The Mike Hosking Breakfast

British authorities recommended Wednesday local time that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine not be given to adults under 30 where possible because of strengthening evidence that the shot may be linked to rare blood clots.
The recommendation came as regulators in the United Kingdom and the European Union emphasized that the benefits of receiving the vaccine continue to outweigh the risks for most people — even though the European Medicines Agency said it had found a "possible link" between the shot and the rare clots. British authorities recommended that people under 30 be offered alternatives to AstraZeneca. But the EMA advised no such age restrictions, leaving it up to its member-countries to decide whether to limit its use.
Several countries have already imposed limits on who can receive the vaccine, and any restrictions are closely watched since the vaccine, which is cheaper and easier to store than many others, is critical to global immunization campaigns and is a pillar of the U.N.-backed program known as COVAX that aims to get vaccines to some of the world's poorest countries.
"This is a course correction, there's no question about that," Jonathan Van-Tam, England's deputy chief medical officer, said during a news briefing.
Van-Tam said the effect on Britain's vaccination timetable — one of the speediest in the world — should be "zero or negligible," assuming the National Health Service receives expected deliveries of other vaccines, including those produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
EU and U.K. regulators held simultaneous news conferences Wednesday to announce the results of investigations into reports of blood clots that sparked concern about the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The EU agency described the clots as "very rare" side effects. Dr Sabine Straus, chair of its Safety Committee, said the best data was from Germany, where there was one report of the clots for every 100,000 doses given, although she noted far fewer reports in the U.K. Still, that's less than the clot risk that healthy women face from birth control pills, noted another expert, Dr. Peter Arlett.
The agency said most of the cases reported were in women under 60 within two weeks of vaccination, though it was unable to identify specific risk factors based on current information. Experts reviewed several dozen cases that came mainly from Europe and the U.K., where around 25 million people have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.
"The risk of mortality from COVID is much greater than the risk of mortality from these side effects," said Emer Cooke, the EMA's executive director.
Arlett said there is no information suggesting an increased risk from the other major COVID-19 vaccines.
In a statement, AstraZeneca said both UK and EU regulators had requested their vaccine labels be updated to warn of these "extremely rare potential side effect(s)."
"Both of these reviews reaffirmed the vaccine offers a high-level of protection against all severities of COVID-19 and that these benefits continue to far outweigh the risks," it said.
The EMA's investigation focused on unusual types of blood clots that have occurred along with low blood platelets. One rare clot type appears in multiple blood vessels and the other in veins that drain blood from the brain.
"We are not advising a stop to any vaccination for any individual in any age group," said Wei Shen Lim, who chairs Britain's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization. "We are advising a preference for one vaccine over another vaccine for a particular age group ... out of the utmost caution rather than because we have any serious safety concerns."
In March, more than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe, suspended their use of AstraZeneca over the blood clot issue. Most restarted — some with age restrictions — after the EMA said countries should continue using the vaccine.
Britain, which relies heavily on AstraZeneca,...

An "exceedingly rare" copy of a comic book that introduced Superman for the first time has sold for a record-breaking price.
The issue of "Action Comics #1," which sold for 10 cents when it was originally released in 1938, was auctioned Tuesday for $3.25 million according to a press release from online auction house ComicConnect.com.
This particular copy was "buried in a stack of old 1930s movie magazines" and was in mint condition. It has been sold at least three times before, including most recently in 2018 for more than $2 million, the broker said.
Other issues of "Action Comics #1" have also sold for historic prices. In 2014, an issue sold for $3.2 million on eBay.
As for the copy sold this week, the seller made a $1 million profit after owning it for just three years. The name of the new buyer wasn't disclosed, but the release said the new owner is "relatively new to comic investing."
"This is an 83-year-old comic book in near-pristine condition—and it's a sight to behold," said Vincent Zurzolo, coowner of ComicConnect, in the release. "Not to mention, this book launched the superhero genre that's such a huge part of our culture."
Collectibles, such as comic books and trading cards, are increasingly growing in value for investors.
"With all collectibles on the rise, plus crypto currencies and NFTs minting new millionaires almost daily, we expect to see comic prices increase as they look for new places to park their money," said Zurzolo.
text by Jordan Valinsky, CNN Business

