paid time off for employees to get the shots and sick leave to recover from side effects that prevent them from working. Requirements for masks and paid time off for shots take effect Dec. 5.
Employers covered by the requirements must verify their workers’ vaccination status by checking documents such as CDC vaccination cards, records from doctors or pharmacies, or even an employee’s own signed declaration.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a separate rule requiring vaccination for workers in 76,000 health facilities and home health care providers that get funding from the government health programs. A senior administration official said several large private health care organizations imposed their own mandates and achieved high vaccination rates — 96% or higher — without widespread resignations.
A previously announced requirement for federal contractors to make sure workers are vaccinated was scheduled to take effect Dec. 8, but the administration delayed that measure until Jan. 4 to match the requirements on other large employers and health care providers. Already, more than a dozen states have sued to block the mandate on contractors.
For weeks, Biden has encouraged businesses not to wait for OSHA to act. He has touted businesses that announced their own vaccine requirements and urged others to follow their lead.
Administration officials say those efforts are paying off, with about 70% of adults fully vaccinated.
Workplace vaccine mandates have become more common recently, with hospitals, state and local governments and some major corporations requiring COVID-19 shots for employees. The mandates have led to overwhelming compliance — in some cases 99% of workers — although a small but vocal number have faced dismissal, filed lawsuits or sought exemptions.
United Airlines required 67,000 U.S. employees to get vaccinated or face termination. Only a couple hundred refused to do so, although about 2,000 are seeking exemptions.
In August, Tyson Foods told its 120,000 U.S. workers that they must be vaccinated by Nov. 1. On Thursday, the company said more than 96% of its workforce was vaccinated, including 60,500 people who got their shots after the August announcement.
Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, said in late July it was requiring all workers at its headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and managers who travel within the United States to be vaccinated by Oct. 4. The retailer stopped short of requiring shots for front-line workers, however.
However, some companies have expressed fear that some vaccine-hesitant workers might quit, leaving their workforces even thinner in an already-tight labor market.
Several corporate groups, including the Business Roundtable, endorsed the mandate. However, retail groups worried that the requirement could disrupt their operations during the critical Christmas shopping period. Retailers and others also said it could worsen supply chain disruptions.
The National Retail Federation suggested the new rules are not needed because the rolling average number of new daily cases in the U.S. has fallen by more than half since September.
“Nevertheless, the Biden administration has chosen to declare an ‘emergency’ and impose burdensome new requirements on retailers during the crucial holiday shopping season,” said David French, a senior vice president for the trade group.
The number of new infections in the U.S. is still falling from a summer surge caused by the highly contagious delta variant, but the rate of decline has slowed in recent weeks. The 7-day moving average is down 6% from two weeks ago, at more than 76,000 new cases and 1,200 deaths per day.
Cole Stevenson, a 34-year-old autoworker at the Ford Rouge truck plant in Dearborn, Michigan, said he remains uncomfortable with a vaccine that was developed just a year ago.
He intends to get weekly COVID-19 tests and says he won’t reconsider getting the vaccine even if the tests are a financial or logistical burden.
“It’s getting pretty disgusting how much the government thinks they can be involved in people’s lives,” he said. “If the whole thing is sort of cooling down and cases are lowering, then buzz off — don’t force it on people.”
Bangladesh kicks off second phase of mass vaccination drive
Bangladesh Thursday kicked off the second phase of its special nationwide mass vaccination drive, aiming to inoculate 80 lakh people with the second shot in a day.
The 9am to 3pm vaccination drive is actually part of the special campaign that was first unveiled on September 27 to mark Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 75th birthday.
"The health department aims to inoculate 80 lakh people with the second dose of a Covid vaccine in a day, though the first-dose drive met its target in two days," Dr Shamsul Haque of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), told UNB.
Read: Mass vaccination drive marks Hasina's birthday in Bangladesh
FDA OKs mixing COVID vaccines; backs Moderna, J&J boosters
U.S. regulators on Wednesday signed off on extending COVID-19 boosters to Americans who got the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine and said anyone eligible for an extra dose can get a brand different from the one they received initially.
The Food and Drug Administration’s decisions mark a big step toward expanding the U.S. booster campaign, which began with extra doses of the Pfizer vaccine last month. But before more people roll up their sleeves, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will consult an expert panel Thursday before finalizing official recommendations for who should get boosters and when.
The latest moves would expand by tens of millions the number of Americans eligible for boosters and formally allow “mixing and matching” of shots — making it simpler to get another dose, especially for people who had a side effect from one brand but still want the proven protection of vaccination.
