Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved a recommendation to end the mandatory wearing of face masks outdoors across the country more than two years after it was imposed at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, top officials said Wednesday.
The Philippines and Myanmar are the last countries in Southeast Asia to ease the compulsory wearing of masks outdoors, Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said. A study showed the lifting of the mandatory requirement in other countries has not led to an alarming upsurge in infections when people continue to take precautions, he said.
He appealed to people to keep maintaining distance and washing hands, and urged the elderly and those afflicted with other illnesses to continue wearing mask outdoors.
Rosario Vergeire, a top health official, said a government body dealing with the pandemic would assess if the compulsory wearing of masks indoors could be lifted toward the end of the year in public areas, which could considerably increase the number of people who would receive their coronavirus booster shots.
The government move came after Mayor Michael Rama of central Cebu City declared the wearing of masks outdoors voluntary in a trial period ending at the end of the year.
Among the hardest hit by coronavirus outbreaks in Southeast Asia, the Philippines imposed one of the longest lockdowns in the world, which caused its worst economic recession in decades and deepened poverty, hunger and unemployment.
India and China have cleared a new approach in COVID-19 vaccination — two needle-free options, one a squirt in the nose and the other inhaled through the mouth.
Regulators in India authorized Bharat Biotech’s nasal version on Tuesday as an option for people who haven’t yet been vaccinated.
“This step will further strengthen our collective fight against the pandemic,” Indian health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Twitter.
It’s not clear how well the nasal version works. Bharat didn’t immediately release results of its studies or say how soon the new option will roll out.
CanSino Biologics announced Sunday that Chinese regulators have approved an inhaled version of the company’s injected COVID-19 vaccine to be used as a booster dose. The company pointed to preliminary results of studies suggesting the inhaled version revved up immune protection after one puff. It’s not clear if that translated to improved effectiveness, or how soon the inhaled booster will be available.
COVID-19 vaccines today are shots, and they’ve saved millions of lives and continue to offer strong protection against severe illness and death, even as more contagious variants of the coronavirus circulate.
But shot-free versions are being explored as a strategy to improve protection against infection, with particular interest in nasal vaccines designed to fend off the virus right where it enters the body. Nearly a dozen possible candidates are in various stages of testing globally, and CanSino’s is one of two inhaled vaccine candidates being developed, according to the World Health Organization.
India’s nasal vaccine was developed by scientists at Washington University in St. Louis and later licensed to Indian vaccine maker Bharat Biotech. The company conducted two trials, giving two doses of the vaccine to 3,100 previously unvaccinated volunteers and as a booster to around 875 volunteers who had received two shots of other COVID-19 vaccines.
Bharat also is seeking clearance for the nasal spray to be used as a booster for the two-thirds of people in India who’ve already been vaccinated.
Bharat’s nasal spray uses a harmless chimpanzee cold virus to deliver a copy of the coronavirus spike protein to the lining of the nose, training the body to react if it encounters the real virus.
CanSino’s inhaled booster uses a similar harmless human cold virus — it’s the company’s one-dose injected vaccine turned into an aerosolized form. The inhaled vaccine was largely tested as a booster for people who had received another Chinese company’s COVID-19 shots.
Ashley St. John, who is an immunologist at the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, said scientists are pursuing nasal and inhaled COVID-19 vaccine options because the immune system has specialized tools to protect different sites in our body in slightly different ways.
“The advantage with nasal vaccines is that it may get rid of the virus before it has a chance to establish itself in the lungs and replicate,” said Dr. Vineeta Bal, an immunologist and professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education Research in Pune city.
The advantages that vaccines sprayed through the mouth have will depend on the size of individual droplets in the spray, Bal added. Large droplets would train defenses in the mouth and parts of the throat, while smaller droplets are expected to travel deeper and reach the lungs.
It also may be easier to administer a squirt in the nose than a shot, especially in low-income countries, said Dr. Michael Diamond of Washington University in St. Louis, who helped create the vaccine licensed to Bharat.
In October 2021, Russia’s Health Ministry allowed early trials of a nasal form of Sputnik V among 500 volunteers, but the status of those trials and the availability of the vaccine remains unclear.
Vaccination rates in India have dipped in the past months with detected cases plateauing. Around 940 million people, or 67% of the population, have received the first two shots, but only 15% of them have received a third booster shot.
