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Kamis, 11 Maret 2021

Hong Kong's Covid-19 vaccine no-show rate rises after side effect reports - The Straits Times

HONG KONG (BLOOMBERG) - Fewer Hong Kong residents are showing up to get vaccines from Chinese maker Sinovac Biotech amid reports of side effects, even as demand was strong for shots developed by BioNTech-Pfizer on the day of their debut.

The number of people who received their scheduled Sinovac immunisations at community vaccination centres fell to 72 per cent on Wednesday (March 10), down from a high of more than 90 per cent last week.

More than one-third of those who signed up for the vaccine, 36 per cent, were no-shows on Tuesday.

The BioNTech vaccine, brought into the city by Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Co, was administered to 91 per cent of those signed up to get it on Wednesday, the first day it was available.

The skipping of Sinovac vaccine appointments comes after the city reported three deaths and three critical illnesses among the more than 130,000 people inoculated to date.

While none have been linked to the Sinovac vaccines, hesitancy around getting the shots has risen among residents.

The authorities preliminarily ruled out a tie between the vaccines and the first two deaths and two critical cases, while they are still analysing the more recent reports.

"It's understandable some residents are worried about the latest serious adverse events and even deaths following vaccination," Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip said on Tuesday.

All of the serious side effects will be reviewed closely by an expert committee, as is common procedure, he said.

India and mainland China also had sluggish starts to their vaccination efforts, due at least in part to distrust and concern over the recently released Covid-19 vaccines.

Hong Kong began its public vaccination campaign on Feb 26, prioritising people aged 60 and older, healthcare staff and other essential workers.

Starting Tuesday, it expanded its priority groups to cover 3.7 million people, about half of its population, adding those in high-risk contact positions like teachers, public transportation drivers and restaurant workers.

Other countries also have reported fatalities among people who have received inoculations, though the numbers have been small and nearly all cases involved underlying conditions.

None of the deaths or serious complications have been tied to the shots.

Meanwhile, Dr Samuel Kwok, the head of the community vaccination centre in Jordan district, said it was important that medical staff working in community vaccination centres didn't become distracted by people wanting to discuss their individual health concerns.

"This whole practice of having a community vaccination centre, people can have easy and smooth, and quick vaccinations in the centres," public broadcaster RTHK quoted him as saying.

"But if we start being a medical consultation centre, then it's a whole different thing. And this doesn't help because the doctors in the centres are not the doctors taking care of those people originally.

"So it should be better - if they have issues, they have problems, they have questions - they should go to their own family doctors."

Rabu, 10 Maret 2021

South Korean hospitals extract extra COVID-19 vaccine doses from vials - CNA

SEOUL: In a handful of South Korean hospitals, designated nurses are using specially designed syringes to squeeze extra doses of coronavirus vaccine out of each vial in a bid to stretch the still limited number of vials to cover more people.

The practice has raised debate over medical safety and commercial concerns from the manufacturers who charge by the dose.

But at Seoul's National Medical Center, healthcare workers say it is actually a safe and easy process that should be a no-brainer for countries struggling to provide enough vaccines quickly.

"Two designated nurses take shifts to extract the doses and each of us had no trouble getting seven doses from each vial, vaccinating everyone," said Kim Eun-suk, an intravenous therapy specialist who was taking a shift extracting doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine from vials that officially only hold six.

On Tuesday (Mar 9), Kim said the centre vaccinated 629 people with 90 vials of Pfizer vaccine co-developed by its German partner BioNTech, compared with the 540 people possible had they only extracted six doses from each vial.

It takes about five minutes to extract the doses using "low dead space" syringes designed to minimise the residual volume, she said.

“Extraction itself is not difficult. It requires squeezing the exact amount with the syringe. The most important is sterilisation and I think any nurse would be able to pull through."

At the suggestion of frontline nurses, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said it was up to providers whether to use of remaining doses, but did not make it a new standard or mandatory because it said it could burden the healthcare workers on site.

READ: South Korea allows more doses to be extracted from COVID-19 vaccine vials

National Medical Center president Chung Ki-hyun said that the contracts with manufacturers - who sell by the dose - should not be a roadblock for on-site healthcare workers to use the remaining doses when they can save lives.

