COVID-19 Outbreak: Weekly Global Report for Friday, March 12, 2021
AdvaMed recognizes that its members, particularly those with global government affairs responsibilities, are tracking COVID-19 related developments around the world to assess the public health and economic impacts on their businesses. Knowing that companies are consuming information from a variety of sources, AdvaMed's global team would like to provide members with a weekly snapshot of the key statistics, policy developments and advocacy initiatives underway in our priority markets. If you have any suggestions, we welcome your feedback.
Global
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics: global cases topped 115 million. Deaths around the world have exceeded 2.56 million. The countries with the most reported cases continue to be the U.S. (29.2 million), India (11.2 million), and Brazil (11.2 million).
- U.S. cases exceeded 29.2 million with deaths increasing to 532,000.
- Staff Contact: Ralph Ives (rives@advamed.org).
China
- Overview: China’s vaccination campaign has been much slower than other countries, largely due to effective containment measures and minimal cases of local transmission. Over 52 million Chinese citizens have received a COVID vaccine jab as of Feb. 28. A senior government health advisor said last week that Beijing aims to vaccinate 40% of its population by July.
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics: China’s total COVID cases now stand at 101,046, an increase of 170 cases over the previous week. Deaths now stand at 4,839, an increase of 2 compared to last week.
- Beijing tightens entry requirements: from Jan. 28 until March 13, Beijing will require people arriving from low-risk areas in China to show negative COVID-19 test results, tightening curbs ahead of the Lunar New Year and the annual parliament meetings in early March known as the “Two Sessions.” People entering the capital from those areas will need to undergo a 14-day health observation period after arrival.
- Vaccine roll-out: China’s regulator approved for general use a third and fourth vaccine produced by CanSino Biologics and Sinopharm. This follows China’s approval of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine on Dec. 31 last year and Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine on Feb. 5. CanSino said its one-shot vaccine candidate is 65.28% effective 28 days after the dose is given. It can be stored at 2 degrees to 8 degrees Celsius, “making it more accessible especially to the regions with underserved public health,” it said in a statement.
- Vaccine diplomacy: According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China is providing free vaccines to 69 countries and commercially exporting them to 28 more.
- Updated estimates on 2020 hospital visits: according to the National Health Commission, the total number of hospital visits/medical consultations in January through September 2020 reached 3.9 billion, a decrease of 15.3% over the same period in 2019. It is important to note that this percentage decrease has gotten progressively smaller since June, perhaps indicating Chinese patients have become more comfortable in visiting medical institutions in the second half of 2020.
- Traditional Chinese medicine: China last week approved the sale of three traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) drugs through a special approval procedure, offering more options for COVID-19 treatment, according to the National Medical Products Administration. The three medicines, namely Lung Cleansing and Detoxifying granules, Dampness Resolving and Detoxifying granules and Lung Diffusing and Detoxifying granules were reportedly proven effective in treating COVID-19 patients in central China's Wuhan last year.
- WHO scraps release of COVID origins report: The WHO team investigating the origins of Covid-19 is planning to scrap an interim report on its recent mission to China amid mounting tensions between Beijing and Washington over the investigation and an appeal from one international group of scientists for a new probe. This Thursday, a group of two dozen scientists in an open letter called for a new international inquiry. They say the WHO investigative team had insufficient access to adequately investigate possible sources of the new coronavirus, including whether it slipped from a laboratory.
- Readout from the Two Sessions: This week, the National People’s Congress (NPC) met in Beijing as part of the annual ‘Two Sessions’ to outline the government’s policy, legislative and economic agenda for the coming year. Alongside the announcement of a six percent GDP growth target for 2021, the announcement of the 14th Five Year Plan (14th FYP) was the headline story. It outlined a wide range of objectives for the next five years, including plans to support technological innovation and advancement, continued reform in the financial sector, and the tightening of environmental regulations as the country attempts to peak carbon emissions by 2030.
- S.-China relations. Overall, the new administration is continuing to review the Trump-era inheritance and has not made any sudden policy changes yet. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will hold talks with top Chinese officials next week in Anchorage, Alaska. WH Press Secretary Jan Psaki said “It was important to us that this administration’s first meeting with Chinese officials be held on American soil and occur after we have met and consulted closely with partners and allies in both Asia and Europe.”
