The Mike Hosking Breakfast

The European medicines regulator says it is safe to store thawed Pfizer vaccines in a regular fridge for up to 31 days, a ruling that will make handling the vaccine easier around the European Union.
The European Medicines Agency said Monday that its human medicines committee has recommended changing the storage guidelines for unopened, thawed vials of the Pfizer vaccine from five days to a month at normal fridge temperatures after they have been taken out of deep freeze.
The change came after Pfizer and BioNTech submitted “additional stability study data” to the Amsterdam-based agency.
The European Union agreed a massive contract extension for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this month for a potential 1.8 billion doses through 2023.
Meanwhile, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline's potential COVID-19 vaccine triggered strong immune responses in all adult age groups in preliminary trials after an earlier setback, boosting optimism the shot may join the fight against the pandemic this year.
After two doses of the vaccine candidate, participants showed neutralizing antibodies in line with those found in people who had recovered from the disease, according to results of the Phase 2 trial released Monday. The drugmakers said they plan to begin late-stage trials and production in the coming weeks and hope to win regulatory approval for the vaccine before the end of 2021.
Regulators have already authorized a number of COVID-19 vaccines, though experts say more are needed as public health authorities around the world race to vaccinate their residents amid a pandemic that has already killed more than 3.3 million people and caused economic havoc.
The Sanofi-GSK vaccine was an important part of the European Union's vaccination strategy, and had notably been championed by French President Emmanuel Macron's government. But researchers had to reformulate it after early testing produced an inadequate immune response in older people.
The Sanofi-GSK candidate joins about a dozen vaccines now undergoing late-stage trials. The companies plan to produce up to 1 billion doses annually, and they have signed agreements to supply the U.S., Canada and developing countries, too. Public health experts say several vaccines will be needed to end the pandemic, because of the challenges in rapidly producing and distributing enough doses to vaccinate billions of people.
"We know multiple vaccines will be needed, especially as variants continue to emerge and the need for effective and booster vaccines which can be stored at normal temperatures increases," said Thomas Triomphe, head of Sanofi's vaccines unit.
The results released Monday were from a Phase 2 trial involving 722 volunteers aged 18 to 95 who were recruited in the U.S. and Honduras.
The vaccine showed even stronger antibody results in people who had already recovered from the virus. Sanofi said that makes it a potentially strong candidate as a booster shot in the future for those who have already been vaccinated with rival products.
The late-stage trial will involve about 37,000 participants from countries around the world, the companies said. They plan to study its efficacy against the virus variant first identified in South Africa, and potentially others as well.
After the initial setback, Sanofi struck agreements to help bottle or produce rival vaccines designed by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson&Johnson. The progress in the Sanofi-GSK vaccine will not disrupt those production plans, Triomphe said.

The Chief Ombudsman has launched an investigation into the way Corrections is handling calls for it to reform.
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier says he wants to know why there hasn't been significant improvement, despite report after report calling for action.
His review is expected to take a year to complete.
He told Mike Hosking he's become increasingly concerned at seeing the same issues coming up time and time again.
"I just look at the number of repeat recommendations I make that don't seem to get easy traction, and then you couple that with some pretty high profile incidents lately.
"I just worry about some aspects of attitude and culture."
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The Government says it's immigration "reset" is about attracting high-skilled workers and wealthy investors, before the borders reopen.
Minister for Economic Development Stuart Nash has told business leaders the country must move away from a reliance on a low-skilled migrant labour force.
Hundreds are expected to arrive in New Zealand as a result of new exemptions.
Stuart Nash told Mike Hosking the people filling up spaces in MIQ should be those who can drive economic growth.
"So what we announced that we will be bringing in spaces for 200 people keen to come over here, do due diligence, and start setting up companies in this country."
However, he says the Government is still fully committed to the RSE scheme.
"When the borders open fully, I expect that will go back to a terms and conditions that were there pre-Covid in regard to our orchardists, horticulturists, viticulturists, bringing in RSE workers to fill the gaps when there are no Kiwis in that space."
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It really is like an unfolding train wreck.
What is it about their plight that has the Japanese organisers failing to see the glaringly obvious?
The polls of their own people that have anywhere between 70 to 80 percent of them not wanting the games held in their own country.
The fact the host city is not just under a Covid emergency but an emergency that has been extended.
The fact the IOC president cancelled his visit because getting in and around is neigh on impossible.
The fact the torch relay has been pulled, a torch relay that was already a shadow and sham of what it has been or should be.
The fact that an increasingly large number of athletes are openly questioning whether it’s worth the effort or risk in turning up, with Naomi Osaka and Rafael  Nadal  leading this week’s selection of those wondering out loud
The fact the IPl, an already established and not to mention a much smaller event, was well underway, complete with well implemented bubbles, couldn’t be finished.
The fact the so called test days the Japanese have hosted involved a couple of hundred people in empty stadia, not the thousands upon thousands they will actually need to host.
There is not seemingly a single example of upbeat assessment that has this thing looking like any sort of success.
And yet still they carry on in complete denial.
Now I personally don’t mind whether it goes ahead or not. I have no vested interest, and maybe that’s my advantage. 
I am not an athlete that’s trained for years and this is my moment and I will not be denied. And I am not an IOC member that has billions at stake. And I am not Japanese with one cancellation under my belt and therefore desperation to bull doze ahead.
Maybe that’s the real reason this thing is such an obvious bit of carnage.  When you’re invested to the extent they are, you can’t see the wood for the trees.
And I get their desperation. Cancel this and you may as well wait until 2024: you can’t hold an Olympics two years in a row. Or can you? Maybe that mad trick is yet to be played.
But if you view this from any sort of dispassionate distance, you cannot fail to see that holding an event of the Olympics size in a country with the Covid mess the way it is literal insanity.
It shocking timing, given large swathes of the world are seeing some real light and real freedoms.
But run before you can walk. Go to the pub before you hold the rock concert. Show a bit of common sense.
If someone doesn’t stand up and pull the pin, the regret, embarrassment fall out and anger that will flow will be Covid’s most obvious and avoidable disaster yet.