"With care and precision, the extra dose isn't as hard to extract," he said. It's not clear how many South Korean clinics are using the extra doses, but Chung said following the official limit means throwing away potentially life-saving vaccines.

Experts were divided about the decision to extract extra doses, as pooling leftover vaccine from multiple vials can lead to contamination. With the specialised low dead space syringes, however, a full extra dose can typically be pulled from a single Pfizer vaccine vial, and as many as two extra doses from AstraZeneca's vaccine vials.

Urging caution over imprecise extraction, the Korean Medical Association (KMA) has advised its members to discard the remaining doses in the vials, according to a statement seen by Reuters.

READ: South Korea says no link found between deaths and COVID-19 vaccine

KDCA said 446,941 people were given first doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer shots by Tuesday midnight. South Korea has reported 470 new cases on Tuesday, adding to the total coronavirus cases of 93,733, with 1,648 deaths.

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2021-03-10 09:35:18Z
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China accuses US admiral of 'hyping up' threat of Taiwan invasion - CNA

BEIJING: China on Wednesday (Mar 10) accused a top US commander of attempting to "hype up" the threat of an invasion of Taiwan to inflate Washington's defence spend and justify its own military chicanery in Asia.

The US' top military officer in Asia-Pacific, Admiral Philip Davidson, on Tuesday said China could invade Taiwan within the next six years, as Beijing accelerates its moves to supplant American military power in Asia.

Democratic and self-ruled Taiwan lives under constant threat of invasion by authoritarian China, whose leaders view the island as part of their territory and which they have vowed to one day take back.

"I worry that they're (China) accelerating their ambitions to supplant the United States and our leadership role in the rules-based international order ... by 2050," Davidson said.

"Taiwan is clearly one of their ambitions before that. And I think the threat is manifest during this decade, in fact, in the next six years," he told a US Senate committee.

READ: Top US commander fears Chinese invasion of Taiwan by 2027

Taiwan split from China at the end of a civil war in 1949 and exists under the constant threat of invasion by the mainland.

Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979, but remains the island's most important unofficial ally and military backer.

Beijing was swift to bat away the admiral's comments.

"Some US people continue to use the Taiwan issue to hype up China's military threat," foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing.

"But in essence this is the US searching for a pretext to increase its military spending, expand its forces and interfere in regional affairs."

READ: 'Don't worry': Pro-Trump Taiwan seeks to reassure over Biden

Donald Trump embraced warmer ties with Taiwan as he feuded with China on issues such as trade and national security.

President Joe Biden's administration has offered Taiwan cause for optimism for continued support aside from the State Department saying in January that US commitment to the island was "rock-solid".

Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the US was formally invited to Biden's inauguration, an unprecedented move since 1979.

China also has made expansive territorial claims in the resource-rich South China Sea and even threatens the American island of Guam, Davidson stressed.

"Guam is a target today," he warned, recalling that the Chinese military released a video simulating an attack on an island base strongly resembling US facilities in Diego Garcia and Guam.

READ: In message to China, Biden to meet Australia, India, Japan PMs

READ: US base commander calls Chinese Guam attack video 'propaganda'

He called on lawmakers to approve the installation on Guam of an Aegis Ashore anti-missile battery, capable of intercepting the most powerful Chinese missiles.

Guam "needs to be defended and it needs to be prepared for the threats that will come in the future," Davidson said.

In addition to other Aegis missile defence systems destined for Australia and Japan, Davidson called on lawmakers to budget for offensive armaments "to let China know that the costs of what they seek to do are too high."

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2021-03-10 09:33:28Z
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Selasa, 09 Maret 2021

Queen Elizabeth says saddened by Prince Harry and Meghan's experiences - CNA

LONDON: Queen Elizabeth said on Tuesday (Mar 9) the British royals were saddened by the challenging experiences of her grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan and promised to privately address revelations about a racist remark about their son.

Meghan and Prince Harry's tell-all TV interview with Oprah Winfrey aired on US television on Sunday has plunged the monarchy into its biggest crisis since the 1997 death of Prince Harry's mother Princess Diana.

