COVID digest: J&J vaccine effective against delta variant

Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine works effectively against the delta variant that now dominates new infections in South Africa, the head of the country's Medical Research Council said on Friday.

As well as South Africa, delta is now rife across Europe, and has spread around the world since initially being identified in India, but data shows the J&J shot can help combat the highly contagious variant.

"All the data that we see indicate good immediate and sustained immune response against Delta, and we see surprising durability in the immune response for the single dose J&J right up to eight months," Glenda Gray told a news conference.

On Thursday, J&J said its vaccine generated strong and persistent activity against other prevalent coronavirus variants, not just delta. 

The vaccine showed 85% efficacy, and could prevent serious illness and hospitalization. 

"Current data for the eight months studied so far shows that the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generates a strong neutralizing antibody response that does not wane; rather, we observe an improvement over time," said a company statement. 

Here's a rundown of other major coronavirus developments around the world.

Europe

German Health Minister Jens Spahn urged people to get fully vaccinated in order to contain the spread of the delta variant.

Data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) suggested that the delta variant now made up  around half the cases in Germany. "It's up to us whether delta gets a chance," said Spahn. 

Authorities from Germany's vaccine committee have advised people who got the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to mix it up with a second dose of the BioNTech-Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for better protection. 

The committee said studies showed the immune response was "clearly superior" when an AstraZeneca shot is combined with a second mRNA vaccine. 

Meanwhile, the RKI on Friday said the number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Germany had increased by 649 while the death toll from the virus had risen by 69. The seven-day nationwide incidence rate is now at 5.0.

Russia on Friday registered a record number of pandemic-related deaths over a 24-four period for the fourth consecutive day, a government tally showed. A total of 679 fatalities were registered in relation to the virus.

The fifth worst-hit country in the world, Russia is battling a surging outbreak due to the highly infectious delta variannt, worsened by a lagging vaccination drive, with Russians seemingly reluctant to take a shot despite a recent push from President Vladimir Putin for citizens to get inoculated.

Denmark donated 1 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses to the Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia.

"The Western Balkans are part of our neighborhood and we have a great common interest in standing together, including in the fight against the pandemic," said Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod. 

Italian authorities told fans of the England football team to provide proof of having completed five days of quarantine since arriving from the UK. Barring this, they will not be allowed to enter the Stadio Olimpico for the European Championship quarterfinal match against Ukraine on Saturday.

Italian authorities directed UEFA to block the sale and transfer of tickets from Thursday night, and cancel tickets sold to UK residents.

The Portuguese government has put curfews in place for coronavirus hotspots, as the country is battling its worst wave since the beginning of the pandemic. The curfew will take effect from Friday and put restrictions on movement from 11 pm to 5 am.

 

Americas

The White House announced plans to send special teams to hotspots around the US in order to combat the highly infectious delta variant. While the vaccination campaign has helped in containing the spread, the variant is posing a risk in regions with low vaccination rates. 

The White House said  "surge response" teams would be ready to speed additional testing supplies and therapeutics in these areas. 

US President Joe Biden could not complete his vaccination goal of delivering 80 million doses of vaccine to the rest of the world by the end of June. The US was expected to ship excess doses to more than 50 countries, but has managed to send less than 24 million doses to 10 countries, according to a tally by the Associated Press.  

The reason for this failure is being cited as logistical and bureaucratic issues, rather than a lack of doses.

Asia Pacific

Tokyo Olympics organizers have decided to hold the Olympics without spectators after Japan's Prime Minister called a state of emergency in the city. 

"We had no other choice," said event organizing chief Seiko Hashimoto on Thursday, after originally hoping the venues could be at least half full with domestic sports fans.

South Korea has reported the highest daily count in six months, with a tally of 800 cases on Thursday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said about 81% of the 765 locally transmitted cases came from the capital Seoul and its surrounding regions.

Restrictions in these areas, which were supposed to eased this month, have been extended for another week till July 7.

Australia plans to halve commercial passenger arrivals, reducing its cap on people coming into the country from 6,000 passengers a week to 3,000 by July 14.

The move was made to reduce pressure on hotel quarantine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said after a meeting with state and territory leaders.

Most recent virus outbreaks in Australia have been traced to leaks in hotel isolation.

Africa

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the virus is spreading at a record rate in the African continent, fueled by the delta variant. Numbers have been rising for six weeks, coming up to almost 202,000 in the past week. 

"The rampant spread of more contagious variants pushes the threat to Africa up to a whole new level. More transmission means more serious illness and more deaths, so everyone must act now and boost prevention measures to stop an emergency becoming a tragedy," said Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO's regional director for Africa. 

Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who is responsible for DR Congo's COVID response, said the delta variant was spreading fast, as hospitals and morgues were struggling to cope. 

"Our hospitals are overwhelmed, the morgues are overflowing, many politicians and university professors have been infected with the virus, and many have died," he said in an online press conference. He warned of a 'catastrophe', as the delta variant accounted for 84% of the infections.

jsi, tg/aw (dpa, AFP, AP, Reuters)