‘English variant not linked to more serious infections’: Muslims mark Ramazan under Covid shadow

WASHINGTON: US health authorities on Tuesday recommended a pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine over blood clot fears, as surging coronavirus cases in many parts of the world overshadowed the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramazan.

Europe, the worst-hit continent, passed the threshold of one million coronavirus deaths, while South Asian countries battle a spiralling outbreak of the disease that has crippled the global economy.

Vaccination drives are giving hope to people fed up with restrictions that are well into a second year, and India -- which is experiencing a record surge in cases -- was given a boost as it authorised Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 drug.

But the US campaign to vaccinate most of its population hit a hurdle on Tuesday as regulators recommended the use of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine be paused "out of an abundance of caution".

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centres for Disease Control are looking into six reported cases of a rare blood clot in patients who have received the shot -- among more than 6.8 million J&J doses administered in the US.

"Until that process is complete, we are recommending this pause," the FDA tweeted. More than 800 million vaccine doses have now been administered globally, according to an AFP tally, as governments ramp up inoculation efforts in a bid to emerge from the bruising pandemic.

The total number of virus deaths is approaching three million, as the World Health Organisation warned infections are rising exponentially despite efforts aimed at stopping them.

From Indonesia to Egypt, many Muslims around the world started Ramazan after religious leaders confirmed the month of fasting would begin on Tuesday, with countries many facing virus restrictions.

Jakarta’s newly renovated Istiqlal Mosque -- Southeast Asia’s largest -- welcomed worshippers for the first time on Monday night after more than a year of closure because of the pandemic.

Mohamed Fathi, a resident of the Indonesian capital, told AFP this year’s Ramazan was happier than in 2020. "Last year it was gloomy as we were not allowed to go to the mosque for tarawih (evening) prayers," he said.

"But this year, I am so happy finally we can go to the mosque to perform tarawih prayers at the mosque, although we are under strict health protocol during the prayer."

Mosques in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation will only be able to host people at a maximum of 50 percent capacity. Worshippers are required to wear masks and bring their own prayer mats.

Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest shrines, announced that the holy fasting month begin on Tuesday, though authorities said only people inoculated against Covid-19 will be allowed to perform the year-round umrah pilgrimage from the start of Ramazan.

In Egypt, restrictions were much less stringent than last year as people took to the streets to mark the start of the fasting month.

In India health officials have been battling a huge surge in cases in recent weeks that has prompted night curfews and a clampdown on movement and activities. The country of 1.3 billion people on Monday reported more than 161,000 new cases -- the seventh-consecutive day that more than 100,000 infections have been recorded.

Experts have warned that huge, mostly maskless crowds at political rallies and religious festivals have fuelled India’s caseload, and in the Himalayan city Haridwar, maskless Hindu pilgrims have ignored social distancing pleas. Adding Sputnik to its roster of jabs bolsters the government’s ambitious goal of vaccinating 300 million people by the end of July.

In Europe, the government in hard-hit Germany agreed to controversial changes to a national infections control law, handing Berlin more power to impose tougher measures.

Those measures include a 9 pm to 5 am curfew and stricter rules around private gatherings and sports. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19, said the world was now at a "critical point" of the pandemic.

"The trajectory of this pandemic is growing... exponentially." Meanwhile, the English variant of the novel coronavirus does not increase the severity of Covid-19 compared to other strains, according to research published Tuesday that also confirmed its increased transmissibility.

The variant, known as B117, is now the dominant viral strain across much of Europe, and previous studies had shown it was linked to a higher likelihood of death than normal variants. But two studies published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases and The Lancet Public Health journals found no evidence that people with B117 experience worse symptoms or a greater risk of developing long Covid than those infected with different variants.