The EU’s Digital Covid Certificate: Can American Travelers Get One?

This summer, the 27 nations of the European Union are finally reopening to tourists—including American ones—following lengthy closures of borders due to the pandemic.

To facilitate ease of movement while keeping citizens safe, member states are issuing EU Digital Covid Certificates (sometimes referred to as "Digital Green Certificates" or "Digital Green Passes") for travelers to use at borders. These digital certificates prove that the holder has been vaccinated against Covid-19, has received negative test results for the virus, or has recovered from it.

Although the certificates were devised for use by EU citizens, visitors from the U.S., the United Kingdom, and elsewhere may also be permitted to use the system, EU

Read more at: The EU’s Digital Covid Certificate: Can American Travelers Get One? | Frommer's

China: WHO chief expects China collaboration in 2nd phase of studies into coronavirus origins

The head of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday that he expected all countries, including China, to collaborate in the second phase of a probe into the origins of the coronavirus after an initial mission to China, Reuters informs.

Read more at: https://artsakhpress.am/eng/news/151024/who-chief-expects-china-collaboration-in-2nd-phase-of-studies-into-coronavirus-origins.html

Brazil: Brazilian president's daughter-in-law and granddaughter test positive for COVID-19

Heloisa Bolsonaro shared that her daughter, Georgia Bolsonaro, only experienced mild symptoms, including a fever and runny nose.

'On the first day we felt bad, now, thank God, we're fine,' she wrote. 'And thanks to a drug that I just took and I got better right away. Impressive.'

Read more at: Brazilian president's daughter-in-law and granddaughter test positive for COVID-19 | Daily Mail Online

USA: CDC overrides advisory panel to back Pfizer booster for Americans with high-risk jobs | US news

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has broken with advice from its own internal advisory panel to back a booster shot of the Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for Americans aged 65 and older, adults with underlying medical conditions and adults in high-risk working and institutional settings.

The move came on Friday one day after an advisory panel to the agency did not recommend that people in high-risk jobs, such as teachers, and risky living conditions should get boosters. The panel had only recommended boosters for elderly and some people with underlying medical conditions.

Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, said her agency had to make recommendations based on complex, often imperfect data.

Read more at: CDC overrides advisory panel to back Pfizer booster for Americans with high-risk jobs | US news | The Guardian

USA: How America mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and why we aren't ready for the next crisis - by Lewis Brogd

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed this country in ways that will take decades to understand and address. A year and a half into this historic time, the world is exhausted and operating on reserves with no clear end date in sight.

Over the past year, I have been reflecting on two incisive quotes from staff writers at The Atlantic — George Packer and Ed Young. The first is short and to the point. Packer said, “The coronavirus has revealed a sick and unequal society incapable of self-government.”

As a scholar of Bible and religion, the idea of the pandemic acting as a catalyst, exposing the realities of our sick and unequal society, resonated with me. In scripture, God reveals and exposes truth about humanity in unorthodox ways. Throughout history, societies get locked into unhealthy and oppressive patterns and refuse to change. The Sovereign One reveals the true character of these nations. God uses nature, animals, disease, even corrupt neighboring nations to bring judgment.

Read more at: How America mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic and why we aren't ready for the next crisis

Corona Pandemic - Travel Restrictions: U.S. to Lift Pandemic Travel Restrictions, Easing Tension With Europe

The halt to the 18-month ban on travel from 33 countries, including members of the European Union, China, Iran, South Africa, Brazil and India, could help rejuvenate a U.S. tourism industry that has been crippled by the pandemic. The industry suffered a $500 billion loss in travel expenditures in 2020, according to the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group that promotes travel to and within the United States.

Foreign travelers will need to show proof of vaccination before boarding and a negative coronavirus test within three days of coming to the United States, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House pandemic coordinator, said on Monday. Unvaccinated Americans who want to travel home from overseas will have to clear stricter testing requirements. They will need to test negative for the coronavirus one day before traveling to the United States and show proof that they have bought a test to take after arriving in the United States, Mr. Zients said.

Read more at: U.S. to Lift Pandemic Travel Restrictions, Easing Tension With Europe - The New York Times

USA: 45% of Republicans Support a Universal Vaccine Mandate: New Poll

45% of Republicans support a universal vaccine mandate, a new poll found. Comparatively, 84% of Democrats support a universal mandate A majority of Americans (64%) also supported such a mandate.

Read more at: 45% of Republicans Support a Universal Vaccine Mandate: New Poll

Netherlands remains red on Europe's coronavirus map

As expected, the whole of the Netherlands will remain red on the European Union's coronavirus risk level map for seven more days. Over 4.6 percent of all coronavirus tests performed in the Netherlands over the past two weeks were positive, according to data submitted by the Ministry of Health to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Anything over 4 percent during a two-week period puts an entire country at the red level. Red is the second highest warning color on the map that the European health service ECDC produces every Thursday. All twelve provinces were also at red last week.

Flevoland is relatively the largest fire in the country. In the past two weeks, 281 out of every 100,000 inhabitants tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. That is considerably lower than last week's calculation. Friesland follows, but the number of positive tests there is almost 19 percent higher than with data used to produce last week's ECDC map. With 254 cases per capita, Friesland has overtaken Noord-Holland (244), Zuid-Holland (241) and Overijssel (227). The number of cases is also increasing in Utrecht.

Read more at: Netherlands remains red on Europe's coronavirus map | NL Times

Japan -Pfizer Vaccines: Contaminated Pfizer Vaccines Reported In Several Japanese Cities

Several cities in Japan have reported ‘white-colored floating substances’ in Vials of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, according to Bloomberg.