- Staff Contact: Kyle Churchman (kchurchman@advamed.org)
India
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics – 11,284,311 total cases, 189,226 active cases/158,189 deaths/ discharged 10,938,146 (John Hopkins & MoHFW) as compared to 11,156,748 total cases, 173,413 active cases/157,435 deaths/ discharged 10,826,075 (John Hopkins & MoHFW). 2,56,85,011 people have been vaccinated. As per the data by the Health Ministry, Six states -- Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu -- accounted for 83.76 per cent of the 17,921 cases of Covid-19 reported in the country in a day.
- In a move likely to boost the use of Bharat Biotech’s anti-Covid vaccine Covaxin, the drug regulator's subject expert committee (SEC) on Wednesday, March 10, recommended doing away with the “clinical trial mode” for its use and making it a case of regular emergency use authorisation. Omission of the condition means the vaccine can be administered without an informed consent from the recipient and also removal of compensation provision in case of adverse event under the clinical trial protocol
- India would include people in the age group of 50-59 years in the third phase of Covid-19 public immunisation drive. The National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC), headed by Niti Aayog member (health) VK Paul and co-chaired by health secretary Rajesh Bhushan, has recommended that the next priority group for vaccination be those aged 50 years and above.
- The Phase 1 human clinical trials of Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech’s intranasal Covid-19 vaccine, codenamed BBV154, have commenced at some of the selected sites that include Hyderabad and Nagpur.
- The Centre has asked states to curb wastage of vaccines to avoid the creation of a black market in the future, curb cross-selling of products by private hospitals to people who come for vaccination, and to focus on resolving scheduling and other implementation issues including issuing of digital certificates for those vaccinated.
- Around 24 pharma companies were conducting trials for the Covid-19 vaccine and the vaccines of six different companies would be made available in the market by the year-end, said Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday, March 06.
- With the Covid vaccination drive widening across India, a ‘class divide’ seems to be opening up — almost every centre in the big cities is reporting more recipients from the wealthier neighbourhoods than the lower-middle-class areas. People from poor pockets are conspicuous by their absence.
- The Centre has said that the decision to have a criteria for those eligible to get Covid-19 vaccine is based on vulnerability of citizens to the disease and is a “purely executive decision” that may not be subjected to judicial review.
- India has urged the United States, Japan and Australia to invest in its vaccine production capacity, an Indian government source told Reuters, as the so-called Quad alliance tries to counter China's growing vaccine diplomacy.
- Staff Contact: Abby Pratt (apratt@advamed.org).
Japan
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics – 445,048 reported cases and 8,477 reported deaths compared to 437,429 reported cases and 8,156 reported deaths last week.
- Japan has approved the Pfizer vaccine and began providing it to a small subset of health care providers. Vaccination of a further 3.7 million front-line health care providers is set to begin in March, followed by 36 million people age 65 or above beginning April 12. People with pre-existing conditions and those working at elderly care facilities will be next in line, followed by the general population.
- Japan has contracted with Pfizer for 120 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to be delivered in the first half of 2021, and for enough vaccine for 72 million people by the end of 2021. Japan has also contracted for 50 million doses of the Moderna vaccine and 120 million doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine. Astra Zeneca will manufacture 90 million of those doses in Japan. The company submitted its application for approval on February 8. The application for the Moderna vaccine was made on March 5 and is not expected to be approved until at least May.
- Japan plans to inoculate its entire population with a COVID-19 vaccine by the time the Olympics start in July 2021.
- It has asked local governments to make arrangements to allow 30-40 million elderly citizens to be vaccinated by the end of March. About 10,000 healthcare workers who work with COVID-19 patients should receive the vaccine by the end of February, and around 3 million other healthcare workers will receive it by mid-March.
- The current State of Emergency will continue until March 21 in the Tokyo region but was lifted for the other areas of Japan. The overall pace of new cases has slowed in recent weeks.
- Under the State of Emergency, the relevant prefectural governors are asking people to stay at home after 8 p.m., while restaurants, pubs and cafes that serve alcoholic beverages are requested to serve them only from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and close by 8 p.m.
