BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the nation’s 16 governors are extending the nation’s coronavirus lockdown till March 7 amid concern about new virus variants.
The settlement supplies some exceptions, together with permitting hairdressers to reopen on March 1, with hygiene rules.
Germany’s second lockdown started in November and was prolonged and toughened earlier than Christmas attributable to concern that the variety of COVID-19 sufferers may overwhelm hospitals. It was to finish on Sunday.
The weekly variety of new infections has dropped to 68 per 100,000 inhabitants. The federal government’s purpose is beneath 50 to assist with dependable contact tracing. The quantity peaked at practically 200 earlier than Christmas.
On Wednesday, Germany’s Robert Koch Institute reported 8,072 new virus instances and 813 deaths in 24 hours. Germany has registered greater than 63,000 confirmed deaths.
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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
AP ballot: Some US adults skeptical of vaccine, however 67% say they’re going to take it. South Africa to supply 1-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. EXPLAINER: What the WHO coronavirus specialists discovered in Wuhan. Israel’s ultra-Orthodox reject criticism of their virus defiance, say they’re defending their lifestyle. What quarantine is like in Japan and what it’d appear to be for the Tokyo Olympics.
— Comply with AP’s pandemic protection at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Britain’s coronavirus vaccination program is heading in the right direction to offer everybody over 50 the primary of two pictures by the top of April.
Johnson says 13 million folks have had a shot to this point, a few quarter of the grownup inhabitants. Well being authorities goal to succeed in the 15 million folks at biggest danger from COVID-19, together with frontline well being employees and everybody over 70, by Feb. 15.
Johnson praised a World Well being Group advice that the AstraZeneca-Oxford College-vaccine can be utilized in adults of all ages, with a spot of eight to 12 weeks between doses. Some international locations have declined to offer the vaccine to older adults, citing a scarcity of knowledge. Others have questioned the U.Ok.’s resolution to depart a 12-week hole between doses to offer as many individuals as potential the primary shot.
Britain’s coronavirus loss of life toll has reached practically 115,000, the best in Europe.
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MADRID — Spain’s official 14-day charge of coronavirus instances has fallen to 584, from a peak of 900 two weeks in the past.
Well being Minister Carolina Darias says, “We’re on a downward pattern and our information point out that it’s going to proceed.”
However the case charge stays excessive, she says, in comparison with the nation’s purpose of fifty per 100,000 over 14 days.
The well being ministry reported 643 deaths within the earlier 24 hours, rising the confirmed whole to 63,700.
Spain has administered 2.23 million vaccines and practically 890,000 of each doses.
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THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The European Union’s medicines company says it’s growing steering for drug corporations planning to adapt COVID-19 vaccines to fight new variants of the coronavirus.
The European Medicines Company says it has requested all vaccine makers “to analyze if their vaccine can supply safety towards any new variants” corresponding to these recognized in the UK, South Africa and Brazil, and “submit related information.”
The EMA has to this point approved three vaccines to be used within the 27-nation bloc, made by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
The company says that there are issues that a number of the virus mutations “may affect to completely different levels the flexibility of the vaccines to guard towards an infection and illness.”
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ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s well being minister says the nation has reached an settlement to buy one other 50 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by China’s Sinovac firm, bringing the whole quantity to 100 million doses.
Fahrettin Koca says the nation is to obtain at the very least 4.5 million doses developed by Pfizer by the top of March, with an choice to buy an extra 30 million later.
Koca says an settlement has been reached to supply the Russian-developed vaccine Sputnik V in Turkey.
The nation of 83.6 million folks has obtained 15 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, he says.
Turkey is poised to begin administering the second dose of the Sinovac shot on Thursday. Some 2.8 million folks have to this point obtained their first doses.
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NEW YORK — A brand new authorities research finds that carrying two masks may be higher than one in defending towards coronavirus unfold.
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention on Wednesday reported the outcomes of a lab experiment. The researchers discovered that particles have been blocked twice as a lot when two masks have been worn.
The CDC is updating its steering to deal with carrying two masks. It says {that a} material masks worn over a surgical masks can tighten the gaps across the masks’s edges that may let virus particles in.
The researchers discovered that carrying one masks — surgical or material — blocked round 40% of the particles coming in throughout an experiment. When a material masks was worn on prime of a surgical masks, about 80% have been blocked.
Some Individuals have already began doubling up. Consultants consider that’s at the very least partly out of concern about new strains of coronavirus that probably unfold extra simply. The U.S. has registered 2.7 million confirmed instances and greater than 468,000 confirmed deaths, the best numbers on the earth.
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PHOENIX — State officers say Arizona will increase a COVID-19 vaccination web site on the College of Arizona campus in Tucson and convert it right into a state web site with increased capability for administering pictures.
Will probably be the third state web site and the primary in metro Tucson, the place Pima County already has distribution factors. State officers say the brand new state web site can be a partnership between the state, the college and the county.
The transition to the state web site will start with appointments beginning on Feb. 18. Arizona on Wednesday reported 1,997 extra confirmed instances and 176 deaths.
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WASHINGTON — The White Home is saying three new mass vaccination websites in Texas, able to delivering 10,000 pictures per day amongst them.
The federally supported websites at stadiums in Dallas, Arlington and Houston will pair federal troops with native well being officers to increase COVID-19 vaccinations in Texas.
White Home coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients introduced the brand new services on Wednesday, saying they are going to be operational on Feb. 22.
Zients provides the Biden administration has plans to open related websites in additional states within the coming weeks.
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GENEVA — A gaggle of specialists on immunization working with the World Well being Group is recommending the usage of AstraZeneca’s vaccine towards the coronavirus even in international locations which have variants.
