Raphael Stevens

A health worker administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19, to a man at the Medalla Milagrosa Church in Valparaiso, Chile, on April 6, 2021.JAVIER TORRES | AFP | Getty ImagesLONDON — Chile’s vaccination campaign against the coronavirus has been one of the world’s quickest and most extensive, but a recent surge in infections has sparked concern beyond its borders. Almost 40% of the South American country’s total population have now received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to statistics compiled by Our World in Data, reflecting one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.Only Israel and the U.K., respectively, have inoculated a larger share of their population with at least one dose.Nonetheless, Chile has endured a sharp uptick in coronavirus infections in recent weeks, even with its world-renowned vaccine rollout and strict lockdowns in place for much of its 19 million inhabitants.The Pan American Health Organization’s regional director has since emphasized that for most countries in the region, vaccines won’t be enough to prevent rising infection rates.The number of daily cases in Chile rose to a record high on April 9, climbing above 9,000 for the first time since the pandemic began and significantly higher than the peak of almost 7,000 recorded last summer.Health Minister Enrique Paris on Thursday told reporters that he hoped the surge in daily cases had now climbed to its highest point.”Once we reach that peak, we expect not a reduction but a stabilization and then a return to smaller numbers of positive patients,” he said, according to Reuters.What has gone wrong?Health experts say the country’s latest surge in cases has, in part, been driven by more virulent strains of the virus, a relaxation of public health measures, increased mobility and defiance of simple precautions — such as physical distancing and wearing a mask.Chile’s center-right government, led by President Sebastian Pinera, had ordered the closure of the country’s borders from March to November of 2020, albeit with a few exceptions, before the decision was taken to reopen them to international passengers late last year.Shops, restaurants and some holiday resorts were also opened in a bid to boost the country’s pandemic-stricken economy.Passengers in protective suits against the spread of the novel coronavirus disease, queue at counters at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago on April 1, 2021, after Chile announced it will close its borders in April as of Monday amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.MARTIN BERNETTI | AFP | Getty ImagesYet, while the country’s vaccination rollout powered ahead of most, the spread of a more virulent strain of the virus — such as the P.1 variant, first discovered in travelers from Brazil — has led to a substantial rise in cases.There have also been questions raised about vaccine efficacy, given Chile’s widespread use of CoronaVac, the coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Chinese firm Sinovac.It comes after the head of China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this month that China may need to replace its Covid vaccines or change the way they are administered in order to make them sufficiently effective.”We will solve the problem that current vaccines don’t have very high protection rates,” George Gao, director general of the Chinese CDC, said at a conference on April 11. He has since told state media that his comments were misunderstood.Late-stage data of China’s Covid vaccines remain unpublished, and available data of the CoronaVac vaccine is varied. Brazilian trials found the vaccine to be just over 50% effective, significantly less effective than the likes of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca, while Turkish researchers have reported efficacy as high as 83.5%. An ambulance leaves the Carlos Van Buren Hospital, which is overwhelmed by the large number of Covid-19 positive cases, in Valparaiso, Chile on April 6, 2021.JAVIER TORRES | AFP | Getty ImagesA study published by the University of Chile earlier this month reported that CoronaVac was 56.5% effective two weeks after the second doses were administered in the country. Crucially, however, they also reported that one dose was only 3% effective.”This would help to explain why Chile — with one of the world’s most robust vaccine rollouts but 93% of the doses coming from China — has experienced a simultaneous significant expansion in cases, and a much slower decline in hospitalizations and deaths compared to the early rollouts in Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States,” Ian Bremmer, president of risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said in a research note.”Chile and the United Arab Emirates are both considering implementing a third dose (so a second booster shot) of the Chinese vaccine accordingly; a change in communications that will increase vaccine hesitancy for the Chinese vaccines more broadly,” Bremmer said.’Comprehensive strategies'”I cannot stress this enough — for most countries, vaccines are not going to stop this wave of the pandemic,” Carissa Etienne, director of PAHO, said during a weekly press briefing on Wednesday. “There are simply not enough of them available to protect everyone in the countries at greatest risk.”Etienne pressed policymakers in the region to implement “comprehensive strategies” to speed up the rollout of vaccines and stop transmission by using proven public health measures.On April 14, the Americas reported more than 1.3 million Covid infections and nearly 36,000 deaths in the past week, according to data compiled by the United Nations health agency. To date, the Americas has recorded 58.8 million cases and more than 1.4 million deaths, making it the worst-affected region in the world.”We are not acting like a region in the midst of a worsening outbreak,” PAHO’s Etienne said, describing South America as the “epicenter” of the virus.In addition to relaxed restrictions in some areas, Etienne said new and highly transmissible variants of the virus had prompted a steep acceleration of cases. At present, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and some areas of Bolivia are reporting a sharp uptick in infections.Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile are also experiencing a continuing increase in Covid cases, Etienne said. More

