South African Health Care Workers To Receive Unapproved J&J Vaccine

AP: South Africa Scraps AstraZeneca Vaccine, Will Give J&J Jabs
South Africa will give the unapproved Johnson & Johnson vaccine to its front-line health workers beginning next week as a study to see what protection it provides from COVID-19, particularly against the variant dominant there, the health minister said Wednesday. Zweli Mkhize said South Africa has scrapped plans to use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine because it “does not prevent mild to moderate disease” of the variant. The one-shot J&J vaccine is still being tested internationally and has not been approved in any country. (Meldrum, 2/10)

In other global news —

AP: Canada To Require Negative COVID Test At Land Border Feb 15
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that starting next week any nonessential traveler arriving in Canada by land will need to show a negative PCR-based COVID-19 test or face a fine if they don’t have one. Trudeau said customs officers can’t send Canadians back to the U.S. if they don’t have a test because they are technically on Canadian soil but said the fine will be up to $3,000 Canadian (US$2,370) and the traveler will be subject to extensive follow up by health officials if they don’t show a negative test. (Gillies, 2/9)

AP: Lying On Arrival Could Mean 10 Years In Prison In England
Anyone arriving in England and found to have lied about a recent visit to a country on the British government’s travel ban list faces up to 10 years in prison under new tough coronavirus border policies announced Tuesday. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that from Monday, residents of the U.K. and Ireland arriving in England from the places on the government’s “red list” will have to purchase a “quarantine package” that costs 1,750 pounds ($2,400) per person and covers accommodation, virus testing and other items. (Pylas, 2/9)

Bloomberg: New Delhi, India Reports No Virus Deaths For First Time Since May
India’s capital New Delhi didn’t report any coronavirus-related deaths for the first time in nine months, a milestone for a city that had emerged as a hotspot for the pandemic. With a population of about 16 million, it has reported 10,882 deaths since the city recorded its first casualty on March 13, according to health ministry data. The last time the city reported a zero figure before Tuesday was on May 11. It has 636,260 confirmed cases so far, according to a Delhi government health bulletin. Hundred new cases were reported out of 56,410 tests carried out on Tuesday. (Pradhan, 2/10)

The New York Times: China Scores A Public Relations Win After W.H.O. Mission To Wuhan
For months, China resisted allowing World Health Organization experts into the country to trace the origins of the global pandemic, concerned that such an inquiry could draw attention to the government’s early missteps in handling the outbreak. After a global uproar, the Chinese government finally relented, allowing a team of 14 scientists to visit laboratories, disease-control centers and live-animal markets over the past 12 days in the city of Wuhan. But instead of scorn, the W.H.O. experts on Tuesday delivered praise for Chinese officials and endorsed critical parts of their narrative, including some that have been contentious. (Hernandez, 2/9)

The Wall Street Journal: The World Is Still Battling Polio. What That Warning Means For Covid-19.
After decades of work, polio had been wiped out almost everywhere in the world. All that was left were pockets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Medical experts hoped 2020 would be the last year that the main form of the virus, which can permanently paralyze or cause death, posed a threat. The coronavirus pandemic put a halt to that progress. In March, house-to-house vaccination teams working across Pakistan were forced to stop their work because of Covid-19. As a result, polio resurged, including a mutated form of the virus. It has now been detected in samples taken from sewers in 74% of Pakistan in late 2020, up from just 13% in early 2018. (Shah and McKay, 2/9)

Also —

Reuters: Europe's Oldest Person, 117-Year-Old French Nun, Survives COVID-19 
Europe’s oldest person, French nun Sister Andre, has survived COVID-19 and will celebrate her 117th birthday this week, her caregivers said. Lucile Randon, who took the name of Sister Andre when she joined a Catholic charitable order in 1944, tested positive for coronavirus in her retirement home in Toulon, southern France, on Jan. 16. She was isolated from other residents, but displayed no symptoms. (2/9)