BEIJING, China–December 30th, 2020–China on Thursday announced that it has granted market approval attached with conditions for its first homemade COVID-19 vaccine, which was developed by Sinopharm, marking a monumental step in the battle against the pandemic that has killed 1.79 million globally.
The inactivated vaccine developed by Beijing Biological Products Institute under Sinopharm’s subsidiary China National Biotec Group (CNBG), got official authorization from China’s National Medical Products Administration on Wednesday, Chen Shifei, deputy head of the National Medical Products Administration, said at Thursday’s press conference.
The move came one day after the institute announced that the vaccine showed 79.34 percent efficacy and a 99.52 percent antibody positive conversion rate, according to interim results of the Phase III clinical trials.
The results are better than the 50 percent standard of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Chinese authorities, according to the institute. The vaccine also showed a good safety level, its producers noted.
A vaccine has to undergo strict review by each country’s national drug administration before being authorized for public use. All data and processes are reviewed by professional third-party committees, CNBG’s chairman Yang Xiaoming told the Global Times in a recent exclusive interview.
Yang was inoculated with a CNBG vaccine in March with hundreds of his colleagues. He said they had tested the level of antibodies six months after vaccination and the results were good.
Yang noted that data on safety and efficacy collected so far in the Phase III clinical trials is better than expected
Reported side effects of the vaccines are also milder than expected, Yang said. The side effects of CNBG’s inactivated vaccines include aches or redness at the injection site, fever, muscular soreness, sickness and headache.
A representative of Sinopharm told the Global Times on Wednesday that the interim results are mainly based on data from trials conducted in the United Arab Emirates, the vaccine’s largest test base. The Chinese regulator uses a very rigorous standard – stronger even than the international criteria – in reviewing the number of confirmed infected cases in the double-blind placebo-controlled trials for understanding the efficacy of the vaccine.
The Beijing institute’s vaccine was approved in the UAE and Bahrain earlier this month.
Sinopharm’s two inactivated vaccines have been administered to nearly 1 million people for emergency use and no serious adverse reactions have been reported. About 70,000 volunteers have participated in the phase-III clinical trials in more than 10 countries.
Tao Lina, a vaccine expert in Shanghai, said that the approval demonstrated that China has created a “miracle” by creating a vaccine within one year.
Pfizer and Moderna have announced 95 percent efficacy for their mRNA vaccines, which was beyond predictions and drove up the public’s expectation for Chinese inactivated vaccines.
Tao noted that despite the high efficacy, the US mRNA vaccines have shown more side effects as well as acute allergy occurrences. The mRNA vaccines also have more strict requirements for transportation.
Tao suggested that the inactivated and mRNA vaccines can both help human beings to resist the novel coronavirus. But both are early-stage products and more improved ones are expected, which will offer more balance between efficacy, safety and transportation requirements.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand–January 1st, 2021–Happy muted New Year! New Zealand and the Pacific Islands are first to ring in 2021 as countries around the world prepare to send off a year blighted by the global pandemic with pared-down celebrations
With virtual parties, socially-distanced firework displays and the hope of better days to come, the world has begun bidding good riddance to the year of the pandemic today and greeting the dawn of 2021.
Unmourned but never to be forgotten, 2020 started passing into history in Kiribati and Samoa at 10am GMT and New Zealand at 11am – with the last Pacific islands set to cross the invisible threshold 25 hours later.
In New Zealand and Australia, two of the first countries to reach midnight and also two of the most successful in fending off the worst of Covid-19, life was normal enough for some crowds of revellers to gather on waterfronts in Auckland and Sydney to mark the new year.
But for most of the world’s seven billion people, a grinding year is ending with typically scaled-back festivities, with fireworks, pyre burnings and live performances set to be watched from home or cancelled altogether.
From France to Latvia to Brazil, police and military personnel are being deployed to enforce night-time curfews and bans on large gatherings are enforced, with much of the world still in lockdown and the vaccine race only just beginning.
Although the Pacific islands were spared the worst ravages of the pandemic, border restrictions, curfews and lockdowns meant this New Year’s Eve was still a little different.
At the palm-fringed Taumeasina resort in Samoa, manager Tuiataga Nathan Bucknall was pleased to be open without a limit on guest numbers, but thanks to a state of emergency stopped serving alcohol at 11 pm.
