December 31st Comprehensive report, according to the statistics of the website of Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of about 7:23 Beijing time on the 31st, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide has exceeded 82.53 million, and the number of deaths has exceeded 1.8 million.
Another state in the United States has reported cases of mutant virus infection, and experts say the virus may have spread in the country; the United Kingdom has approved another coronavirus vaccine.
Tedros Tedros issued a New Year’s message
Say 2020 provides lessons and reminders
On December 30th local time, WHO Director-General Tedros Tedros issued a New Year’s message.
He said that the past year has witnessed the most rapid and far-reaching global health emergency response in human history.
Vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tools are also introduced at record speed, but it is also necessary to ensure that all at-risk groups have access to vaccines, which is a must face in the new year.
He stressed that the events in 2020 provide lessons and reminders for us to enter 2021.
Governments must increase investment in public health, including funding for all to access a coronavirus vaccine and to be fully prepared to prevent and respond to the next inevitable pandemic.
Tedros once again pointed out that since mass vaccination takes time, epidemic prevention measures must continue to be followed, including physical distancing, wearing masks, avoiding indoor crowded places, etc.
These simple but effective measures can save lives.
Another state in the United States reported a mutant novel coronavirus.
Has it spread to the United States and the world?
On December 30, 2020, local time, health officials in a county in Colorado, United States, said that a second case of infection with the mutant novel coronavirus found in the United Kingdom had been found. The day before, the state reported the first case of mutant virus infection.
On the same day, California also reported the first case of mutant COVID-19 in the state. Recently, the epidemic situation in California has become more and more serious.
On the 29th local time, the number of deaths in a single day reached 442, setting a new number of new coronavirus deaths in the state in a single day. According to the Los Angeles Times, the figure can be understood as one person dies of COVID-19 every three minutes in California.
On December 30th local time, Henry Walker, head of the coronavirus epidemic at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that the mutant virus is likely to have spread from person to person in the United States.
Fauci, an infectious disease expert in the United States, also said that it is not surprising to find cases of mutant viruses in California. It is likely that more cases will occur, and other states may soon report the same infection. But he also said that the mutant virus seems to be more infectious, but it is not fatal.
Officials of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also said that the mutant strain may make already overcrowded hospitals “add insult to injury”. In addition, another mutant strain of COVID-19 found in South Africa may have spread to the United States.
The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa also called on African countries to strengthen genome monitoring and analysis through the network of genome sequencing laboratories to detect virus mutations and curb the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic.
The United Kingdom approves the second coronavirus vaccine
A nurse in the United States was diagnosed after vaccination.
On the 30th local time, the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine was approved by the British Drug and Health Products Administration (MHRA) and will be officially put into clinical use for large-scale vaccination.
This is the second coronavirus vaccine approved by the United Kingdom after the Pfizer vaccine in the United States.
At present, the British government has ordered 100 million doses of Oxford vaccine, enough to vaccinate about 73% of the British population.
It is reported that the vaccine center will invite patients to start vaccination next week. The UK government has identified priority groups for vaccination, and it is expected that more than 25 million people will be vaccinated in the first phase.
In addition to the United Kingdom, Argentine regulators have also approved the emergency use of the vaccine in China on the same day.
On the other hand, a nurse in California was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus six days after receiving the first Pfizer vaccine.
According to reports, the nurse was vaccinated against the first shot on December 18 local time, when she only felt slight pain in her arm. But after six days, it began to show chills, muscle pain and fatigue. Later that day, he tested positive.
Experts point out that it is not impossible to diagnose the novel coronavirus after vaccination. It takes some time for a vaccine to stimulate protective effects, usually 10 to 14 days.
In addition, in the case of Pfizer vaccine, the first injection can provide about 50% protection. The protection level will not be increased to 95% until the second injection is completed.