Insulation requirements need to be up to speed with the rest of the world as New Zealand transitions into winter, particularly with houses.
These changes, which include triple glazing, could add up to $50,000 for purchasing buildings, particularly in Central Otago and Southland, where it's much needed.
Resident Builder Peter Wolfkamp said to Mike Hosking that our houses are not built with the best insulation.
“Some people buying a brand new house then go on to report that it’s cold 60 per cent of the time. It's not a great house."
Wolfkamp has said that some houses could be built better, and they have seen since he first started building.
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National has got a Ministry of Health report from January stating that 390,000 vaccines should have been administered by now.
Instead, it is well below the expected target with barely 90,000 administered.
NZ College of General Practitioners medical director Bryan Betty spoke to Mike Hosking about the slow rollout.
“It was always going to be a slow burn in terms of getting this kicked off,” Betty said.
It's expected that 10 million vaccines will be distributed in a six month period.
Betty says that the UK has used a mixed model method to roll out the vaccine, which has been very effective in getting vaccines administered quickly.
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The issue of reopening New Zealand to the rest of the world with the Covid vaccine programme underway is a major concern.
University of Otago professor and epidemiologist Sir David Skegg said there is a plan to reintegrate New Zealand back into the international community.
“We obviously need to end up as part of the world community. So at some stage we need to open our borders and it’s a question of when we can do this safely.”
But with new information about Covid and the vaccines coming in very quickly, there is no finality about when this can happen.
Skegg doesn't see the slower vaccine roll out as a concern, especially without a need of a rush compared to other countries.  
“I know everyone’s making a big fuss about the fact that we’re slightly behind other countries, but actually, I don’t see that as a disaster at all.”
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THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Thursday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) In Fact, Jobs Are a Problem/Jumping the Jab Queue/Hosk Says Sorry/Kiwifruit Sorted Not Sorted

A trans-Tasman travel bubble will open with Australia in less than two weeks.
Quarantine-free flights will resume from April 19 -- after receiving the green light yesterday from Cabinet.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says this is an important step forward in our Covid-19 response.
She says opening up international travel while pursuing virus elimination is an unseen arrangement elsewhere.
Meanwhile, people are still making sense of the Government's housing package announced last month - and what the ramifications will be for renters and landlords. 
A landlord himself, Mike Hosking debated the housing changes with Labour Minister Stuart Nash and National MP Mark Mitchell this morning on Politics Wednesday, and explained why he is still planning on buying another rental property.
They also debated the border closures and just how long the country will remain closed off while the rest of the world gets vaccinated.
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The Wellington Phoenix hope to play two A-League football matches at home after the announcement of a quarantine-free travel bubble from April 19, but plan to stay based in Wollongong until the end of the season.
The club has four games after mid-May that are yet to be scheduled.
General manager David Dome says the local community at their Australian base has shown a lot of support, particularly corporates.
"Although the club will continue to base itself out of Wollongong in New South Wales until the end of the season, this decision now opens up the possibility to play up to two matches in New Zealand during the 2020/21 A-League season," the club said in a statement.
"The club has previously stated that returning home is a goal. It's important for the fans, our corporate partners and of course players and staff members - some of whom will have been separated from their families for over six months.
"In anticipation of such an announcement being made, the club has been working on a plan to have the team and support staff return. This includes travel logistics, liaising with ticket providers and investigating accommodation arrangements for all the teams involved.
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More than half of the three million COVID-19 vaccine doses that Australia has manufactured remain in cold storage and cannot be rolled out yet because they are undergoing further batch testing in Europe by the drug company AstraZeneca.
News.com.au has confirmed that despite CSL producing more than 3 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine here in Australia that the majority of these doses have not been approved for distribution.
Instead, only the first 832,200 doses that left CSL-Seqirus’ Parkville factory with great media fanfare on the back of trucks on March 23 are being used to vaccinate Australians.
Another 2.5 million doses remain in cold storage while undergoing final approval and testing. Of these doses, a couple of hundred thousand doses were finally approved for use last Thursday but the majority remain “on ice”.
That suggests that CSL has manufactured 3.2 million COVID-19 doses and rising. However, of these 3 million plus doses only around a third – one million doses – have been approved for use and can actually be used to vaccinate Australians. That means less than half of the vaccines produced have actually been rolled out.
The Morrison Government remains under fire for failing to meet its own targets for the vaccine rollout including the number of vaccines being produced on a weekly basis and the number of Australians actually vaccinated.
In a statement, CSL told news.com.au that this batch testing was vital to ensure the safety and efficacy of the vaccine and that it hoped to hit the target of one million doses in the future.
“Our highest commitment is always to patient safety, and the stringent checks and balances placed on each batch are a critical part of delivering vaccines to the Australian public. These checks, undertaken by CSL, AstraZeneca and the TGA, ensure the quality of the vaccines and that they meet all required standards. We will not release any product until all parties are completely confident that each batch of vaccine meets the highest quality standards,’’ a CSL spokesperson said.
“We are working around the clock to provide vaccines to the Australian public and are proud to have been able to release locally made doses of a new vaccine in just four months since beginning manufacture. In the first week of the local rollout, 832,000 doses were released ahead of schedule to the Australian Government.
“Further batches of finished doses are now being released on a rolling basis every week. When approved by the TGA, they are delivered to the national network of vaccination centres and GP clinics. CSL hopes to reach a rolling output of 1 million doses a week as soon as possible.”
The vaccines do not need to be physically sent back to Europe but the scientific work is being shared electronically and reviewed overseas.
They also need to be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
On March 25, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told ABC radio that CSL was producing “more than 900,000 of them coming out a week”.
CSL confirmed to news.com.au that this figure is not correct and they have never produced more than 900,000 in a single week. They remain hopeful of doing so in the future.
“They are now rolling off the line, filled and finished out of Parkhill down there in Melbourne, you know, over more than 900,000 of them coming out a week,’’ the Prime Minister said.
“And so the decision to have a domestic manufacturing capability here has been the big change, a game changer. We would not have a vaccination programme were it not for the wisdom of that decision that my Government took.”
CSL said they were unable to go into a rolling commentary on the numbers of doses that have been released to the Australian Government from AstraZeneca, and would leave it to the Government to update the community on what is available.
“When approved by the TGA, they are delivered to the national network of vaccination centres and GP...