- The central government has asked companies to reduce the number of workers going to the office by 70% and facilitate telecommuting and staggered commuting hours.
- In addition, under the States of Emergency, physicians now have the option, in consultation with patients, of postponing procedures if they feel their hospital’s bed will be needed for COVID-19 patients.
- Hospitals in COVID-hit regions are severely strained, with some reportedly on the brink of collapse. The Chair of the Japan Medical Association said that Japan doesn’t have enough doctors and nurses to deal with the caseload.
- According to a recent survey, 44% of advanced medical care hospitals are experiencing significant postponements of procedures due to patients’ concerns about COVID-19.
- The pandemic has had a severe impact on the financial situation of Japan’s hospitals. Nearly 70% of Japan’s hospitals are now operating in the red.
- The Japanese government has decided to maintain its controls for foreign nationals entering the country. Reciprocal business travel arrangements that were forged with China, South Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam are expected to remain suspended in the near term. While Tokyo’s restrictions on foreign entries except for returning nationals remain in place, the government will make exceptions for athletes entering the country for the upcoming Olympic Games.
- Japan's Ministry of Health has adopted priority regulatory review procedures for new COVID-related medical devices.
- Staff Contact: Phil Agress (PAgress@AdvaMed.org).
Korea
- South Korea’s numbers have remained fairly consistent for the last few weeks, with a slightly downward trend. They are reporting 465 new cases per day, up slightly from 424 last week. New deaths are down slightly from the previous week, just 4 per day. South Korea continues to avoid the dramatic spikes that many other countries are experiencing.
- South Korea has 94,198 total cases, 7,871 active cases, with 1,652 deaths, reporting 4 deaths per day. Total cases per million population have remained low compared to most of the world at just 1,836 (S. Korea ranks as one of the lowest among the more highly populated countries). Deaths per million remain comparatively low as well at just 32.
- South Korea has detected a total of 75 cases of "emerging" variants of the novel coronavirus since December, health authorities said Thursday.
- The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said these variants are different from the three most-known mutations from Britain, South Africa and Brazil that are known to be more transmissible.
- There is no indication yet whether these new strains are more deadly than current circulating variants of the virus, the KDCA said.
- South Korea has inoculated almost 1 percent of its population in 13 days after the country launched its long-awaited COVID-19 vaccination campaign, health authorities here said Thursday. On Feb. 26, the country began its inoculation program, with health care workers and patients aged below 65 at long-term care facilities, as well as front-line medical workers, among the first in line to receive their first shots.
- An accumulated 500,635 people were administered with their first shots as of midnight, which accounts for 0.96 percent of the country's 52 million population, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
- South Korea will expand the use of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to people aged 65 and older to ramp up the vaccine rollout as new overseas studies showed its effectiveness, health authorities said Thursday.
- The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) initially excluded administering vaccines developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University to the elderly, citing insufficient clinical data.
- Korea’s Disease Control and Prevention Agency has publicly stated they expect the COVID-19 pandemic to be sufficiently tamed by November or earlier. The statement also indicated a key factor in their assessment is the expectation that Korea’s vaccination program will be in full effect soon.
- Koreans who are under 50 and healthy may be able to get their shots in the last few months of the year. The government vowed that all Koreans would eventually be vaccinated in phases except for pregnant women and children under 18, unless future trial results demonstrate otherwise.
- South Korea, 52 million population, has secured access to coronavirus vaccines enough for 56 million people. The COVAX project will supply 20 million doses of vaccines to inoculate 10 million people.
- South Korea's upcoming fourth round of COVID-19 relief handouts may amount to more than 19.5 trillion won ($17.6 billion). The scale of the government's proposal for the new batch of pandemic relief fund has been tentatively set at around 19.5 trillion won, but the final amount could rise further during the National Assembly's review of the related bill.
- South Korea has imposed Level 2.5, the second highest in the country's five-tier scheme, to the greater Seoul area, with Level 2 in other areas. Private gatherings of five or more have been banned across the country, while the operation of restaurants has been limited after 9 p.m.
- South Korea continues to impose suspension of direct flights from Britain.
