Thursday, April 1, 2021

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7 Hong Kong democracy leaders convicted over 2019 protests

Posted: 31 Mar 2021 11:11 PM PDT

HONG KONG -- Seven Hong Kong pro-democracy advocates were convicted Thursday, April 1, on charges of organizing and participating in an unlawful assembly during massive anti-government protests in 2019 that triggered a crackdown on dissent.

The seven include media tycoon and founder of the Apple Daily tabloid Jimmy Lai, as well as 82-year-old Martin Lee, a veteran of the city's democracy movement. Lai had already been held without bail on other charges related to his pro-democracy activities.

They were convicted for their involvement in a protest held on August 18, 2019. Organizers said that 1.7 million people marched that day in opposition to a proposed bill that would have allowed suspects to be extradited to mainland China for trial.

The activists, apart from those who have been remanded in custody on other charges, were granted bail on condition they do not leave Hong Kong and must hand in all their travel documents.

They will next appear in court on April 16, where mitigation pleas will be heard before sentences are handed down. Taking part in an unlawful assembly or a riot in Hong Kong can result in a maximum sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment for serious offenses.

Ahead of the trial, supporters and some of the defendants gathered outside the court, shouting "Oppose political persecution" and "Five demands, not one less," in reference to demands by democracy supporters that include amnesty for those arrested in the protests as well as universal suffrage in the semi-autonomous territory.

"So on this day, in a very difficult situation in Hong Kong, political retaliation is on us," Lee Cheuk-yan, one of the defendants, said ahead of the court session.

"We will still march on no matter what lies in the future. We believe in the people of Hong Kong, in our brothers and sisters in our struggle, and the victory is ours if the people of Hong Kong are persistent," he said.

Previously, two other defendants — former pro-democracy lawmakers Au Nok-hin and Leung Yiu-chung — had pleaded guilty to organizing and taking part in an unauthorized assembly.

Hong Kong was rocked by months of protests in the second half of 2019, sparked by the extradition bill. The bill was eventually withdrawn, but the protests expanded to include full democracy and other demands and at times descended into violence between demonstrators and police.

In the aftermath of the protests, Beijing took a tough stance on dissent, imposing a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong and approving electoral reforms that would reduce public participation in elections and exclude critics from running for the city's legislature.

China had pledged to allow the city to retain freedoms not permitted elsewhere in the country for 50 years when it took Hong Kong back from Britain in 1997, but its recent steps are seen as a betrayal. (AP)

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Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine batch fails quality check

Posted: 31 Mar 2021 10:54 PM PDT

A BATCH of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine failed quality standards and can't be used, the drug giant said Wednesday.

The drugmaker didn't say how many doses were lost, and it wasn't clear how the problem would impact future deliveries.

A vaccine ingredient made by Emergent BioSolutions — one of about 10 companies that Johnson & Johnson is using to speed up manufacturing of its recently approved vaccine — did not meet quality standards, J&J said.

J&J said the Emergent BioSolutions factory involved had not yet been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to make part of the vaccine. Emergent declined to comment.

J&J had pledged to provide 20 million doses of its vaccine to the US government by the end of March, and 80 million more doses by the end of May. Its statement on the manufacturing problem said it was still planning to deliver 100 million doses by the end of June and was "aiming to deliver those doses by the end of May."

President Joe Biden has pledged to have enough vaccines for all US adults by the end of May. The US government has ordered enough two-dose shots from Pfizer and Moderna to vaccinate 200 million people to be delivered by late May, plus the 100 million shots from J&J.

A federal official said Wednesday evening the administration's goal can be met without additional J&J doses.

A J&J spokesman said earlier Wednesday that the company met the end-of-March goal, but did not respond to questions about whether the Emergent plant in Baltimore, known as Bayview, had been cleared by FDA.

As of Wednesday, J&J had provided about 6.8 million doses to the US vaccine effort, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's online vaccine tracker. Some additional doses may not yet have been recorded as delivered, and federal health officials said Wednesday that another 11 million doses of the vaccine would be available for shipments starting on Thursday.

