<p><strong>Covid Daily Update: </strong>India has reported 41,831 new Coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours according to the Health Ministry. </p> <p>The country has registered 541 deaths, and 39,258 recoveries today, and the recovery rate is currently at 97.36%. India's active caseload is currently at 4,10,952. Active cases constitute 1.30% of total cases. Weekly positivity rate remains below 5%, currently at 2.42%. Daily positivity rate at 2.34%, remains below 5%.</p> <h3><strong>Kerala reports over 20k new Covid cases for the 5th day</strong></h3> <p>Ahead of Onam festivities beginning in the state, Kerala Health Minister Veena George has asked people to avoid crowds and if possible, even events, celebrations and visits to relatives to reduce the risk of Covid infection. People should strictly avoid crowds and follow Covid protocols while organising and attending events and celebrations, the Minister said.</p> <div class="FirstEle"> <p>Kerala reported 20,624 new Covid cases and 80 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to health bulletin on Saturday. Presently, the positivity rate stands at 12.31%. The state reported 16,865 recoveries during the same period. With this, the active cases in Kerala has now gone up to 1,64,500.</p> </div> <div class="paywall"> <p>This is the fifth day running when the southern state had registered over 20,000 new cases in a day. On Friday, Kerala had reported 20,772 cases and 116 deaths in a span of 24 hours.</p> <p>Karnataka intensified testing at inter-state borders with Kerala and Maharashtra to prevent surge in Covid cases in the state, said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday.</p> <h3><strong>Maharashtra</strong></h3> <p>Maharashtra on Saturday reported 225 fresh COVID-19 fatalities and 6,959 cases while 7,467 patients recovered, a health official said.</p> <p>With the new additions, the tally of infections in Maharashtra reached 63,03,715 and the death count to 1,32,791. The count of recoveries now stands at 60,90,786, leaving the state with 76,755 active cases, he said.</p> <p>On Saturday, Maharashtra witnessed a marginal rise in fresh coronavirus positive cases compared to Thursday when the state added 6,600 new cases to its tally and 231 fatalities.</p> </div> <p> </p>
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Saturday, July 31, 2021
2 major San Francisco hospitals reported that 233 staff members tested positive for COVID-19
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- More than 200 hospital staff members tested positive for COVID-19 in July.
- Most of those staff members were vaccinated and presented mild to moderate symptoms.
- The Delta variant has also been known to spread among vaccinated people in breakthrough cases.
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Hundreds of staffers at two major hospitals in San Francisco have tested positive for coronavirus in July, with most of them being breakthrough cases of the highly infectious Delta variant, The New York Times reported Saturday evening.
The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center told media outlets that 183 of its 35,000 staffers tested positive. Of those infected, 84% were fully vaccinated, and just two vaccinated staff members required hospitalization for their symptoms.
At Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, at least 50 members out of the total 7,500 hospital staff were infected, with 75-80% of them vaccinated. None of those staffers required hospitalization.
UCSF's chief medical officer, Dr. Lukejohn Day, told The Times the numbers from his hospital showed just how important and effective vaccinations are.
"What we're seeing is very much what the data from the vaccines showed us: You can still get COVID, potentially. But if you do get it, it's not severe at all," Day said.
Day also told ABC7 News that at least 99% of the cases at UCSF were traced back to community spread, but that hospital officials are still investigating and conducting contact tracing.
He added that most of the cases presented mild to moderate symptoms, and some were completely asymptomatic. He said the cases were spread among doctors, nurses, and ancillary staff.
"We sort of are seeing that across the board," he said. "We have so far not detected any patient-to-staff or staff-to-patient transmission right now."
The highly infectious Delta variant has been deemed more transmissible than the viruses that cause the common cold, Ebola, and smallpox, and is equally as contagious as chickenpox, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in internal documents.
The Delta variant has also been known to spread among vaccinated people in breakthrough cases, prompting the agency this week to recommend that even fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors in areas with high transmission rates.
The CDC emphasized that getting vaccinated is still highly beneficial and is a crucial component to combatting the coronavirus - even the Delta variant.
"Getting vaccinated continues to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death, even with Delta," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told media on Tuesday.
