Coronavirus digest: France backs one jab for COVID survivors

French citizens who have already been infected with the coronavirus will only require one dose of the vaccine because their body will retain immunity memory, according to the country's Public Health Department.

The authority said the jab should come at least three months after infection, but preferably six.

So far, some 2.2 million people in France have been vaccinated on one occasion, with roughly 600,000 more having received both doses, according to the Health Ministry.

Most of thevaccines on offer currently only gain full functionality after two doses.

Europe

Polish ski resorts have reported a rush in bookings, especially in the snow-covered High Tatras in the south of the country.

The government lifted some restrictions for a two-week test period on February 12 to
allow for some winter tourism after reaching a "fragile stabilization" in the number of new corona infections.

The head of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control has warned that the coronavirus could last indefinitely.

Andrea Ammon told AFP the virus "seems very well adapted to humans" and may require experts to tweak vaccines over time, as is the case with the seasonal flu. "So we should be prepared that it will remain with us."

Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) plans to fast track vaccines that are modified to protect against new variants of the coronavirus, the head of the agency's COVID-19 task-force told news agency Reuters.

Marco Cavaleri said there should be no need for large-scale trials like those required to assess the earlier vaccines, since tweaks for new variants can be tested on smaller groups.

Chancellor Angela Merkel admitted the slow start to the vaccine campaign in Germany has been a "disappointment" but said that vaccination centers will soon be "at full capacity." She has also urged caution over the country's lockdown to stave off the threat of new variants.

The "R" number in the UK, which measures the reproduction rates of the coronavirus, has dropped below 1 for the first time since July, increasing hopes that Britain's lockdown could be eased next month.

Estimates have shown that the "R" number is now between 0.7 and 0.9, slightly down on last week's estimate.

Meanwhile, the University of Oxford in the UK plans to test its COVID-19 vaccine in children for the first time.

The trial announced Saturday seeks to recruit 300 volunteers between the ages of 6 and 17, with up to 240 receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and the remainder a control meningitis vaccine.

In Italy, the regions of Abruzzo, Liguria, Tuscany, and the autonomous province of Trentino are to be placed in the medium-risk "orange" category from Sunday, meaning that bars, restaurants and museums will be shut in those parts of the country.

Outgoing Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has also renewed a ban on traveling between regions that had been due to expire on Monday, until February 25.

Asia

Two 11-week-old white tiger cubs that died in a Pakistani zoo last month appear to have died of COVID-19, officials said.

Initially, officials thought the cause was feline panleukopenia virus, a more common disease among Pakistan's big cat population.

But an autopsy found the cubs' lungs were badly damaged and they were suffering from severe infection.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has warned of a COVID-19 "fourth wave" as cases in some cities in the southwestern province of Khuzestan rise again.

The country of more than 80 million people was hit hardest in the Middle East region. It has lost close to 59,000 lives out of more than 1.5 million infections.

Chinese authorities have refused to give World Health Organization (WHO) experts data on early coronavirus cases that could help them determine how and when the novel virus first emerged, US daily the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing WHO investigators.

WHO investigators are currently on a fact-finding mission in China to help unearth details on how the virus began to spread.

Americas

Peru has reported a record number of hospitalized COVID-19 cases amid a second wave.

In the past 24 hours, 213 new admissions were reported, bringing the total to 14,333. The number of cases and deaths has quadrupled from their level at the end of December, the health ministry said.

A day earlier, Peru's health minister stepped down amid allegations that former president Martin Vizcarra was inoculated before the vaccine was available to the public.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has suggested schools reopen as soon as possible, albeit with strict new guidelines in place.

The strategy emphasizes universal masking, hand washing and disinfection, as well as contact tracing.

mvb, jsi/rc (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)