COVID: New Zealand reports death linked to vaccine

New Zealand has reported its first death linked to a coronavirus vaccine, the government announced on Monday. The news comes as the country struggles to deal with an outbreak of the delta variant of the virus after recording no cases for six months. 

The death of the woman after taking the BioNTech-Pfizer shot has been attributed to myocarditis, a rare side effect of inflammation of her heart muscle.

"This is the first case in New Zealand where a death in the days following vaccination has been linked to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine," the ministry said in a statement, without releasing her age.

Pfizer said such side effects were extremely rare and that the company takes "adverse events that are potentially associated with our vaccine very seriously."

New Zealand's health ministry said other medical issues could have influenced the final outcome and that the vaccine’s benefits outweighed risks from side effects.

With 53 new cases reported on Monday, the current outbreak has been linked to 562 cases.

Here are the latest developments on coronavirus from around the world.

Americas

The United States is sticking to its decision to offer booster shots eight months after Americans receive their vaccine, given the highly contagious delta variant, the government's top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said. 

US President Joe Biden had earlier suggested that authorities were considering whether to give the boosters as early as five months after vaccination, but Fauci said the eight-month US guidance will stay: "We're not changing it, but we are very open to new data as it comes in. We're going to be very flexible about it."

Europe

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it feared another 236,000 deaths from the virus in Europe by December 1. The organization also expressed concern over stagnating vaccination rates and low uptake in poorer countries. Europe has registered around 1.3 million deaths so far. Just around half of people in Europe are fully vaccinated.

The European Union plans to recommend reinstating retrictions on tourists from the US due to rising infection rates in the country, EU diplomats said.

A decision to remove the US from a safe list of countries for nonessential travel would reverse advice from June, when the bloc recommended lifting restrictions on US travelers before the summer tourism season. The guidance could come as early as this week, officials said.

Germany has recorded 4,559 new cases of the virus, taking the country’s tally to 3,937,106, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases. Ten new deaths were recorded in the latest one-day period. 

Protesters clashed with police in Athens, Greece, late Sunday at the site of a demonstration against COVID-19 vaccinations. 

More than 7,000 people took part in the protests against the government's plans to make vaccinations mandatory for health workers and students. Some people attacked the police with firecrackers, bottles and firebombs. The police used stun grenades, tear-gas and a water cannon to disperse protesters. 

Another massive protest took place in Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, but it was a peaceful one, police said. 

France is set to provide 10 million doses of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines to Africa over the next three months, President Emmanuel Macron's office announced on Monday.   The jabs "will be allocated and distributed in the framework of the (African Union's) African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) and Covax," the partnership for equitable vaccine rollout, Macron's office said.

The office said that enough jabs had now been purchased through AVAT to enable the vaccination of 400 million people in Africa, or a third of the continent's population, by September 2022.

Middle East

Israel has approved a coronavirus booster shot program that will cover all residents over the age of 12, expanding the earlier decision to provide booster shots to all Israelis over 60.

The booster will be offered to people in their 50s, 40s and 30s in the following weeks. More than 2 million people — 20% of the country's population — has received a third dose amid concerns about the highly infectious delta variant of the virus. 

Asia

Malaysia's new prime minister missed the inauguration of his own cabinet on Monday, after coming into contact with someone infected with the virus and being forced to isolate. Ismail Sabri Yaakob was inaugurated earlier this month after the previous government collapsed due to in-fighting. He will also virtually join celebrations on Tuesday to mark Malaysia's National Day. 

Oceania

New Zealand's largest city and the epicenter of its latest COVID outbreak, Auckland, will stay under a level 4 lockdown for another two weeks, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday. 

Restrictions in Northland, a region bordering Auckland in the northern parts of the country, will see an ease in restrictions, she said. The region will now be under a level 3 lockdown. 

As Australia struggles to control the spread of the coronavirus, airline Virgin Australia said it will require all frontline employees be fully vaccinated by November 15. The rest of the employees will have until March 31, 2022, to get their shots. 

"It is clear that vaccination is the only way back to normal freedom of movement and the richness in life that comes from spending meaningful, in-person time with family, friends and colleagues," Virgin Australia's chief Jayne Hrdlicka said.

Australia registered a record 1,323 local infections on Sunday amidst increased protests against prolonged lockdowns in the country.

see, lc/rt (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)