Canada became the first nation to clear the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for adolescents. The U.S. is expected to take similar action “within several days,” according to White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci.
U.S. cases could see a sharp decline by July if nationwide vaccination efforts continue to be successful, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The U.K. insisted a meeting of top Group of Seven diplomats in London should go ahead after India’s foreign minister said he would self-isolate over possible exposure to coronavirus. Meanwhile, new research suggests deaths from Covid-19 in India may double from current levels.
Key Developments
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Yankees, Mets to Segregate Unvaccinated Fans (12:07 p.m. NY)
New York Yankees and Mets stadiums will reopen to all fans on May 19, with separate sections for vaccinated and unvaccinated spectators.
Those who are vaccinated can sit together at 100% capacity, as long as they wear masks. The unvaccinated fans will need to wear masks and also observe a 6-foot (1.8-meter) social distancing rule, which works out to about 33% capacity in those sections, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.
Fans will be able to get vaccines at the games, under a deal between the state and the teams. Those who get a shot at a game will get a free ticket to another game, Cuomo said. New York joins several other states offering incentives for vaccines as the pace of inoculations slow.
The governor also announced that Broadway tickets will go on sale Thursday, with shows starting Sept. 14 at full capacity, Cuomo said.
U.S. Cases Could See ‘Sharp Decline’: CDC (11:20 a.m. NY)
U.S. Covid-19 cases could see a sharp decline by July if nationwide vaccination efforts continue to be successful, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Researchers used scenario modeling techniques to show long-term projections of potential trends in Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in data released Wednesday in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Canada Clears Pfizer Shot for Teens (10:39 a.m. NY)
Canadian public health officials authorized the use of the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE Covid vaccine for teenagers, making Canada the first nation to do so. Supriya Sharma, chief medical adviser with Health Canada, made the announcement Wednesday at a press conference. The department determined the vaccine was “safe and effective” for the younger age group, Sharma said. The U.S. is considering similar action.
Fauci Sees Pfizer Shot Cleared for Teens Soon (8:33 a.m. NY)
The Food and Drug Administration is likely to issue an emergency authorization for use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for adolescents “within several days,” said White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci.
“I think it is going to be very soon,” Fauci said during an interview with NBC News. “I mean, I don’t want to get ahead of the FDA, but I believe it is going to be within several days.”
G-7 Meeting Goes Ahead in U.K. (7:06 a.m. NY)
The U.K. insisted a meeting of top Group of Seven diplomats in London should go ahead after India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he would self-isolate over possible exposure to coronavirus.
The news risked derailing a high-profile event that marked the G-7 debut of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Britain is hosting the gathering, which began on Tuesday.
Thailand Readies Relief (6:31 a.m. NY)
Thailand is planning to spend billions of dollars for financial relief to low-income groups to cope with the economic hit from the biggest outbreak sweeping the nation since the pandemic began.
The cabinet on Wednesday approved in principle fiscal stimulus measures, including extension of two cash handout programs by a month at a cost of 85.5 billion baht ($2.8 billion). It also proposed 140 billion baht of spending for co-payment and e-voucher programs and more cash handouts to welfare cardholders and special groups to stimulate consumption, officials said.
Malaysia Tightens Curbs in Capital (6:26 a.m. NY)
Malaysia tightened restrictions on movements in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur to defuse a fresh wave of coronavirus infections, a day after it imposed similar curbs in the nation’s richest state of Selangor.
The movement control order will be in force from May 7 to May 20, Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in a statement on Wednesday. Dining at restaurants is prohibited and curbs on inter-state travel remain, the minister said.
Predicting a Return to Normal (5:29 p.m. HK)
Infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci asserts that vaccinating 70% to 85% of a population would enable its return to normalcy. At current rates, some rich countries will reach this milestone by August, but most poorer nations will remain below the threshold through 2024 or later, according to research by Bloomberg Economics.
Vaccine Inequality
Rich nations are three years ahead in the vaccination race
Source: Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Economics, International Monetary Fund, World Bank classifications
Note: Reflects total doses administered; assumes 2-dose vaccine regime, herd immunity at 75% of population
That doesn’t mean richer countries will be out of the woods: Billions of people in poorer nations provide a large pool for the spread and mutation of the virus. The pandemic won’t be fully eradicated until vaccines have been rolled out worldwide.
Indian Minister at G-7 to Isolate (4:19 p.m. HK)
India’s foreign minister said he would self-isolate at the Group of Seven meeting being held in London after being made aware of possible exposure to coronavirus.
The possibility of the spread of the virus has the potential to derail the two-day event being held in person and hosted by the U.K. The British delegation said that all precautions had been deployed after Sky News reported that there were two Covid-19 cases among the Indian delegation.
India Central Bank Loan Relief (2:09 p.m. HK)
The Reserve Bank of India announced new loan-relief measures for small businesses and pledged to inject 500 billion rupees of liquidity, including fresh lending to vaccine-makers, in a bid to buffer the economy against a deadly new wave of virus cases.
Some small businesses will be eligible for loan restructuring to give them more time to repay such debt and keep them going through the pandemic period, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said in an unscheduled address on Wednesday. He also announced steps to boost credit for expanding health care services and a calendar for bond-buying.
WATCH: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announces new loan-relief measures for small businesses.
Source: Bloomberg
Dubai Tracks Variants Before Expo (1:57 p.m. HK)
Dubai is monitoring coronavirus variants rather than country-specific outbreaks as the city prepares to host the delayed Expo 2020 event this year.