It comes after the South African authorities introduced it wouldn’t deploy the AstraZeneca vaccine as extensively as first deliberate out of issues about its effectiveness towards a variant that first emerged within the nation.
The U.N.-backed COVAX Facility, which goals to deploy coronavirus vaccines to folks in want around the globe, hopes to begin transport lots of of thousands and thousands of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine later this month.
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO’s chief scientist, famous the AstraZeneca vaccine requires storage at fridge temperatures — not the far colder temperatures required of the Pfizer vaccines.
To this point, solely Pfizer’s vaccine has obtained the emergency use authorization from WHO, although different international locations and areas have individually approved different vaccines.
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MADRID — Spain will start utilizing the AstraZeneca vaccine for important employees corresponding to police, fireplace fighters and the army.
Vaccine pointers have been revealed Wednesday by Spanish well being authorities. They’re anticipated to be authorised later within the day by regional well being officers for the AstraZeneca pictures and the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The latter two have already got been given to susceptible teams, together with the aged and infirm.
The steering says the AstraZeneca vaccine shouldn’t be given to folks over 55 years or folks with critical sickness, as a result of there is no such thing as a information to point out it really works on them.
In line for the AstraZeneca vaccine are academics and workers at nursery, main and secondary faculties, pharmacies, day facilities for the aged and people who present residence assist for the aged.
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BRUSSELS — The chief of the European Union’s government fee says the 27-nation bloc’s criticized coronavirus vaccine rollout may be partly blamed on the EU being overly optimistic the doses could be delivered on time.
Because the EU’s reported COVID-19 loss of life toll surpassed 500,000 on Wednesday, European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen defended the general strategy of the bloc’s 27 nations working collectively to battle the pandemic. However von der Leyen acknowledged errors within the technique to shortly acquire enough vaccine doses for the bloc’s 447 million residents.
She promised motion to hurry up the vaccine authorization course of following earlier approvals that put the EU three weeks behind Britain in beginning its mass vaccination marketing campaign.
America, with a inhabitants of 330 million, has the world’s highest nationwide loss of life toll within the pandemic with greater than 468,000 deaths.
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LISBON, Portugal — Portugal says COVID-19 hospitalizations, deaths and instances are persevering with their downward pattern after a January surge.
The Well being Ministry says the quantity pandemic sufferers in hospital fell beneath 6,000 for the primary time since Jan. 23.
The 161 deaths within the earlier 24 hours have been the fewest since Jan. 17. The practically 4,400 new infections have been fewer than half the quantity per week in the past.
The nation went into lockdown on Jan. 15 and faculties closed per week later.
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TIRANA, Albania — Albanian authorities toughened virus preventive measures to deal with a latest surge of the day by day infections.
Within the subsequent two weeks, the curfew will take impact from 8 p.m. till 6 a.m., two hours earlier. All bars and eating places ought to shut, aside from supply. Excessive faculties will flip to distant studying.
Albania has seen a big rise within the day by day infections, reaching 1,239 new instances and 16 deaths on Tuesday. 4 virus-related hospitals are reaching their capacities.
The well being ministry registered 87,528 whole confirmed instances and 1,488 confirmed deaths.
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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s minister for planning and improvement says vaccinations will subsequent month for folks 65 and over.
Asad Umar took to twitter saying the registration of individuals on this class will begin subsequent week.
The announcement comes hours after Pakistan reported further 62 deaths from coronavirus and 1,072 new instances previously 24 hours, amid regular decline in confirmed instances.
The event comes lower than two weeks after Pakistan began vaccinating frontline well being employees after it obtained 500,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine.
Pakistan has reported 12,128 confirmed deaths amongst 557,591 instances of the coronavirus previously yr.
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NEW YORK — About 1 in 3 Individuals say they positively or most likely gained’t get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The ballot from The Related Press-NORC Middle for Public Affairs Analysis discovered that whereas 67% of Individuals plan to get vaccinated or have already accomplished so, 15% are sure they gained’t and 17% say most likely not.
Many expressed doubts in regards to the vaccine’s security and effectiveness, though few if any critical unintended effects have turned up greater than a month and a half into the vaccination drive.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s main infectious-disease scientist, has estimated that someplace between 70% and 85% of the U.S. inhabitants must get inoculated to cease the coronavirus, which has killed practically 470,000 Individuals. Extra just lately, he says the unfold of extra contagious variants of the virus will increase the necessity for extra folks to get their pictures — and shortly.
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JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s well being minister says the nation will start administering the unapproved Johnson & Johnson vaccine to its front-line well being employees subsequent week.
The employees can be monitored to see what safety the J&J shot supplies from COVID-19, significantly towards the variant dominant within the nation.
Well being Minister Zweli Mkhize mentioned Wednesday that South Africa scrapped its plans to make use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as a result of it “doesn’t stop gentle to average illness” of the variant dominant in South Africa.
Mkhize asserts that the J&J vaccine, which continues to be being examined internationally, is secure.
He says these pictures can be adopted by a marketing campaign to vaccinate an estimated 40 million folks in South Africa by the top of the yr. The minister mentioned the nation can be utilizing the Pfizer vaccine and others, probably together with the Russian Sputnik V, Chinese language Sinopharm and Moderna vaccines.
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LONDON — Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall have obtained their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
The prince’s Clarence Home workplace says the 72-year-old inheritor to the throne and his spouse, Camilla, 73, obtained the inoculations as a part of the federal government’s drive to supply a primary dose of the vaccine to essentially the most susceptible folks within the inhabitants, together with everybody over 70, by Feb. 15.
Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, obtained their pictures final month.
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