In harder-hit countries such as Italy – where shocking images of makeshift morgues and exhausted medics first awoke the world to the horror of the pandemic last spring – curfews and lockdowns are still in force.
In London, American singer-songwriter Patti Smith will ring in the New Year with a tribute to NHS workers who have died from Covid-19, projected on the screen at Piccadilly Circus and streamed on YouTube.
And in New York, the famous ball-drop in Times Square will unfold this year without the usual throngs of cheering revelers. Police will block off the area so that spectators cannot even get a glimpse.
Since it surfaced in China in late 2019, the coronavirus has infected more than 80million people and led to nearly 1.8million deaths, the majority of them in Europe and the Americas.
Although mass vaccination efforts have begun in many countries in recent weeks, offering hope that the end of the pandemic is in sight, it is likely to be months before normal life can return in most of the world.
In China, where the Lunar New Year generally takes precedence over January 1, a countdown ceremony will take place in Beijing with just a few invited guests while other planned events have been cancelled.
Hong Kong, with its British colonial history and large expatriate population, has usually seen raucous celebrations along the waterfront and in bar districts.
For the second year running, however, New Year’s Eve fireworks have been cancelled, this time over coronavirus rather than public security concerns.
In Japan, some people skipped what is customarily a chance to return to ancestral homes for the holidays, hoping to lessen health risks for extended families.
Rural restaurants saw business drop, while home deliveries of traditional New Year’s ‘good luck’ food called ‘osechi’ boomed.
Emperor Naruhito is delivering a video message instead of waving from a window with the imperial family as cheering crowds visit the palace.
Washington, D.C., December 30, 2020 (PAHO)—The COVID-19 pandemic swept through every country in the Americas in 2020, infecting more than 35 million people and causing some 850,000 deaths.
Globally, COVID-19 affected 216 countries and territories, causing more than 80 million cases and 1.7 million deaths worldwide. The Americas was the most affected continent in a context of large inequities.
Pan American Health Organization Director Carissa F. Etienne called it “the most extraordinary public health event of our lifetimes,” and said the work to control the pandemic in 2021 “won’t be easy or quick.”
In a year-end message, Etienne said, “As we approach the end of 2020, I would like to recognize your dedication in meeting the unparalleled challenges of this year. My thanks to all staff, national governments, international organizations, and citizens who have helped confront COVID-19 while continuing to advance the health and well-being of people in the Region of the Americas.”
At the start of the pandemic, PAHO activated an organization-wide response through regional and country incident management system teams. The Organization worked with countries to support their surveillance, testing and laboratory capacity; and prepare and strengthen health care services, infection prevention control, clinical management, and risk communication.
PAHO focused on helping countries rapidly detect cases, protect their health workers, reduce transmission, and save lives, providing training, logistical support, vital equipment and supplies, and emergency planning.
To complement PAHO resources in 27 country offices, personnel and supplies were mobilized to train national health authorities, support national emergency plans, and assess reorganization of health services. PAHO also disseminated technical specifications for personal protective equipment (PPE) and biomedical equipment and supported the analysis of needs to meet the requirements for PPE, supplies, and reagents and advanced purchasing processes to generate a strategic national reserve through donations to the PAHO Strategic Fund, a regional technical cooperation mechanism for pooled procurement of essential medicines and strategic health supplies. Additionally, over 200 virtual training sessions were held, with some 30,000 participants from 33 countries.
Contact tracing is critical for health authorities to keep the spread of the virus under control. In collaboration with the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network–GOARN, PAHO trained health workers in 31 countries and territories in the Go.Data app. The app supports investigation and management of suspected COVID-19 cases, display of transmission chains, and contact tracing.
The global scientific community raced to identify and assess the efficacy of potential therapeutics for caring for persons sickened by COVID-19. To help countries navigate the deluge of information, PAHO reviewed findings from over 1,700 clinical trials and 58 therapeutic options to enable health authorities to take evidence-backed decisions for patient care. In addition, 111 technical guidelines and recommendations were developed or tailored to the Americas from WHO documents.
PAHO also supported strengthening or installation of SARS-CoV-2 virus reference laboratory diagnostic capacity in 35 countries and territories and established a regional genomics surveillance network to monitor for variants of the virus.