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The University of Southern Mississippi is paying tuition and housing for some vaccinated students to encourage them to get the shot
- The University of Southern Mississippi is giving students incentives to get vaccinated.
- Vaccinated students will be randomly selected to win things like fall tuition and housing credits.
- Mississippi has one of the country's lowest vaccination rates and is seeing a surge in COVID-19.
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The University of Southern Mississippi will pay some students in tuition and housing costs if they get vaccinated, the school said in a statement Thursday.
The incentive program is intended to encourage students to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Over the next 12 weeks, five vaccinated students will be randomly selected each week to receive rewards. The items students can win include Fall semester tuition, which costs $4,602; $2,000 in housing credits; and $1,000 in dining credits, among other things.
"The best way for our students to stay healthy, stay connected, and stay in class this fall is by getting a COVID-19 vaccine. I urge all of our students to do their part and get vaccinated for COVID-19 now, if they haven't already done so," Dr. Dee Dee Anderson, USM Vice President for Student Affairs, said in the announcement.
Read more: Don't punish the vaccinated - make it harder to choose to be unvaccinated
Mississippi has one of the lowest vaccination rates of any state, with only 34.5% of its residents fully vaccinated, according to Centers of Disease Control and Prevention data compiled by the Mayo Clinic. Only Alabama has a smaller portion of its residents fully vaccinated.
Mississippi is also seeing a surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations as the Delta variant spreads. Some intensive care units in the state are near capacity, the Clarion Ledger reported.
Some states have offered incentives to getting the vaccine, including vaccine lotteries in states like California and Ohio.
President Joe Biden called on states and local governments this week to pay people $100 to get inoculated.
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The pandemic is worsening mental health for women, middle-aged adults, a new survey finds
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- Mental health challenges have been on the rise during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- A new survey from the University of Michigan has quantified some of the effects.
- Women and US adults ages 50 to 64 have reported worsening mental health during the pandemic.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
For months, experts have warned about the prospect of a an entirely different threat unleashed by the coronavirus:a mental health crisis that could sweep the country.
Their concerns are rooted in more than a year of social isolation, the grief and loss, and economic and emotional trauma that the pandemic has inflicted. A new survey conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan is shedding light on which groups might be most vulnerable to the effects.
Four groups - women, people ages 50 to 64, people with higher levels of education, and individuals in either fair or poor physical health - "are more likely to have experienced worsened mental health during the first nine months of the pandemic," or to have felt heightened anxiety or sleep problems, researchers found.
As many as one-fifth of all older adults said they felt their mental health had worsened throughout the health crisis, the findings concluded.
Women were found to be likelier than men to have broached the topic with a health provider or considered medication as a treatment option. The research was conducted by surveying more than 2,000 adults across the US in late January in the National Poll on Health Aging.
Based on the poll's findings, which were published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the University of Michigan researchers now suggest that health providers look more closely at older adults to spot signs of worsening mental health, they said this week in a blog post on the university's website.
Stepping up treatment offerings
"We need to continue to look for and address the mental health effects of the pandemic and connect people to treatment resources," Lauren Gerlach, a doctor and assistant professor at the university's medical school who was the primary author of the newly-published paper, said in a statement.
"Poor mental health can decrease functioning, independence, and quality of life for older adults but treatment can significantly help," she added.
There were some bright spots for certain groups who participated in the poll. People ages 65 to 80 were less likely to report declining mental health, the university said, and, overall, two-thirds of respondents viewed their mental health as being "excellent or very good."
Nearly a third added that they'd taken steps to "improve their mental health" since the pandemic began, like increasing exercise, diet, and meditation.
Other warning signs are emerging
Meanwhile, other research has alluded to the dangers of a looming mental health crisis brought on by COVID-19.
Roughly 40% of US adults have professed to feeling the symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder - about four times higher than those who felt similarly in 2019, prior to the pandemic, the Kaiser Family Foundation said in February.
As early as May 2020, the World Health Organization sounded the alarm over the potential for "a massive increase in mental health conditions in the coming months."
