Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Everyone In Austria Must Get A Covid Shot
The New York Times: Austria Announces A Lockdown And Vaccination Mandate For All
Austria will go into a nationwide lockdown on Monday and impose a coronavirus vaccination mandate in February, Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg said on Friday. It is the first such lockdown in a European nation since the spring, and the first national vaccine mandate on the continent. “Nobody wants a lockdown — the lockdown is the very last resort, a crude instrument,” Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein said. “A lockdown is always an imposition, but it is the most reliable instrument we have to break this fourth wave.” (Schuetze and Peltier, 11/19)
Reuters: Austria Reimposes Full Covid Lockdown, Makes Vaccination Compulsory
Austria will become the first country in western Europe to reimpose a full Covid-19 lockdown this autumn to tackle a new wave of infections, and order its whole population to get vaccinated as of February, its government said on Friday. Roughly two-thirds of Austria’s population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, one of the lowest rates in western Europe. Its infections are among the highest on the continent, with a seven-day incidence of 991 per 100,000 people. (11/19)
In other news from Europe —
Bloomberg: New Covid Delta Sub-Variant Spreads Fast In U.K., Causes Fewer Symptoms
A more infectious new version of Covid-19’s delta variant is spreading fast in the U.K., accounting for about 12% of the samples gathered in the most recent government survey. That represents a 2.8% daily growth rate for sub-variant AY.4.2 over the course of the REACT survey, from Oct. 19 to Nov. 5, the researchers said. Still, the new sub-variant seemed less likely to cause symptomatic Covid. (Kresge, 11/18)
Reuters: Britain Was Unprepared For COVID-19, Spending Watchdog Finds
The British government was unprepared for a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic, failed to learn from simulation exercises and was distracted by its departure from the European Union, the government's spending watchdog said on Friday. More than 143,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Britain, sparking criticism of Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his response, which was initially based on plans for dealing with a flu pandemic rather than a novel coronavirus. (Smout, 11/19)
Axios: Germany Limits Public Gatherings On Unvaccinated People
Germany will tighten COVID-19 measures across the country for unvaccinated people as hospitals become full of COVID patients, Reuters reports. The move to limit large gatherings and other restrictions comes as public officials around the world are imposing COVID measures on the unvaccinated amid rising new cases. (Frazier, 11/18)
The New York Times: Greece, Like Some Other E.U. Nations Facing Case Surges, Adds Restrictions For The Unvaccinated
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece announced additional restrictions for the country’s unvaccinated population on Thursday, a bid to keep a recent spike of coronavirus infections from increasing further. As of next Monday, access to more indoor spaces will be limited to the vaccinated, he said during a televised address. Proof of a negative test will no longer be sufficient for unvaccinated people to enter cinemas, theaters, museums and gymnasiums, he said. The new restrictions broaden those imposed in mid-September, which barred the unvaccinated from the indoor areas of cafes and restaurants. (Kitsantonis, 11/18)
Reuters: Russia's Daily COVID-19 Deaths Reach New Record High
Russia on Friday reported 1,254 coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, a record daily high that follows a surge in cases. The government coronavirus task force also reported 37,156 nationwide infections, including 3,371 in Moscow, down from a peak of 41,335 recorded on Nov. 6. (11/19)
Elsewhere around the globe —
AP: Mexico Sends Some Minors To US To Get Coronavirus Vaccine
Scores of Mexican adolescents were bused to California on Thursday to get vaccinated against the coronavirus as efforts get underway across Mexico to get shots in the arms of teens. Mexico has resisted vaccinating minors ages 12 to 17, in part because the government focused on older adults believed to be more vulnerable. Mexico also has not had enough vaccine supply for most of its minors, who account for one-third of its population. The country this month is preparing to start vaccinating only teens ages 15-17. (Watson, 11/19)
AP: Scientists Mystified, Wary, As Africa Avoids COVID Disaster
Scientists emphasize that obtaining accurate COVID-19 data, particularly in African countries with patchy surveillance, is extremely difficult, and warn that declining coronavirus trends could easily be reversed.But there is something “mysterious” going on in Africa that is puzzling scientists, said Wafaa El-Sadr, chair of global health at Columbia University. “Africa doesn’t have the vaccines and the resources to fight COVID-19 that they have in Europe and the U.S., but somehow they seem to be doing better,” she said. (Cheng and Mutsaka, 11/19)
The New York Times: As India Limits Syringe Exports, A Supply Crunch Has Buyers Looking Elsewhere
Rajiv Nath’s factories were cranking out more than 7,600 syringes a minute when India decided to limit their export last month to shore up its own vaccination campaign. The products were meant for clients around the world as nations scramble to inoculate their people and bring the pandemic to an end, but instead Mr. Nath’s warehouses were left with stocks of more than 45 million syringes that he had largely promised to UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organization. And with India’s export restrictions on syringes in place through the end of this year, experts say the world could experience a shortfall of two billion to four billion needles through the end of next year. The shortages are expected to hit African countries the hardest. (Deep Singh, 11/18)
AP: Taiwan Acknowledges Room To Improve In COVID-19 Response
The task force in charge of Taiwan's COVID-19 response has acknowledged that the island could have done better in fighting the disease, after 12 families that lost relatives to the pandemic filed a claim seeking financial compensation from the government. The families allege that the authorities were underprepared despite having more than a year during which there were few cases, resulting in unnecessary deaths and suffering. (Wu, 11/19)