“While we hope 2021 will usher a new chapter in our fight against this virus, protecting the millions of people in our region with COVID-19 vaccines will be a huge undertaking,” Etienne said in a recent briefing. “So, we must be patient and remain realistic that COVID-19 will be among us for some time – so our work to control it cannot and must not stop.” Vulnerable people in the Americas “are already receiving COVID-19 vaccines, with millions more doses expected early next year. This timeline is astonishing and a testament to the unprecedented collaboration among scientists, researchers and experts alike.”
Global partnerships like the COVAX Facility are also pooling resources, expertise and efforts to ensure that countries have equal access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines under the same timelines Etienne added. PAHO’s Revolving Fund, through which 41 countries and territories pool their resources to procure high-quality vaccines, syringes and related supplies for their populations at the lowest price, will also play a significant role.
An employee deliberately removed vials of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from a Wisconsin hospital refrigerator, destroying around 500 doses, an internal probe has found. The FBI and police are now investigating the incident.
“The individual in question today acknowledged that they intentionally removed the vaccine from refrigeration,” Advocate Aurora Health said in a statement.
We are more than disappointed that this individual’s actions will result in a delay of more than 500 people receiving their vaccine.
The organization, which runs 26 hospitals, said the employee in question had been fired and authorities had been notified about the incident.
It was earlier revealed that 57 vials of the Moderna vaccine had been taken out of a pharmacy refrigerator at Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, Wisconsin overnight, after which more than 500 doses of the vaccine had been “discarded.” The center’s officials said at the time that the vaccine had been removed from the freezers “inadvertently.”
The Moderna vaccines arrive frozen at between -25°C and -15°C (-13°F and 5°F) and must be stored in refrigerators between 2°C and 8°C (36°F and 46°F), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Police confirmed to the media that they have launched an investigation regarding an employee “tampering” with the vials, and that the FBI and Food and Drug Administration were working on the case as well.
“Earlier this week, we learned that 57 vials of Moderna vaccine were removed from a pharmacy refrigerator at Aurora Medical Center – Grafton overnight, resulting in more than 500 doses of vaccine being discarded,” Advocate Aurora Health, the parent of the Grafton, Wis, hospital said.
“We immediately launched an internal review and were led to believe this was caused by inadvertent human error. The individual in question today acknowledged that they intentionally removed the vaccine from refrigeration.”
Aboutfour years ago, having some time on my hands, I decided to explore Ireland, a country which I’d never visited before. After arriving at Dublin airport, I rented a car and headed north, a route which would first take me to Belfast in Northern Ireland, then back across the border in a southwesterly direction along the island’s picturesque Atlantic coast. The weather was perfect-at least for the moment-with plenty of photo opportunities along the way.
And I wasn’t disappointed. It didn’t take long to realize why the country was known as the Emerald Isle. Rolling green hills, centuries-old stone farmhouses, rambling sheep, spectacular views that seemed to stretch forever: the epitome of history, serenity, and unspoiled beauty.
Image by the author.
By coincidence, my visit took place only a few days before the referendum in which a majority of the UK’s population would vote in favor of Brexit. But not here. Crossing the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, it was evident that most locals on either side, many of them tradesmen, farmers and fishermen, were adamantly opposed to such a drastic move, especially as they believed that it had all been dictated by the political elite in London, another universe away. (Little had they realized how maddeningly complicated the process would become over the next four years. But by then, it was too late to turn back the clock).
Image by the author.
The following morning, after spending a restful night with a great breakfast at an Air B&B farmhouse, I continued south along the coast. As is typical in Ireland, especially on the Atlantic side, the weather had changed overnight from sunshine to sporadic rain and patchy fog. Then again, I thought to myself, that’s what kept the country so green. Ominous dark clouds on the western horizon were a sure sign that some fierce Atlantic gales would soon be arriving.
Shortly after noon, I decided to take a break from driving and do a hike along the seaside cliffs. There wasn’t a solitary human being to be seen, only flocks of seagulls and gannets. All I could hear was the whistling of the wind and the muted roar of waves breaking on the rocky beaches below. It felt almost ghostly. Walking along the path, I suddenly noticed a large solitary rock about a hundred yards away, inscribed with what appeared to be a metal plaque. Out of curiosity, I made my way toward it for a closer look. The plaque’s text was in both English and Gaelic, not easy to read because most of its surface had been worn away by time and weather. But its message was still clear-a testimonial to a momentous event which had happened more than four centuries before, and which changed history forever: the English defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Image by the author.Image by the author.
