Covid information dwell: Pfizer says Omicron-specific vaccine may very well be accessible by March; Mexico president checks optimistic once more

France has introduced an easing of Covid guidelines for colleges as record-high case numbers shut down hundreds of lessons and sparked concern amongst mother and father and lecturers.

Prime minister Jean Castex advised France 2 tv on Monday that greater than 10,000 lessons – 2% of the full – needed to be cancelled due to Covid outbreaks, however that the federal government wouldn’t “shut down the colleges or the nation”, Agence France-Presse reviews.

France on Monday reported greater than 125,000 new coronavirus circumstances because the Omicron variant drives up each day infections to document highs.

Below the primary change, from Tuesday, mother and father will now not be obliged to select up their little one instantly for Covid testing if she or he is a contact case of a virus sufferer.

Residence-testing might be deemed ample in such circumstances moderately than testing at an formally permitted web site, with the mother and father signing a certificates to substantiate the outcome.

The take a look at kits, accessible from pharmacies, might be free.

Castex introduced the information on Twitter on Monday night, saying:

The college well being protocol might be simplified: if a optimistic case is detected in a category, the scholars can keep there till the tip of the day, 3 unfavourable self-tests will suffice for contact circumstances [and] just one parental certificates might be crucial.”

Hi there it’s Samantha Lock again with you on the weblog, able to take you thru all of the Covid information this Tuesday.

Let’s dive proper in with the information that Pfizer Inc chief govt Albert Bourla on Monday stated a redesigned Covid-19 vaccine that particularly targets the Omicron variant is probably going wanted and his firm may have one able to launch by March.

Bourla stated Pfizer and companion BioNTech SE are engaged on each an Omicron-targeted vaccine model in addition to a shot that would come with each the earlier vaccine in addition to one focused on the fast-spreading variant.

“I believe it’s the probably situation,” Bourla stated on Monday. “We’re engaged on increased doses. We’re working totally different schedules. We’re doing loads of issues proper now, as we converse.”

Bourla stated Pfizer may very well be able to file for US regulatory approval for a redesigned vaccine and launch it as quickly as March.

Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador additionally introduced he has examined optimistic for Covid-19 for a second time, saying that he solely has gentle signs.

Lopez Obrador, who had examined optimistic for the virus in January final 12 months, sounded hoarse in his morning press convention earlier within the day, prompting reporters to inquire about his well being.

“Though the signs are gentle, I’ll stay in isolation and can solely do workplace work and talk just about,” till recovering, Lopez Obrador stated in a tweet.

Mexico has recorded greater than 300,000 deaths because the pandemic started, in accordance with well being ministry knowledge.

Right here’s a fast rundown of all the newest headlines:

• Boris Johnson was accused on Monday night time of an “totally outrageous” breach of lockdown rules as a leaked email showed certainly one of his high officers invited greater than 100 Downing Avenue workers to a “carry your individual booze” occasion through the first lockdown. The police at the moment are investigating.
• Boris Johnson has ordered officers to look at plans to cut Covid isolation to five days in England as scientists urged warning over the dearth of proof to help a change.
• NHS England has struck a deal with private healthcare providers below which their hospitals might be prepared to begin treating NHS sufferers who can’t get the Covid or non-Covid care they want as a result of their native NHS hospital is below an excessive amount of strain.
• Pfizer Inc chief govt Albert Bourla stated on Monday that transferring towards a redesigned Covid-19 vaccine that’s particularly focused to fight the Omicron variant is the “probably situation.”
• The small variety of individuals in Italy’s inhabitants who refuse to be vaccinated in opposition to Covid-19 are largely chargeable for the continued well being disaster, prime minister Mario Draghi stated on Monday.
• Within the US, a brand new document has been set for the variety of individuals admitted to hospital with Covid-19, with 132,646 at the moment on wards, in accordance with Reuters. The newest determine, which comes because the extremely contagious Omicron pressure spreads throughout the nation, surpassed the document of 132,051 set in January final 12 months.
• Moderna has introduced it expects document gross sales of about $18.5bn (£13.6bn) in contracts for its Covid vaccine in 2022.
• Novak Djokovic’s brother reportedly ended a press convention after questions on why the tennis ace appeared in public in Belgrade a day after he had examined optimistic for Covid-19.
• Emmanuel Macron has condemned protesters on the French abroad territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon who pelted an MP with seaweed and filth throughout a protest in opposition to vaccine passes.
• Stricter pandemic measures are to be launched in Sweden in response to a rising variety of Covid circumstances and strain on hospitals, the prime minister has stated.
• The prime minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has referred to as for European officers to think about ditching detailed pandemic monitoring for Covid in favour of a flu-like monitoring system. The change would imply treating Covid-19 as an “endemic sickness” moderately than a pandemic, Sánchez stated on Monday. He identified that deaths as a proportion of recorded circumstances has fallen because the pandemic started.