(Bloomberg) --
The European Commission proposed easing restrictions on business and leisure travel for those who have been fully inoculated against Covid-19, adding to signs of a gradual return to normalcy as vaccinations gather pace. Separately, Germany plans to exempt fully vaccinated people from pandemic restrictions by next week. Bavaria’s Oktoberfest celebration was canceled for a second year.
Confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. rose at the slowest pace since the pandemic began in the week ended Sunday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. Florida banned the use of so-called vaccine passports.
Daily deaths in India hit a record 3,689 on Sunday, while the number of cases slowed slightly after the country became the first to cross the mark of 400,000 cases in a day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi lost a crucial election as the crisis deepens. He had been widely criticized for continuing to hold mass rallies in the state as infections rose.
Key Developments
- Global Tracker: Cases top 153 million; deaths exceed 3.2 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 1.16 billion doses have been given
- It’s Not Just India. New Virus Waves Deluge Developing Countries
- India Travel Ban Means U.S. Visa Workers Remain Stuck Abroad
- New York City is roaring back to life, one year after its nadir
- What are vaccine passports and how would they work?: QuickTake
Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID on the terminal for global data on cases and deaths.
FDA to Approve Pfizer Shot for Teens: NYT (5:20 p.m. NY)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is set to authorize the use of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to children 12 to 15 years of age as early as next week, the New York Times reported.
If the authorization is granted, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel would likely meet the following day to review the clinical trial data and make recommendations for the vaccine’s use in adolescents, the newspaper said.
Pfizer had reported that none of the adolescents in a clinical trial who received the vaccine developed symptomatic infections, a sign of significant protection.
U.S. Trade Chief Discusses Vaccine IP (4:25 p.m. NY)
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai met virtually with World Intellectual Property Organization Director-General Daren Tang to discuss the role of intellectual property in dealing with the pandemic.
They spoke about “specific challenges confronting developing countries, and the proposed waiver to certain provisions of the World Trade Organization’s agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights for the Covid-19 pandemic,” the USTR said in an emailed statement.
Ohio Wants More Shots for Nursing Home Staff (4 p.m. NY)
To combat vaccine hesitancy among nursing home workers Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said Monday that he’d give caretakers’ noses a rest if they’d get the shot.
Nursing home employees are currently required to receive Covid-19 tests twice weekly. But DeWine, a Republican, said a new order will exempt employees that are fully vaccinated.
“We hope this change will be encouragement to those who work in nursing homes that haven’t been vaccinated yet,” DeWine said, cracking a smile during a remote news conference he held from his Cedarville home. “If you’re unvaccinated, it’s twice-a-week you’ll be tested.”
The announcement followed a state health investigation into a Covid-19 outbreak in an Ohio veterans home where roughly half of the staff has declined vaccination, according to local reports. DeWine said that state health officials continue to make shots available for anyone working in or living in long-term care.
White House Backs Pfizer Move on Exports (2:50 p.m. NY)
The Biden administration will support Pfizer Inc.’s move to begin exporting U.S.-made doses of its coronavirus vaccine, as the White House starts to unleash U.S. production for shot-starved nations abroad.
The governments of Mexico and Canada said last week that they expected to begin receiving doses of Pfizer’s vaccine from the U.S., the first time the company’s U.S.-made shots are known to have been delivered to any buyer other than the American government itself.
N.J. Offers Free Beer for Shots (2:20 p.m. NY)
NYC Subways Returning to 24-Hour Service (12:01 p.m. N Y)
Most capacity restrictions will be lifted across the tri-state region on May 19, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
New York City will again have 24-hour subways, boosting transportation options for workers as the most populous U.S. city inches toward normalcy.
In the state, the outdoor food and beverage curfew will be lifted May 17, and the indoor curfew will be lifted on May 31, Cuomo said Monday. The outdoor large stadium capacity will go to 33% in New York state on May 19, Cuomo said. However, New York will maintain the 6-foot (1.8-meter) social-distancing policy recommended by the federal government, the governor said.
BioNTech Soars to Record (11:45 a.m. NY)
BioNTech SE, the vaccine maker partnered with Pfizer Inc. on its Covid-19 shot, rose as much as 10% on Monday as the stock rallied past $200 a share at the open, breaking yet another record after closing at new highs four out of five days last week.
The German company was among the top gainers as the biotech sector regained lost footing and optimism about economies reopening bolstered stocks. Shots from Pfizer and BioNTech as well as Moderna Inc. have helped the U.S. reach more than 245 million doses administered, while side-stepping some of the safety concerns that have arisen for shots from AstraZeneca Plcand Johnson & Johnson.
WHO Urges Countries to Accept IP Waivers (11:30 a.m. NY)
Vaccine production capacity needs to increase in order to have a significant inoculation rate that will bring herd immunity, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing, adding that’s why a waiver on intellectual property is very important. There are more countries joining South Africa and India in being in favor of an IP waiver, and he said he hopes other nations will be convinced as well to make that a reality.
“There’s no reason, to be honest, not to decide on an IP waiver,” Tedros said. “The provision of waiving IP was meant for emergency conditions, and the level of emergency we’re in now is unprecedented. If we can’t use it now, when can we use it?”
