COVID-19 Outbreak: Weekly Global Report for Friday, July 23, 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 reached a total of 192 million cases. Deaths around the world have exceeded 4.1 million. The countries with the most reported cases continue to be the U.S. (34.2 million), India (34.2 million) and Brazil (19.5 million).
- U.S. cases exceeded 33.98 million with deaths increasing to 609,000.
- Staff Contact: Ralph Ives (rives@advamed.org).
China
- Overview: Despite a massively efficient vaccine roll-out since May, the Chinese government has given no indication it intends to change its current COVID playbook of closed borders, strict quarantine for foreign arrivals, and aggressive lockdowns and mass testing when flareups return. Beijing remains ever cautious as the Delta variant circulates worldwide and the efficacy of China’s vaccines is questioned. Many businesses expect that China may retain stringent travel restrictions through February 2022, when Beijing will host the Winter Olympics. Chinese regulators last week completed an expert review of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine developed by Germany's BioNTech and Fosun Pharma. Chinese authorities plan to use the vaccine, which goes by the brand name Comirnaty, as a booster shot for those people who have received an inactivated-virus vaccine—i.e., nearly the entire Chinese population.
- New uptick in cases: China this past Tuesday reported the highest daily tally of new confirmed COVID-19 cases since January, driven by a surge in imported infections in Yunnan province, where cases are spilling over from an "alarming spike" in neighboring Myanmar. Mainland China recorded 65 new confirmed cases for July 19, compared with 31 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said in a statement. That was the most since Jan. 30, when 92 new cases were reported. Imported infections accounted for most of the new cases reported for July 19, with Yunnan reporting 41 new cases originating from abroad, all of whom were Chinese nationals who recently returned from Myanmar. The United Nations has said it is stepping up efforts to fight an "alarming spike" in infections in military-run Myanmar. The country registered a record 281 COVID-19 deaths on Monday, and 5,189 new infections, state-run MRTV Television reported. The current bout of cases in Yunnan started on July 4, and has been concentrated in Ruili and Longchuan, two small cities on China's border with Myanmar.
- Mass testing in Nanjing: The eastern city of Nanjing begun testing all 1.9 million residents of its Jiangning district for COVID-19 after nine workers at the city’s airport tested positive this Tuesday. The district-wide testing started Wednesday morning after the cases were discovered during routine nucleic acid testing for workers at Nanjing Lukou International Airport.
- Status of vaccination campaign: Over one billion Chinese citizens have received at least one COVID vaccine dose to date, accounting for one-third of total global vaccinations. China’s CDC has revised upwards its threshold to reach herd immunity from 70% to 80-85%. Several local governments in China are planning to bar residents who haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19 from accessing public venues, stirring controversy as the country makes a push for herd immunity.
- Debate within China on making vaccines mandatory: As countries weigh up making Covid-19 vaccination mandatory in certain circumstances, heated debate has erupted in China over orders issued by some cities to deny the unvaccinated entry to places such as shops and schools. Some say such hardline measures will persuade hesitant people to sign up for the shots, but more have argued that it is discriminatory and amounts to mismanagement by local governments. Public health experts have said such restrictions should be imposed with caution, or they could reduce public confidence in pandemic control measures. On Friday the National Health Commission finally weighed in to assure the public that Covid-19 vaccinations were still “consensual and voluntary”. It said it had noted restrictions in some areas and responded with “timely guidance and supervision”. The NHC’s statement came after some cities in 10 provinces announced various restrictions on unvaccinated people on entering public places, from hospitals to nursing homes and markets.
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics: China’s total COVID cases now stand at 104,443, an increase of 249 cases over the previous week. The number of reported deaths remained unchanged over the previous week, at 4,848.
- China’s vaccines and approval date: Sinopharm (approved Dec. 31, 2020); Sinovac’s CoronaVac (approved on Feb. 5); CanSino Biologics and a second Sinopharm vaccine (both approved in April). Three other vaccines have been approved in May and June.
- Post-COVID healthcare system upgrade: China will provide funding to build new institutions and infrastructure to fight infectious diseases and improve healthcare, the state planning body said in a "five-year plan" for the sector. The central government will subsidize the construction of new "prevention bases" for infectious disease and new grassroots medical facilities across the country, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in the plan, published this Thursday. It said China was facing difficult healthcare challenges, including new emerging infectious diseases, the increasingly heavy burden of chronic illnesses as well as the growing need for mental health services. "The public health system is in urgent need of improvement, and the ability to prevent, control and treat major epidemics is not strong," it warned. High-quality medical resources are also insufficient and not evenly distributed, and there are also gaps when it comes to treating women and children, it added.