The real story starts here. Not even Hollywood could come close to depicting the scale of human bravery under hopeless conditions which followed a reckless decision by King Felipe II of Spain to invade England-a decision which would ultimately result in the tragic loss of over twenty thousand lives and the beginning of the end for the Spanish Empire.
But first, some background information.
By the mid Sixteenth century, England and Spain had become sworn enemies, with much of the mutual hostility due to England’s conversion to Protestantism under the Reformation Act, along with its support by English royalty. Queen Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII, infamously became known as Bloody Mary for her brutal executions of hundreds of English Catholics who refused to stop practicing their faith, an act of defiance which was considered heresy. Mary died in 1558 and was succeeded by her half sister, Elizabeth the First, who continued to support mandatory Protestantism (known as the Act of Conformity) and the abolition of what was then termed as Popery.
Nor were tensions eased by the fact that English privateers, often led by the legendary Sir Francis Drake, consistently attacked Spanish ships in Atlantic and Caribbean waters in order to confiscate gold and other valuables being transported from Spain’s South American colonies to the mother country. As far as King Felipe was concerned, enough was enough. He ordered his armed forces to start preparing for the invasion of England. He also revealed his plans in secret to Pope Sixtus V, who gave his blessing to bring Protestant England back into the fold of Rome.
By 1587, Spanish preparations were well underway to prepare for the invasion. However, these were interrupted when Drake raided the Armada’s supplies in Cadiz, which resulted in almost a year’s delay.
Finally, in May of 1588, the Armada’s fleet, under the command of the Duke of Medina Sedonia, set sail from Corunna. Its goal was to secure the English Channel and then transport the invading Spanish army to England from Flanders. The very size of the force was unprecedented: 130 ships, 2,500 guns, 8,000 sailors, and 20,000 soldiers. (In addition, the fleet carried 180 priests and 14,000 barrels of wine). However, the Armada was beset by storms and didn’t reach the southern coast of England until July 19, almost two months after it had departed. This also adversely affected its supplies of food, fresh water, and other essentials even before the battle had begun.
The delay had also helped the English to spot the approaching fleet when it first appeared off the coast of Cornwall. On July 21st, as the Armada approached Plymouth, they were intercepted by a hundred English ships under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Francis Drake, who had already made meticulous tactical plans. Their first step was to bombard the Spanish fleet from a safe distance, taking advantage of their heavy long range guns. Despite the confrontation, and thinned by the English assault, the Armada’s fleet managed to proceed slowly up the channel and, by July 27, had anchored off the French port of Calais. The plan was to wait until a message was received confirming that the Spanish army was ready to embark from Flanders.
But no message came. By now, it had become apparent to the Spanish officers that the Duke of Medina Sedonia was totally inexperienced when it came to maritime warfare. His decision to wait in an exposed position off Calais, rather than proceed as quickly as possible to Flanders, message or no message, would have disastrous consequences.
And they weren’t long in coming. Just after midnight on July 29, the English launched eight burning unmanned ships into Calais harbour. The resulting panic was immediate. The Spanish were forced to cut their own ships’ anchors and sail out to sea to avoid catching fire.
Image courtesy of Worldbook.com
But worse was yet to come. Precisely at the first light of dawn, the scattered and disorganized Spanish fleet was attacked in full force by the smaller and more agile English ships off the French coast, in what would go down in history as the Battle of Gravelines and the ultimate defeat of what had once been called the Invincible Armada. Many Spanish ships tried frantically to escape by turning southwest along the channel, but a sudden change in wind direction and blockage by English navy vessels made this impossible. The only choice was to turn around and sail in the opposite direction, only to be further devastated by gunfire from the faster English vessels which pursued them. The Armada’s remnants were forced to retreat to the northern tip of Scotland and then south along the Irish coast in an attempt to return to Spain. With no anchors, the surviving ships were now even more vulnerable to tides and strong winds. According to historical records, at least twenty-one Spanish ships were driven ashore and wrecked along the Irish coast, including the Santa Maria Rata Encoronada, with 520 guns and 429 men, whose memorial plaque I’d seen during my hike along the cliffs. Most of the Encoronada’s crew managed to escape. Once ashore, a decision was made by its captain to set the vessel on fire to prevent its appropriation by the English. After this was done, the captain and his crew were transferred to another ship, the Duquesa Santa Ana, which itself was wrecked four days later off County Donegal.
