Coronavirus live: European Medical Agency approves Moderna booster; UK records 36,567 new cases

That’s it from me, Samantha Lock, for today.

In the meantime follow along with all our coronavirus coverage here.

I’ll be back bringing you the latest with another live blog a little later today.

Summary

Thanks for joining us. Here’s a round-up of the day’s leading Covid stories:

• European Medical Agency approves Moderna booster. The medical body approved doses for all adults, saying the Spikevax booster can be given out and administered, after it gave the green light to the Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty jab earlier in October.
• US introduces new guidelines on non-US citizens’ entry into the country and testing for travellers. Foreign nationals will have to be fully vaccinated before entering the country, with some exemptions in place for under-18s. Those coming from countries with low vaccination rates will have to justify their visit.
  
• UK reports 38 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid as of Monday, bringing the UK total to 139,571.
• Moderna moves towards expanding shots to children, saying a low dose of its Covid vaccine is safe and appears to work in six- to 11-year-olds.
  
• Children as young as three will start receiving Covid vaccines in China, where 76% of the population has been fully vaccinated. It comes as authorities continue to maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards outbreaks.
• Worst of US pandemic likely behind us but we can’t drop our guard, experts say. The number of new Covid cases and deaths in the US has been in a steady decline since early September but experts also caution that it’s not yet safe to abandon safeguards against the virus. That’s because parts of the US population and much of the world remain unvaccinated, which could allow for outbreaks and dangerous new variants of the virus to emerge.
• People in Tokyo can eat and drink in bars and restaurants later in the evening from today as Japan eases social distancing rules.
  
• Russia has reported 37,930 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, its highest single-day case tally since the start of the pandemic.

Hi I’m Samantha Lock reporting to you from Sydney, Australia.

I’ll be with you for the next short while while we go through all the key Covid developments.

Stay tuned.

Facebook has deleted a video featuring Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in which he warned of a link between Covid-19 vaccines and Aids.

He had claimed in a Facebook live address that reports from Britain showed that people who are fully vaccinated are developing the syndrome, according to AFP.

Facebook, which took down the comments late Sunday or early Monday, has removed Bolsonaro posts in the past.

The police union in New York has filed a lawsuit against a vaccine requirement for workers ordered by the US city’s mayor Bill de Blasio.

The order, made last week, ordered all city employees to show proof of vaccination or be put on unpaid leave.

The police benevolent association of the city of New York said on Twitter it had filed a suit in the state Supreme Court.

It asked for a temporary restraining order to stop the mandate.

The EU’s medical body has approved booster doses of Moderna’s Covid vaccine for all adults, AFP reports.

The European Medical Agency (EMA) has said the Spikevax booster can be given out and administered, after it gave the green light to the Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty jab earlier in October.

“Data showed that a third dose of Spikevax given six to eight months after the second dose led to a rise in antibody levels in adults whose antibody levels were waning,” the authority said.

New guidelines have been introduced by Joe Biden’s administration on non-US citizens’ entry into the country and testing for travellers.

Foreign nationals will have to be fully vaccinated before entering the country, with some exemptions in place for under-18s. Those coming from countries with low vaccination rates will have to justify their visit.

Unvaccinated US citizens and long-term residents will have to provide a negative test the day before arriving. Those who have had their full complement of jabs will require a test within three days of arrival.

Restrictions that have been in place since the start of the pandemic stopping non-US citizens from arriving in the country from China, India, South Africa, Brazil and much of Europe, are set to be axed.

Morocco’s health minister has defended the introduction of a vaccine passport to access public spaces, citing an increase in people getting the vaccine.

Its government introduced the pass on Thursday for accessing government buildings, gyms, cafes, restaurants and public transport.

Some opposition parties have criticised the vaccine pass, as have unions and rights organisations.

Health minister Khaled Ait Taleb said: “The adoption of the vaccine pass aims to encourage people who have not been inoculated yet to get vaccinated and to prevent virus hot spots.”

The number of people getting jabbed had risen by more than 400% since the pass was imposed, he said.

This is Harry Taylor bringing you the latest coronavirus updates from the UK and around the world for the rest of tonight.

If you have any comments, tips or suggestions - drop me an email or via Twitter @HarryTaylr.

Here is a round-up of the day’s leading Covid stories:

• The UK government said a further 38 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid as of Monday, bringing the UK total to 139,571. As of 9am on Monday, there had been a further 36,567 lab-confirmed Covid cases in the UK, the government said.
• Moderna has said a low dose of its Covid vaccine is safe and appears to work in six- to 11-year-olds, as the manufacturer moves towards expanding shots to children.
  
• The pharmaceutical company Merck says it has asked the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to authorise its Covid antiviral treatment, the first pill that has been shown to treat the disease.
• Children as young as three will start receiving Covid vaccines in China, where 76% of the population has been fully vaccinated. It comes as authorities continue to maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards outbreaks.
• Italy reported 30 coronavirus-related deaths on Monday compared to 24 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections fell to 2,535 from 3,725.
  
• In the UK, pupils have been left feeling “upset” and “intimidated” by anti-vaccination campaigners outside the school gates and the campaign could be making some children hesitant to get the Covid jab.
  
• People in Estonia can no longer use negative test results to obtain the coronavirus certificates needed to attend sporting events, movie showings, indoor public meetings and other events.
  
• Slovakia extended tight coronavirus restrictions to more parts of the country on Monday as the latest surge of infections intensified.
  
• The Dutch government is seeking advice from a panel of experts on whether it needs to reintroduce Covid restrictions amid sharply rising infection rates, its health minister said today.
  
• The EU has cancelled its annual reception at this year’s UN climate talks because of Covid restrictions, but a spokesperson denied that delegates would be banned from attending social events at the Glasgow conference.
  
• People in Tokyo can eat and drink in bars and restaurants later in the evening from today as Japan eases social distancing rules.
  

That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. I’ll be back in the morning but for now my colleague Harry Taylor will be taking over the blog from me. Goodbye.

In the UK, pupils have been left feeling “upset” and “intimidated” by anti-vaccination campaigners outside the school gates and the campaign could be making some children hesitant to get the Covid jab.

A secondary school leader in Liverpool, who wishes to remain anonymous, called the police when anti-vaccination protesters blocked the path of pupils who were trying to leave the school this month.

But no reinforcements turned up despite the protest after school getting “quite feisty” and “unpleasant”, he said.

The headteacher told the PA news agency: “We had some youngsters who were really upset about the leaflets that were being given out.

“The leafleteers were blocking students’ way and insisting that they took a leaflet and some of them didn’t want to.”

Only around a quarter of the eligible students came forward to have their Covid-19 vaccine at the school a few days after the anti-vaccination protesters targeted children at the school gates.

He said: “I would have expected a higher proportion.

“I can’t directly attribute that to the leaflets, but the take-up has been slightly less than I would have expected.”

His comments come after the Health Secretary lashed out at “idiots” who mount anti-vaccine protests outside schools as he said exclusion zones are an option to protect children.