In that warning, which called for increased investments in mental health services, the WHO reported that women were especially at risk of declining mental health, while balancing demands like childcare and home-schooling.
And Insider reported in June that mental health and substance use experts are concerned that this tumultuous year might also have intensified the consumption of alcohol among underage youth.
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Gov. Brian Kemp suggested Biden is at fault for Georgia's COVID-19 vaccination rate, which remains one of the lowest in the US
AP Photo/John Bazemore
- Gov. Brian Kemp called out Biden for not working harder to push the FDA to fully approve COVID-19 vaccines.
- The governor pointed to the vaccine emergency authorization to explain some of the hesitation.
- Kemp was also critical of the CDC's new guidance on mask-wearing among vaccinated people.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
GOP Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia on Thursday attempted to shift blame to President Joe Biden for the state's low COVID-19 vaccination rate as the highly-infectious Delta variant continues to spread, according to The Associated Press.
While speaking to reporters, Kemp said that Biden needed to push harder to allow the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to upgrade its emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccines to full approval.
Kemp, who won his first race for governor in 2018, also stated that asking people to wear masks once again sends a "mixed message" and might cause people not to take the vaccine.
He encouraged Georgians to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and said he would look into other solutions if hospitals in the state became overwhelmed with patients.
Only 38% of Georgia's total population is fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
"We know that the vaccines work," Kemp said on Thursday. "I want to encourage people to get vaccinated if you're comfortable doing that."
Democratic state Sen. Michelle Au, an anesthesiologist, told The Associated Press that the state needed to do more to increase access to the vaccine and promote testing among residents who are unvaccinated.
"We aren't trying hard enough," Au told the news organization. "We like to blame the unvaccinated."
Read more: Would-be staffers to Kyrsten Sinema got an email warning: You 'aren't working for Elizabeth Warren'
On Thursday, Georgia posted over 4,800 positive COVID-19 tests, a high-point that was last reached in early February, when the vaccine wasn't as readily available to the general public.
With the Delta variant spreading throughout Georgia, similar to the US as a whole, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations across the state rose above 1,800.
COVID-19 infection rates have remained elevated in southeast Georgia.
Charlton County Administrator Hampton Raulerson told The Brunswick News that interest in the vaccines has not been robust.
"There's a lot of distrust when it comes to the vaccine," he said. "A lot of people thought (COVID-19) was going away."
Kemp said that many people are reluctant to take the vaccine since it has still not been fully approved by the FDA.
"I'd love to see the Biden administration put an 'Operation Warp Speed' on moving away from the emergency use authorization," he said on Thursday, referring to the Trump-era public-private vaccine development initiative that manufactured and distributed COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation, told The Washington Post on Friday that the agency is redeploying staff to accelerate their effort in fully approving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
"This will remove one more layer for the vaccine-hesitant," Marks said. "If all this does is get five to 10 million more people vaccinations down south, that will save lives."
The CDC earlier this week shifted their guidelines on mask-wearing, recommending face coverings for vaccinated people indoors in areas with high transmission of the virus.
The agency also called for mask-wearing in schools, which has been opposed by Kemp and other Republicans.
Kemp said that the CDC's new guidance didn't inspire confidence.
"When you tell them they can get vaccinated and then take their mask off and then you turn around weeks later and reverse that, who's gonna trust anybody, any politician, Republican, Democrat, or otherwise?" he said.
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Sen. Ron Johnson says he'd support a vaccine mandate for an 'incredibly deadly' virus but not COVID-19, which has killed more than 613,000 Americans
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- GOP Sen. Ron Johson said he would support a vaccine mandate only for an "incredibly deadly" disease but not COVID-19.
- COVID-19 has killed more than 613,000 people in the US and more than 4.2 million globally, per Johns Hopkins University.
- Johnson also attacked the CDC for changing its guidelines on masking.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, said he would support a vaccine mandate for an "incredibly deadly disease," but said he would not support such a mandate for COVID-19.
"No," Johnson said during a Friday evening appearance on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" when asked whether he would ever support any sort of vaccine mandate. "Not unless there's some incredibly deadly disease. I mean much higher infection-fatality rates than we have with COVID."