In this article6185-HKChina’s CanSino Biologics will be starting clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine that is administered through inhalation next week, the company’s co-founder and Chief Executive Xuefeng Yu told CNBC on Sunday.Efficacy rates for China’s Covid vaccines have been found to be lower than those developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Earlier this month, the director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control publicly acknowledged that Chinese vaccines “don’t have very high protection rates” and that they were considering giving people different Covid shots to boost vaccine efficacy.Yu told CNBC that an inhaled vaccine could be more effective than those injected given that the coronavirus enters the human body through the airways.CanSinoBIO is jointly developing the inhalation vaccine with the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology. To be clear, the company’s Adenovirus Type 5 Vector vaccine — or Ad5-nCoV — administered by injection was already approved for use in China and several other countries.People receiving Covid-19 shots at a temporary vaccination site on April 15, 2021 in Kunming, Yunnan Province of China.Liu Ranyang | China News Service | Getty ImagesSpeaking to CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal at the Boao Forum for Asia in the Chinese province of Hainan, Yu explained that theoretically, an inhaled vaccine could provide additional protection by activating antibodies or T cells — white blood cells that are vital to the immune system — in the airways.If that protection layer fails and the virus travels deeper into the body, other parts of the immune system could still fight the Covid virus, added Yu.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:Chile has one of the world’s best vaccination rates. Covid is surging there anywayHalf of U.S. adults have received at least one Covid shot in milestone for vaccination campaignFauci says U.S. will likely resume use of J&J Covid vaccine with a warning or restrictionChina is starting clinical trials of a Covid vaccine that can be inhaled”So you add more layers — makes sense, right? So that’s why we’re going through the mucosal route,” he said.The CEO said the company has used the same concept to develop an inhalation vaccine for tuberculosis or TB. Trials conducted in Canada showed that the inhaled dosage for the TB vaccine needed to provide protection is “much, much less than the actual injection,” he said.Boosting vaccine efficacyCanSinoBIO’s single-dose injected Covid vaccine has been approved for use in several countries including China, Pakistan, Mexico and Hungary.The company said interim data from phase three clinical trials overseas showed its vaccine was 68.83% effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 disease two weeks after one injection, while the rate fell to 65.28% after four weeks, reported Reuters.In comparison, updated data showed the Pfizer-BioNTech shot was 91% effective at preventing infection, while Moderna said its vaccine was more than 90% effective six months after the second shot.Yu said CanSinoBIO has studied adding a booster shot six months after the first injection, which managed to improve the immune response to the coronavirus.  “That’s also indicating that our vaccine could be boosted — whether it’s being mixed with others or do it our own, I think that needs truly a scientific study. We need to actually have data to demonstrate which way could be better,” said the CEO.Reuters reported on Monday that Chinese researchers are testing mixing Covid vaccines developed by CanSinoBIO and a unit of Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products. The trial, under way in the eastern city of Nanjing, is expected to involve 120 participants, said the report.China was the first country to report cases of Covid-19 in late 2019 and appears to have largely contained the outbreak. The country has said it aims to vaccinate 40% of its population by June. More

Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool controls the ball during the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid at Anfield on April 14, 2021 in Liverpool, England.Shaun Botterill | Getty Images Sport | Getty ImagesTwelve of Europe’s leading football clubs have agreed to establish a Super League, despite widespread criticism of the plans.A statement from the new competition said: “AC Milan, Arsenal, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur have all joined as founding clubs.”It is anticipated that a further three clubs will join ahead of the inaugural season, which is intended to commence as soon as practicable.”Florentino Pérez, president of Real Madrid and the first chairman of the Super League, said: “We will help football at every level and take it to its rightful place in the world. Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires.”The project is being launched to rival UEFA’s Champions League format which currently dominates European football and it comes as UEFA was due to sign off on plans for an expanded and restructured Champions League on Monday.The new Super League has been criticized by politicians, such as Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, as well as former players such as Gary Neville.Mr Johnson said the new league would “strike at the heart of the domestic game, and will concern fans across the country.”Read more stories from Sky SportsFurious Neville ‘disgusted’ by Euro Super League planEuropean Super League: The key questionsRussell slams ‘dangerous’ Bottas after huge Imola crashHe added: “The clubs involved must answer to their fans and the wider footballing community before taking any further steps.”Sir Keir said the plans had ignored the fans, adding: “Football in empty stadiums hasn’t been the same over the last year. I can’t wait to get back to games. But this proposal risks shutting the door on fans for good, reducing them to mere spectators and consumers.”The clubs involved in this proposal should rethink immediately. And if they don’t, they should face the consequences of their actions. Because football without fans is nothing.”Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville told Sky Sports: “I’m not against the modernisation of football competitions, we have the Premier League, the Champions League, but I think to bring forward proposals in the midst of COVID and the economic crisis for all clubs is an absolute scandal.”United and the rest of the ‘Big Six’ that have signed up to it against the rest of the Premier League should be ashamed of themselves.”Neville added: “They should deduct six points off all six teams that have signed up to it. Deduct points off them all. To do it during a season? It’s a joke.”UEFA, the FA, and the Premier League are among others to have expressed opposition, saying in a joint statement that they “remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project”, adding: “We thank those clubs in other countries, especially the French and German clubs, who have refused to sign up to this.”This persistent self-interest of a few has been going on for too long. Enough is enough.”The English FA said: “We would not provide permission to any competition that would be damaging to English football, and will take any legal and/or regulatory action necessary to protect the broader interests of the game.”The Super League competition will see 20 participating clubs – 15 founding clubs and a further five teams able to qualify annually based on their achievements during the previous season.It will begin in August with clubs participating in two groups of 10, playing home and away fixtures, some during the week, with the top three in each group qualifying for the quarter-finals.Teams finishing fourth and fifth will compete in a two-legged play-off for the remaining quarter-final spots before a knockout format is used to reach the final at the end of May, which will be staged as a single fixture at a neutral venue.Club players will be able to continue competing in their national leagues and, as soon as possible after the men’s competition begins, a women’s league will also be launched. More

Caroline Nicolls receives an injection of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine administered by nurse Amy Nash, at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, west of London on April 13, 2021.STEVE PARSONS | AFP | Getty ImagesLONDON — Researchers at the University of Oxford on Monday announced the launch of a human challenge trial to better understand what happens when people who have already contracted the coronavirus are infected for a second time.Researchers will examine what kind of immune response could prevent people from becoming reinfected with Covid-19 and investigate how the immune system reacts to the virus a second time round.At present, little is known about what happens to people who have already had the virus when they are infected for a second time.The trial will take place in two phases, with different participants in each phase. The first phase is scheduled to get underway this month and the second phase is due to start in the summer.In medical research, human challenge trials are controlled studies that involve deliberately exposing participants with a pathogen or a bug to study the effects.”Challenge studies tell us things that other studies cannot because, unlike natural infection, they are tightly controlled,” said Helen McShane, chief investigator of the study and professor of vaccinology at the Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford.”When we re-infect these participants, we will know exactly how their immune system has reacted to the first COVID infection, exactly when the second infection occurs, and exactly how much virus they got,” McShane said.It is hoped the study will help to improve scientists’ basic understanding of the virus and help to design tests that can reliably predict whether people are protected.What happens in each phase?For phase one, up to 64 volunteers aged between 18 to 30-years-old who have previously been naturally infected will be re-exposed to the virus in controlled conditions.Researchers will oversee the care of the participants as they undergo CT scans of the lungs and MRI scans of the heart while isolating in a specially designed suite for a minimum of 17 days.All of those who take part are required to be fit and well and must have completely recovered from their first infection of Covid to minimize risk.The trial participants will only be discharged from the quarantine unit when they are no longer infected and at risk of spreading the disease.A view of the City of London on a clear day.Vuk Valcic | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty ImagesThe second phase of the trial will explore two different areas.”First, we will define very carefully the baseline immune response in the volunteers, before we infect them. We will then infect them with the dose of virus chosen from the first study and measure how much virus we can detect after infection. We will then be able to understand what kind of immune responses protect against re-infection,” McShane said.”Second, we will measure the immune response at several time points after infection so we can understand what immune response is generated by the virus,” she added.The full length of the study will be 12 months, including a minimum of eight follow-up appointments after being discharged.”This study has the potential to transform our understanding by providing high-quality data on how our immune system responds to a second infection with this virus,” Shobana Balasingam, vaccines senior research advisor at Wellcome, a charitable foundation that is funding the study.”The findings could have important implications for how we handle COVID-19 in the future, and inform not just vaccine development but also research into the range of effective treatments that are also urgently needed,” Balasingam said. More