The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and vaccines

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Thursday, that spreading out the first doses of Covid-19 vaccine to more people is "under consideration."

The Pfizer shot requires a second dose 21 days later and the Moderna shot requires a second dose 28 days later. Currently, those second doses have been held back by the federal government, so they will be available and administered when they are needed to provide those second doses.

What's under consideration is dispensing those doses now, to vaccinate more people with their first shot. But there is risk involved. By not initially holding back the second doses, more vaccine doses will need to be produced and distributed by the time the required second doses are needed. 

Fauci said it could be debated either way, but one of the problems with doing it would be if a person didn’t get the second dose in time and there is a lag period.

He said that it’s known from the clinical trials “the optimal time is to give it on one day and then for Moderna 28 days later and for Pfizer 21 days later, that’s what the data tells us is the best way to do it.”

If you want to stick with the data, that’s how it should be done, he said, “but you can make an argument, and some people are, about stretching out the doses by giving a single dose across the board and hoping you’re going to get the second dose in time to give to individuals.”

Here's a look at how the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines compare.

You'd struggle to find anyone in Europe who will be unhappy to see the back of 2020.

Covid-19, Brexit and the international political carnage of this year have hammered the continent and exacerbated tensions that have blighted the European Union for years.

But those problems are not going anywhere in 2021.

With no pandemic, fraught talks with the UK or an American president as anti-European Union as Donald Trump, Brussels might finally find space to address issues that have long undermined the bloc -- though it won't be easy.

To some extent, the crises of 2020 have masked a debilitating lack of unity across the EU.

For all Brussels' lofty ambitions of greater integration and becoming a global force in its own right, it faces pushback on issues ranging from internal adherence to the rule of law to a coordinated strategy for dealing with China.

And whether it has the political will or talent to do so in 2021 without widening those cracks is another matter entirely.

Read the full analysis here: 

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2020 was a terrible year for Europe. 2021 is unlikely to be much better

Pope Francis will not lead the Vatican’s New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrations due to sciatic pain, the Vatican said on Thursday.

The Pope will be replaced by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, for Thursday afternoon’s year-end Vespers service.

Mass on New Year’s Day will be celebrated by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

Pope Francis will still lead the Angelus prayer on Friday, as planned.

It’s the first time the Pope has missed New Year’s Eve or Christmas celebrations, but not the first time he has skipped an event.

On February 27, Pope Francis, who is 84, canceled a scheduled mass for what the Vatican press office described as a “slight imposition,” denying rumors that the pontiff could’ve contracted Covid-19.

He was later seen coughing, sneezing and speaking with a hoarse voice.

Pope Francis first revealed he had sciatica -- a painful, and sometimes debilitating condition originating from the herniation of spinal disk -- during an inflight press conference while on a visit to Brazil in 2013.

“The worst thing that happened -- excuse me -- was an attack of sciatica -- really! -- that I had the first month, because I was sitting in an armchair to do interviews and it hurt,” Francis said at the time, when asked what the worst part of being the Pope was.

“Sciatica is very painful, very painful! I don't wish it on anyone,” he said.

On August, 10, 2017, he announced he was able to deal with the condition.

The Vatican later confirmed the Pope had undergone treatment, including massages and injections twice a week to reduce pain in his leg.

The new Covid-19 variant first found in the UK is growing rapidly, is more transmissible than other variants, and affecting a greater proportion of people under 20, according to a study.

The research is a collaborative effort from scientists and researchers at Imperial College London, the University of Edinburgh, Public Health England, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the University of Birmingham and the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium.

As of December 30, at least 27 countries, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have so far reported cases of the new strain, per CNN reporting. 

“There is a consensus among all analyses that the VOC [the Variant of Concern or new variant] has a substantial transmission advantage,” the study said. It added that the difference between the reproduction number of the mutation, in comparison to other variants of the virus, is 0.4 to 0.7 higher. The reproduction number reflects the number of individuals that one infected person transmits the virus to.

“These analyses, which have informed UK government planning in recent weeks, show that the new variant of concern, B.1.1.7, has substantially higher transmissibility than previous SARS-CoV-2 viruses circulating in the UK,” Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College London said.

The study also said that while people under the age of 20 years make up a greater proportion of cases of the new variant of the virus, it is too early to determine the reason why.

As the new variant is more easily transmissible, controlling it will be more difficult, said Ferguson, who emphasized the "urgency of rolling out vaccination as quickly as possible."

Imperial College's Dr. Erik Volz said that "all viruses evolve, and very rarely a virus will change in a way that requires us to re-evaluate public health policy," noting that experts had found "overwhelming evidence of a change in transmissibility of the B.1.1.7 variant that should be taken into account when planning our Covid-19 response in the new year.” 

