The global case count for COVID-19 coronavirus disease was going to 102 million on Friday, while health experts were digesting the latest vaccine updates from Novavax Inc. and Johnson & Johnson in the hope that soon obtain emergency clearance and reinforce supplies.
Novavax NVAX,
said on Thursday night his candidate vaccine, which has a different mechanism than those already authorized in the US – developed by Pfizer Inc. PFE,
and the German partner BioNTech SE BNTX,
and a separate one developed by Moderna Inc. MRNA,
– appears to be 89% effective, based on the first data from a UK study involving 15,000 patients, reported the AP.
The company said that about half of the trial participants who were infected with the virus had the mutated version that has been circulating in the UK for weeks. A preliminary analysis suggested that the vaccine is almost 96% effective against the original virus and almost 86% effective against the new variant.
See too: The Novavax vaccine is effective. Now I’m seriously hoping that’s what they injected
Scientists are even more concerned about a strain first discovered in South Africa that carries different mutations – and the results of a smaller Novavax study suggest that the vaccine works, but not as well as against the UK variant.
Read now: Pharmacists examine the effectiveness of vaccines and COVID-19 treatments against the most infectious new South African strain
It was a similar story by J&J JNJ,
when it released the first data from a Phase 3 trial of its candidate vaccine COVID on Friday, saying it appears 66% effective in preventing moderate to severe illness 28 days after vaccination, but less effective – only 57% – in dealing with with the South African Cepa.
J&J will send the data to an expert-reviewed newspaper in the coming weeks and expects to request an emergency use authorization in early February. The expectation for this vaccine is high, as it requires only one dose, unlike those currently authorized, which require two doses with an interval of weeks.
The data arrives while the U.S. added at least 165,073 new cases on Thursday, according to a New York Times tracker, and counted at least 3,862 deaths, although that has declined from more than 4,000 deaths reported in the previous two days .
The number of cases has decreased in the last 14 days. The US reported an average of 159,598 new cases per day last week, 34% below the two-week average.
Hospitalization rates are also improving, according to the COVID Tracking Project. There were 104,303 COVID-19 patients in US hospitals on Thursday, down from 107,444 the day before. The number has fallen for 17 consecutive days and is at its lowest level since December 7.
“Reported deaths have increased 7 percent this week, with states reporting a total of 22,797 lives lost to COVID-19,” the COVID Tracking Project wrote on its weekly blog. “Deaths lag behind cases – both because it takes time to die from the virus and because the death notification process is very slow. Even with cases falling in the US, we may have another week or more of a very high number of deaths ahead. “
In this context, President Joe Biden is putting pressure on his pandemic response team to accelerate the pace of vaccinations and buy more doses. The vaccine tracker at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that by 6:00 am ET on Thursday, 26.2 million doses have been administered and 48.4 million doses distributed to the states.
In other news:
• Europe’s drug regulator on Friday authorized the use of the AstraZeneca AZN vaccine, -2.07% COVID-19 for people over 18, reported Lina Saigol of MarketWatch. The European Medicines Agency, or EMA, said it assessed the quality, safety and efficacy of the injection of AstraZeneca, which the pharmaceutical company developed in partnership with the University of Oxford, and recommended it for conditional marketing authorization in the European Union.
Read: When can younger, healthier people be vaccinated? A former Biden COVID-19 adviser says it will take months
• Separately, Europe stepped up its fight to secure COVID-19 vaccines on Friday after Brussels warned that it would use all legal means to block vaccine exports if it does not receive the vaccine doses promised by pharmaceutical companies like AstraZeneca AZN,
AZN,
and Pfizer, reported Lina Saigol of MarketWatch. In a letter to four European Union leaders, Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said the 27-member bloc could adopt “urgent measures” by invoking an emergency provision in the EU treaties “to address the coronavirus vaccine deficit of the bloc, which is approaching a crisis point, and several EU member states – including France, Portugal and Spain – said this week that they were suspending their inoculation programs because of a shortage of vaccines.