- BioNTech vaccine: Chinese regulators last week completed an expert review of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine developed by Germany's BioNTech and Fosun Pharma and the shot is now in the administration review stage, Caixin reported. China hasn't approved any COVID-19 vaccine developed overseas but has greenlighted several domestic brands. Chinese authorities plan to use the vaccine, which goes by the brand name Comirnaty, as a booster shot for people who have received inactivated-virus vaccines, people close to regulators told Caixin. Most people in China have received inactivated-virus vaccines made by Sinovac and state-owned Sinopharm Group that have demonstrated lower efficacy than mRNA vaccines.
- China’s own mRNA vaccine: China’s first messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccine, is expected to start phase three tests in many overseas countries soon, the chief executive officer of Suzhou Abogen Biosciences, the vaccine’s developer, said this week. Together with Chinese clinical contract research organization Tigermed, Abogen is preparing to conduct overseas Phase III clinical trials using 28,000 volunteers in countries including Mexico, Columbia and Pakistan. The vaccine can be stored at temperatures of between two and eight degrees centigrade for at least seven months, making it convenient for mass distribution. The clinical trials will not select specific variants, and will also not reject any strains, Ying told Yicai Global. The Suzhou, eastern Jiangsu province-based firm is also developing a separate mRNA vaccine candidate that will target the variants that were first found in South Africa and India.
- Vaccine diplomacy: Chinese pharmaceutical companies including Sinopharm and Sinovac signed agreements to supply millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines with international NGOs. Sinopharm has signed a longer-term agreement to provide up to 120 million doses by the end of 2021 for participating countries and territories in the COVAX program. It is the seventh supply agreement UNICEF has signed for COVID-19 vaccines after agreements with other vaccine suppliers including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Human Vaccine. Meanwhile, GAVI announced on the same day it had signed two advance purchase agreements with Sinopharm and Sinovac to provide up to 550 million COVID-19 vaccines to the COVAX program. The new deals include up to 170 million doses of the Sinopharm shot and up to 380 million shots of the Sinovac vaccine, through to the middle of 2022, the statement said.
- Dispute over COVID-19’s origins: In a rare departure from his usual deference to powerful member countries, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this Thursday that getting access to raw data had been a challenge for the international team that traveled to China earlier this year to investigate the source of COVID-19. Tedros also said there had been a “premature push” to rule out the theory that the virus might have escaped from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan - undermining WHO’s own March report, which concluded that a laboratory leak was “extremely unlikely.”
- China’s response to Tedros’s remarks: While China has consistently rejected the lab leak hypothesis, officials sought to draw a line in the sand this Thursday, signaling Beijing won’t engage on the origin hunt if the theory remained in play. It was China’s most direct pushback to date on calls from the WHO and others to investigate the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s high-level lab, which studied bat-borne pathogens and other coronaviruses. “The plan on the second phase of the origin study, it contains language that does not respect science or common sense,” said Zeng Yixin, vice minister of the National Health Commission. “We won’t follow such a plan.”
- Meanwhile, China continues to push its own lab-leak theory: The South China Morning Post reports that Beijing, in seeking to counter the hypothesis that the virus may have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, is pushing its own hypothesis that the virus originated from Fort Detrick, about an hour’s drive from Washington and the original home of the US biological weapons program. While most Americans may be unfamiliar with Fort Detrick, hundreds of millions of Chinese netizens are familiar with the Detrick name and its supposed links to COVID-19, mostly thanks to China’s so-called Wolf Warrior diplomats. They have said dozens of times in social media posts and press conferences that Fort Detrick, half a world away from China in the state of Maryland, needs to be investigated as a potential source of the virus.
- China’s Economy: The Chinese economy expanded by 7.9% in the three months ending June compared with a year earlier, according to government statistics released this week. Monthly readings of industrial output, retail sales, fixed-asset investment and urban unemployment all met or topped expectations in June, keeping China on track to meet the official full-year growth target of 6% or more. But beneath the robust growth numbers lurk mounting risks for the economy, including an expected tapering off in global demand for Chinese goods, slower investment in manufacturing and real estate, and the threat of fresh COVID-19 outbreaks that could weigh on domestic consumption.