In the two-hour show, Meghan accused Britain's royal family of raising concerns about how dark their son Archie's skin might be and ignoring her pleas for help while she felt suicidal.

Prince Harry also said his father, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, had let him down and that he had felt trapped in his royal life.

"The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan," Buckingham Palace said in a statement issued on behalf of Queen Elizabeth.

"The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. Whilst some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Prince Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members."

The Palace considered that this was a family matter, a royal source said, adding the royals should be given the opportunity to discuss the issues raised privately as a family.

The interview was watched by 12.4 million viewers in Britain and 17.1 million in the United States, triggering a crisis to which the monarchy had to respond, media said.

It has proved divisive among the British public, with some believing it showed how outdated and intolerant the institution was, while others decried it as a self-serving assault that neither Queen Elizabeth nor her family deserved.

"It could hardly be more damaging to the royal family, not least because there is little it can do to defend itself," The Times said in a lead article under the title "Royal Attack".

"The key to the monarchy's survival over the centuries has been its ability to adapt to the needs of the times. It needs to adapt again," The Times said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Prince Charles made no comment when asked by a reporter what he thought of the interview while visiting a COVID-19 vaccine pop-up clinic in London.

A royal source had said Queen Elizabeth, 94, who has been on the throne for 69 years, wanted to take some time before the Palace issued a response, saying it needed careful consideration.

A former senior royal aide said it was likely that the three most senior royals - the queen, Prince Charles and Prince William, second in line to the throne and Prince Harry's elder brother, would have held meetings with their private secretaries and communications chiefs to decide on their response.

"This is pretty important and they've got to judge it right," said the former aide, adding the queen would have had the final say.

TABLOID TORTURE?

In the interview, nearly three years since her wedding in Windsor Castle, Meghan gained sympathy in the United States by casting some unidentified members of the royal family as uncaring, mendacious or guilty of racist remarks.

Meghan and Prince Harry have also had a torrid relationship with the British press, successfully taking papers to court on occasions, and have repeatedly questioned what they say is reporting tainted by racist overtones.

Prince Harry said in the interview he did not know where to turn when faced with such troubling media coverage and felt hurt when his family failed to call out racist reporting.

He said the royal family had an unhealthy silent agreement with the British tabloids and that the family was paranoid about the media turning on them.

"There is a level of control by fear that has existed for generations," Prince Harry said.

For the monarchy, which traces its history through 1,000 years of British and English history to William the Conqueror, Meghan's bombshell has been compared to the crises over the death of Diana and the 1936 abdication of Edward VIII.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson watched the interview, his spokesman said, but would not be making further comment on it.

Johnson said on Monday he had the highest admiration for the queen but that he did not want to speak about the interview. New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her nation was unlikely to stop having the queen as head of state soon.

'TRAPPED'

Opponents of the monarchy said the allegations made by Meghan and Prince Harry showed how rotten the institution was and that the Palace's public relations machine had created a distorted image of the royals.

"Now people are getting a much clearer picture of what the monarchy is really like. And it doesn't look good," said Graham Smith, head of Republic, a campaign group which seeks to abolish the monarchy.

Royal supporters cast Meghan, 39, an American former actor, as a publicity seeker with an eye on Hollywood stardom.

A YouGov poll found a majority of young people thought the royals' treatment of the couple was unfair, while half of older people said the opposite.

The gravity of the claims has raised questions about how the British monarchy, which survived centuries of revolution that toppled their cousins across Europe, could function in a meritocratic world.

Meghan, whose mother is Black and father is white, said her son Archie, who turns two in May, had been denied the title of prince because there were concerns within the royal family "about how dark his skin might be when he's born".

She declined to say who had voiced such concerns, as did Prince Harry. Winfrey later told CBS that Prince Harry had said it was not the queen or her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip, who has been in hospital for three weeks while the crisis unfolds.

Meghan's estranged father Thomas Markle, who she has not spoken to since her wedding, said he did not think the British royal family was racist.