“We continue to believe that vortexes will emerge and decline in the course of the next five months” until the start of the event in October, Expo 2020 Director General Reem Al Hashimy told Bloomberg TV. Vaccines are helping mitigate the spread, she said.
Tanzania Suspends India Flights (1:44 p.m. HK)
Tanzania joined other nations suspending flights from India indefinitely in a bid to reduce the risk of spreading the variant first detected in the Asian nation.
Africa’s Rapidly Spreading Variants (1 p.m. HK)
New coronavirus variants have proliferated across southern and eastern Africa, exacerbating the challenge of bringing the pandemic under control, an analysis of genomics data shows.
A strain first detected in South Africa late last year is “completely dominating all infection in southern Africa and seems to be entering East Africa,” said Tulio de Oliveira, director of Krisp, a genomics institute in the port city of Durban, which is leading a group that’s evaluating the data.
Africa is the world’s least-vaccinated continent.
India Deaths May Double, Researchers Say (12:34 p.m. HK)
The coronavirus wave that plunged India into the world’s biggest health crisis has the potential to worsen in the coming weeks, with some research models projecting the death toll could more than double from current levels.
A team at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore used a mathematical model to predict about 404,000 deaths will occur by June 11 if current trends continue. A model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington forecast 1,018,879 deaths by the end of July.
While coronavirus cases can be hard to predict, particularly in a sprawling nation like India, the forecasts reflect the urgent need for India to step up public health measures like testing and social distancing.
WATCH: More developing countries are experiencing their worst Covid-19 waves alongside global hotspot, India.
Source: Quicktake
Hong Kong to Quarantine Two Buildings (12:29 p.m. in HK)
Hong Kong’s government will send residents from a total of 260 units at two buildings on Hong Kong Island to 21-day mandatory quarantine after two domestic workers living there have tested positive for Covid-19 involving the N501Y mutant strain, according to a government statement Wednesday.
The government earlier required residents at the buildings, Royalton on Pok Fu Lam Road and Block N2 of Kornhill in Quarry Bay, to stay at home Wednesday to undergo mandatory testing.
Sydney Finds New Case (11:14 a.m. HK)
New South Wales state has recorded a new Covid-19 case in a man who lives in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, according to a statement from NSW Health.
Urgent investigations into the source of the infection and contact tracing are underway. It’s understood the man in his 50s has not travelled overseas recently and doesn’t work in a hotel quarantine, border or health role, according to the statement.
Vietnam Intensifies Border Checks (11:05 a.m. HK)
Vietnam has ordered a strict border control after lengthening the quarantine period as it traces the recent flare up in coronavirus cases to overseas travelers.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has ordered an intensified checks on arriving travelers, according to a post on a government website. Authorities will also go “district by district, house by house” and visit companies hosting overseas workers to contain any spread.
The government is bracing for a scenario where 30,000 people could be infected, Dam said. The health minister said the virus situation is “very worrisome.”
Vietnam has among the lowest number of infections in Southeast Asia. The nation is lagging peers in the region on vaccination, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.
Philippines Clears Moderna Shot (11 a.m. HK)
The Philippines has approved Moderna Inc.’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.
Moderna recently signed a deal with the Philippine government and private sector to supply 20 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccines.
Singapore Assesses Hong Kong Bubble (9:33 a.m. HK)
Singapore’s government said it’s assessing any potential changes to a planned travel bubble with Hong Kong after a flareup of Covid-19 infections triggered fresh restrictions in the city-state.
The growing cluster in Singapore, which recorded its first coronavirus-related fatality in nearly two months at the weekend, underscores the fragility of travel agreements in the face of highly transmissible variants. The Hong Kong-Singapore accord, which had already been delayed several times due to infection outbreaks, includes a clear threshold on the number of linked local cases before the corridor is suspended.
Meanwhile, the review of the quarantine-free air travel bubble -- due to start May 26 -- has left families on both sides of the South China Sea waiting and watching with bated breath yet again.
Australian Cricketers Trapped in India (8:24 a.m. HK)
Australia’s ban on its citizens returning from virus-ravaged India has trapped high-profile current and former cricketers in the nation after the Indian Premier League competition was suspended when multiple players contracted Covid-19.
After Australian cricket commentator Michael Slater accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison of having “blood on his hands” due to the ban, media reports said current coach Michael Hussey has tested positive for the virus. Several others, including stars David Warner and Pat Cummins, remain trapped in the country.
About 9,000 Australians are stranded in India due to the ban, which has drawn the ire of human rights groups and the nation’s multicultural community amid allegations it has racist overtones. Morrison says the block, in place until at least May 15, will alleviate pressure on his nation’s hotel quarantine system.
Malaysia Imposes Curbs in Richest State (8:20 a.m. HK)
Malaysia tightened restrictions on movements in six districts in Selangor, the country’s richest state, in a bid to contain a rise in virus infections there.
While social gatherings will be banned in the areas from May 6 through May 17, economic activities will be allowed, the country’s defense minister said.
Malaysia is facing a surge in Covid infections with the onset of Ramadan -- daily cases topped 3,000 last week for the first time since February.
The nation will start revealing coronavirus hotspots, or areas that could potentially birth clusters, beginning May 7.
— With assistance by Marthe Fourcade, Jason Scott, Natalie Lung, Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen, Xuan Quynh Nguyen, Anisah Shukry, Angus Whitley, Philip Heijmans, Andreo Calonzo, Mai Ngoc Chau, Anirban Nag, Suvashree Ghosh, Flavia Krause-Jackson, Justin Sink, and Stacie Sherman
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