Yesterday there were 11,976 new cases and 113 deaths. 272,495 swabs were performed. The positivity rate is 15.8%, like yesterday. Ordinary hospitalizations continue to decline (minus 236, for a total of 8,816) and intensive care (minus 8 for a total of 331).
Ema starts evaluation of Pfizer vaccine updated to Omicron 4-5
The European Medicines Agency EMA has just announced that it has begun the evaluation of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine updated to the Omicron variant. Current vaccines are prepared with the original virus, that of Wuhan. The adapted version should be available from October. It contains half the dose set to Wuhan and the other half set to Omicron 4-5, the variants currently circulating.
The evaluation launched by the EMA is called a rolling review and is very rapid: it requires the information to be provided by the company to the regulatory agency as it becomes available, without waiting for the end of the trials. The EMA is also already evaluating the updated vaccines prepared on the basis of Omicron 1, the first variant of Omicron, which has been widespread in Europe since December 2021.
Bassetti: “It is not possible that there are still so many dead”
“It is not possible that, in August 2022, with all the knowledge we have of the disease, there are still all these deaths counted as Covid”. He emphasizes it Matteo Bassetti, director of the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the San Martino Polyclinic in Genoa. “A medical commission would be needed to establish the truth: how many of these deaths are Covid? According to the ISS modality, a positive swab is enough, but how many of these deaths are really linked to what is called attributed mortality which is different from raw mortality ? “, Bassetti points out.
“The death curve will not go down so easily, I hope I am wrong but I fear that even the famous 15 days from the decline in infections will not be enough. Today the number of people with a very advanced age and with a comorbidity that enters into hospital with a positive swab that deaths are likely to remain high “warns Bassetti. “I’m not sure if all these people died of Covid, but if we are so sure, then something is not working in the country and an examination of conscience by the Ministry of Health and the Regions would be needed.”
Giannelli: “Neither masks nor distancing. Let’s vaccinate the boys”
“The indications of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità on the reopening of the school are common sense. We return to class, in fact, as if there was no Covid: no masks or distancing, which in our classrooms is almost impossible. But the picture epidemiological has changed and we should never go back to the serious situation of two years ago. The high percentage of citizens vaccinated has curbed the spread of the pandemic “. Antonello Giannellipresident of the National Association of Principals (NPC), comments in this way in view of the resumption of lessons in September.
“The remedies are always the same: opening the windows, spacing and sanitizing, also because it was decided not to invest in mechanical ventilation, which would have required huge investments, organizational skills and five-year long-term planning. Without masks and spacing, the ‘the only weapon to break down the circulation of the virus therefore remains vaccination. The student population is now not very vaccinated, especially from the age of 16 and below. You have to get vaccinated because, even if with mild symptoms, without the vaccine Covid will continue to circulate and develop new ones. variants “.