President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he's bumping up his deadline by two weeks for states to make all adults in the U.S. eligible for coronavirus vaccines. But even as he expressed optimism about the pace of vaccinations, he warned Americans that the nation is not yet out of the woods when it comes to the pandemic.
“Let me be deadly earnest with you: We aren’t at the finish line. We still have a lot of work to do. We’re still in a life and death race against this virus," Biden said in remarks at the White House.
The president warned that “ new variants of the virus are spreading and they’re moving quickly. Cases are going back up, hospitalizations are no longer declining.” He added that ”the pandemic remains dangerous," and encouraged Americans to continue to wash their hands, socially distance and wear masks.
Biden added that while his administration is on schedule to meet his new goal of distributing 200 million doses of the vaccine during his first 100 days, it will still take time for enough Americans to get vaccinated to slow the spread of the virus.
But he expressed hope that his Tuesday announcement, that every adult will be eligible by April 19 to sign up and get in a virtual line to be vaccinated, will help expand access and distribution of the vaccine. Some states already had begun moving up their deadlines from the original May 1 goal.
“No more confusing rules. No more confusing restrictions," Biden said.
Biden made the announcement after visiting a COVID-19 vaccination site at Immanuel Chapel at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. During his visit, he thanked everyone for administering the shots and for showing up to receive them.
“That’s the way to beat this,” Biden said. “Get the vaccination when you can.”
The president also said no one should fear mutations of the coronavirus that are showing up in the U.S. after being discovered in other countries. He acknowledged that the new strains are more virulent and more dangerous, but said “the vaccines work on all of them.”
Biden also announced that 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been shot into arms since his inauguration on Jan. 20. That puts the president well on track to meet his new goal of 200 million shots administered by his 100th day in office on April 30.
Biden's original goal had been 100 million shots by the end of his first 100 days, but that number was reached in March.
Still, he acknowledged Tuesday that his administration fell short of its goal to deliver at least one shot to every teacher, school staff member and childcare worker during the month of March, to try to accelerate school reopenings. Biden announced the target early last month and directed federal resources toward achieving it, but said Tuesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that about 80% of teachers, school staff and childcare workers had received a shot.
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, also spent the day Tuesday focused on promoting the COVID-19 vaccine, each touring a vaccination center, Harris in Chicago and Emhoff in Yakima, Washington.
Harris praised the workers and those receiving their vaccine at a site set up at a local union hall, and spoke of spring as “a moment where we feel a sense of renewal.”
“We can see a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.
Some states are making plans to ease their health restrictions, even as the country is facing a potential new surge in virus cases.
On Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, warned that the country is in a “critical time” because “we could just as easily swing up into a surge."
“That would be a setback for public health, but that would be a psychological setback, too,” he said during an interview with the National Press Club. He noted that Americans are experiencing “COVID-19 fatigue” after more than a year of lockdowns and...