UK sending poor countries ‘to back of queue’ by ordering boosters – as it happened

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Fully vaccinated people in England will no longer be legally required to self-isolate upon contact with a positive Covid case from Monday, and will instead be advised to take a PCR test – in a marked shift from rules that have led to more than 14m instructions to stay at home.

Ministers have confirmed that the legal requirement to isolate will be replaced with non-binding advice to take a test for the double-jabbed, as well as those 18 and under. And those who do come into contact with the infected will not be told to isolate while waiting for their results. For people who do test positive, isolation will continue.

The health secretary, Sajid Javid, said on Wednesday night that the government was able to go ahead with the decision to exempt the fully vaccinated from isolation rules on Monday 16 August, as planned, because “getting two doses of a vaccine has tipped the odds in our favour and allowed us to safely reclaim our lost freedoms”.

My colleague Andrew Sparrow’s report is here:

Two US companies, Pfizer and Moderna, have raised the prices of their Covid-19 vaccines after data from clinical trials showed their mRNA formula was more effective than cheaper vaccines from Britain’s AstraZeneca and the American drugs maker Johnson & Johnson.

AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have pledged to provide their doses on a not-for-profit basis until the pandemic ends.

Here is a breakdown from Julia Kollewe of the contracts, prices and profits for the makers of each jab:

Although extremely rare, a blood clot syndrome after the first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine carries a high risk of death and can occur in otherwise young and healthy people, UK researchers have found.

In those aged under 50, blood clots occur in around one in 50,000 people who have received the vaccine, data suggests.

Researchers examined the symptoms, signs and outcomes in 220 confirmed and probable cases who presented in UK hospitals between 22 March and 6 June.

“It’s important to stress that this kind of reaction to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is very rare,” said Dr Sue Pavord, consultant haematologist at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and lead author of the analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

But for those who do develop blood clots, the results “can be devastating,” she added. “It often affects young, otherwise healthy vaccine recipients and has high mortality. It is particularly dangerous when the patient has a low platelet count and bleeding in the brain.”

More on this story here:

Canada is working to create a digital vaccine passport that would allow citizens to travel abroad and it should be available in the next few months, government officials said on Wednesday.

Before the passport can be created Ottawa needs to agree on a common approach with the 10 provinces and three northern territories, which are responsible for inoculations against Covid-19.

It “is a key step forward in ensuring Canadians will have the documents they need once it is safe to travel again,” the immigration minister Marco Mendicino told reporters.

The European Union has a vaccine passport system that allows people to travel freely within the region. A number of other countries are working on vaccine passports for both domestic use and international travel.

Canada has one of the best inoculation records in the world. As of 31 July, 81% people aged 12 and over had received one shot and 68% had been given two.

A looming crisis of children suffering abuse, neglect and poverty has been exposed, with growing numbers of young people taken into care in some of England’s most deprived communities during the pandemic.

A Guardian investigation into the state of children’s services in the last 18 months has revealed a sharp rise in social services referrals during lockdown, plus spiralling costs for mental health support and a bulging backlog in the family courts, with some councils buckling under the weight of the extra work brought by Covid.

Some local authorities are expected to overspend by up to £12m on children’s services this year, and leaders say they are “down to brass tacks” as they struggle to deal with the increase in demand.

Self-isolation and home schooling has placed families under increased financial pressure through unemployment or lost wages, as well as inflaming mental health problems and addiction problems. Successive lockdowns have increased domestic violence and allowed safeguarding concerns for children and young people to go undetected, because schools and some childcare settings were forced to close.

Research and interviews with directors of children’s services across England have found:

• In Middlesbrough, the most income-deprived local authority in England, there has been a 40% rise in children referred to social services in the last year.
• Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, ranked 15th on the government’s index of multiple deprivation, received 420 referrals to children’s social care in July this year, 35% more than in July 2019, when there were 310. The town also saw a 35% increase in families at its early help and safeguarding hub, with 1,310 contacts this July.
• In Hull, there has been a 19% increase in “troubled families” needing extra support in the last year while the number of children in care has risen 9%. A shortage of foster carers meant 55 looked-after children in the city moved between seven or more placements between June 2020 and June 2021.
• Knowsley, in Merseyside, the second most income-deprived local authority in England, last year had a 26% increase in the number of domestic abuse notifications and the number of children and young people identified as being criminally exploited.
• In London, there has been a shortage of 500 foster places, forcing councils to compete for placements from private firms, which charge double the local authority rate.

Helen Pidd and Georgina Quach’s full report is here:

McDonald’s Corp will require US-based office workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing an internal memo.

The requirement does not apply to employees of McDonald’s restaurants, whether corporate-owned and franchised, the report added.

The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Earlier in August, the company had said that all customers and staff will need to start wearing masks again inside its US restaurants in areas with high or substantial transmission, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged all pregnant women to get a Covid vaccine as hospitals in hot spots around the US see disturbing numbers of unvaccinated mothers-to-be seriously ill with the virus.

Expectant women run a higher higher risk of severe illness and pregnancy complications from the coronavirus, including perhaps miscarriages and stillbirths. But their vaccination rates are low, with only about 23% having received at least one dose, according to CDC data.

“The vaccines are safe and effective, and it has never been more urgent to increase vaccinations as we face the highly transmissible delta variant and see severe outcomes from Covid-19 among unvaccinated pregnant people,’’ CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky said in a statement.