- S.-China relations: Despite a kerfuffle in Beijing and Washington over proper diplomatic protocol, the U.S. State Department confirmed that Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman will travel to Tianjin next week for meetings with PRC officials, including State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The State Dept. statement added that Sherman will discuss the U.S.’s “serious concerns about PRC actions as well as where our interests align.” Sherman will the senior most Biden administration official to visit China to date.
- Staff Contact: Kyle Churchman (kchurchman@advamed.org)
India
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics – 31,256,839 total cases, 409,394 active cases/418,987 deaths/ discharged 30,429,339 (John Hopkins & MoHFW) as compared to 30,986,803 total cases, 432,041 active cases/411,989 deaths/ discharged 30,143,850 (John Hopkins & MoHFW) last week. 417,851,151 people have been vaccinated.
- Four COVID-19 vaccine candidates are at different stages of human trials while one, developed by Genique Life Sciences, is in the advanced pre-clinical stage, Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday, July 22.
- The pace of Covid vaccination has increased significantly with India administering the latest 10 crore doses in 24 days, taking the total coverage to over 41 crore doses given so far. This signifies a major uptake from the first 10 crore doses that took 85 days to administer.
- Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, speaking in Rajya Sabha on the second day of the Monsoon Session in Parliament informed that centre and states have to work as "bhagidaars" (partners) to combat the third wave of the pandemic. Added that states have been asked to submit a plan and accordingly, funds will be transferred to enable preparedness.
- In a bid to strengthen surveillance and control spread of tuberculosis (TB) in the state, all patients diagnosed with the disease will get Airborne Infection Control (AIC) kits. The state health department has asked all district health heads and the chief municipal health officer at Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to procure such kits.
- The United States has improved the travel advisory for India, upgrading from Level 4 category to Level 3 which urges citizens to reconsider travel. The Level 4 category means no travel. "Your risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe symptoms may be lower if you are fully vaccinated with an FDA authorised vaccine.
- The Supreme Court on Monday, July 19 observed that hospitals in the country have become large industries now thriving on human distress and it is better that they be shut down. "Do we look at hospitals as a real estate industry, or as a service to humanity?" asked Bench of Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice MR Shah. "Hospitals have become a large industry now based on human distress.
- The strategy to prevent resurgence of Covid-19 cases through various public health measures has been deliberated upon in different technical committees and the Centre continues to advise states to strictly follow the strategy of ‘test-track-treat-vaccination and adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour’, Rajya Sabha was told on Tuesday, July 20.
- States and Union Territories (UTs) licensing authorities/drug controllers have been notified to allow the licensed manufactures for AYUSH-64 under their jurisdiction to include a new indication of AYUSH-64 for repurposing as an intervention for the management of asymptomatic, mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in addition to existing indication(s), informed Mahendrabhai Munjapara, Minister of State for Ayush.
- Officials of the World Health Organisation (WHO) had a meeting with those of Bharat Biotech and the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker's dossier for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of Covaxin is under review by the technical experts for consideration, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia said on Monday, July 19.
- The initial fear that many post-Covid patients would later develop lung fibrosis is fast receding in the medical corridors. Even lungs of patients who suffered from severe Covid and pneumonia, are showing signs of healing within 3-6 months, according a new study published by doctors from a city hospital.
- World Health Organisation (WHO) chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan said India could initiate research on heterologous administration (mix and match) of various Covid-19 vaccines to study the breadth and duration of immune responses as well as protection.
- The Centre on Thursday, July 15 asked states and union territories to conduct a quick gap analysis for various infrastructure components under the Emergency Covid-19 Response Package and stressed on effective advance preparations for efficient clinical management of the infection.
- A portable device developed by researchers at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad will help reduce the time taken for DNA amplification or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to 15-30 minutes and make it accessible to even those living in remote areas.
- International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of the World Bank Group, is investing USD 16.5 million (around Rs 123 crore) in genetic diagnostics and research company MedGenome to increase access to COVID-19 testing in India.
- Staff Contact: Abby Pratt (apratt@advamed.org).
Japan
- Weekly COVID-19 statistics – 858,633 reported cases and 15,121reported deaths compared to 831,792 reported cases and 15,033 reported deaths the previous week.
- As the Olympics get underway, Tokyo is logging its highest numbers of daily cases since mid-January. Emergency measures have been reinstituted in the prefecture through August 22. Spectators are not allowed at Olympic events in and around the capital.
