Covid news live: US to approve ‘mix and match’ booster shots, New Zealand reports record daily cases

Hi and thanks for joining us as we run through all the key developments surrounding the Covid-19 crisis.

I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be giving you a rundown of the latest news, reporting from Sydney, Australia.

As vaccination rates continue to rise, the world looks towards a future outside of lockdowns and increased global mobility. However, some countries have seen rises in cases and shifts in government strategy as the Covid landscape continues to change.

After months of Covid-zero, New Zealand recorded its highest daily Covid-19 case count since the pandemic began, with 94 new infections reported. Younger New Zealanders have been particularly hardest hit with the highest number of cases in the under 39 age bracket.

Changes are also afoot with vaccine booster shot advice in the US as the country moves further towards a new “Covid normal”.

• UK government warns of “challenging” winter months ahead in battle against Covid as cases continue to rise. Epidemiologist and government adviser Prof Andrew Hayward said the situation was “concerning” and there was “huge potential for the NHS to come under a lot of pressure”.
• A study found the Valneva Covid vaccine may be as effective as the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. The vaccine uses inactivated Sars-CoV-2 virus and can be stored in fridge. Like the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, the Valneva jab was found to stimulate responses from other components of the immune system, including T-cells. However, the Valneva jab gave rise to T-cells able to respond not only to the coronavirus spike protein, but to two other key proteins.
  
• Russia set another new record daily caseload, recording 34,325 new cases in the last 24 hours. That’s up just slightly on the previous day’s 34,303. There were 998 further deaths. The population of Russia is around 144 million people. Despite the rising cases, Moscow continues to see a busy nightlife.
• UK government ordered to reveal firms awarded “VIP” access to multimillion-pound contracts for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the early months of the Covid pandemic, in a ruling from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
• UK Covid cases near 50,000 in one day after steadily increasing through October and reaching 49,156 on Monday, the highest reported since 17 July and a 16% rise in new cases over the past week.
• UK private laboratory is under investigation for potentially issuing more than 40,000 false negative Covid tests was not fully accredited to perform the work, contrary to assurances made by health officials.
• The EU has exported over 1bn vaccine doses worldwide, according to head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leye.
• Colin Powell, former US secretary of state, dies at 84 of Covid complications. Powell played a pivotal role in attempting to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The US Food and Drug Administration is planning to allow the mixing and matching of Covid-19 booster shots, the New York Times reports, citing people familiar with the agency’s plans.

In September, the FDA authorised a booster dose of Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech’s two-shot Covid-19 vaccine for those aged 65 and older and some high-risk Americans.

The regulator’s advisory panel has also backed the use of Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine booster shots.

The government would not recommend one shot over another, and it might note that using the same vaccine as a booster when possible is preferable, the NYT said, citing people familiar with the agency’s plans.

US health officials have been under pressure to authorise the additional shots after the White House announced plans in August for a widespread booster campaign pending approvals from the FDA and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A study by the National Institutes of Health last week showed people who got Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine as a first shot had a stronger immune response when boosted with vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.