Specifically, the FDA authorized a third Moderna shot for seniors and others at high risk from COVID-19 because of their health problems, jobs or living conditions — six months after their last shot. One big change: Moderna’s booster will be half the dose that’s used for the first two shots, based on company data showing that was plenty to rev up immunity again.
For J&J’s single-shot vaccine, the FDA said all U.S. recipients, no matter their age, could get a second dose at least two months following their initial vaccination.
The FDA rulings differ because the vaccines are made differently, with different dosing schedules — and the J&J vaccine has consistently shown a lower level of effectiveness than either of the two-shot Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
Also read: J&J seeks US clearance for COVID-19 vaccine booster doses
As for mixing and matching, the FDA said it’s OK to use any brand for the booster regardless of which vaccination people got first. The interchangeability of the shots is expected to speed the booster campaign, particularly in nursing homes and other institutional settings where residents have received different shots over time.
FDA officials said they wanted to make the booster guidance as flexible as possible, given that many people don’t remember which brand of vaccine they received.
“Being able to interchange these vaccines is a good thing — it’s like what we do with flu vaccines,” FDA’s Dr. Peter Marks told reporters Wednesday evening. “Most people don’t know what brand of flu vaccine they received.”
Still, he added that many people will decide to get a booster from the same company as their initial vaccination.
The agency’s mix-and-match decision was based on preliminary results from a government study of different booster combinations that showed an extra dose of any type revs up levels of virus-fighting antibodies. That study also showed recipients of the single-dose J&J vaccination had a far bigger response if they got a full-strength Moderna booster or a Pfizer booster rather than a second J&J shot. The study didn’t test the half-dose Moderna booster.
Also read: Am I fully vaccinated without a COVID-19 vaccine booster?
Health authorities stress that the priority still is getting first shots to about 65 million eligible Americans who remain unvaccinated. But the booster campaign is meant to shore up protection against the virus amid signs that vaccine effectiveness is waning against mild infections, even though all three brands continue to protect against hospitalization and death.
“Today the currently available data suggest waning immunity in some populations of fully vaccinated people,” said FDA’s acting commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock. “The availability of these authorized boosters is important for continued protection against COVID-19 disease.”
The Moderna booster decision essentially matches FDA’s ruling that high-risk groups are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine, which is made with the same technology.
FDA recommended that everyone who’d gotten the single-shot J&J vaccine get a booster since it has consistently shown lower protection than its two-shot rivals. And several independent FDA advisers who backed the booster decision suggested J&J’s vaccine should have originally been designed to require two doses.
Experts continue to debate the rationale of the booster campaign. Some warn that the U.S. government hasn’t clearly articulated the goals of boosters given that the shots continue to head off the worst effects of COVID-19, and wonder if the aim is to tamp down on virus spread by curbing, at least temporarily, milder infections.
FDA regulators said they would move quickly to expand boosters to lower age groups, such as people in their 40s and 50s, if warranted.
“We are watching this very closely and will take action as appropriate to make sure that the maximum protection is provided to the population,” said Marks, the FDA’s top vaccine official.
In August, the Biden administration announced plans for an across-the-board booster campaign aimed at all U.S. adults, but outside experts have repeatedly argued against such a sweeping effort.
On Thursday an influential panel convened by the CDC is expected to offer more specifics on who should get boosters and when. Their recommendations are subject to approval by the CDC director.
The vast majority of the nearly 190 million Americans who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 have received the Pfizer or Moderna options, while about 15 million have received the J&J vaccine.
IU to resume in-person classes Wednesday
The physical classes of all departments of Islamic University will resume on Wednesday after about 18 months of closure due to Covid-19 outbreak.
Many students have already returned to the campus as the university authorities reopened its dormitories for the students on October 9.
Read:17 IU teachers among world’s best researchers
University authorities allowed only those students, who had received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, to enter the halls.
The decision was taken in IU's 263rd syndicate meeting held on the campus on October 9.
All departments have already taken preparation to hold physical classes, IU treasurer Professor M Alamgir Hossain Bhuiya said.
Read: IU to reopen residential halls on Oct 9
The in-person classes will be held maintaining health guidelines, he added.
The university remained closed since March 18, 2020 due to the pandemic.
Covid vaccine: India's Covaxin gets emergency use approval for kids aged 2-18
An Indian expert committee on Covid-19 has given emergency use approval to Covaxin for children in the 2-18 group, it was announced on Tuesday, reports Khaleej Times.
“After detailed deliberation the subject expert committee recommended for grant of market authorisation of the vaccine for the age group of two to 18 for restricted use in emergency situation,” said a statement by the official panel. The vaccines will be administered in two doses with a gap of 20 days in between.