"We don't know the final infection-fatality rate, but right now it's looking like it's not going to be much more than double a bad season of flu," he added.
Scientists believe that the mortality rate of COVID-19 is "substantially higher" than strains of the seasonal flu, according to Johns Hopkins University. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated there were about 34,000 deaths in the United States from flu-related causes in the 2018-2019 flu season.
COVID-19, which emerged in late 2019, has so far killed more than 613,000 people in the US and more than 4.2 million people across the globe, according to data analyzed by Johns Hopkins University. More than 34 million cases of the disease have been diagnosed in the US since the disease was first diagnosed in the US early last year.
New cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from the disease declined with the rollout of the vaccines earlier this year, but the disease is facing a resurgence in the US as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads.
-Acyn (@Acyn) July 31, 2021
While vaccinated people can contract and spread the Delta variant, experts and data suggest the vaccines prevent serious illness and death. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, earlier this month called the ongoing surge a "pandemic of the unvaccinated."
Over the past week, vaccine mandates have become more commonplace as cases of the disease rise. Still, Walensky said Friday there would be no federal vaccine mandate for Americans, Reuters reported.
Major US companies, including Walmart and Disney, announced this week that they'd require some of their US employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. President Joe Biden this week announced all federal workers needed to be fully vaccinated or undergo regular testing.
Also in the interview Friday, Johnson lashed out at CDC after it changed its guidance this week on the wearing of face masks
"The American public is losing faith in our federal health agencies - and that's a real shame," Johnson said. "If there's one part of government, other than the Defense Department, you'd like to have faith in, it'd be the federal health agencies -- and they've lost the trust of the American public.
"Because they're not making any sense," he added. "They're flip-flopping on issues, whether it's masks, they're not backing up their pronouncements with science."
The agency said this week that vaccinated individuals should mask up in areas with a high level of COVID-19, backtracking on its guidance from May that said fully vaccinated people could take their masks off in most settings.
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Florida nightlife is going wild and college students are defiant the party won't stop, even as the Delta variant of the coronavirus rips through the state
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- The state of Florida is saturated with the highly-transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus.
- Meanwhile, colleges across the state are preparing to open their doors for the fall semester.
- Undergrads at schools statewide told Insider that their plans to keep partying aren't slowing down.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
On a recent Saturday night in July, the vibrations of EDM music pulsating from bars and nightclubs along Atlantic Avenue drifted into the palm fronds and sliced through the humid Florida air.
In the heart of Palm Beach County, a throng of 20-somethings snaked down the block outside The Office, a local nightlife venue in Delray Beach, poised to elbow their way toward the crowded bar and order rounds of shots.
Across the road at Taverna Opa, another late-night party scene, a DJ spun some tracks to a crowd of dozens as belly dancers stood on top of wooden tables and swerved through the air.
During the worst surges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Florida hotspots like these have counted on the loyalty of one oftentimes carefree constituency: local college students who, come Saturday night, are ready to get lit.
"I don't think I can really name a whole lot of people that don't go out," Nicole Prescott, 23, a drama student at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, told Insider. She's noticed that masks have been a rarity throughout the spring and summer on the few occasions she's gone out with friends since receiving her Pfizer shots.
"Being so lax about protocols and just letting people go through life however they want with COVID is really dangerous," she added.
Across Florida, the highly-transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus is surging. As of July 30, more than 38,000 new COVID cases were reported in the state, versus 2,319 one month before, according to a database maintained by the New York Times.
On a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map which designates counties as red zones if they've experienced high levels of community spread, all of Florida is illustrated in crimson. Less than half of the adult population has been fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
Nevertheless, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed an executive order in May which ended all mask mandates local governments in the state had imposed on their residents. In September, he rolled back restrictions on restaurants' operating capacity, months before vaccines were available.
On Friday, DeSantis issued another executive order, this one prohibiting schools from requiring mask-wearing in the classroom, even after the CDC recommended this week that K-12 students and staff do exactly the opposite.