New Zealand rugby fans can get an in-depth look at one of the country's greatest ever players in Aaron Smith.
The halfback features in Sky Sport's All Access series, and Guy Heveldt told Mike Hosking it offers great insight into an All Black great.
"He is very insightful these days... this is stuff that New Zealand Rugby needs to get its players to be doing more. The public want to know who these guys really are behind the scenes."
Meanwhile, the Silver Lake equity deal continues to drive a wedge between New Zealand Rugby and the Players' Association.
Forsyth Barr have emerged as a new suitor for an NZR equity deal, selling a five per cent stake in its future commercial revenues through an NZX listing at the request of the NZRPA.
The firm believes investor demand could potentially raise as much as $650m.
Heveldt told Mike Hosking he isn't sure how many New Zealanders would want to buy into NZR.
"A few who would just do it... to say 'I own a share in the All Blacks or I own a share in New Zealand Rugby' but how many people who actually value their money would realistically buy into an organisation... that has for a while struggled in terms of the finances."
Andrew Saville says he is getting tired of the ordeal.
"I still think they probably need to , or would go with Silver Lake. Someone said to me the other you offer up a share opportunity like this and it could well be like Grey Power investing in the All Blacks - will they take the All Blacks to the next level? Will the take the All Blacks to untapped markets? Which clearly Silver Lake will do."

Australian cricketers who were competing in India have touched down in Sydney this morning to complete their two weeks of quarantine.
Players and coaches taking part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) fled to the Maldives when the lucrative T20 tournament was suspended because of the country’s worsening COVID-19 crisis, and they were trapped in limbo until May 15.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison had announced a travel ban for Australians to and from India as it experienced a horrifying surge in coronavirus cases that placed huge strain on its medical resources.
That ban has ended and Morrison insisted on Sunday no one would miss out because of the cricketers’ repatriation when asked by a reporter about whether they had asked for “any special dispensation”.
“They haven’t been given any, I can tell you that,” Morrison told media in Queensland. “They’ll come in additional to the cap in New South Wales.
“The New South Wales government is happy for them to come in over the cap; that is something we insisted upon and they were happy to agree with that.
“But they will come back under their own steam, on their own ticket, and they won’t be taking the spot in quarantine of any other Australian.”
Cricket Australia and the NSW Government had come to an arrangement that will allow all players, staff and coaches to quarantine in Sydney hotels for the next 14 days.
The cricketers are home but not everyone has been so lucky. More than 40 tested positive to COVID-19 on the weekend which meant they, and their close contacts — so about 70 people all up — were barred from returning to Australia on a flight from New Delhi to Darwin.
The players get paid handsomely to play in the IPL and some were on contracts worth millions of dollars, including Glenn Maxwell ($2.52m), Riley Meredith ($1.42m) and Jhye Richardson ($2.48m).
The Aussie contingent managed to get out of India but because they couldn’t go home straight away, headed for the Maldives to wait for the travel ban — which came with threats of fines and jail time — to end.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India promised it would get all overseas players home safely when the IPL was suspended, and the BCCI will reportedly pay the costs associated with flying the Australians home.
There are still approximately 8000 Australian citizens trapped in India, who are eligible to return home on repatriation flights now the May 15 deadline elapsed. However, whether they are able to come back as soon as our cricketers remains to be seen.
It will no doubt raise some awkward questions if they remain stuck overseas while batsmen and bowlers have arrived Down Under, given how rare and expensive seats on planes have proven to be during the pandemic.
At a press conference two weeks ago, interim CA boss Nick Hockley downplayed any suggestions the players and coaches would receive special treatment.
“We’re not seeking any kinds of special exemptions whatsoever,” he said. “Any kind of quarantine arrangements would be over and above the cap.
“So our main priority is we would work with the Australian government and the relevant state governments to make sure that we’re not taking spaces off anyone else that’s available.”
Former Australian Test star Mike Hussey was working as a batting coach for the Chennai Super Kings and became the first Australian in the IPL bubble to contract coronavirus.
Meanwhile, fast bowler Pat Cummins had earlier donated $50,000 to help India’s “PM Cares Fund”, specifically to purchase oxygen supplies for hospitals.
text by James Matthey, news.com.au

