World Coronavirus Dispatch: Researchers call for shots that target Delta

Ardern's popularity drops as New Zealand stumbles on vaccination, Pfizer may get full approval for its vaccine by September, and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Covid shots targeting Delta may be needed, researchers say

With Delta variant potentially evading immunity and infecting people with greater vigour, researchers of a large study in England have pitched the idea of vaccines that are designed to target this rogue variant. Researchers, who studied the third wave of infections in UK, have found that there were infections both among vaccinated and unvaccinated. The effectiveness of vaccines at stopping infection during the study period fell to 49 per cent from 64 per cent a month earlier, while the protection from developing symptoms was down to 59 per cent. “Development of vaccines against delta may be warranted,” in the light of evidence that the strain’s spike protein has mutated to a point where antibodies raised by current shots are becoming less effective, the researchers said. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 199,570,445

Global deaths: 4,246,242

Vaccine doses administered: 4,151,697,143

Nations with most cases: US (35,238,143), India (31,769,132), Brazil (19,985,817), France (6,251,953), Russia (6,242,948).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

Brazil lifts Covid curbs as cases, deaths finally ease

Brazilian states and cities are preparing to suspend most limitations on businesses and gatherings as Covid cases and deaths drop to the lowest in months while vaccinations pick up speed. The aggressive push to end restrictions, which have been in place for more than 15 months -- albeit with spotty enforcement and often contradictory rules that made them less effective -- comes amid a respite in the pandemic. While the virus is still killing almost 1,000 people a day, that’s down from a peak of more than 4,200. The moving average has fallen below 1,000 for the first time since January. Occupancy in hospitals has plummeted too, with intensive-care units across the nation about 60% to 65% full, down from more than 95% earlier this year. Read here

Pfizer may get full approval for its vaccine by September

With a new surge of Covid-19 infections ripping through much of the United States, the country's drug regulator has accelerated its timetable to fully approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, aiming to complete the process by the start of next month, according to a report in the New York Times. Giving final approval to the Pfizer vaccine — rather than relying on the emergency authorisation granted late last year by the FDA — could help increase inoculation rates at a moment when the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus is sharply driving up the number of new cases. Read here

Ardern’s popularity stumbles on New Zealand’s slow road to vaccination

An unbeatable leader in times of crisis, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s soaring popularity has teetered on the country’s slow road to vaccination. This week, polling in New Zealand indicated some of the gloss may be fading from the Ardern government’s second term, which has enjoyed soaringly high popularity over the past year. The poll put Labour at 43 per cent, down 9.7 percentage points. The news of Labour’s drop also came as New Zealand slipped behind Australia on its vaccine rollout progress: as of 2 August, New Zealand had about 18 per cent of its population fully vaccinated, with about 29 per cent having had a first dose. Read here