Protection against hospitalisations remains at around 90% for people aged 65 and over even three months after boosting, according to data from the UK Health Security Agency.  So, UK experts consider a fourth Covid jab unnecessary, yet. This happens with severe disease. With mild infection it is shorter, dropping around 30% by about 90 days.  The agency also said that with two vaccine doses, protection against serious illness decreases to 70% after three months, and to 50% after six. Hence the importance of the booster shot.  So far, over 35 million boosters have been administered in the UK.  

Those unvaccinated in Citigroup will have a deadline till 14th of January to get a vaccine.  If they refuse, they will be placed on unpaid leave and fired at the end of the month, unless they are granted an exemption.  Citigroup becomes the first major Wall Street institution to have a strict vaccine mandate, following the policy of US President Joe Biden requiring all workers supporting government contracts to be fully vaccinated.  

In the first days of the new year, Israel reported two young pregnant women who had tested positive for both coronavirus and influenza – flurona, as some media nicknamed it. Flurona refers to when one person has both respiratory infections at the same time, which health officials claim it is a possibility as the highly contagious Omicron is spreading across the world. Doctors round the world have been concerned about a potential impact of a “twindemic”, with the influenza caseload going up, and Covid threatening to swamp hospitals. That is why the importance of getting immunised.

In Italy, people aged 50 or more, will have to be vaccinated against Covid, as an effort to ease pressure on hospitals and reduce deaths, amid a surge in infections. Vaccine rules are also hardened in public and private workplaces, where people will have to present a health pass proving immunisation or recovery from Covid. Italy registered almost 190,000 cases of coronavirus last Wednesday, with 231 fatalities, bringing the death toll to 138,276, the highest in Europe after the UK.  Italian health minister declared that over 66% of patients in intensive care were unvaccinated, prompting the government to implement this new measure. As noted by health authorities, the unvaccinated are causing a heavy burden in the hospital system. The point is to restrict them as much as possible.

French National Assembly approved the government’s controversial vaccine pass, following Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to “piss off” the unvaccinated. Those without jabs will be denied entry to restaurants, theatres, sport, and cultural venues. The legislation was approved by a large majority in the Assemblée Nationale early this Thursday, with 214 in favour, 93 against, and 27 abstentions. Now it’s the turn of the Senate which will debate it next Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron has prompted a commotion after saying that his administration’s vaccination strategy is to “piss off” those who haven’t had a Covid vaccine, which according to him is making daily life more and more difficult for everybody. Macron stated that this is not about pissing off the French people, but the unvaccinated.

He said that he really wants to piss them off and will continue to do so. “This is the strategy,” he added. The French parliament is debating a new legislation that, if approved, will mean only the fully vaccinated will qualify for a health pass next month – no longer those with a negative Covid test.

A third wave of infections is hitting India’s largest cities, with Delhi and Mumbai witnessing a surge in Covid cases. On Tuesday, the country reported more than 37,000 cases of coronavirus, a fivefold increase in a week, fuelled by the Omicron variant. In the wake of this increase, Delhi and Mumbai have brought back curfews along with other restrictions to stem the spread of the virus. Last year in April and May, during the second wave, India recorded about 400,000 daily cases at the peak of the crisis. Authorities fear that a surge in Omicron cases could overwhelm India’s health system, as it happened last year, leaving patients gasping for breath due to the lack of life-saving oxygen, and a shortage of beds.

Dr Anthony Fauci, US Chief Medical Advisor said that since many of the infections are causing few or no symptoms, it is much more relevant to focus on the hospitalisations, as opposed to the total number of cases.

Daily Covid cases in the UK have hit another record high, with 218,724 reported in the last 24 hours. This brings over 1.2 million infections in the last 7 days – a 51% higher on the week before. Although it’s a high number, the real figure is estimated to be substantially higher since not all the cases are reported to the authorities.

Just three asymptomatic cases was what Chinese authorities needed to lockdown a city of almost 1.2 million people in Yuzhou on Monday. In total, over 13 million others are confined, together with Xi’an, where authorities have requested even more severe restrictions. The capital city Beijing is holding on its zero-Covid strategy, in light of the forthcoming Winter Olympics next month, as authorities prompted strict responses over outbreaks. In Yuzhou, in the Henan province, the lockdown is aimed to keep residents inside their homes, and in residential communities to post guards at their gates.