The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and the Omicron variant

Europe could see a “long period of tranquility” in the Covid-19 pandemic with a potential “ceasefire” in sight, Dr. Hans Henri Kluge, the World Health Organization regional director for Europe, said on Thursday.  

He said at a news briefing that the region could be entering “a plausible endgame for the pandemic – not to say that it is now all over – but to highlight that in the European region, there is a singular opportunity to take control of the transmission.”  

The potential “ceasefire” of the pandemic in Europe as Kluge described it, could be possible thanks to high levels of immunity, the lower severity of the Omicron variant and favorable weather as Europe moves out of winter, he said.  

Kluge noted that the region had recorded 12 million new cases in the past week, the highest weekly case incidence since the pandemic began.    

“Hospitalizations continue to rise, mainly in countries with lower vaccination uptake in vulnerable populations. This rise however, is not as rapid as the case incidence rate, and overall, admissions to intensive care have not increased significantly,” he said, adding the number of deaths across the region was “starting to plateau.”  

Kluge added the period of “higher protection” could bring “enduring peace,” but on the condition that countries continued vaccinating and boosting, protecting the vulnerable, promoting individual responsibility and intensifying surveillance to detect new variants.  

“I believe that it is possible to respond to new variants that will inevitably emerge without re-installing the kind of disruptive measures we needed before,” he added.  

The top WHO official also gave a stark warning on vaccine inequity.  

Kluge also acknowledged the “catastrophic impact” of the pandemic on people suffering from cancer ahead of World Cancer Day on Friday.  

“Looking back over these past two years, cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment have suffered in an unprecedented way as health services have struggled to respond to Covid-19,” he said.  

“The way in which the pandemic delays cancer care and creates service backlogs is a deadly interplay,” Kluge added.  

He went on to say “the knock-on effect of this disruption will be felt for years.”  

The US Food and Drug Administration's Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni said the agency recognizes a transition period will be needed to keep Covid-19 drugs available whenever the emergency declarations ends. 

Cavazzoni, director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA, gave the answer in response to a question from Washington Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers during a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on health hearing on Thursday.

Cavazzoni said they have worked with Covid-19 vaccine and drug manufacturers who are not yet fully approved to be able to seek full FDA approval in a timely manner.

Dr. Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA, said that products that have received emergency use authorization have guidance to transition to biologics license applications.

McMorris Rodgers also asked when the FDA plans to resume in-person meetings.

Cavazzoni said the increased workload due to the pandemic means that meetings via teleconference or video conference have allowed them to increase their “efficiency and effectiveness.”

UK regulators have approved Nuvaxovid — the Covid-19 vaccine developed by US-based vaccine maker Novavax — for use in adults in Britain.  

The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in a statement released Thursday said it has approved the vaccine for use in people aged 18 and over for a first and second dose as it met the required safety, quality and effectiveness standards.

Nuvaxovid becomes the fifth Covid-19 vaccine authorized in the UK, the regulator said. 

MHRA's Chief Executive June Raine said it was approved following "a rigorous review of the safety, quality and effectiveness" of the vaccine.

Germany's vaccine advisory committee known as STIKO has recommended Novavax’s protein-based Covid-19 vaccine for all people over 18 on Thursday, as the country recorded its highest daily single-surge in infections.

In a written statement on Thursday, the committee recommended the Novavax recombinant protein vaccine in a push to encourage the more than 15% of German adults still not fully vaccinated to get the vaccine shots.

A booster shot should still be administered with an mRNA vaccine and particularly vulnerable people should also receive a second booster with an mRNA vaccine, STIKO added in its statement.

On Thursday, Germany reported 238,000 new cases over the last 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Around 74% of the German population has now been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, 76% have received at least one vaccine dose and 54% have received a booster shot, according to the country's public health body the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

Sweden is set to remove most Covid-19 restrictions next week, according to the Swedish government on Thursday. 

It comes after fellow Scandinavian countries Norway and Denmark announced the lifting of most Covid-19 restrictions earlier this month. 

After initially eschewing the lockdowns favored by its European neighbors, Sweden eventually imposed restrictions on public life. Restrictions were most recently tightened in early January when an 11 p.m. curfew was imposed on Swedish bars and restaurants. 

On Feb. 9, this curfew will be lifted alongside limits on the size of parties and distance between parties in hospitality settings. People will no longer need to show a vaccination certificate to attend certain public events. All attendance limits on public events will also cease. Square meter restrictions applying to trade fairs, shops and cultural and leisure settings will also go. 