Read: Moderna has no plans to share its COVID-19 vaccine recipe
Bharat Biotech, the Hyderabad-based company, had last month completed phase two and three trials of Covaxin on children below 18. The expert committee has imposed certain conditions for the emergency use authorisation. The company will have to provide safety data after every 15 days during the first two months, and monthly thereafter.
Earlier in August, the government had granted emergency use approval for ZyCov-D, a vaccine made by Indian pharma major Zydus Cadila for children in the same age group.
The World Health Organization (WHO), however, has still to grant emergency use authorisation to Covaxin. Bharat Biotech had submitted the requisite documents to WHO in July and is awaiting its approval.
Flowers & banners welcome students as DU reopens dorms
After nearly 18 months of Covid-forced closure, Dhaka University Tuesday morning welcomed back its residential students to the dormitories with flowers and banners.
Only vaccinated final-year honours and master’s students were allowed to check in, after production of valid documents and proof of at least a dose of a Covid vaccine.
Read: Vaccination campaign in Dhaka University starts from Monday to jab its students, teachers and staff
UNB found students in a cheerful mood as they queued up to enter the residential halls, wearing face masks and adhering to other mandatory Covid-safety protocols like social distancing.
Inside halls, provosts were seen asking them to refrain from hanging out in groups or crowding a particular place.
IU to reopen residential halls on Oct 9
After a gap of nearly 18 months, Islamic University (IU) in Kushtia is all set to reopen its residential halls to students on October 9.
Regular classes of all departments, however, will resume from October 20, IU information publication and public relations office director Ataul Hoque said.
Read:Islamic University waives transport, hall fees from period of Covid-19 closure
The decision to reopen the residential halls was taken at IU's 263rd syndicate meeting held at vice chancellor Professor Shaikh Abdus Salam's official residence Monday. The meeting was chaired by the VC.
Students will have to produce proof of at least one dose of a Covid vaccine to access the residential facilities and attend the classes, Ataul said.
The central library of the university, however, reopened on Tuesday.
Read: Islamic University to start final exams from Sept 12
"All arrangements have been made to reopen the residential halls. But no student will be allowed to stay at the ‘gana room’ as it could cause a surge in Covid infections, the vice-chancellor said.
Among others, IU pro-VC Professor M Mahbubur Rahman, treasurer Professor M Alamgir Hossain Bhuiya and acting registrar M Ataur Rahman were present at the meeting.
Last month, a group of students staged a protest on the campus, demanding the university reopen the residential halls to the students on September 30.
CDC endorses COVID booster for millions of older Americans
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday endorsed booster shots for millions of older or otherwise vulnerable Americans, opening a major new phase in the U.S vaccination drive against COVID-19.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky signed off on a series of recommendations from a panel of advisers late Thursday.
The advisers said boosters should be offered to people 65 and older, nursing home residents and those ages 50 to 64 who have risky underlying health problems. The extra dose would be given once they are at least six months past their last Pfizer shot.
However, Walensky decided to make one recommendation that the panel had rejected.
The panel on Thursday voted against saying that people can get a booster if they are ages 18 to 64 years and are health-care workers or have another job that puts them at increased risk of being exposed to the virus.
But Walensky disagreed and put that recommendation back in, noting that such a move aligns with an FDA booster authorization decision earlier this week. The category she included covers people who live in institutional settings that increase their risk of exposure, such as prisons or homeless shelters, as well as health care workers.
Read:CDC panel grapples with who needs a COVID-19 booster shot
The panel had offered the option of a booster for those ages 18 to 49 who have chronic health problems and want one. But the advisers refused to go further and open boosters to otherwise healthy front-line health care workers who aren't at risk of severe illness but want to avoid even a mild infection.
The panel voted 9 to 6 to reject that proposal. But Walensky decided to disregard the advisory committee's counsel on that issue. In a decision several hours after the panel adjourned, Walensky issued a statement saying she had restored the recommendation.
“As CDC Director, it is my job to recognize where our actions can have the greatest impact,” Walensky said in a statement late Thursday night. “At CDC, we are tasked with analyzing complex, often imperfect data to make concrete recommendations that optimize health. In a pandemic, even with uncertainty, we must take actions that we anticipate will do the greatest good.”
Experts say getting the unvaccinated their first shots remains the top priority, and the panel wrestled with whether the booster debate was distracting from that goal.
All three of the COVID-19 vaccines used in the U.S. are still highly protective against severe illness, hospitalization and death, even with the spread of the extra-contagious delta variant. But only about 182 million Americans are fully vaccinated, or just 55% of the population.