NYC Employees Return to Office (11:05 a.m. NY)
More than 80,000 New York City public workers returned to the office on Monday, as the city asked all employees who had been working from home to return to city buildings. Mayor Bill de Blasio pushed back on concerns by the city’s largest municipal worker union, which said not enough of its workers had been vaccinated yet. Only 34% of its workforce has been vaccinated, according to DC37 Executive Director Henry Garrido. De Blasio also said 180,000 of the 300,000 city workforce has received at least one shot.
U.S. Cases Rise at Slowest Pace of Pandemic (10:35 NY)
Confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. rose at the slowest pace since the pandemic began in the week ended Sunday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. The 1.07% gain was below the previous record of 1.25% set in the seven days ended March 14.
The total number of new infections increased by 344,448 last week, the lowest since the period ended Oct. 11, before the start of a surge intensified by the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons. The slowdown comes even as some states, such as Oregon, are experiencing outbreaks driven by variants of the virus.
Germany’s Oktoberfest Canceled Again (10:30 a.m. NY)
Authorities in Bavaria canceled Oktoberfest again this year. Oktoberfest is “the most global party,” and waiting longer to cancel it would only have caused more economic damage, Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder said on Monday. The beer festival drew 6.3 million people to Munich in 2019.
Florida Prohibits Vaccine ‘Passports’ (10:30 a.m. NY)
Florida businesses and government agencies will be prohibited from requiring people to show proof of a Covid-19 vaccination, starting July 1, under a measure Governor Ron DeSantis signed Monday. In the meantime, all local emergency orders related to the pandemic will be suspended under an executive order signed by the Republican governor.
Businesses, government agencies, or schools face $5,000 for each violation of the ban.
Similar legislation is pending in Iowa. Wisconsin’s governor vetoed a ban on employer vaccine mandates, but Montana’s governor is expected to sign a bill barring private and public employers from requiring workers to be vaccinated.
Walgreens Same-Day Appointments, Walk-Ins (9:30 a.m. NY)
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has administered more than 15 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, the company said Monday. Walgreens will start offering same-day appointments at its U.S. pharmacies on Wednesday and start accommodating walk-ins at some of its stores. With shots more plentiful and everyone 16 and over eligible in the U.S., Walgreens plans to work with employers to vaccinate their workers and to immunize people in the community using mobile units.
Hanoi Schools to Close as Cases Rise (9:23 a.m. NY)
Vietnam’s capital instructed its 2 million school-age pupils to stay home and study online starting May 4, as local authorities from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City imposed stiff crackdowns on public gathering sites to quickly contain a rise in local cases.
Germany to Ease Curbs for Fully Vaccinated (8:57 a.m. NY)
Germany is pushing ahead with legislation to exempt people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 from restrictions and expects it to be approved by next week at the latest, according to Health Minister Jens Spahn.
“Although it’s never going to be zero, as soon as it’s clear that fully vaccinated people have a much lower infection risk, it becomes possible to ease restrictions,” Spahn told reporters after Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet signed off on the measures, which need approval from both houses of parliament.
The government will also present draft legislation this week that would remove the requirement for fully inoculated travelers to present a negative test and go into quarantine when coming to Germany, unless they arrive from an area with fast-spreading mutations, Spahn said.
Novavax Starts Pediatric Trial for Its Vaccine (8:55 a.m. NY)
Novavax has initiated a pediatric expansion of its Phase 3 clinical trial for its recombinant protein vaccine candidate. The additional arm of the ongoing Prevent-19 pivotal trial will evaluate the efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of the candidate in up to 3,000 adolescents age 12-17 across up to 75 sites in the U.S.
Morocco Detects Indian Variant (8:51 a.m. NY)
Morocco recorded its first cases of the so-called Indian variant, le360.ma reported, citing a member of the kingdom’s Covid-19 scientific committee. The two cases involve one Indian national and a Moroccan citizen.
South Africa Vaccine Delivery Delayed (8:34 a.m. NY)
South Africa said a delivery of 1.1 million Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines has been delayed pending further safety checks, the latest blow to the country’s stop-start inoculation program.
Guinea Tightens Checks on India Flights (7:39 a.m. NY)
Guinea has reinforced health controls on travelers from India to prevent the spread of the Indian Covid-19 variant into the West African country. All passengers arriving from India will be subjected to a rapid antigen testing upon arrival and will be required to strictly observe a 14-day quarantine period, authorities said Monday.
Singapore Defers Non-Urgent Surgery (7:11 a.m. NY)
Singapore’s Ministry of Health asked hospitals to defer non-urgent surgeries and admissions until further notice, in a bid to increase potential capacity for handling Covid-19 patients.
The measures, which also include limiting emergency room visits only for life-threatening or other emergency conditions, and encouraging teleconsultations instead of in-person medical visits where possible, come amid a flareup of cases in a country that’s been one of the world’s most successful in containing the virus.
EU Pushes to Ease Travel Restrictions (6:30 a.m. NY)
The European Commission’s new travel proposals require approval from member states. A Commission official said he was hopeful they would be adopted by the end of this month.
The new parameters would replace a current blanket ban for non-essential travel to the EU for residents of all but a handful of countries that has been in place for more than a year. The bloc is working on the introduction of a vaccine passport system.
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