The vials came from lot FF5357, where white contaminants were first reported by Kamakura City in Kanagawa prefecture. On Tuesday, two more cities – neighboring Sagamihara and Sakai City in Osaka prefecture reported contaminated vials, however there were no reports of adverse reactions. In Sagamihara, white substances were reported at three different vaccination sites on Sept. 11, 12 and 14.

Read more at: Contaminated Pfizer Vaccines Reported In Several Japanese Cities

USA: FDA panel recommends Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster shots only for people 65 and older or at high risk

There isn’t yet sufficient evidence to show boosters for people under 65 are necessary, said members of the Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee.

Read more at: FDA panel recommends Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster shots only for people 65 and older or at high risk

USA: FDA panel approves Pfizer COVID vaccine booster shots for 65 and over - but not for everyone

Eighty-four percent of vaccine advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted Friday against a measure that would support booster shots in those ages 16 years and older. However, the panel unanimously voted in support of boosters for those 65 and over and at high risk.

Read more at: https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2021/09/84-of-fda-vaccine-advisers-vote-no-on-pfizer-vaccine-boosters.html

EU-September EU Travel Restrictions: Covid-19 Vaccination, Testing And Quarantine Rules By Country- by Alex Ledsom

The last hurrahs of summer are bringing more travel complications, as countries are increasingly deluged with rising daily infection rates of Covid-19 and specifically, the tricky Delta variant:

The U.S. has been removed from the EU’s safe list for non-essential travel because its daily infection rate is far higher than the 75 daily cases per 100,000 people needed over a 14-day period to stay on this list–Israel was also removed.

It was a move seen by some to be valid, not only because of rising rates in the U.S. but also because the EU is neck and neck with the U.S. on vaccination rates and because of the continued lack of reciprocity from the U.S. in rescinding the travel ban which has been place since March 2020–airlines now fear a November opening.

Read more at: September EU Travel Restrictions: Covid-19 Vaccination, Testing And Quarantine Rules By Country

USA: 'Still in pandemic mode': COVID-19 nowhere near 'under control' in US, warns Anthony Fauci

COVID-19 is “nowhere near under control” in the United States and the cases have surged more than ten times higher than they need to be in order to end the pandemic, US top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday. His remarks follow the warnings about the upcoming coronavirus mutations that he stated could be even more contagious than the delta of the coronavirus lineage. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) told Axios in an interview that the US has a mounting caseload of COVID-19 which is "not even modestly good control". "Until the cases dip to 10,000 a day, we are still in full ‘pandemic mode’," the infectious disease expert said.

Read more at: 'Still in pandemic mode': COVID-19 nowhere near 'under control' in US, warns Anthony Fauci

USA - Coronavirus- statistics: Florida Won't Release Number of COVID Deaths in Individual Counties Despite Surge in Cases

The exact number of COVID deaths in counties in Florida remains unconfirmed as the state reportedly will not reveal the data as cases surge amid the highly transmissible Delta variant.

Florida releases data related to COVID deaths on a state level, but hasn't been disclosing the number of deaths on a county level for three months, The Palm Beach Post reported.

Read more at: https://www.newsweek.com/florida-wont-release-number-covid-deaths-individual-counties-despite-surge-cases-1628067?utm_source=PushnamiMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=automatic&UTM=1631368618680&subscriberId=5ef650d523994a6b87f208b6

Coronavirus - Booster Shot: A British Oxford expert says not everyone will need a booster jab

Not everyone vaccinated against coronavirus will need a booster jab, one of the leading figures in the development of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine has said.

Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert said immunity is “lasting well” for most people and suggested extra doses should be directed to countries with a low rate of vaccination.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said he expects a booster programme to start later in September but he is still awaiting advice from experts on the scale of any campaign to offer extra shots to people.

Read more at: Coronavirus LIVE updates as Oxford expert says not everyone will need a booster jab - Manchester Evening News

Canada: Despite a 4th wave, Canada will welcome fully vaccinated foreign travellers on Tuesday September 7

On Sept. 7, Canada will open its borders to fully vaccinated travellers from across the globe, and let them skip the country's 14-day quarantine requirement.

The rule change is significant, as most non-essential foreign travellers have been barred from entering Canada since the start of the pandemic.

Read more at: Despite a 4th wave, Canada will welcome fully vaccinated foreign travellers on Tuesday | CBC News

USA: COVID-19 deaths surge across America as summer draws to a close; Fauci says boosters likely to start with Pfizer only

Coronavirus case counts are once again rising across the US, near and far. Health officials are scrambling to vaccinate as the Delta variant takes hold.

Read more at: COVID-19 deaths surge across America as summer draws to a close; Fauci says boosters likely to start with Pfizer only

Coronavirus Cases: U.S. child COVID-19 cases continue to rise as kids return to school

Children represented over 20 percent of weekly COVID-19 cases in the United States by the end of August, according to a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.

A total of 203,962 child COVID-19 cases were reported in the week from Aug. 19 to Aug. 26, accounting for 22.4 percent of the weekly reported cases in the country, said the report.

Over two weeks from Aug. 12 to Aug. 26, there was a 9 percent increase in the cumulated number of child COVID-19 cases, it said.

Read more at: U.S. child COVID-19 cases continue to rise as kids return to school - Xinhua

Corona Pandemic: Israel was down to a handful of daily COVID cases. Now it's around 11,000. What happened?

Just months ago, Israel was a world leader in vaccinating its population and appeared to be putting a stranglehold on the virus that causes COVID-19, wrestling down its daily case count to double digits — and at times, near zero.

But any potential celebration was short-lived, as the more contagious delta variant gained traction and spread quickly, to the point where Israel's most recent daily case count was around 11,000 — a level not seen since January.

Read more at: Israel was down to a handful of daily COVID cases. Now it's around 11,000. What happened? | CBC News