Over half of Europeans vaccinated

More than half of all European adults are now fully vaccinated, the EU said, as countries across Europe and Asia battled fresh outbreaks blamed on the fast-spreading Delta variant.

The European Central Bank said uncertainty over the wave of infections meant it was keeping the cash taps open to ensure the nascent economic recovery isn't snuffed out.

Despite successful vaccination drives, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said cases in her country were rising "exponentially" as the government officials warned that the US is "at another pivotal moment in this pandemic".

The spotlight, meanwhile, once again turned on the origins of the virus after the WHO called for an audit of the Chinese lab at the heart of speculation about where it first emerged, sparking a fiery response from Beijing.

Chinese Vice Health Minister Zeng Yixin said that he was "extremely surprised" by the WHO plan, which he said showed "disrespect for common sense and arrogance towards science".

More than four million people have died from the virus since December 2019, and though rates of vaccination are picking up globally, Delta is fuelling a rise in infections and prompting governments to re-impose anti-virus measures.

The EU said on Thursday that 200 million Europeans had been fully vaccinated, more than half of the adult population but still short of a 70 percent target set for the summer.

Germany's public health institute yesterday said it was putting Spain and the Netherlands on a list of high-incidence countries for coronavirus, meaning new restrictions for unvaccinated travellers.

European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde warned of growing economic uncertainty caused by Delta, as the bank kept its vast stimulus for the eurozone firmly in place following a meeting of its 25-member governing council.

"The euro area economy is rebounding strongly," Lagarde said, but the Delta variant could damp the post-lockdown recovery "in services, especially in tourism and hospitality", she said.

France this week rolled out new rules requiring a so-called health pass for all events or places with more than 50 people before being extended to restaurants, cafes and shopping centres in August.

Italy also said a health pass would be mandatory for people wishing to access bars, restaurants, swimming pools, sports facilities, museums and theatres from August 6.

Cases are also soaring in the UK, where most restrictions were lifted this week, and on Thursday British supermarkets warned of possible food shortages because staff were being forced to self-isolate, reports AFP.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization and the EU's disease agency warned yesterday that increased free testing, contact tracing and other steps are needed to fight the Delta variant.

SURGE IN CASES IN US

Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said that the Delta variant of coronavirus "is now spreading with incredible efficiency" in the US and that, compared with the original coronavirus strain that broke out in the US in early 2020, this variant is "more aggressive".

"It is one of the most infectious respiratory viruses we know of and that I have seen in my 20-year career," she said at a White House briefing on Thursday, noting that the US is "not out of the woods".

Walensky warned: "We are at another pivotal moment in this pandemic, with cases rising again and some hospitals reaching their capacity in some areas."

Australia's New South Wales state yesterday reported its biggest daily rise in new cases this year, prompting a tighter lockdown in Sydney and a request for additional vaccine doses which was rebuffed by other state leaders.

New Zealand has suspended its quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia for at least eight weeks yesterday in response to the latter's escalating coronavirus outbreak, reports Reuters.

The Philippines will suspend travel from Malaysia and Thailand, as well as tighten restrictions in the Manila area, in a bid to prevent the spread of the contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, the presidential spokesperson said yesterday.

Japan's Emperor Naruhito officially opened the Tokyo Olympics yesterday in a nearly empty stadium after the Games were postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

ANTIBODY BOOST

A longer gap between doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine leads to higher overall antibody levels than a shorter gap, a British study found yesterday, but there is a sharp drop in antibody levels after the first dose.

"For the longer dosing interval ... neutralising antibody levels against the Delta variant were poorly induced after a single dose, and not maintained during the interval before the second dose," the authors of the study, which is being led by the University of Oxford, said.

"Following two vaccine doses, neutralising antibody levels were twice as high after the longer dosing interval compared with the shorter dosing interval."

"I think the 8 week is about the sweet spot," Susanna Dunachie, joint chief investigator on the study, told reporters.