- Japan had been making good progress ramping up its vaccination efforts, but it now faces a shortage of vaccines. Nearly 30% of the population had received at least one dose, and over 23% are fully vaccinated. Prime Minister Suga said that his goal is to complete all vaccinations by November.
- Japan provided final approval to the Moderna vaccine and the Astra Zeneca vaccine on May 21. The Pfizer vaccine was approved in February. J&J submitted its application for approval of its vaccine on May 24. It is expected to be approved and available for use around the beginning of 2022.
- Moderna will provide 50 million doses of the vaccine by September. It is being used at mass vaccination centers in Tokyo and Osaka, as well as elsewhere. AstraZeneca has contracted to provide 120 million doses, which the government will stockpile for later use.
- 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.
- Prefectural governments are urging hospitals to open up more Covid-19- dedicated beds, which is putting further pressure on patients to avoid elective surgeries.
- The Japanese government continues to maintain its controls on foreign nationals entering the country. Reciprocal business travel arrangements that were forged with China, South Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam remain suspended. 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.
- Staff Contact: Phil Agress (PAgress@AdvaMed.org).
Korea
- South Korea’s numbers continue to rise, (last week’s number is in parens) with 1,838 (1,600) new daily cases. The country’s numbers are increasing and concerning but remain overall low. There could be extended lockdown repercussions if the trend continues.
- Korea has increased to 184,103 total cases, 18,967 active (a significant increase in active cases) with 2,063 deaths. Total cases per million population have remained low compared to most of the world but Korea is now spiking a bit above the 3k threshold with 3,588 cases per million. (S. Korea ranks as one of the lowest among the more highly populated countries). Deaths per million remain comparatively low as well at just 40.
- South Korea has administered over 22 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. 16.4 million people, or 32.3 percent of the country's population, have received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines, and 6.7 million people have been fully vaccinated, the KDCA said.
- Ten days into the toughest level of distancing curbs in Greater Seoul, the nation has continued to see record-breaking daily case numbers. The current restrictions that end Sunday are likely to be extended to curb further spread. As the pandemic continues to rage, experts say the nation should extend the period of the highest level of the four-tier distancing measures, which began on July 12 and is set to end Sunday.
- Eom Joong-sik, a professor at Gachon University Gil Hospital, said if the nation lowers the level next week, the confirmed number of cases will surge immediately.
- The greater Seoul area remains under the strictest restrictions available under the country’s four-tier social distancing system. After 6 p.m., all social gatherings larger than three people are banned. Gyms and restaurants can only remain open until 10 p.m. Bars, nightclubs and other places considered to be high risk cannot operate at all. The constraints on businesses and daily life dictated by the tier are the harshest form of social distancing Koreans have endured since the pandemic began. For now, the rules are set to end on July 25.
- Most areas outside the greater Seoul area appear poised to remain under the second-highest restrictions, in which gatherings of more than eight people are banned around the clock, according to health authorities. The ceilings, however, vary depending on provincial governments' policies. Non-capital regions have been under the lowest social distancing scheme with no ceiling on gatherings. Restaurants are allowed to operate until midnight at Level 2. Some regions, including the central administration city of Sejong, along with North and South Jeolla provinces, will be under Level 1 distancing. But Korea has been put on edge due to rising variant cases and soaring untraceable infections.
- South Korea has secured enough vaccines to inoculate some 100 million people in a country of 52 million. The vaccines are made by five pharmaceutical firms -- AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson's Janssen, Moderna and Novavax. "Experts say the COVID-19 outbreak will not end immediately and will continue for some time, and numerous variants are expected to proliferate," Vice Health Minister Kang Do-tae said. "The government is thoroughly preparing to secure vaccine bottles for next year."
- 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. However, starting July 1, some people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in countries other than Korea will be exempt from the 14-day self-quarantine requirement, meaning they can move around freely as soon as they enter the country. A similar exemption has been in place since May for those who were vaccinated in Korea.
- The new exemption applies only to people who were fully vaccinated at least two weeks before traveling to Korea. It also applies only to those who have received a COVID-19 vaccine that is approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization. The list includes those from Pfizer, Janssen, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Covishield. All international arrivals still have to show a negative result from a COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of departing for Korea. Without one, you can still be refused entry.
- The exemption also only applies to those visiting Korea for business or academic purposes, for the public interest or to visit immediate family members. Otherwise, you still have to self-quarantine for two weeks upon entry. Immediate family members are defined as spouses, lineal ascendants or descendants, and lineal ascendants or descendants of spouses. You will have to fill out forms and prove your intent to visit them. The necessary forms are available online from Korean embassies and consulates abroad or other government agencies.