- Foreigners arriving at South Korean airports face a mandatory 14-day quarantine procedure and must present a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coronavirus test taken within 72 hours of their departure to the nation.
- Foreigners from Britain and South Africa who fail to present negative PCR test results will be banned from entering the nation, and incoming Korean nationals without test results will be isolated in temporary living facilities for two weeks upon their arrival in the nation, the KDCA said.
- South Korea’s movement toward implementation of a proposal that would potentially reduce the price of certain cardiac and peripheral stents has been at least temporarily postponed. A December meeting that was scheduled to occur to discuss the proposal has been postponed. AdvaMed is in touch with members and the medtech association in Korea and has had several discussions with the US Government on this topic. We have sent a letter to the health ministry expressing opposition to the proposal.
- We have submitted a letter in response to a recently issued request for comments on the proposal for potential implementation of pricing controls on stents. Please contact Joseph Gatewood (jgatewood@advamed.org) if you have an interest in this matter and are not already engaged.
- Resources: http://ncov.mohw.go.kr/en/.
- Staff Contact: Joseph Gatewood (jgatewood@advamed.org).
ASEAN
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics – ASEAN now has 2,557,353 reported cases and 55,137 reported deaths compared to 2,480,895 reported cases and 53,795 reported deaths last week.
- While the Philippines has seen an uptick in new cases, all other countries are experiencing a slowdown.
- Indonesia surpassed 1.4 million cases last week and the Philippines has reported over 603,000 cases.
- Indonesia’s total COVID-19 deaths have reached 38,049, the highest level in East Asia. The Philippines reported 12,545 deaths.
- Myanmar is now reporting 142,073 total cases and 3,200 deaths, although there is likely underreporting since February 1 due to the military coup.
- Cambodia and Laos have each reported zero deaths, while Brunei has reported 3 deaths, and Singapore has reported 29 deaths (despite having over 59,000 cases). These numbers are unchanged from last week.
- Cases of COVID-19 infection are finally starting to level off in Vietnam following a new outbreak in late January. The total number of confirmed infections was 2,529, up from 2,482 the previous week.
- Thailand, which in mid-December had just over 4,000 cases of COVID-19, experienced a major surge that originated in a shrimp market southeast of Bangkok. It is now reporting over 26,540 cases ad 85 deaths. Thailand began vaccinations in late February.
- Indonesia has administered 2.6 million doses of the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine since the mass vaccination campaign began on Jan. 13. Indonesia is currently in the second stage of vaccination following the vaccination of medical workers in the first stage.
- Indonesia has secured orders for 600 million doses of vaccine from four producers. This includes between 13.7 million and 23.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX system. The vaccines will arrive in two phases: 25-35% of doses in Q1 2021, and 65-75% in Q2. The Ministry of Health said this vaccine can be used for those who are over 60, unlike the Sinovac vaccine, currently in use in Indonesia. President Jokowi has set a target of finishing the vaccination process within this year.
- Indonesia has authorized one of the world’s first private vaccination schemes to run alongside its national program so that companies can buy state-procured vaccines to inoculate their staff. The regulation stipulates that companies can buy vaccines and inoculate staff and their families for free at privately-run health centers with vaccines distributed by state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma. The vaccines in the scheme must differ from the current rollout, which includes China’s Sinovac Biotech and is slated to include the AstraZeneca and Novavax vaccines. Indonesia’s private sector expects to receive 2 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine.
- Malaysia approved both AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines for emergency use on March 2. Mass vaccinations began on February 24 using the Pfizer vaccine and the government aims to vaccinate 80% of its 32 million population by next February.
- Malaysia has agreed to buy 25 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. It has also signed agreements for 18.4 million doses of vaccines produced by Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute and China's Sinovac.
- The Philippines began its immunization program after receiving its first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine (600,00 doses of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac, donated by China). It is due to receive another 25 million doses of CoronaVac this year.
- However, there is little public support for the inoculation drive. Polls show that less than a third of Filipinos are willing to be vaccinated due to fears of the potential side effects.
- Singapore began its vaccination program in January with seniors aged 70 and above and more than 50,000 active taxi and private-hire car drivers eligible for the shot. Those aged 60 and above are expected to eligible at the end of March, with a forecast of 1.25 million individuals vaccinated by the end of April.