It was not immediately clear where those 11 million doses originated, but J&J has been shipping finished vaccines from its factory in the Netherlands to the US.

Emergent, a little known pharmaceutical company granted a major role in the federal government's response to coronavirus pandemic, has been repeatedly cited by the FDA for problems ranging from poorly trained employees to cracked vials and mold around one of its facilities, according to records obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act.

The records cover inspections at Emergent facilities, including Bayview, since 2017. Following a December 2017 inspection at an Emergent plant in Canton, Massachusetts, the FDA said the company hadn't corrected "continued low level mold and yeast isolates" found in the facility. Nearly a year later, agency investigators questioned why Emergent had "an unwritten policy of not conducting routine compliance audits" at a separate plant in Baltimore, known as Camden, where an anthrax vaccine is filled into vials.

Emergent's revenues skyrocketed during the Trump administration, jumping from around $523 million in 2015 to more than $1.5 billion in 2020. The company has invested heavily in lobbying the federal government, according to disclosure records, which show the company spent $3.6 million on lobbying in 2020 alone.

J&J said it was putting more of its manufacturing and quality experts inside Emergent's factory to supervise production of the Covid-19 vaccine, a move meant to enable delivery of an additional 24 million vaccine doses through April.

J&J said it still expects to deliver more than one billion vaccine doses globally by the end of the year.

The J&J vaccine has been viewed as crucial for vaccination campaigns around the world, because only one shot is required and it can be shipped and stored at standard refrigeration temperatures, unlike some other vials that must be kept frozen. The company also has pledged to sell the vaccine without a profit, but only during the pandemic emergency.

The problem with the vaccine batch was first reported by The New York Times. The FDA said it was aware of the situation but declined further comment. (AP)

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Pfizer says its Covid-19 vaccine protects younger teens

Posted: 31 Mar 2021 10:50 PM PDT

PFIZER announced Wednesday, March 31, that its Covid-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12, a step toward possibly beginning shots in this age group before they head back to school in the fall.

Most Covid-19 vaccines being rolled out worldwide are for adults, who are at higher risk from the coronavirus. Pfizer's vaccine is authorized for ages 16 and older. But vaccinating children of all ages will be critical to stopping the pandemic — and helping schools, at least the upper grades, start to look a little more normal after months of disruption.

In the vaccine study of 2,260 US volunteers ages 12 to 15, preliminary data showed there were no cases of Covid-19 among fully vaccinated adolescents compared to 18 among those given dummy shots, Pfizer reported.

It's a small study, that hasn't yet been published, so another important piece of evidence is how well the shots revved up the kids' immune systems. Researchers reported high levels of virus-fighting antibodies, somewhat higher than were seen in studies of young adults.

Kids had side effects similar to young adults, the company said. The main side effects are pain, fever, chills and fatigue, particularly after the second dose. The study will continue to track participants for two years for more information about long-term protection and safety.

Dr. Philip J. Landrigan of Boston College said the results are encouraging.

"It's hard to get kids to comply with masking and distancing, so something that gives them hard protection and takes them out of the mix of spreading the virus is all for the good," said Landrigan, who was not involved in the study.

It's another positive development in the race against the virus even as US cases, at 66,000 new infections a day, are rising again and deaths are averaging nearly 1,000 a day. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned Americans again Wednesday that "we can't afford to let our guard down."

Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in the coming weeks plan to ask the US Food and Drug Administration and European regulators to allow emergency use of the shots starting at age 12.

"We share the urgency to expand the use of our vaccine," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. He expressed "the hope of starting to vaccinate this age group before the start of the next school year" in the United States.

Pfizer isn't the only company seeking to lower the age limit for its vaccine. Results also are expected by the middle of this year from a US study of Moderna's vaccine in 12- to 17-year-olds.

But in a sign that the findings were promising, the FDA already allowed both companies to begin US studies in children 11 and younger, working their way to as young as 6-month-old.