Swedish people will no longer be advised to keep their number of social contacts low. Both workplaces and universities that have been carrying out remote learning have been advised to return gradually. 

On April 1, all remaining restrictions in Sweden will be removed or “adapted to the prevailing spread of infection,” the press release added. The Covid-19 vaccination recommendation will remain, however, alongside “special recommendations for health and medical care and care environments.”

The Public Health Agency has submitted a request to the government to no longer classify Covid-19 as “a socially dangerous or generally dangerous disease.” The government also intends to bring its Covid-19 legislation to an end. 

The Russian Olympic Committee's women's ice hockey team has been cleared to participate in the Winter Games after they were forced into quarantine due to several players contracting Covid-19, the Russian Ice Hockey Federation said in a press release on Wednesday.

The whole team went into quarantine on Jan. 31 due to positive PCR tests among several players, according to the statement. Those players were subsequently isolated from the rest of the ROC contingent.

Athletes and coaches subsequently conducted tests for three consecutive days with all the results coming back negative. The personnel who are not isolating were permitted to resume training on Thursday. 

The statement added that forward Ilona Markova could not travel to the Games after testing positive prior to departing for Beijing.

Two players, goalkeeper Valeria Merkusheva and defender Maria Batalova, will join the team on Thursday, the statement added.

The ROC’s women’s ice hockey team will face Switzerland in its opening match on Feb. 4. 

The Olympics will invite 150,000 spectators to attend the 2022 Winter Games, Vice President of the Beijing Organizing Committee Yang Shu'an confirmed Thursday during the 139th International Olympic Committee Session. 

Shu'an said Olympic venues will be split evenly between spectators from inside the “closed-loop" system — which separates Games-related personnel from the public — and those living outside of it. 

Spectators inside the “closed loop” will consist of members of the Olympic family, National Olympic Committees delegations, athletes, media representatives and broadcasters, Shu'an added.

On Jan. 17, the IOC announced tickets for the Games would not go on sale for international visitors or the general public, citing Covid-19 concerns. Instead, it decided groups of spectators would need to be invited to fill the stands. 

Germany reported a new record of daily Covid-19 infections with more than 238,000 new cases over the last 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Germany also reported 164 Covid-19 related deaths, according to JHU.

Thursday's numbers bring the total number of coronavirus cases that Germany has reported since the start of the pandemic to 10,474,992 and the total number of deaths to 118,339.

German-born Belgian skeleton racer Kim Meylemans has been permitted to enter the Winter Olympics Village on Thursday, following an emotional Instagram video concerning a Covid-19 isolation scare in Beijing.

Early this month before her arrival in China, the 25-year-old Olympian had tested positive for Covid-19, missing two World Cup races as a result, according to her Instagram.

Despite 12 negative PCR tests in the lead up to the Games, Meylemans said she then tested positive upon her arrival into Beijing.

After being placed in isolation at a government hotel, Meylemans then returned “two consecutive negative Covid-19 tests” according to a statement from the International Olympic Committee.

It was her understanding that following the negative tests, in accordance with the Beijing 2022 Playbook, she would be treated as a close contact and moved to the Olympic Village for seven more days of isolation.

Instead, Meylemans revealed in an emotional video on Wednesday that she had been placed in a government facility, sparking outcry on social media. 

“Some of you have read the good news that I was sent out of the isolation facility, we thought this meant I was allowed to return to the Olympic Village and would be treated as a close contact, but I did not return to the village, the ambulance went to another facility where I am now,” Meylemans told her Instagram followers. 

“I am supposed to stay here for another seven days with two PCRs a day and no contact with anybody else. We are not even sure I will ever be allowed to go into the village. Obviously, this is very hard for me so I ask you all to give me time to consider my next steps because I am not sure I can handle 14 more days and the Olympic competition while being in this isolation,” she added, breaking down in tears. 

The situation was quickly rectified though. After Belgian Olympic officials and the IOC learned of Meylemans' situation, they asked for her to be moved into the isolation site inside the Olympic Village. 

In an update posted late Wednesday from inside isolation, Meylemans said the efforts from her supporters and the IOC had “paid off.”

Meylemans, who made her Olympic Winter Games debut at PyeongChang in 2018, was the first skeleton slider, male or female, to ever represent Belgium in the Olympics.

Per the Beijing 2022 Playbook, athletes who are identified as close contacts at the Games are allowed to train, compete, and live in the Olympic Village, provided they remain in a single room, are transported alone and eat alone.