Transporting Pfizer’s vaccine can be challenging because it must be stored at very low temperatures. The European Commission wants to change the rules for health care in the EU.
Germany has not yet reached a plateau, despite the lockdown. People who have had Covid-19 are more likely to develop psychological problems. This and other news about the evolving situation with the coronavirus pandemic is in our daily review.
According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 51.6 million people worldwide have either been infected or are currently suffering from the coronavirus, with more than 1.2 million deaths. The United States leads in the number of cases (over 10.2 million infections, nearly 240,000 deaths). India ranks second (8.6 million infections, 127,500 deaths). Brazil ranks third (nearly 5.7 million infections, 162,800 deaths).
On Monday, it was announced that the coronavirus vaccine developed by pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech was 90% effective in tests on volunteers – in other words, 9 out of 10 people vaccinated should not get sick if infected. However, experts note that there is one important aspect that needs to be considered when planning the distribution of the vaccine – its storage and transportation. The problem is that the vaccine has to be stored at -70 degrees Celsius and can only be thawed a maximum of four times. Household freezers usually cannot maintain such a temperature. The vast majority of other vaccines do not require such conditions, so there is no ready-made infrastructure for the new vaccine worldwide. Pfizer will ship vaccine batches from its centers in the United States, Germany, and Belgium by both air and ground transportation, raising questions about storage at transit centers and distribution to clinics, pharmacies, and hospitals. The Wall Street Journal found that Pfizer has developed special thermal boxes filled with dry ice to maintain low temperatures during transport. The location of each box can be tracked by GPS. Each box can hold up to 5,000 doses, which can be stored for up to 10 days if the box is kept closed. Note that the boxes can be reused. The company Polar Thermals, which makes similar boxes for transporting vaccines, said their cost is quite high. Each unit costs about $6,500. At the same time, the company’s product can only maintain a temperature of -8 degrees Celsius for five days and can hold 1200 doses.
The European Commission has proposed changes to the rules governing health care in EU countries that would allow for the introduction of a state of emergency for medical reasons and conduct readiness tests for states to combat a pandemic. This is due to the fact that in the spring, at the beginning of the pandemic, the countries of the European Union acted in an uncoordinated manner, resulting in competition for medical equipment and a ban on the export of medicines. “More effective tools at EU level are needed to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and other future health crises,” said Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
Germany reported the highest number of deaths from Covid-19 since April. The health minister warned that the number of new infections per day has not decreased, so it is too early to talk about reaching a plateau. “The number of new cases is increasing, but not so fast. This is encouraging, but not enough,” Shpan said in an interview with RTL. He added that the daily number of new infections has not exceeded 20 thousand for the past four days, but the mortality rate continues to rise and hospitals report an increase in the number of patients in intensive care units. Europe’s largest economy imposed a lockdown on November 2 to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The Robert Koch Institute reported that more than 18,400 cases of infection were detected in one day, and 261 people died.
The incidence in the state of California continues to rise; authorities are talking about “COVID fatigue”. California and several other US states have tightened restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus. This is due to an increase in cases of infection, which is explained by the arrival of cold weather and, as a result, an increase in patients in hospitals. The leading infectious disease expert in the United States, Anthony Fauci, urged the country’s residents to hold out until mass vaccination begins. “There is such a thing as COVID-19 fatigue, which is understandable. But please hang in there, do what you are supposed to do, and everything will be fine,” he said in an interview with CNN. According to Johns Hopkins University, on Tuesday the United States once again broke its previous daily record for the number of new Covid-19 cases – over 201.9 thousand cases of infection were detected. Such a high number is explained by the delay in receiving data over the weekend. In 24 hours, 1535 infected people have died. Since the beginning of the pandemic in the United States, the number of people infected has exceeded 10.2 million, with more than 239.5 thousand deaths.
People who recover from Covid-19 are more susceptible to developing mental health problems – this is the conclusion of a study that found that 20% of those infected with the coronavirus developed mental disorders within 90 days. One in five people who have had COVID develop various mental disorders, scientists say, but they do not yet know why. These include anxiety, depression and insomnia, according to researchers at the University of Oxford, who studied patients who had recovered from Covid-19 and subsequently developed psychological problems. The researchers also found a significant increase in the risk of developing dementia and deterioration of certain brain functions. Doctors and scientists urgently need to determine what causes the development of psychological abnormalities in such individuals and develop new ways to treat them,” said Professor of Psychiatry Paul Harrison.
“Scientists have found that gyms are one of the breeding grounds for infection.” In the United States, researchers used computer models to determine how the situation would have developed in the country’s largest cities if quarantine restrictions had not been implemented and people had not adhered to self-isolation measures. They concluded that 30% of the population would have been infected. According to the authors of the study, most people would be infected in restaurants, gyms, hotels and cafes, and if the population avoids visiting them, it will be possible to avoid active spread of infection in winter. Scientists believe that if the entire economy is not closed, then it is necessary to limit the attendance of such places.
How many people have lost their jobs because of coronavirus? Economists say official unemployment figures do not reflect the real situation and explain why.