In the end, less than half of the Armada’s fleet managed to return to Spain. By then, untold thousands of men had perished, either from wounds sustained in battle, or from malnutrition, disease, or drowning. Meanwhile, back in England, the expression God sent us the wind had almost become a national anthem.
You may also have heard the expression Black Irish. Although it’s never been proven, many still believe that they’re descendants of the Armada’s Spanish survivors who made it ashore and eventually intermarried with the Irish population-a perception fostered by their darker complexion and black hair. And, like so many Irish over the past centuries, they became immigrants to other parts of the world, including the Caribbean. All in search of a better life.
Who knows? Maybe it’s time to check those birth records in Montserrat?
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Thirty-three-year-old George McCumisky of Texas, United States of America, was convicted on Wednesday, December 30, for breaching his quarantine conditions.
He was fined $4,800 to be paid forthwith or spend six months in prison. McCumisky, who recently tested negative twice for COVID-19, has since paid the fine and was set to leave the Federation Wednesday afternoon.
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — A press release from Government House, dated December 30, indicates that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Second has approved awards for four nationals for the Order of the British Empire in Her New Year’s Honours List 2021.
Athill Rawlins has been awarded Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contribution to Public Service and Land Surveying, and Mrs. Venetta Laws was granted Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her contribution to Community Service and Business Entrepreneurship.
Additionally, for his contribution to Community Service, Collin Tyrell was bestowed with Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) while Commissioner Hilroy Patrick Brandy received Queen’s Police Medal (QPM) for his distinguished service to Policing.
Throughout history, monarchs have rewarded those who have shown service, loyalty or gallantry with gifts or titles.
Most honours are awarded on the advice of the Cabinet. However, anybody can make a recommendation if they know someone, they believe to be worthy.
It is a tradition that recipients collect their awards from The Queen or another Member of the Royal Family at an Investiture ceremony.
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Police received a report sometime after midday on December 29, that the body of a man was found on Phillips Mountain.
Upon arrival at a mountainous area in Phillips Village, the body of 60-year-old Charles Lowry, formerly of Phillips Village, was found lying on his back. The District Medical Officer visited the scene and pronounced him dead. Preliminary investigations so far have revealed that Lowry left home at about 7 a.m. Tuesday and went to the mountain as he normally would to set his trap.
An autopsy has been scheduled to determine the exact cause of death. Personnel from the Forensic Services Unit visited and processed the scene. Investigations into the matter are ongoing.
Persons with information regarding this incident are urged to contact the Tabernacle Police Station by dialing 465-7227 or their nearest Police Station.
CHARLESTOWN, Nevis — Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis is extending prayers for the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the face of ongoing volcanic unrest at La Soufrière volcano.
On December 30, Premier Brantley, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of St. Kitts and Nevis, issued a statement and called for prayer.
“My prayers are with our brothers and sisters of St. Vincent and the Grenadines as we all monitor the activity at La Soufrière volcano there,” said Hon. Brantley. “With the devastation already caused by COVID-19 and its disastrous impact on our small vulnerable states, our region cannot afford another disaster. I urge us all to pray for the continued safety and security of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”
At a December 29 press conference, Hon. Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines told the citizenry that due to the effusive, oozing eruption taking place, the government had taken the alert level to orange for St. Vincent.
Dr. Gonsalves urged residents to remain calm but explained that those in the areas closest the growing satellite dome should be prepared to evacuate.
“At relatively short notice, you may get…an order to evacuate if in fact we have the scientific information that an explosive eruption will be occurring or at least the likelihood of it…
“I am urging all Vincentians to remain calm and to listen to the alerts from the National Emergency Management Organisation,” said Dr. Gonsalves. “All residents living close to the volcano are asked to make all necessary preparations to evacuate, just in case an order is given… Let’s hope for the best and we’re planning for if the worst takes place.”
Addressing the press conference virtually, Professor Richard Robertson of the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI SRC), in Trinidad said, “What is happening now is a serious thing. The volcano is erupting.”
He said that a monitoring team had picked up on increased activity at La Soufrière since mid-November. On December 27, a NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) satellite had detected a hotspot in the crater of the volcano.
A site visit by the La Soufrière Monitoring Unit in Kingstown, revealed an ongoing effusive eruption at Soufrière in which magna is coming slowly out of the earth and building another dome.
Dr. Robertson said that the UWI SRC will continue to monitor the rate at which the mass is increasing in size.
The UWI SRC was expected to dispatch three scientists to St. Vincent on December 30.