Chaos after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US changed a mask-wearing law.
Those who are vaccinated against Covid-19 have been told they can go without a mask, and state and local officials are deciding whether they should follow suit.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky has defended the move.
Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking the announcement isn't exactly a free-for-all.
"Only those who are fully vaccinated - the two shots in the two-week waiting period - are safe to do away with the masks. But how do you know if others are vaccinated? What should businesses do? If you go into a store how can you tell?"
The comedy show Saturday Night Live poked fun at the move with a number of skits.

It is time for Brits to do their bit for their local watering hole.
Financial experts in the UK estimate a 25 and a half billion dollar boost is needed for 40-thousand pubs to recover to pre-covid levels.
To reach that goal, each person would need to drink nearly 60 litres of booze over summer, eat nearly a thousand packets of crisps, or eat 40 roast dinners.
Owner of the Spire and Spoke in Oxfordshire John Riddell told Mike Hosking it is a call to arms like no other.
He says like New Zealanders, when Brits are kept at home for three months, they will get out there and take advantage regardless of the weather.

The bit about the Silver Lake scrap that troubles me is just why the Players' Association and Forsyth Barr thinks their IPO offer makes any sense.
I'm not beholden to the Silver Lake deal. I have no vested interest in rugby other that I worry that our most successful sport and national game doesn’t make any money.
The Players' Association is right, most of us would snap up some shares in New Zealand Rugby. But that doesn’t solve the issue.
The issue is not as much lack of money, as it is lack of expertise in a specific area. That area being getting the All Blacks to the world in a way that fills the cash register. Silver Lake is an expert at doing what we need doing. Look at Manchester City, look at the UFC. New Zealand Rugby doesn’t have the expertise and experience to do what Silver Lake does.
Silver Lake want a stake. They bring their bag of tricks to town, they take the All Blacks to the world, clip the ticket, help the game, and make us all money.
A share float raises money, but then what? I give them $1000, I get some shares, and then what? Part of a float is about growth, it's about increased returns, it's about you watching the share price rise, and the dividends flowing.
But for the dividends to flow you need New Zealand Rugby to be transformed in a way that increases returns. How are they doing that, with nothing more than the money you gave them for a slice of the company?
Raising money normally means you're doing something productive with it. Buying another factory to make more stuff, entering a new market to increase your customer base, or branching into a new but related area of your core business.
None of the Forsyth Barr plan seems to envisage any of this.
That’s before you get to the most uncomfortable connection between the company and David Kirk. They say he recused himself. Even if he did, if this was such an obvious answer, why haven't the various investment houses outside the one Kirk happens to work for drummed up the same idea?
This is why this thing is such a mess. The ideas the Players Association have come up with, a float and more borrowing, don't make sense.
If there was an idea that made sense, they'd have a case.
Given they don’t, you have to conclude that Silver Lake, with the support of the New Zealand Rugby Board and every single union around the country, is your obvious way forward.

The economy could see a $1.5 billion boost if couples shared housework more evenly.
A Westpac report has found that if men picked up more of the unpaid work, enabling women to extend their paid work hours, an individual household's income could be boosted by 530-dollars per year.
Association of Counsellors' Robyn McGill told Mike Hosking women do nine hours a week more unpaid work, like childcare, compared to men.
She says women have been conditioned to think their part in the economy is to stay home and raise children.