"We are longing for a normal life. This is especially true for our children," BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said in a statement.

AstraZeneca last month began a study of its vaccine among 6- to 17-year-olds in Britain. Johnson & Johnson is planning its own pediatric studies. And in China, Sinovac recently announced it has submitted preliminary data to Chinese regulators showing its vaccine is safe in children as young as 3.

While most Covid-19 vaccines being used globally were first tested in tens of thousands of adults, pediatric studies won't need to be nearly as large. Scientists have safety information from those studies and from subsequent vaccinations in millions more adults.

One key question is the dosage: Pfizer gave the 12-and-older participants the same dose adults receive, while testing different doses in younger children.

It's not clear how quickly the FDA would act on Pfizer's request to allow vaccination starting at age 12. The agency has taken about three weeks to review and authorize each of the vaccines currently available for adults. That process included holding a public meeting of outside experts to review and vote on the safety and effectiveness of each shot.

The process for reviewing data in children could be shorter, given FDA's familiarity with each vaccine. An agency spokeswoman said the FDA had no information to share on how the review would work, including whether additional public meetings would be required.

Another question is when the country would have enough supply of shots — and people to get them into adolescents' arms — to let kids start getting in line.

Supplies are set to steadily increase over the spring and summer, at the same time states are opening vaccinations to younger, healthier adults who until now haven't had a turn.

Children represent about 13 percent of Covid-19 cases documented in the U.S. And while children are far less likely than adults to get seriously ill, at least 268 have died from Covid-19 in the US alone and more than 13,500 have been hospitalized, according to a tally by the American Academy of Pediatrics. That's more than die from the flu in an average year. Additionally, a small number have developed a serious inflammatory condition linked to the coronavirus.

Caleb Chung, who turns 13 later this week, agreed to volunteer after his father, a Duke University pediatrician, presented the option. He doesn't know if he received the vaccine or a placebo.

"Usually I'm just at home doing online school and there's not much I can really do to fight back against the virus," Caleb said in a recent interview. The study "was really somewhere that I could actually help out."

His father, Dr. Richard Chung, said he's proud of his son and all the other children volunteering for the needle pricks, blood tests and other tasks a study entails.

"We need kids to do these trials so that kids can get protected. Adults can't do that for them," Chung said. (AP)

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EXPLAINER: What we know about AstraZeneca blood clot reports

Posted: 31 Mar 2021 10:40 PM PDT

LONDON -- German officials have decided to limit the use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine in people under 60 after more unusual blood clots were reported in a small number of people who received the shots.

In response, Europe's drug regulator reiterated Wednesday that "there is no evidence that would support restricting the use of this vaccine in any population," though an expert said more brain clots were being reported than would be expected, and it continues to investigate.

Earlier in March, more than a dozen countries, including Germany, suspended their use of AstraZeneca over the blood clot issue. Most restarted — some with the kinds of restrictions Germany imposed Tuesday — after the European Medicines Agency said the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks of not inoculating people against Covid-19.

But the seesawing back and forth in some countries on who can take the vaccine has raised concerns that its credibility could be permanently damaged. Here's a look at what we know — and what we don't.

What happened in Germany?

Earlier this week, Germany's medical regulator released new data showing a rise in reported cases of unusual kinds of blood clots in people who recently got a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. In response, Health Minister Jens Spahn and state officials agreed to only give the vaccine to people aged 60 or older, unless they are at high risk of developing serious complications from Covid-19 and have agreed to take the shot.

"It's about weighing the risk of a side effect that is statistically small, but needs to be taken seriously, and the risk of falling ill with corona," Spahn said.

Germany's medical regulator said its tally of the rare blood clots reported by March 29 had increased to 31. Some 2.7 million doses of AstraZeneca have been administered in Germany so far. Nine of the people died and all but two of the cases involved women, who were aged 20 to 63, the Paul Ehrlich Institute said.

Some clots have also been reported elsewhere, among the tens of millions of people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.