On Monday, the UK will roll out the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which was authorized for use on Wednesday.

In the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, today's New Year festivities around the world will be largely subdued and restricted. 

Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) say they will perform spot checks on New Year’s Eve gatherings to ensure Covid-19 restrictions are being adhered to, according to public broadcaster ABC.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing told ABC: "You are going to see large numbers of uniformed police officers out and about."

"We'll be checking licensed premises, we'll be door-knocking when necessary, we'll be out and patrolling public areas to ensure people abide by the current health orders," he added.

Households are limited to five guests in Greater Sydney and surrounding areas, whilst outdoor gatherings are limited to a maximum of 30 people, according to ABC.

China will provide free coronavirus shots to all of its citizens, a top health official said in a news conference Thursday.

Zeng Yixin, a vice-minister of China’s National Health Commission said that vaccines provide a public benefit by their very nature and while their price may vary, "an important premise is that [they] will be provided to the public for free.”

On Thursday, China’s homegrown Sinopharm vaccine was approved for use by China’s regulator, the National Medical Products Administration.

Sinopharm subsidiary Beijing Biological Products Institute announced that its Covid-19 vaccine is more than 79% effective on Wednesday.

More than 4.5 million doses of the vaccine have already been administered to "key groups" and "high-risk groups" prior to the authorization of the vaccine as part of a controversial emergency use program that began in July.

Among those who have already been vaccinated, fewer than 0.1% developed a light fever, and about two people per million developed "relative serious adverse reactions" such as allergies, according to Zeng.

Pfizer says it does not have data to demonstrate that just a single dose of its Covid-19 vaccine would provide protection against the disease after more than 21 days, after the UK government announced plans to widen intervals between the first and second doses from three to 12 weeks.

“Pfizer and BioNTech’s Phase 3 study for the Covid-19 vaccine was designed to evaluate the vaccine’s safety and efficacy following a 2-dose schedule, separated by 21 days,” Pfizer said in a statement on Thursday.

The pharmaceutical giant explained that it did not evaluate different dosing schedules because “the majority of trial participants received the second dose within the window specified in the study design.”

Pfizer’s statement comes after the UK's Chief Medical officers issued updated guidance on the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, now advising that a second dose may be given between three to 12 weeks following the first dose.

Speaking during a televised briefing from Downing Street on Wednesday, the head of the UK medicines regulator (MHRA), Dr. June Raine said that the updated guidance “allows for a potentially longer interval” than previously recommended, presenting an opportunity to vaccinate more people with first doses sooner and potentially providing them with some degree of protection before receiving their second doses.

“While decisions on alternative dosing regimens reside with health authorities, Pfizer believes it is critical health authorities conduct surveillance efforts on any alternative schedules implemented and to ensure each recipient is afforded the maximum possible protection, which means immunization with two doses of the vaccine,” the company said on Thursday.

“We remain committed to our ongoing dialogue with regulators, health authorities and governments, including the UK, and to our continued data sharing efforts to help inform any public health decisions aimed at defeating this devastating pandemic,” Pfizer added.

The Czech Republic has recorded its highest daily tally of positive Covid-19 cases since the pandemic started, after health authorities reported 16,939 new cases on Thursday.

According to the Czech Health Ministry, 52% of tests carried out in the past 24 hours came back positive.

The Czech Republic is one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus in Europe, with 718,661 diagnosed cases and 11,580 deaths.

The country is currently at level 5, the highest of its Covid-19 risk assessment levels, which means the situation across the country is at a critical stage.

Several Australian states moved to shut borders as cases stemming from an outbreak of Covid-19 in northern Sydney earlier this month continues to grow and take root in neighboring Victoria state. 

Interstate travel had largely been cut earlier this year during the country’s first wave.

Victoria, which reported three new locally transmitted cases Thursday, will close its borders with the state of New South Wales (NSW) starting Friday, according to public broadcaster ABC. As a result of the fresh outbreak in the state, new Covid-19 restrictions have been issued hours before New Year’s Eve celebrations, with gatherings of more than 15 people are no longer allowed and masks are now mandatory indoors.

The state of Western Australia said its restrictions -- which were described by acting Premier Roger Cook as “essentially a hard border ” -- were extended to the state of Victoria starting Friday. Western Australia travel restrictions on those from NSW have been in place since December 19. 

In the Northern Territories, Health Minister Natasha Fyles announced that from Friday, travelers from the greater Sydney area would have to go into quarantine in a designated facility. She added they were monitoring the situation in metropolitan Melbourne in Victoria state.

The ABC also reported that the state of South Australia will close its border with NSW from Friday but its border with Victoria will remain open.

The usual New Year's Eve fireworks display in Sydney has been shortened this year, with movement around the city restricted.