'They're just going out and not caring at all'
Insider interviewed seven undergrads from five universities throughout the state: the University of Miami, the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida State University in Tallahassee, Palm Beach State College, and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
In spite of the virus' growing threat, the consensus from these students was that the party is far from over.
For Brianna Pope, 20, a Palm Beach State College nursing major, the nightclubs in Fort Lauderdale's cosmopolitan Las Olas district are the most tempting draw.
Weekend nights out typically begin around 10 P.M., she told Insider. On the dance floors of popular hotspots, masks aren't part of the dress code.
"They're just going out and not caring at all," Pope said. "When you go down there, there's really no one wearing masks or anyone taking precautions."
Schools vary on requirements for masking or social distancing as the semester begins
The University of Florida, a state school in Gainesville, is known as much for its athletic culture as for its undergrads' hard-charging party scene.
In an emailed statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the university told Insider that classes will resume in-person this semester without physical distancing. Wearing masks will be optional, though vaccines are highly encouraged for students, faculty, and staff.
At Palm Beach State College, which operates multiple sites throughout the county, the school strongly recommends face coverings on campus, inside classrooms and offices, and outdoors when social distancing isn't possible, according to an internal email sent in late July by administrators which reviewed by Insider.
Spokespersons for Palm Beach State College did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Saturday.
Fears are mounting over what the fall semester could bring
The very real prospect of coronavirus outbreaks in student residences has some housing administrators putting preemptive restrictions into place.
Insider reviewed an email sent by Shawn Woodin, president and CEO of the Southern Scholarship Foundation, which provides off-campus housing for 470 students in cities including Tallahassee and Gainesville.
The email, sent on July 29, informed students that face coverings would be required within any of its 26 housing sites where fewer than 80% of residents are fully vaccinated. Having guests will be forbidden in any of those houses.
When reached by phone on Saturday, Woodin told Insider that fewer than 50% of residents ages 18-23 reported that they had been fully inoculated against the virus, based on data he'd reviewed.
"Based on the spring semester, I know that, as college students, some of our residents were going to parties, gatherings, that should have not have happened," Woodin said. "Will those behaviors continue? I hope not, but it's likely some of our residents will."
Nevertheless, some students are wary of what the autumn semester may have in store as school gets underway.
"Some students might ignore the CDC guidelines and prioritize having fun," said Daniel Gallup, 20, a student at the University of Florida who received the Pfizer vaccine in March.
"But I'm going to follow the recommendations," he added, "because going out isn't worth getting sick and spreading it to anyone else, especially people I care about."
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Friday, July 30, 2021
New York offers $100 to whoever gets vaccinated at city-run sites
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio gets vaccinated against COVID.
US: New York is offering $100 dollars to every citizen who gets their first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 at any of the city-run vaccination sites, according to reports citing statements made by Mayor Bill de Blasio. The development comes amid a surge in new COVID-19 infections in the United States as the more infectious delta variant spreads like wildfire across the nation.
“I think when someone says here’s $100 for you, that’s going to make a big impact,” the New York Times quoted de Blasio as saying. “The key is vaccination. We can talk about so many other issues with COVID-19, but if we're not talking about vaccination then we're not talking about the solution.”
New York, as of Wednesday, had vaccinated nearly 71% of all the adults in the city, the report said, adding that around 59% of the city's total population have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. More than 65% of adults and 54% of New York City's total population have been fully vaccinated, the report added.
The Delta variant of the coronavirus is, however, making things complicated. Certain parts of New York look like they're once again on their way to becoming a COVID-19 hot spot, and CDC guidelines suggest that authorities enforce mandatory masking for both vaccinated and unvaccinated citizens.
All five of New York's boroughs tick the check-boxes under these criteria, according to the publication. While Brooklyn and Manhattan have recorded 78.1 and 70.4 cases per 100,000 residents, respectively, Staten Island clocked a staggering 109 positive cases per 100,000 residents last week.
New York Mayor de Blasio calls this "complicated information". “So our health team is reviewing, and we’ll have more to say on it in the next few days,” he was quoted as saying. - HINDUSTAN TIMES
Saturday, July 31, 2021 - 01:00
source http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/07/31/world/255358/new-york-offers-100-whoever-gets-vaccinated-city-run-sites
Majority of South Africans prefer prayer to COVID shot
A worker looks on as a stock of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is offloaded at the O.R Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa.