The updated guidance comes after a CDC analysis of new safety data on 2,500 women showed no increased risks of miscarriage for those who received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine before 20 weeks of pregnancy. The analysis found a miscarriage rate of around 13%, within the normal range.

The CDC’s advice echoes recent recommendations from top obstetrician groups. The agency had previously encouraged pregnant women to consider vaccination but had stopped short of a full recommendation. The new advice also applies to nursing mothers and women planning to get pregnant.

Although pregnant women were not included in studies that led to authorisation of Covid-19 vaccines, experts say real-world experience in tens of thousands of women shows that the shots are safe for them and that when given during pregnancy may offer some protection to newborns.

The full story is here:

Turkey will start face-to-face education as scheduled, the health minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday, and unvaccinated adults will have to be tested regularly against Covid.

“It is not possible for us to compromise face-to-face education ... We will take necessary measures to protect students and their families,” Koca said in a speech following the coronavirus science council meeting.

Vaccination is a duty that cannot be left up to choice anymore Koca added. He said the teachers, instructors and families of the students should be vaccinated.

“Vaccine should be a must for business and education to continue, the people who are not vaccinated should present negative PCR test results regularly,” Koca said.

Daily cases have surged from a low of just over 4,000 in early July to over 20,000 for the last two weeks, since authorities relaxed pandemic-related restrictions.

As of Wednesday, half of Turkish adults have received at least two doses of a vaccine, Koca said on Twitter. Turkey has given nearly 6 million third doses to health workers and people over 50 years old.

The country plans to open schools in September.

Good evening from London, I’m Lucy Campbell. I’ll be bringing you all the latest global developments on the coronavirus pandemic for the next few hours. Please feel free to get in touch with me as I work if you have a story or tips to share! Your thoughts are always welcome.

Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.com
Twitter: @lucy_campbell_

• The UK is sending low- and middle-income countries who are struggling to access vaccines “to the back of the queue” by ordering millions of “overpriced” booster jabs from Pfizer, according to vaccine equity campaigners from Global Justice Now. They criticised the pharmaceutical giant for “profiteering” during the pandemic as the company reportedly increased Covid-19 vaccine prices for the NHS by a fifth.

• A UK government scientific adviser has said Covid is unlikely to be eradicated entirely because there is no vaccine that is 95% protective against infection. Prof Andrew Hayward also said that Covid would likely continue to mutate, meaning true herd immunity was even further unlikely. “We need to get used to the concept that this will become what we call an endemic disease,” he said.

• Iran’s supreme leader has said the pandemic is the country’s “No 1 problem” and must urgently be curbed, calling for greater efforts to import and produce vaccines. “The pandemic is Iran’s number-one problem today ... The number of infected people and the fatalities are truly tragic. ... It is an urgent matter that must be curbed,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.
  

• Europe’s drugs regulator said it is looking into three new conditions to assess whether they may be possible side-effects related to Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna following a small number of cases. Erythema multiforme, a form of allergic skin reaction, and glomerulonephritis and nephrotic syndrome, disorders related to kidneys, are being studied.

• A new US practice of transferring asylum-seekers and migrants expelled under public health orders by plane to southern Mexico contravenes international law, the UN refugee agency said. Those expelled may have urgent protection needs and risk being sent back to the dangers they have fled without any opportunity to have their needs assessed and addressed, it said.

• Thai police fired water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters in Bangkok for a second consecutive day as demonstrators rallied against the government and its handling of the coronavirus crisis. Hundreds sought to rally near the residence of the prime minister to demand his resignation for government corruption and mismanagement of the pandemic, but they were violently dispersed after throwing paint.

• China’s drug regulator approved the country’s first mixed-vaccine trial, a company involved in the study has said, amid concern about the efficacy of domestically produced jabs. The trial will test the efficacy of combining an “inactivated” vaccine made by China’s Sinovac with a DNA-based one developed by US pharmaceutical company Inovio.

• Chinese state media articles quoted a Swiss biologist accusing the US of politicising Covid origin investigations were quietly deleted, after the Swiss government said no such person exists. On 24 July, a Facebook post by an account named Wilson Edwards claimed to have witnessed or learned of US efforts to politicise the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 investigations from within.

• A video of the Republican senator Rand Paul disputing the effectiveness of wearing masks was removed from YouTube. Its policy is to ban videos that claim masks do not play a role in preventing the contraction or transmission of Covid is based on the guidance of the World Health Organization – which u-turned last year after initially refraining from recommending people wear face masks in public.

• Authorities in northern Germany have appealed to thousands of people to get another shot of Covid vaccine after a police investigation found a Red Cross nurse may have injected them with a saline solution. The vaccine-sceptic nurse is suspected of injecting salt solution into people’s arms instead of genuine doses.

• The Australian Olympic Committee condemned the South Australian government over its “cruel and uncaring” decision to force athletes who have already quarantined in Sydney to complete an additional 14-day home quarantine on return to the state.

• Stevie Nicks cancelled her solo concerts for 2021, citing her fear of catching Covid-19. The Fleetwood Mac star said: “While I’m vaccinated, at my age I am still being extremely cautious and for that reason have decided to skip the five performances I had planned for 2021 … These are challenging times with challenging decisions that have to be made.”