Read: AstraZeneca vaccine should only be administered to children under 65, recommends Germany, as the scarcity crisis in the EU deepens
• Older people are at increased risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19, but many may not have access to online systems that can help facilitate their vaccinations and save their lives, reported Meera Jagannathan of MarketWatch. Forty-five percent of Americans aged 65 to 80 report that they have not established an account on their healthcare provider’s online patient portal system, according to a recent analysis of research data from the National Survey on Aging Healthy at the University of Michigan. Some older adults who may face an even greater risk of COVID-19 are less likely to use patient portals, the survey concluded: While 39% of older white adults did not have an account, almost 50% of older black adults and 53 % of older Hispanic adults did not have one.
Read too: Quick information on COVID-19 vaccines for the elderly – where, when and how to get them
• Swiss drugmaker Novartis has agreed to help manufacture the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, according to AFP, as many countries struggle to secure supplies that are running out. The news came after the French pharmaceutical company said earlier this week that it would also help produce 125 million doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech jab.
• World Health Organization experts are expected to start face-to-face meetings with their Chinese colleagues on Friday in the central city of Wuhan, at the beginning of the team’s long-awaited investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, the AP reported. These meetings are to be followed by the first field visits in and around the industrial and transport center on Friday, the WHO said on Twitter, but gave no further details on the team’s agenda. He said the team had previously asked for “detailed underlying data” and planned to speak with the first respondents and some of the first patients with COVID-19. “All hypotheses are on the table, as the team follows science in its work to understand the origins of the COVID19 virus”, tweeted the WHO. “As members begin their field visits on Friday, they should be given the support, access and data they need.”
Latest counts
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide rose to 101.6 million on Friday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, and the death toll rose to 2.19 million. About 56 million people have recovered from COVID-19.
The United States leads the world in cases, with 25.8 million, and deaths, with 433,431, or about a fifth of the global total.
Brazil has the second highest number of deaths with 221,547 and is the third in cases with 9.1 million.
India ranks second in cases with 10.7 million, and now fourth in deaths with 154,010, after being overtaken by Mexico.
Mexico has the third highest number of deaths with 155,145 and the 13th highest number of cases with 1.8 million.
The UK has 3.8 million cases and 103,324 deaths, the highest number in Europe and the fifth largest in the world.
China, where the virus was first discovered last year, had 99,797 confirmed cases and 4,813 deaths, according to its official figures.
What is the economy saying?
Americans cut spending in December for the second consecutive month, as a record increase in coronavirus cases opened up new fissures in the economy and hampered the recovery, reported Jeffry Bartash of MarketWatch.
Consumer spending fell 0.2%, the government said on Friday.
The fall in spending at the end of the year took the momentum out of the economy. Gross domestic product decelerated to an annualized growth of 4% and left the economy with some gaps to fill.
If there is a silver lining, spending has not fallen as much as expected. Economists polled by Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal predicted a 0.4% drop. In addition, the fall in November was not as sharp as initially reported.
Read: The US economy grew more slowly by 4% at the end of 2020, shows GDP
Meanwhile, income increased 0.6% in December, suggesting that consumers still have money to spend once they regain confidence in the economy. The savings rate is still extremely high, at 13.7%, about double the normal.
Separately, Americans were suspicious, but hopeful at the end of January about the prospects for economic renewal later this year, once coronavirus vaccines become widely available, research has shown.
The second of two readings for consumer sentiment this month fell to 79 from the initial 79.2, according to an index produced by the University of Michigan.
Economists polled by Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal predicted that the index would remain at 79.2.
However, the index has changed little from the December reading of 80.7, suggesting that Americans are looking ahead instead of looking back.
Read: Consumer confidence recovers with vaccine, Biden hopes
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
and S&P 500 SPX,
were lower in the mid-morning trade.