SOUTH AFRICA: A majority of South Africans have said they are unlikely to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and almost half of them believe prayer is more effective against the virus, according to a survey. While 21% of the 1,600 respondents said they believed prayer and vaccines were equally effective in preventing coronavirus transmission, only a quarter of them believed vaccines are more effective than prayer. South Africans living in high levels of poverty and those below the age of 35 are most hesitant to get inoculated. On the other hand, half of the respondents with no formal schooling were more inclined to get vaccinated than those with at least a primary education. People living in urban areas showed less willingness to get vaccinated than rural residents.
Less than 10% of the South African population has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and the survey, conducted by Afrobarometer, shows the hurdle in the government's drive to vaccinate two-thirds of its citizens. The survey suggests that South Africans consider themselves well-informed about Covid-19 but do not trust the government to ensure the vaccines are safe.
South Africa has reported over 2.4 million Covid-19 cases and more than 70,000 related deaths. While about 7 million people have been administered at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, less than 3 million people have been fully vaccinated.
The Beta variant of coronavirus, first detected in South Africa, was behind the country’s disastrous second COVID wave.
- HINDUSTAN TIMES
Saturday, July 31, 2021 - 01:00
source http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/07/31/world/255357/majority-south-africans-prefer-prayer-covid-shot
Sydney seeks military help to stem COVID surge
A near empty George Street in Sydney’s central business district.
AUSTRALIA: Australia's biggest city Sydney posted a record one-day rise in local COVID-19 cases on Thursday and warned the outbreak would get worse, as authorities sought military help to enforce a lockdown of 6 million people poised to enter its sixth week.
Australia has struggled to contain an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant in and around Sydney in recent weeks, which threatens to push the country's A$2 trillion ($1.5 trillion) economy into its second recession in as many years.
Despite an extended lockdown of Sydney, the state capital, New South Wales recorded 239 locally acquired cases in the past 24 hours, the biggest daily rise since the pandemic begun.
"We can only assume that things are likely to get worse before they get better given the quantity of people infectious in the community," New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.
Berejiklian said one more person had died from COVID-19, taking the death count from the current outbreak to 13 and the overall national total to 921.
More than two million residents in eight Sydney hotspots will now be forced to wear masks outdoors and must stay within 5 km (3 miles) of their homes.
The COVID-19 restrictions are likely to take a heavy economic toll, with New South Wales accounting for more than a third of Australia's economy. Only about 17% of people above 16 years fully vaccinated in New South Wales.
- INDIA TODAY
Saturday, July 31, 2021 - 01:00
source http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/07/31/world/255356/sydney-seeks-military-help-stem-covid-surge
Israel to offer THIRD COVID JAB for over 60s
An elderly woman receives a booster shot of her vaccination against COVID-19 at an assisted living facility, in Netanya, Israel.
ISRAEL: Israel will start offering a third dose of COVID-19 vaccinations to people aged over 60, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Thursday, one of first countries to provide a booster shot.
The jabs will begin on Sunday as part of a "complementary vaccination campaign" for people aged over 60 who were fully vaccinated more than five months ago, he said, as concern mounts over the fast-spreading Delta variant.
"I call on all elderly people who have already been vaccinated to receive this additional dose," Bennett said. "Protect yourselves."
About 55 percent of Israel's nine million population has been double vaccinated, most with the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, thanks to a massive campaign launched in late December after an agreement with its producers.
"Israel has already vaccinated 2,000 immunosuppressed people with a third dose, with no severe adverse events," Bennett said. "And now we're rolling out a national third dose campaign."
Israeli President Isaac Herzog was expected to receive the booster yesterday(Friday).
"The decision was based on considerable research and analysis, as well as the rise in risk of the Delta variant wave," Bennett said.
Israel has recorded more than 1,400 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.
"This third dose can save lives," Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said.
Israel's digitised medical databases allowed for rapid large-scale studies, and its initial vaccine rollout of the jab was among the world's fastest.
