International COVID-19 Megathread

[President Johnson]

https://twitter.com/dw_business/status/1391670925460922368

[President Johnson]

Numbers in Germany continue to decline. Yesterday, another record was reached with over 1.3 million shots in arms.

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1393238425101168643

[President Johnson]

The positive trend continues worldwide. However, India is stilla huge troublespot and its variant is surging in the UK. Consequently, Germany has de facto suspended travel with Britain again.

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1396156150433845251

[President Johnson]

Reports of an attempted disinformation campaign on Biontech/Pfizer vaccine surfaced these days. Apparently, influencers on social media were offered payments for spreading disinformation about this vaccine, especially in France. Some links point to Russia.

https://twitter.com/Dobrindt1/status/1397589773326462977

[President Johnson]

Positive trend continues.

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1397963017371930629

[President Johnson]

Good news from the UK:

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1399795631980376064

[President Johnson]

Great news:

https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1402699538578747396

[President Johnson]

Some not so great news from the vaccine front: German CureVac, based in Tübingen (just few miles from where I live), was one of the earliest Biotech companies to do coronavirus vaccine research. Back in the spring and summer 2020 it seemed so promising that the EU preordered millions of doses and the German federal government invested millions of Euros. Now a study revealed their vaccine candidate is not that effective and unlikely to be approved by the EMA. CureVac wants to continue research, but they're out for the foreseeable future.

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1405800197670637570

[President Johnson]

Yet another revealation: It's plain obvious the Chinese Communist Party was engaged in a coverup in the early days of the pandemic.

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1408447391494193154

[President Johnson]

Spread of delta variant in Germany week by week:



In the week 14.06.2021 - 20.06.2021 the delta variant made up 37% of new infections, more than doubling week on week. So it is almost certainly the dominant variant now and means that the trajectory is following the UK by about 4 week delay. That does not necessarily have to be a problem, because the Vaccination program should be just as advanced by then, but it is a bigger problem with other European countries that have much higher vaccine hesitancy, especially in Eastern Europe (such as Romania, where less than 25% of the population have had the first dose but nobody can be found anymore to take the vaccine) but also France.

It's going to be 100% by the end of July with that pace. We may prevent another larger wave since numbers are currently way down and have not increased despite Delta increasing its share very rapidly. It's important people get their full vacination to keep it under control.

[President Johnson]

Yeah, that's totally appropriate with 200 per 100k seven-day incidence. BoJo's flip flopping on Covid policy has always been a hot mess.

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1412115057719189517

[President Johnson]

We're already planning for booster shots in September here.

Are they going to use an updated version, or just the same one three times?
I know Moderna has already started studies into that and has found promising results.

I thought booster shots will only be for elderly people, whose immune system is weaker and who were vaccinated earlier than others. At least that's what they've been saying here.

Biontech also said they could "update" their vaccine within weeks if new variants manage to escape the current vaccine. However, so far they don't see valid data that makes it necessary so far.

[President Johnson]

Germany again has declared Spain a "risk area" due to rising infection rates, which means the foreign ministry advises against travel. Practically it hasn't much of an impact, as you already need a negative test for returning to Germany unless you're vaccinated or immunized through infection. However, it raises concerns in the tourism industry, especially as Spain heavily depends on tourism.

I just hope nothing changes in or about Greece now as we booked a vacation on Rhodes in just ten days. Greece already has closed most nightclubs as several infectins among younger people were reported recently.

[President Johnson]

Numbers in the Netherlands is are rising very fast and even in Germany the seven day incidence is slowly on the rise again as a result of Delta. Popular European vacation destination like Spain and Greece report major increases as well, mainly among youngsters. Young people not vaccinated yet are the main driver of recent spikes all across Europe. But to be honest, I can understand them having a desire to get out in nightclubs after a year of lockdowns.

Also, this was just a matter of time:

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1416043191325757443

Our Greece vacation next week is still on regular schedule and as Covid recovered I don't need to do a test for either getting there or returning.

[President Johnson]

54,674 new infections reported in the UK today. That's... something.

[President Johnson]

54,674 new infections reported in the UK today. That's... something.

That's... totally irrelevant.

As long as the healthcare system is not at risk of collapse, and most people aren't dying (especially younger ones), no one should care.

Same reason we don't panic about influenza cases. Not a high risk to the system, and not many deaths.

Still tells you more vaccinations are necessary. So many cases will undoubtly result into several Long Covid diagnosis in the future, especially among young adults and childiren. That's at least problematic for folks who didn't have the chance for vaccination yet (those who refused at least make decision for themselves and take the risk). Furthermore, more infections increase the risk for new variants emerging that are potentially more dangerous. That's also why the virus must be supressed globally.

The current situation is not comparable to last year, I agree. But it's still worrisome. It's still not a good idea to let it run through.

[President Johnson]

Germany goes to more strict rules for travelers; also quick Covid tests won't be free for unvacccinated very soon anymore.

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1421693170241376259

[President Johnson]

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1422233316871348224

[President Johnson]

I support these decisions.

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1425143404745437188

[President Johnson]

Germany crossed four million cases lately, and the vaccination campaign is losing steam due to a lack of will among a certain segment of society.

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1434473586178285569

[President Johnson]

CureVac early started as a favorite for a Covil vaccine and even the German government invested millions of euros into the Tübingen-based company. After studies found their vaccine only 47% effective, approval application been withdrawn now. However, a spokesman said the company wants to continue working on a "second generation vaccine."

https://twitter.com/carlzimmer/status/1447914549538136065

[President Johnson]

Putin announced a work-free week from October 30 to bring down infection rates.

It's actually stunning the vaccination rate is Russia is that low despite the government's pressure to get vaccinated. I wonder why there is so much hesitancy there? You would expect more people follow the call of an autocratic leader.

[President Johnson]

I thought the Pfizer vaccine (also used on many Brits, of course) has a shorter "shelf life" than AZ?

IIRC, it was harder to transport and store than AZ. That may have changed.

Yes, that has indeed changed for Biontech/Pfizer. Storage at -70C° was recommended until early summer. Now it's being said normal fridge temperature is enough for storage up to one month.

[President Johnson]

Almost all patients are unvaccinated and medical personell increasingly gets frustrated over them. I can absolutely understand them.

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1453750907070517259

[President Johnson]

Germany has broken a record as nearly 34k cases were reported today. The most on record so far. Meanwhile, a poll found that 57% are in favor of a general vaccine mandate, only 39% oppose. And 79% support a mandate for medical personell.

Hospitals on Romina are overloaded in a new wave of infections recently, and some ICU patients were rushed to Germany.

Meanwhile, Russia is reporting a new record of deaths: 1195 passed away yesterday. Russia has a low vaccine rate at just around 35%, mainly due to vaccine hesitancy.