“We can give boosters to people, but that’s not really the answer to this pandemic,” said Dr. Helen Keipp Talbot of Vanderbilt University. “Hospitals are full because people are not vaccinated. We are declining care to people who deserve care because we are full of unvaccinated COVID-positive patients.”
Thursday's decision represented a dramatic scaling back of the Biden administration plan announced last month to dispense boosters to nearly everyone to shore up their protection. Late Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration, like the CDC panel, signed off on Pfizer boosters for a much narrower slice of the population than the White House envisioned.
The booster plan marks an important shift in the nation's vaccination drive. Britain and Israel are already giving a third round of shots over strong objections from the World Health Organization that poor countries don't have enough for their initial doses.
Read:‘Soul-crushing’: US COVID-19 deaths are topping 1,900 a day
Walensky opened Thursday's meeting by stressing that vaccinating the unvaccinated remains the top goal “here in America and around the world.”
Walensky acknowledged that the data on who really needs a booster right away “are not perfect.” “Yet collectively they form a picture for us,” she said, "and they are what we have in this moment to make a decision about the next stage in this pandemic.”
The CDC panel stressed that its recommendations will be changed if new evidence shows more people need a booster.
The CDC advisers expressed concern over the millions of Americans who received Moderna or Johnson & Johnson shots early in the vaccine rollout. The government still hasn’t considered boosters for those brands and has no data on whether it is safe or effective to mix-and-match and give those people a Pfizer shot.
“I just don’t understand how later this afternoon we can say to people 65 and older, ‘You’re at risk for severe illness and death, but only half of you can protect yourselves right now,’” said Dr. Sarah Long of Drexel University.
About 26 million Americans got their last Pfizer dose at least six months ago, about half of whom are 65 or older. It's not clear how many more would meet the CDC panel's booster qualifications.
CDC data show the vaccines still offer strong protection against serious illness for all ages, but there is a slight drop among the oldest adults. And immunity against milder infection appears to be waning months after people's initial immunization.
Read: Biden aims to enlist allies in tackling climate, COVID, more
For most people, if you’re not in a group recommended for a booster, “it’s really because we think you’re well-protected,” said Dr. Matthew Daley of Kaiser Permanente Colorado.
Public health experts not involved in Thursday’s decision said it is unlikely people seeking third doses at a drugstore or other site will be required to prove they qualify.
Even with the introduction of boosters, someone who has gotten just the first two doses would still be considered fully vaccinated, according to the CDC's Dr. Kathleen Dooling. That is an important question to people in parts of the country where you need to show proof of vaccination to eat in a restaurant or enter other places of business.
Among people who stand to benefit from a booster, there are few risks, the CDC concluded. Serious side effects from the first two Pfizer doses are exceedingly rare, including heart inflammation that sometimes occurs in younger men. Data from Israel, which has given nearly 3 million people — mostly 60 and older — a third Pfizer dose, has uncovered no red flags.
The U.S. has already authorized third doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for certain people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients and transplant recipients. Other Americans, healthy or not, have managed to get boosters, in some cases simply by asking.
India to restart Covid vaccine exports to COVAX, neighbours
India will resume exports of COVID-19 vaccines in the October quarter, prioritising the global vaccine-sharing platform COVAX and neighbouring countries first as supplies rise, the health minister said on Monday, reports Reuters.
India, the world's biggest maker of vaccines, stopped exports of COVID shots in April to focus on inoculating its own population as infections exploded.
The country's monthly vaccine output has since more than doubled and is set to quadruple to over 300 million doses next month, minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, adding that only excess supplies would be exported.
Total production could top 1 billion in the last three months of the year as new vaccines from companies such as Biological E are likely to be approved, he said.
"We will help other countries and also fulfil our responsibility towards COVAX," he told reporters.
Reuters reported last week that India was considering restarting exports of COVID-19 vaccines soon. It donated or sold 66 million doses to nearly 100 countries before the export halt. read more
The announcement on resumption of exports in the October to December quarter comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington this week where vaccines are likely to be discussed at a summit of the leaders of the Quad countries - the United States, India, Japan and Australia.
India wants to vaccinate all its 944 million adults by December and has so far given at least one dose to 64% of them and two doses to 22%.
India's inoculations have jumped since last month, especially as the world's biggest vaccine maker, the Serum Institute of India, has more than trebled its output of the AstraZeneca (AZN.L) shot to 200 million doses a month from April levels.
Indian companies have set up the capacity to produce nearly 3 billion COVID vaccine doses a year.