What have previous investigations found?

The EMA's initial investigation concluded the AstraZeneca shot did not raise the overall risk of blood clots but could not rule out a link to rare clots and recommended a new warning be added to the vaccine's leaflet. The shot is authorized for people 18 and over.

The EMA is continuing to look closely at two rare types of blood clots, including one that affects the brain, reported in people who got at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine and could update its recommendations for the vaccine next week.

On Wednesday, Dr. Peter Arlett of the EMA said that the agency is seeing "more cases of (brain clots) than we would expect to see," and noted that more younger women have been affected — but it wasn't clear if that was significant since younger women were also more likely to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe. He did not say how many of these kinds of clots would typically show up in the general population.

Emer Cooke, the agency's executive director, said its experts had not been able to identify specific risk factors for those who might be at higher risk for the rare clots.

The World Health Organization's expert committee also evaluated available data for the AstraZeneca vaccine and said the shot was safe and effective. On Wednesday, Dr. Kate O'Brien, who heads WHO's vaccines department, said they were continuing to review the situation.

It's normal to continue to look for side effects as new vaccines are rolled out since they are typically tested in tens of thousands of people, but some rare problems might only occur once millions receive the shot.

How can scientists figure out if the vaccine is responsible for the rare blood clots?

"The way to tell if cases are caused by vaccination is to look to see if there is an excess of cases in people who have been vaccinated," said Dr. Peter English, past chair of the British Medical Association's Public Health Medicine Committee.

That will take some time. It took about a year, for instance, before scientists were able to conclude that a swine flu vaccine was responsible for some cases of narcolepsy in Europe.

Adam Finn, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Bristol, said there was no compelling evidence yet that the vaccine is to blame for the rare clots.

"The mechanism by which these blood clotting abnormalities come about, and why they affect this very small proportion of individuals, has still not been properly worked out," he said in a statement.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said it was analyzing the tens of millions of records for people who received its vaccine "to understand whether these very rare cases of blood clots ... occur any more commonly than would be expected naturally population of millions of people."

What does this mean for Covid-19 vaccinations?

It's bad news. Health officials worry the repeated suspensions and restrictions for the AstraZeneca vaccine could undermine confidence in a shot that is key to global efforts to stamp out the pandemic since it's cheaper and easier to store than some others.

In Norway, which recently extended its suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine for three weeks, officials say the confusion is prompting a wave of vaccine hesitancy.

The leader of the Norwegian Association for General Practice, Marte Kvittum Tangen, told broadcaster NRK that resuming the vaccination with AstraZeneca "will be very difficult if we want the greatest possible vaccination coverage in the population in the long run."

Finn, of the University of Bristol, said the biggest health threat to the world is currently Covid-19 and that any doubts about the effectiveness of authorized coronavirus vaccines is problematic.

"We need to stay focused on the need to prevent (Covid-19) taking millions more human lives before it is brought under control, and the only effective way to do that is through vaccination," he said. (AP)

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Suspect in attack on Filipino woman in NYC arrested

Posted: 31 Mar 2021 09:51 PM PDT

NEW YORK -- A parolee convicted of killing his mother nearly two decades ago was arrested on assault and hate crime charges in an attack on a Filipino woman in New York City, police said.

Police said Brandon Elliot, 38, is the man seen on surveillance video kicking and stomping the woman near Times Square on Monday, March 29. The woman was attacked in front of an apartment building.

Two lobby workers witnessed the violence but no one intervened or called 911, police said. Their union said Wednesday they told a union representative that they waited until the attacker left because he had a knife and then flagged down a police car.

Elliot, who is Black, faces charges of assault and attempted assault as hate crimes. He made an appearance in court via video Wednesday night, and was remanded into custody, with the next court date scheduled for Monday.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said Elliot faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

The Legal Aid Society, which is representing him, said in a statement, "We strongly urge the public to reserve judgment until all the facts are presented in court."

