CDC endorses updated COVID boosters, shots to begin soon
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday endorsed updated COIVD-19 boosters, opening the way for a fall vaccination campaign that could blunt a winter surge if enough Americans roll up their sleeves, Associated Press reported.
The new boosters targeting today’s most common omicron strains should begin arriving in pharmacies and clinics within days.
The decision by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky came shortly after the agency’s advisers voted in favor of the recommendation.
The shots “can help restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination and were designed to provide broader protection,” she said in a statement.
The tweaked shots made by Pfizer and rival Moderna offer Americans a chance to get the most up-to-date protection at yet another critical period in the pandemic. They’re combination or “bivalent” shots — half the original vaccine and half protection against the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron versions now causing nearly all COVID-19 infections.
The CDC’s advisers struggled with who should get the new boosters and when because only a similarly tweaked vaccine, not the exact recipe, has been studied in people so far.
But ultimately the panel deemed the updated injections the best option considering the U.S. still is experiencing tens of thousands of COVID-19 cases and about 500 deaths every day — even before an expected new winter wave. “I think they’re going to be an effective tool for disease prevention this fall and into the winter,” said CDC adviser Dr. Matthew Daley of Kaiser Permanente Colorado.
Comparing the tweak that has been studied in people and the one the U.S. actually will use, “it is the same scaffolding, part of the same roof, we’re just putting in some dormers and windows,” said Dr. Sarah Long of Drexel University, according to Associated Press.
The CDC recommendation was the last step before shots can begin. Pfizer said it expected to deliver 3 million doses to vaccination sites around the country by Tuesday.
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 more time passes since someone’s last shot. Since April, hospitalization rates in people over age 65 have jumped, the CDC said.
The updated shots are only for use as a booster, not for someone’s first-ever vaccinations. The Food and Drug Administration cleared Pfizer’s bivalent option 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 CDC said more than 1,400 people have been included in several studies of a prior tweak to the vaccine recipe targeting an earlier omicron strain named BA.1. That omicron-targeting combo shot proved safe and able to rev up virus-fighting antibodies, and European regulators on Thursday recommended using that type of booster, Associated Press reported.
In the U.S., the FDA wanted fall boosters to target the currently circulating omicron strains. Rather than waiting until possibly November for more human studies to be finished, the agency accepted mouse testing that showed the newer tweak sparked a similarly good immune response.
Covid in China: Chengdu lockdown after outbreak
Chengdu has become the latest Chinese city to be locked down as Beijing continues to pursue its controversial "zero-Covid" policy, BBC reported.
Around 21 million people have been ordered to stay indoors, with just one person per household allowed out for essential shopping.
On Thursday, the city recorded 157 new infections, including 51 asymptomatic.
China's Covid policies require cities to enter strict lockdowns - even if just a handful of cases are reported.
However, Beijing's drive to ensure "zero Covid" has been accused of stifling economic growth, and has prompted rare public dissent from citizens.
Chengdu's residents, asked to stay at home from 18:00 local time (10:00 GMT) on Thursday, will all be tested over the coming days, but it was not clear when restrictions would be lifted.
State media also reports that the start of schools' autumn term has been postponed and flights have been grounded, according to BBC.
Other restrictions are currently in force elsewhere in China, including in Shenzhen in the south and Dalian in the north-east.
The country has deployed a range of city-specific Covid prevention measures after the initial wave of the virus hit Wuhan in 2019.
China is the world's last major economy attempting to entirely stamp out Covid outbreaks, claiming this is necessary to prevent wider surges of the virus which could overwhelm hospitals, BBC reported.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant: UN experts make first inspection
UN nuclear experts have made their first inspection of the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia power plant in Ukraine and are to maintain a presence there, BBC reported.
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said the "plant and physical integrity of the plant" had been "violated several times".
The inspectors were accompanied to the plant by Russian soldiers after a risky journey delayed by shelling.
Russia and Ukraine accused each other of trying to sabotage the mission.
Zaporizhzhia, in southern Ukraine, is Europe's largest nuclear plant. It was occupied by Russia soon after it invaded Ukraine in February.
Ukrainian staff who continue to operate the plant say Russian troops have used it as a military base and that workers are in effect held at gunpoint.
"We are not going anywhere. The IAEA is now there, it is at the plant and it is not moving - it's going to stay there," Mr Grossi said, once he had crossed back into Ukrainian-held territory.
But he did not specify how many people would be staying and for how long.
The inspectors hope to assess the state of the plant and talk to Ukrainian workers under Russian control.
Mr Grossi said that battles taking place near the plant were "not going to stop" the inspection.
"There were moments where fire was obvious, heavy machine gun, artillery mortars, at two or three times [it was] really very concerning, I would say, for all of us," he said, according to BBC.
During his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he hoped the inspectors would "draw objective conclusions," but lamented the absence of international journalists among the delegation.
"We have clear evidence that Russia did a lot of cynical things to deceive the mission," he added. "The occupiers forced people to lie to the IAEA representatives - to hand over some papers, sign something, say something."
Meanwhile, Mr Zelensky's chief of staff accused Russia of trying to "wreck" the mission by shelling the nearby town of Enerhodar, which is under Moscow's control, and the facility.
"Criminals must be stopped," Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram, accusing Russia of acting like a "terrorist state".
Russia refuted this, stating that 60 Ukrainian "saboteurs" who attempted to recapture the plant by crossing the river on Thursday morning were killed.
While recent fighting in the area has caused some damage to the plant, so far there has not been any recorded increase in radiation levels in the area.
Around 300, 000 security personnel to be mobilized for upcoming elections
Around 300, 000 security personnel will take up security responsibilities during the elections of the House of Representatives (HoR) and Province Assembly. The government has announced to hold the elections in a single phase and the voting for the twin elections will be taking place on coming November 20. The Nepal Police has planned to mobilize 71, 693 police personnel and 115, 000 temporary police for the elections while the Nepali Army and Armed Police Force are preparing to mobilize 71,000 and 35,000 personnel. Similarly, over 200, 000 will be there in the election from the National Investigation Department. In total, 294, 000 is the tentative number of security forces to be mobilized for the election purposes. However, the number could slightly change in accordance with the election's Central Security Plan according to security officials. It may be noted that the Home Ministry is yet to give a final shape to the election's Central Security Plan.