- Thailand's COVID-19 vaccination program began on March 1. Thailand has approved the AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccine, and the government has announced plans to administer over 60 million doses in 2021.
- Vietnam received its first batch of vaccines (117,000 doses from AstraZeneca) in late February. It aims to obtain 90 million COVID-19 vaccine doses this year, including 30 million through the COVAX scheme, 30 million from AstraZeneca, and the rest from ongoing negotiations with Pfizer and Russia's Sputnik V vaccine. Meanwhile, a Vietnamese pharmaceutical company has begun second phase trials on a coronavirus vaccine. If trials are successful, it is expected to be approved for emergency use in May.
- Elective surgeries have resumed in Thailand and Vietnam.
- In Indonesia, provincial hospitals are resuming elective surgery with COVID-19 protocols in place.
- Malaysia maintains limits on elective surgery except in emergency cases.
- Singapore restricts most elective surgeries but allows certain procedures including cancer screening, surgical operations for advanced cataracts, flu vaccinations, and dental procedures.
- The Philippines extended its State of Calamity by a year to counter the pandemic. This extension will give national and local governments latitude to continue utilizing appropriate disaster relief funds and affords the government powers to monitor and control necessities and provide essential services to the affected populations.
- As of January 1, Indonesia has closed its border to foreign nationals to mitigate the increased spread of COVID-19. The new policy provides exemptions for holders of diplomatic visas and official visas related to foreign officials at the ministerial level, holders of limited stay permits, and permanent resident permits.
- The Philippines has imposed restrictions on travelers from the United States and 20 other countries where cases of the new COVID-19 variant were reported.
- As of February 1, Singapore suspended its Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) arrangements with Malaysia, Germany, and South Korea for three months due to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. Travelers who have already been approved to enter Singapore under these RGLs can continue to do so. The move does not affect Singapore’s Periodic Commuting Arrangement with Malaysia, which includes longer-term workers and business travel. Following this latest suspension, only the green lanes with Brunei and a few cities in China remain open.
- Starting in April, Thailand will reduce its mandatory quarantine from 14 to seven days for foreigners arriving in the country who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus. Vaccinations must be administered within three months of the travel period and visitors will still be required to show negative COVID-19 test results within three days of their departure. Those not yet inoculated but with coronavirus-free certificates would be quarantined for 10 days
- Vietnam has banned flights from countries that have recorded the new COVID-19 variant. The country will limit inbound repatriation flights until mid-February.
- Staff Contact: Phil Agress (PAgress@AdvaMed.org)
Europe
- Europe is still struggling with persistently high numbers even as they appear to be experiencing reduction or flattening in the rate of increase. Spain, Italy and now UK appear to be leveling off. France seems to be lagging the other large EU countries in its recovery. Germany seems to be having a hard time getting its numbers much below current levels. The UK’s vaccination program, ahead of most of the EU, seems to be having large positive impact.
- In terms of new daily cases, which tend to benchmark increasing COVID incidence, the numbers appear to be stubbornly persistent or increasing in some of the EU’s larger countries. Of the larger countries, Spain and the UK seem to be doing the best, with Germany slightly behind. Germany is still concerned about its inability to get its numbers lower and a potential third wave of infections. France seems to be having the most difficulty. Figures indicate new case per day with prior week figures in parentheses). France has 30,303 (26,788); Spain 6,672 (6,137); Russia 9,079 (10,535); UK 5,926 (6,385), Italy 22,385 (20,684); Germany 12,246 (10,835); and Belgium 2,163 (2,050). Portugal has settled back to low levels with only 639 new cases per day.
- The UK still leads Europe in deaths by a wide margin, followed by Italy, France, Russia, Germany and Spain. (see chart below). Russia's reported numbers on COVID, despite its Sputnik vaccine, remain problematic with perhaps the highest number of total cases of any country at 4,351,553 (slightly higher than the UK’s total) and 90,275 reported deaths (and reporting one of the lowest death rates in Europe at 618 per million). By comparison, Germany with one of the best track records for the larger Western European countries, has more than 1.7 million fewer cases (2,532,855) and reports 73,276 deaths and a death rate of 873 per million.
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