Elliot lived at a hotel that serves as a homeless shelter a few blocks from the attack scene, police said. He was taken into custody at the hotel around midnight. Tips from the public led to his apprehension, police said.

Elliot was convicted of stabbing his mother to death in the Bronx in 2002, when he was 19. He was released from prison in 2019 and is on lifetime parole. The parole board had previously twice denied his release. His record also included an arrest for robbery in 2000.

"For the life of me, I don't understand why we are releasing or pushing people out of prison — not to give them second chances, but to put them into homeless facilities or shelters, or in this case a hotel — and expect good outcomes," Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a news conference Wednesday. "We need real opportunities. We need real safety nets."

A law enforcement official identified the victim as 65-year-old Vilma Kari. The official was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity. Kari's daughter told The New York Times that she emigrated from the Philippines several decades ago.

Kari, who was repeatedly kicked and stomped, suffered serious injuries including a fractured pelvis, the law enforcement official said. She was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday, a hospital spokesperson said. Kari has been speaking to police, Shea said.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said the victim is Filipina American.

The country's foreign secretary, Teodoro Locsin Jr., condemned the attack, writing on Twitter: "This is gravely noted and will influence Philippine foreign policy." He didn't elaborate how.

The Philippines and United States are longtime treaty allies, but Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte is a vocal critic of US security policies who has moved to terminate a key agreement that allows large-scale military exercises with US forces in the Philippines.

"I might as well say it, so no one on the other side can say, 'We didn't know you took racial brutality against Filipinos at all seriously.' We do," Locsin said.

Kari was walking to church when police say Elliot kicked her in the stomach, knocked her to the ground, stomped on her face, shouted a curse and anti-Asian slurs and told her, "You don't belong here" before casually walking away as onlookers watched. Shea called it a "completely unprovoked violent attack on an innocent, defenseless woman."

Monday's attack, among the latest in a national spike in anti-Asian hate crimes, drew widespread condemnation and concerns about the failure of bystanders to intervene. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the attack "absolutely disgusting and outrageous" and said it was "absolutely unacceptable" that witnesses didn't help the woman.

The attack happened just weeks after a mass shooting in Atlanta that left eight people dead, six of them women of Asian descent, and just a few days after a 65-year-old Asian American woman in the same midtown Manhattan neighborhood was threatened and heckled with anti-Asian slurs.

The surge in violence has been linked in part to misplaced blame for the coronavirus pandemic and former President Donald Trump's use of terms like "Chinese virus."

"This brave woman belongs here," Vance said. "Asian American New Yorkers belong here. Everyone belongs here."

The late morning attack happened in front of a luxury apartment building in Hell's Kitchen, west of Times Square. Two lobby workers, described by their union as doormen, were seen on video witnessing the attack but failing to help Kari. One of them was seen closing the building's door as she was on the ground.

The building's management company said the workers were suspended pending an investigation. The workers' union, SEIU 32BJ, initially said that they immediately called for help. A spokesperson clarified Wednesday that the workers waited until the assailant walked away to check on Kari and flag down a nearby patrol car.

Residents of the building also defended the workers, saying in a letter Wednesday that a widely seen video clip focusing on the assault cut off before they could be seen giving the victim aid and alerting medics.

Detective Michael Rodriguez said Wednesday that patrol officers driving by came upon the victim after she was assaulted.

The Associated Press has requested the full video from the building's management company. The company has not responded.

This year in New York City, there have been 33 hate crimes with an Asian victim as of Sunday, police said. There were 11 such attacks by the same time last year. The NYPD last week said it was increasing patrols in Asian neighborhoods, including using undercover officers to prevent and disrupt attacks.

Joo Han, the deputy director of the Asian American Federation, called the plainclothes patrols a "knee-jerk response" that ignored misgivings she said many people in Asian communities have about law enforcement.

"That wasn't something that was done in conversation with community leaders," Han said. "That's not something that we would have recommended. That's not safe for a lot of folks who may not have status, who don't have comfortable interactions with NYPD." (AP)

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