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AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
China has locked down 65 million of its citizens under tough COVID-19 restrictions and is discouraging domestic travel during upcoming national holidays.
Most of the 21 million people in the southwestern city of Chengdu are confined to their apartments or residential complexes, while in the eastern port city of Tianjin, classes have ben moved online after 14 new cases were reported, all but two showing no symptoms.
China reported a total of 1,552 new cases on Monday across the nation of 1.4 billion people, the National Health Commission reported.
Despite the relatively low number of infections, authorities have adhered to a “zero-COVID” policy requiring lockdowns, quarantines and the confining of people suspected of being in close contact with any confirmed case.
Sept. 10-12 is China’s mid-autumn festival, the country’s second-most important holiday after the Lunar New Year. The anti-virus measures have taken a major toll on the economy, travel and society in general, but China’s ruling Communist Party says they are necessary to prevent a wider spread of the virus, first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.
The fear of being caught in a lockdown or sent to a quarantine facility for even being in proximity with a person who tested positive has severely constrained people’s work, socializing and travel habits.
In Chengdu, the start of the new school term has been delayed and most residents have been confined to their residential compounds. In all, 33 cities are restricting residents to their homes or compounds, according to state media reports.
Since the outbreak began, China has placed tens of millions of people under lockdowns that have been ruthlessly applied, sometimes preventing residents from obtaining food, health care and basic necessities.
A more-than five-week closure of Shanghai, China’s largest city and key financial hub, upended the local economy, prompted protests and led to an exodus of foreign residents.
John Wherry will wait until later in the fall to consider getting an updated COVID-19 booster. The University of Pennsylvania immunologist knows it’s too soon after his shot late this summer, especially since he’s not at high risk from the virus.
It’s the kind of calculation many Americans will face as booster shots that target currently circulating omicron strains become available to a population with widely varying risks and levels of immunity.
Here are some things to know:
HOW ARE THE NEW BOOSTERS DIFFERENT?
They’re combination or “bivalent” shots that contain half the original vaccine that’s been used since December 2020 and half protection against today’s dominant omicron versions, BA.4 and BA.5. It’s the first update to COVID-19 vaccines ever cleared by the Food and Drug Administration.
WHO’S ELIGIBLE?
Updated shots made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech are authorized for anyone 12 and older, and rival Moderna’s version is for adults. They’re to be used as a booster for anyone who’s already had their primary vaccination series — using shots from any U.S.-cleared company — and regardless of how many boosters they’ve already gotten.
IF I JUST GOT ONE OF THE ORIGINAL BOOSTERS, SHOULD I GET THE NEW KIND RIGHT AWAY?
No. The FDA set the minimum wait time at two months. But advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it’s better to wait longer. Some advise at least three months, another said someone who’s not at high risk might wait as long as six months.
“If you wait a little more time, you get a better immunologic response,” said CDC adviser Dr. Sarah Long of Drexel University.
That’s because someone who recently got a booster already has more virus-fighting antibodies in their bloodstream. Antibodies gradually wane over time, and another shot too soon won’t offer much extra benefit, explained Wherry, who wasn’t involved with the government’s decision-making.
WHAT IF I RECENTLY RECOVERED FROM COVID-19?
It’s still important to get vaccinated even if you’ve already been infected — but timing matters here, too.
The CDC has long told people to defer vaccination until they’ve recovered but also that people may consider waiting for three months after recovering to get a vaccination. And several CDC advisers say waiting the three months is important, both for potentially more benefit from the shot and to reduce chances of a rare side effect, heart inflammation, that sometimes affects teen boys and young men.
HOW MUCH BENEFIT WILL THE NEW BOOSTERS OFFER?
That’s not clear, because tests of this exact recipe have only just begun in people.
The FDA cleared the new boosters based in large part on human studies of a similarly tweaked vaccine that’s just been recommended by regulators in Europe. Those tweaked shots target an earlier omicron strain, BA.1, that circulated last winter, and studies found they revved up people’s virus-fighting antibodies.
With that earlier omicron version now replaced by BA.4 and BA.5, the FDA ordered an additional tweak to the shots — and tests in mice showed they spark an equally good immune response.