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2021-03-09 22:43:17Z
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Security forces search Myanmar protest district room by room - CNA

YANGON: People barricaded in a Yangon neighbourhood overnight said on Tuesday (Mar 9) that Myanmar security forces searched their homes room by room for anti-coup protesters, targeting apartments flying the flag of Aung San Suu Kyi's party.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted and detained Aung San Suu Kyi last month, triggering daily protests around the country to demand the military government restore democracy.

The police and army have responded with an increasingly brutal crackdown and parts of Yangon have emerged as flashpoints for violence as protesters continue to defy authorities and take to the streets.

Crowds once again flocked to central San Chaung township in the commercial hub to call for Aung San Suu Kyi's release in a Monday protest coinciding with International Women's Day.

By nightfall, security forces had sealed off a block of streets with around 200 protesters still inside, according to the UN rights office, prompting alarm from diplomatic missions and calls for their safe release.

Sharp bangs were heard coming from the area, although it was not clear if the sounds were caused by gunfire or stun grenades.

Security forces started searching apartments after a nightly internet shutdown blanketed the country at 1am local time, residents told AFP, particularly those flying the red and gold flag of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party on their balconies.

One resident said her home - which did not have any protesters hiding inside - was searched.

"They searched every building on Kyun Taw road - they destroyed the locks of apartment buildings if they were locked downstairs," said the resident, adding that she heard dozens were arrested.

By dawn, security forces appeared to have retreated, allowing some protesters to escape from the area.

READ: 'Shoot me instead': Myanmar nun pleads with junta forces

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called for restraint, a point reinforced on Tuesday by the United States.

"We continue to urge the Burmese military to exercise maximum restraint," State Department spokesman Ned Price said, using Myanmar's former name, calling on security forces to "respond peacefully with respect for human rights."

San Chaung - a bustling township known for its cafes, bars and restaurants - has transformed since the protests began, with makeshift barricades of bamboo, sandbags, tables and barbed wire set up by protesters in an effort to slow security forces.

'DIPLOMACY'

Since the coup, more than 60 people have been killed as security forces have broken up anti-coup demonstrations, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group.

On Tuesday a community leader connected to the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government, Zaw Myat Linn, died during an interrogation following his arrest, the AAPP said. He was the second NLD member to have died in custody in recent days.

Police stand after they seized Sanchaung district in search of anti-coup demonstrators in Yangon, Myanmar, on Mar 8, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS/Stringer)

The news came as Myanmar's ambassador to the UK was recalled, according to state media, after he urged the military government to release Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.

"Diplomacy is the only response and answer to the current impasse," Kyaw Zwar Minn said on Monday in a statement that was tweeted by UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

The Monday night raids in San Chaung followed the deaths of three protesters who were shot at rallies on a day when many shops, factories and banks closed as part of a general strike to protest against the coup.

Online television broadcaster Kamaryut Media said its office was raided Tuesday and two staff members were taken away by plainclothes officers while military vehicles waited outside.

The office of a second media outlet Mizzima was also targeted Tuesday, the day after it had its publishing licence revoked.

"About ten vehicles with soldiers and police came," a Mizzima journalist told AFP, adding the office had been closed since the coup.

Security forces also raided the office of Myanmar Now in Yangon on Monday and later revoked its publishing licence along with DVB, Khit Thit and 7 Day, following an information ministry order, state broadcaster MRTV said.

Reporters Without Borders condemned the ongoing media crackdown and characterised the raids as "a shocking act of intimidation".

Tear gas and fire extinguisher gas float around demonstrators as they run away from police during a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, on Mar 8, 2021. (Photo: REUTERS/Stringer)

MRTV also provided an ominous update on the case of detained Australian economist Sean Turnell, an advisor to Suu Kyi, who was arrested a week after the putsch.

It alleged he was discovered with "secretive state economic data" and tried to "escape" Myanmar.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne earlier this week called for Turnell's immediate release noting he had been detained with limited consular access for more than 30 days.

The military has denied responsibility for loss of life in the protests and defended seizing power by alleging widespread electoral fraud in November's elections, which Aung San Suu Kyi's party won in a landslide.

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2021-03-09 22:36:40Z
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