Hello it’s Samantha Lock back with you on the blog, ready to take you through all the Covid news this Wednesday.
Let’s dive right in with the news that World Health Organization experts have warned that repeating booster doses of the original Covid vaccines is not a viable strategy against emerging variants.
“A vaccination strategy based on repeated booster doses of the original vaccine composition is unlikely to be appropriate or sustainable,” the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-Co-VAC) said.
The group said there could be a need to update the existing vaccines to better target emerging Covid variants such as Omicron. According to the WHO, 331 candidate vaccines are currently being worked on around the world.
Over in Quebec, Canada’s second-most populous province, has announced plans to impose a ‘health tax’ on residents who refuse to get the Covid-19 vaccination for non-medical reasons.
Premier François Legault announced the new “contribution” for the unvaccinated on Tuesday, adding that it will apply “in the next few weeks”.
“A health contribution will be charged to all adults that don’t want to get vaccinated,” he said. “Those who refuse to get the shot bring a financial burden to hospital staff and Quebecers. The 10% of the population can’t burden the 90%.”
Here’s a quick summary of all the latest developments:
- People in NSW, Australia are to report all positive rapid antigen test (RAT) or face a $1,000 fine.
- German police have drawn criticism for using an app to trace Covid contacts from bars and restaurants.
- Bolivia’s vice president and six cabinet ministers are in isolation after testing positive for the coronavirus, the government said Tuesday.
- UK former health secretary Matt Hancock tests positive for Covid after contracting the virus for a second time.
- About three-quarters of teachers in France plan to strike on Thursday to protest against the government’s shifting rules on Covid forcing the closure of half the country’s primary schools, a union has warned.
- France’s health ministry is expected to announce a record of more than 350,000 new Covid infections over a 24-hour period, according to the health minister, Olivier Véran.
- Novak Djokovic’s defence of his Australian Open title remains in doubt after reports that he might have given misleading information to Australian immigration officials. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke is still considering whether to cancel Djokovic’s visa.
- Sweden announced a record 70,641 new Covid cases since Friday. It also said there were a 54 new deaths from Covid.
- The US recorded a record number of hospitalisations due to Covid-19, as the daily infection rate soared to more than 1.35m. There were 145,982 people hospitalised with coronavirus on Monday, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
- More than half of people in Europe could contract the Omicron in the next two months if infections continue at current rates, the World Health Organization has warned.
- The WHO also warned that it is too too soon to treat Omicron as a flu-like endemic illness. Senior emergency officer for Europe, Catherine Smallwood, said: “We still have a huge amount of uncertainty and a virus that is evolving quite quickly, imposing new challenges. We are certainly not at the point where we are able to call it endemic.
- The central Chinese city of Anyang has ordered five million people to begin home confinement in a new lockdown to curb the spread of Omicron variant.