- Those coming from countries experiencing the spread of certain COVID-19 variants are also ineligible for this exemption. As of June, those countries were South Africa, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Suriname, Paraguay and Chile. The list could change depending on the global situation.
- Resources: http://ncov.mohw.go.kr/en/.
- Staff Contact: Joseph Gatewood (jgatewood@advamed.org).
ASEAN
Cases
- ASEAN now has 6,436,819 reported cases and 124,590 reported deaths compared to 5,846,738 reported cases and 111,498 reported last week.
- ASEAN remains in the midst of a sharp spike in cases and deaths. The number of new cases last week set a record for the tenth week in a row.
- Indonesia: Indonesia is the new epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. It had the highest number of new infections in the world last week, although the number was down slightly from the record it set the previous week. Authorities plan to increase hospital capacity by 40% in Jakarta, while hotels will be converted into isolation centers. The government announced an extension of social restrictions through July 25. These include tighter restrictions on movement and air travel, the closure of malls, a work-from-home policy for non-essential workers, reduced public transportation capacity, and requirements for vaccines or COVID-19 tests for domestic air travelers. Indonesia is now reporting 3,033,339 total cases and 79,032 total deaths compared to 2,726,803 total cases and 70,192 total deaths the previous week. Indonesia accounts for 63% of total deaths in ASEAN since the start of the pandemic.
- Malaysia: Malaysia has extended its nationwide lockdown indefinitely amid a continuing high caseload. Only essential businesses, such as supermarkets and medical clinics, may operate. Schools and shopping malls are closed and only two people per household may venture out to buy essentials or for medical services, with movement limited to a 10km radius. Reported cases have grown from 880,782 to 964,918 over the past week. Total deaths have grown from 6,613 to 7,574 over that timeframe.
- Thailand: The number of cases reported by Thailand has grown more than 15-fold since April 1. The country is experiencing new daily records of COVID fatalities, and beds designated for patients in critical condition at all state-run hospitals in Bangkok are now fully occupied with COVID-19 infected patients. Thailand is converting several airport terminals into field hospitals. The country has extended its nationwide state of emergency until the end of September. Restaurants, markets, convenience stores, and public transit will operate with shortened hours of operation, and shopping malls will close except for certain essential tenants such as supermarkets, banks, pharmacies, and eateries. Private and public sector workers are being encouraged to work from home. Reported cases grew from 372,215 to 453,132 over the past week and reported deaths have increased from 3,032 to 3,697 over that time.
- Philippines: The Philippines is now reporting 1,530,226 total cases, up from 1,490,665 total cases last week. Total reported deaths have increased from 26,314 to 26,891 over that time.
- Cambodia: The number of reported cases has grown more than 28-fold in Cambodia since April 1. Reported cases increased from 63,615 to 69,608 over the past week. Reported deaths grew from 986 to 1,168 over that period.
- Vietnam: Vietnam is experiencing a major surge in cases, with the number of total cases nearly doubling over the past week and the number of deaths rising sharply. Ho Chi Minh City is the new epicenter of the fourth COVID-19 wave. It has suspended dozens of daily flights and announced strict curbs on movement and gatherings for 15 days that went into effect on July 9. Hanoi has also imposed movement restrictions and suspended non-essential businesses and services amid the rising COVID-19 threat. The number of reported cases has grown over 27-fold since April 1. Cases of COVID-19 infection grew from 38,239 to 71,144 over the past week. The total number of deaths grew from 138 to 371.
- Singapore: Singapore is tightening COVID restrictions from July 22 through August 18 following an increase in new cases. Multiple clusters have emerged around karaoke lounges, wet markets, and food centers. Dining in restaurants is banned and gatherings are limited to two people. Working from home remains the default. Reported cases increased from 62,804 to 63,621 over the past week. The total number of deaths increased remained at 36.
- Laos: Laos reported a significant growth in total cases from 2,976 to 3,863 over the past week. It has reported 5 deaths from COVID since the outset of the pandemic, including 2 in the past week.
Vaccinations
- Indonesia authorized the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use on July 15. It will be given to Indonesians aged 12 years and up. The country is currently in the second stage of vaccinations following the vaccination of medical workers in the first stage. It reportedly has 76 million doses of the vaccine on hand. It has been administering the Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines. Only 6% of the population is fully vaccinated.
- 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. President Jokowi has set a target of finishing the vaccination process within this year.
