Greece makes negative test mandatory for travellers; France jabs kids, Chinese city locks down

Paris: France started vaccinating children over five and China plunged a city into a strict lockdown on Wednesday as governments scramble to contain fresh virus surges driven by the Omicron variant.

The latest clinical data suggest Omicron does not cause more severe illness than its predecessors, notably the Delta variant first identified in India, which accounts for the bulk of cases worldwide.

But scientists warn the highly transmissible strain, which South Africa first reported to the World Health Organisation last month, could cause more deaths if soaring infection numbers overwhelm health systems.

Omicron’s lightning global spread has led some governments to reimpose restrictions ahead of Christmas holidays or to re-evaluate their plans to halt the spread, dampening hopes the worst of the pandemic is over.

France on Wednesday opened vaccinations to children aged between five and 11 in its latest step to combat a fresh wave of cases. Health Minister Olivier Veran said Omicron-fuelled daily Covid infections could exceed 100,000 by the end of December, according to modelling, with France recording almost 73,000 cases on Tuesday.

Finland also revealed plans to expand its vaccination programme to children aged between five and 12, a day after announcing bars must close at 9:00 pm on Christmas Eve as part of new restrictions to fight record Covid infection levels. But in China, only 52 new reported infections were enough for authorities to impose a stringent lockdown on more than 13 million people in the northern city of Xi’an.

From midnight on Thursday, residents must stay at home except to buy necessities once every two days or in emergencies. Travel to and from Xi’an is heavily monitored by health authorities and non-essential businesses will close.

The move comes as China pursues its rigorous zero-Covid policy before next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing and is reminiscent of the world’s first pandemic lockdown in the central city of Wuhan in January 2020.

Turkey on Wednesday granted emergency use approval to its first domestically developed coronavirus vaccine, Turkovac, although no data from its phase 3 trials in June have emerged. Health adviser Ates Kara said Turkovac was "very successful" and could be "a little better" than other jabs and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to share it "with all humanity".

Turkey’s announcement came after Israel on Tuesday became the first country to make fourth jabs widely available, amid fears Omicron is more resistant to existing vaccines. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said citizens over the age of 60 and medical teams would be eligible for a fourth Covid vaccine shot, following the recommendation of an expert panel.

"The world will follow in our footsteps," he tweeted. Meanwhile, British regulators on Wednesday approved Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for use in children aged five to 11, as the country reported more than 100,000 new daily cases for the first time amid surging Omicron variant infections.

The developments came after the government said it was cutting the isolation period required for positive cases and Wales followed Scotland in unveiling new post-Christmas curbs, primarily around hospitality and large events.

Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had approved a new lower-dose formulation of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot after finding it was "safe and effective" for children aged five to 11.

MHRA chief executive June Raine said there was "robust evidence to support a positive benefit risk for children in this age group". The "overwhelming majority" of reported side-effects from the two-shot "age-appropriate" jab related to mild symptoms, such as a sore arm or a flu-like illness, she added.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises UK health departments on immunisation, said it was now advising offering a primary course of the vaccination to some within the age group.

Britain is in the midst of a stepped-up booster campaign, as it tries to minimise the impact of weeks of rising Omicron infections, aiming to offer a third jab to all adults by the end of the month.

The variant is now the dominant strain of the virus across the country -- already one of the hardest hit in Europe, with a death toll of 147,573 -- as it registers daily cases at record levels.

Officials announced 106,122 new infections on Wednesday, the highest figure since mass testing began in the summer of last year. Earlier, the government said people who have tested positive can stop self-isolating after seven days instead of 10 if they have taken two negative lateral flow tests.

Amid the skyrocketing case numbers, it could potentially allow many more to join family Christmas celebrations. Hours later, the devolved government in Wales announced a raft of new curbs from December 26, including limiting socialising in pubs, cinemas and restaurants to groups of six people or less.

Two-metre distancing will return in public places, while pubs and other licensed premises will be table service only and staff will have to collect contact tracing details and masks will be required once again.

Large events will essentially be banned, with the maximum permissible number of people allowed to gather indoors set at 30, and outdoors at 50. It follows Scotland unveiling new rules there Tuesday, which also come into force on December 26 for at least three weeks and cap attendance at outdoor events at 500.

The move means the pandemic has forced the cancellation of Edinburgh’s hugely popular New Year’s Eve street party for the second successive year. However, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted calls to impose stricter rules in England over Christmas.

The embattled leader, reeling from weeks of scandals and setbacks -- plus growing discontent in his own party -- has said he wants more evidence on Omicron’s severity and ability to evade vaccines.

Meanwhile his government has signed deals to buy more than 4 million courses of two new antiviral drugs-- Pfizer’s ritonavir and US rival Merck/MSD’s molnupiravir -- to treat Covid-19. Molnupiravir, sold as Lagevrio, is part of a national trial run by the University of Oxford that people can join if they have virus symptoms.

Britain was the first country in the world to approve it last month and the authorities will make it available to those at high risk of severe illness, such as people with cancer. Pfizer’s pill, marketed as Paxlovid, has yet to be authorised anywhere in the world.

The company said on Tuesday that clinical trials showed it reduced hospital admissions and deaths among at-risk people by almost 90 percent, when taken a few days after symptoms began.