There’s no way to know if antibodies produced by an omicron-matched booster might last longer than a few months. But a booster also is supposed to strengthen immune system memory, adding to protection against serious illness from the ever-mutating virus.
HOW DO WE KNOW THEY’RE SAFE?
The basic ingredients used in both omicron-targeting updated vaccines are the same. Testing by Pfizer and Moderna of their BA.1-targeted versions proved safe in human studies and CDC’s advisers concluded the additional small recipe change should be no different.
Flu vaccines are updated every year without human trials.
CAN I GET A NEW COVID-19 BOOSTER AND A FLU SHOT AT THE SAME TIME?
Yes, one in each arm.
WHAT IF I WANT TO WAIT?
People at high risk from COVID-19 are encouraged to get the new booster when they’re due. After all, BA.5 still is spreading widely and hospitalization rates in older adults have increased since spring.
Most Americans eligible for an updated booster have gone at least six months since their last shot, according to the CDC — plenty of time that another shot should trigger a good immune response.
But the original formula still offers good protection against severe illness and death, especially after that all-important first booster. So it’s not uncommon for younger and healthier people to time boosters to take advantage of a shot’s temporary jump in protection against even a mild infection, like Wherry did.
A healthy 51-year-old, Wherry said he postponed the second booster recommended for his age for seven months, until late summer — just before an international trip that he knew would increase his risk from unmasked crowds.
With the updated boosters now rolling out, he plans to evaluate in four or five months — when presumably his antibody level starts waning and he’s planning holiday gatherings, whether he’d benefit from another shot.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Total Doses Distributed = 809,924,135. Total Doses Administered = 610,012,616. Number of People Receiving 1 or More Doses = 262,908,216. Number of People Fully Vaccinated = 224,113,439.
COVID-19 boosters updated to match the newest omicron strains are about to roll out, and government advisers met Thursday to decide who should roll up their sleeves — and when.
The tweaked shots made by Pfizer and rival Moderna promise Americans a chance at their most up-to-date protection at yet another critical period in the pandemic. The U.S. still is experiencing tens of thousands of coronavirus cases and about 500 deaths every day, and those numbers are expected to surge again in the fall.
The Food and Drug Administration authorized the new combination shots, half the original vaccine and half protection against the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron versions now responsible for nearly all COVID-19 infections.
Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began weighing how best to use them. The CDC’s ultimate decision is the final step before shots begin.
It’s important “to simplify our recommendations,” CDC’s Dr. Melinda Wharton cautioned the advisory panel.
The original COVID-19 vaccines still offer strong protection against severe illness and death, especially among younger and healthier people who’ve gotten at least one booster.
But those vaccines were designed to target the virus strain that circulated in early 2020. Effectiveness drops as new mutants emerge and the longer it’s been since someone’s last shot. Since April, hospitalization rates in people over age 65 have jumped, the CDC said.
The new updated shots are only for use as a booster for people who’ve had primary vaccinations regardless of brand or how many booster doses they’ve had until now. Pfizer’s option is for people 12 and older while Moderna’s is for adults only.
A big unknown: Exactly how much benefit people will get from one of those extra shots.
The FDA cleared the updated boosters based largely on clinical trials of prior tweaks to the vaccine recipe, including the companies’ testing of shots targeting an earlier omicron strain that was found safe and able to rev up virus-fighting antibodies. Rather than waiting another few months for more human testing of the BA.5 version, the agency accepted mouse testing showing it also sparked a good immune response.
Before this new booster update, people 50 and older already were urged to get a second booster of the original vaccine — and those who did saw some extra protection especially the longer it had been since their last shot, said CDC’s Dr. Ruth Link-Gelles.
The new combination booster “should provide at least similar or better protection against omicron since it’ll be a better match” to today’s virus strains, she told the panel.
Still, many scientists say to get the maximum benefit, people will need to wait longer between their last vaccination and the new booster than the two months that the FDA set as the minimum.
Waiting four to six months between vaccinations is commonly advised, said virologist Andrew Pekosz of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. If someone already has lots of antibodies in their bloodstream, another shot won’t rev up that many more, essentially wasting it.
“You usually want to space out a vaccine booster,” said Pekosz, who is closely watching where CDC draws that line. “Those recommendations are really going to be critical in terms of how good this vaccine is going to be.”
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