- Malaysia announced that it will stop using China’s Sinovac vaccine in favor of the Pfizer shot. The country approved both AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines for emergency use on March 2 after previously approving the Pfizer vaccine. It has granted conditional approval to the J&J vaccine manufactured in Belgium, and on July 16 it granted conditional approval for emergency use to the Sinopharm vaccine. 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. So far, it has fully vaccinated 15% of its population. One million doses of the Pfizer vaccine donated by the U.S. arrived in Malaysia on July 5.
- 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 fewer than one third of Filipinos are willing to be vaccinated due to fears of the potential side effects. Currently, only 4.4% of the population is fully vaccinated.
- Singapore is on track for two-thirds of its population to have received their first vaccine dose by early July and aims to have two-thirds fully vaccinated by August 9. Currently, 49% of the population is fully vaccinated.
- Thailand began a mass vaccination program using the AstraZeneca vaccine on June 7. Currently, 5% of its citizens have been fully vaccinated. Thailand has granted emergency use authorization for the Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac vaccines, although only the latter two are actually available. Thailand announced it is on track to receive six million AstraZeneca vaccine doses this month.
- Thailand's Food and Drug Administration has approved Siam Bioscience as a manufacturing facility for the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine. Thailand plans to export the vaccines to eight Southeast Asian countries.
- Vietnam’s health ministry said the country will have nearly 125 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines this year. The total includes 5 million doses from Moderna, 20 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, and 31 million doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer. Vietnam will also acquire 30 million AstraZeneca doses and 38.9 million doses through the Covax initiative. The U.S. shipped 2 million doses of the Moderna vaccine to Vietnam in July. The country has fully vaccinated less than 1% of its population to date. Meanwhile, a Vietnamese pharmaceutical company has begun second phase trials on a coronavirus vaccine.
- Cambodia has fully vaccinated 26% of the population, making it the second-highest country with total inoculation in Southeast Asia, after Singapore.
Travel
- Singapore has suspended its Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) arrangements with Malaysia, Germany, South Korea, and Brunei due to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. The move does not affect Singapore’s Periodic Commuting Arrangement with Malaysia, which includes longer-term workers and business travel.
- Singapore and Hong Kong agreed to postpone their travel bubble that had been scheduled to start May 26 due to an outbreak of cases in Singapore.
- Indonesia has closed its border to foreign nationals to mitigate the increased spread of COVID-19. The 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.
- Thailand’s Prime Minister announced in mid-June his goal of fully opening the country to foreign visitors within 120 days to pave the way for economic recovery. As of April, Thailand reduced 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 temporarily restricted the entry of foreigners and overseas Vietnamese to focus on COVID-19 preventative measures. It has also increased the quarantine period for incoming travelers and close contacts of confirmed cases to 21 days.
- Staff Contact: Phil Agress (PAgress@AdvaMed.org)
Europe
- The story in Europe this week is again persistently high levels of daily cases that are being seen in the UK, Russia and Spain. France appears to be trending in the wrong direction as well. Italy, Germany and Belgium are doing comparatively better. Daily fatalities in the UK have significantly increased from prior weeks. Russia daily fatalities continue to spike.
- Increases in new cases per day (New Daily Cases) tend to benchmark increasing COVID incidence. We’ve put the new daily case numbers in the chart below. Additionally, here are the current figures with (two weeks) prior figures in parentheses. France 21,539 (8,875); Spain 30,587 (26,390); Russia 23,704 (23,827); UK 43,907 (42,081), Italy 4,253 (2,171); Germany 1,580 (1,629); and Belgium 1,467 (1,303).
- In terms of total cases, see chart below for the specific numbers. Russia is now ahead of France. UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Ukraine Netherlands and Czech Republic round out the top 10 countries with the largest number of total cases in Europe.
- In terms of cases per million in Europe, Czech Republic remains 3rd highest in Europe with 155,798, but the rate of increase appears to be slowing. Sweden is 8th with 107,849. Belgium is 12th with 95,225, France is 14th with 90,356. Spain is 15th with 90,215, Italy is 28th with 70,848, and the UK is 20th with 81,487.
- Russia's reported numbers on COVID remain problematic at over 6 million. Russia remains in the lead for for most COVID cases in Europe. However, Russia reports one of the lowest death rates in the world at just 1,032 per million. By comparison, Germany, with more than 2 million fewer cases, reports 91,953 deaths and a death rate of 1,0924per million.
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