Case numbers dropped dramatically, and in early June Israel eased many restrictions.
Israel has vaccinated at least 57% of the 9.3 million population with both doses and vaccinated 64% with at least one dose. - HINDUSTAN TIMES
Saturday, July 31, 2021 - 01:00
source http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/07/31/world/255355/israel-offer-third-covid-jab-over-60s
World races to contain COVID-19 Delta variant
US: Governments around the world raced to head off a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the Delta variant, with US President Joe Biden offering new incentives to vaccine holdouts and Israel authorizing booster shots.
The World Health Organization warned the highly transmissible strain of the virus, first detected in India, could unleash a "fourth wave" of cases in its Eastern Mediterranean zone -- an area stretching from Morocco to Pakistan.
Those countries are especially at risk because vaccination rates are low -- only 5.5 percent of the region's population has been fully vaccinated. So in nations where vaccines are more available, public officials are sounding the alarm.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also urged people living in Covid hotspots -- even the vaccinated -- to mask up indoors.
The surge in cases across America has left the early vaccine adopters angry at those who have so far opted against the jab.
The global coronavirus situation is a mixed one: while some places like the French territory of La Reunion and Spain's Catalonia region are instituting new curbs, others are easing up on restrictions.
Portugal said it would lift its anti-virus measures in several phases from Sunday, with shops and restaurants allowed to open for longer hours and working from home no longer compulsory.
Japan hit a new record for the number of daily cases -- more than 10,000 -- on Thursday, and a state of emergency already in place in Tokyo was to be extended to four more regions.
In Mexico, the national statistics institute said more than 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus were recorded in 2020 -- 35 percent more than originally reported by the government
China is racing to vaccinate at least 65 percent of its 1.4-billion population by the end of the year.
So far, the virus has killed more than 4.1 million people around the world, with the United States having the highest death toll, at more than 612,000. - NDTV
Saturday, July 31, 2021 - 01:00
source http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/07/31/world/255354/world-races-contain-covid-19-delta-variant
COVID-19 jab for migrant workers
The COVID-19 vaccination drive for Sri Lankan migrant workers waiting to leave the country for employment opportunities began at the Army Hospital in Narahenpita Thursday.
Migrant workers registered with the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) are being administered the COVID-19 vaccine.
Nearly 1,200 selected migrant workers will receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
Labour Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva said the vaccine will be provided initially to Sri Lankans waiting to travel overseas for employment from the Western Province. He said around 8,000 Sri Lankans who are waiting to travel overseas for employment will be provided the vaccine.
"We have decided to provide the Pfizer vaccine to the selected group of migrant workers as many countries have permitted access only to several vaccines including Pfizer," the Minister said.
Saturday, July 31, 2021 - 01:00
source http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/07/31/local/255340/covid-19-jab-migrant-workers
Disney is requiring all salaried and non-union employees at its parks and resorts to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19
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- Disney is requiring salaried and non-union hourly employees to get fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
- Disney said it has also "begun conversations" with representatives for its unionized employees.
- A wave of companies recently issued vaccine mandates amid rising cases and concerns over the Delta variant.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The Walt Disney Company on Friday joined a growing list of major corporations requiring employees working in person to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
"Based on the latest recommendations of scientists, health officials and our own medical professionals that the COVID-19 vaccine provides the best protection against severe infection, we are requiring that all salaried and non-union hourly employees in the U.S. working at any of our sites be fully vaccinated," Disney said in a statement.
"Employees who aren't already vaccinated and are working on-site will have 60 days from today to complete their protocols and any employees still working from home will need to provide verification of vaccination prior to their return, with certain limited exceptions," the company said, adding that new hires will also need to be fully vaccinated before starting work.
Many of Disney's employees are unionized, and the company said it had "begun conversations around this topic with the unions representing our employees under collective bargaining agreements."
A wave of companies recently rolled out vaccinate mandates for on-site staff amid a recent surge in COVID-19 cases in many states, as well as growing concern over the Delta variant, which early scientific evidence suggests is more contagious and causes more serious infections, prompting the CDC to issue new guidance this week recommending that even vaccinated individuals start wearing masks indoors again.
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