7 days in healthcare (6-12 December, 2021)

 

 

SUMMARY

At the international level, the Israeli study published in the New England Journal of Medicine stands out, which showed, in a large sample of cases, a 90% decrease in mortality with the third dose. Also that the “omicron” variant extends to 57 countries. In the United Kingdom, plan B is activated, given the growth of the pandemic: teleworking, masks and COVID passport. The COVID pandemic is found to have exacerbated social inequalities globally.

Regarding national news, to highlight the accelerated growth of the pandemic, with figures that are already very worrying, although lower than other European countries. The government seems to trust everything to vaccines. Six communities are already at high risk. The Ministry advances a new strategy against smoking. COVID vaccination begins for children between 5 and 11 years old.

As for companies, many of them cancel Christmas celebrations, given the advance of the pandemic.

 INTERNATIONAL

• An Israeli study of 758,118 people who had received a third dose, after a full course with two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, showed that mortality was 90% lower than that of participants who had not received the third dose (NEJM , 8 Dec 21)
• Afghanistan: collapse of the health system, WHO predicts that one million children will die of starvation this winter (BMJ, Dec 8, 21)
• Health played a leading role in the COP26 climate conference (BMJ, Dec 7 21)
• The “omicron” variant extends to 57 countries (The Guardian, 9 Dec 21)
• Johnson activates plan B: teleworking, masks and COVID passports (The Guardian, 8 Dec 21)
• COVID: More than 200 million Americans fully vaccinated (NYT, Dec 8, 219
• The ‘omicron’ variant may produce 75,000 deaths by the end of April in the UK (The Guardian, Dec 11 21)
• The COVID pandemic has exacerbated global inequalities, according to the “Global Inequality Report 2022” (Le Monde, 7 Dec 21)
• Public Health expert Karl Lauterbach appointed Minister of Health in Germany (FT, Dec 6 21)
• According to an article in the New York Times, the number of hospitalizations is now a better indicator of the evolution of COVID than the number of cases (NYT, Dec 11 21)
• Fauci says that the “omicron” variant is more contagious but less serious (La Vanguardia, 7 Dec 21)

NATIONALS

• Spain exceeds 320 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days (Germany, 929; United Kingdom, 963; France, 875; Italy, 331; Portugal, 466; United States, 464; Austria, 1,215; Belgium, 2,082) ( Expansion, 9 Dec 21)
• Hard headline of La Razón: “Europe faces «omicron» and Spain does nothing”. It refers to measures from the central government, which seems to trust everything to vaccination. The article presents the measures in the United Kingdom (telework, mask and covid passport); Germany (severe restrictions on the unvaccinated); France (closing of nightclubs from December 10); Italy (closing of events for unvaccinated); Austria (confinement of the entire population); Denmark (closure of nightlife venues); Ireland (closing of discos and shows); Sweden (vaccination certificate): Holland (closing of all non-essential shops after 5:00 p.m.) (La Razón, 10 Dec 21)
• Six communities are already at high risk, according to the new health traffic light (eldiario.es, Dec 11, 21)
• The new Strategy of the Ministry of Health against tobacco is presented: more taxes, more smoke-free spaces and less advertising (El País, Dec 8, 2021)
• Spain approves childhood vaccination and will begin vaccination of children between 5 and 11 years old on December 15 (El País, 7 Dec 21)
• Different vaccination strategies for children by communities: vaccination courses, hospitals and health centers or schools (El País, 10 Dec 21)
• The intensivists, worried. In three weeks the number of admissions to ICU has tripled (El Periódico de España, Dec 12 21)
• The birth rate in Spain falls by 5.4% in 2020 (PlantaDoce, Dec 9 21)

COMPANIES, EMPLOYERS AND MAIN ACTORS IN HEALTH

• Companies cancel Christmas dinners and events and ask their staff to be prudent (El Confidencial, Dec 12 21)
• Unilabs, until now from the Apax fund, acquired by the Danish family group A.P Moller Holding (Unilabs press release, 2 Dec 21)
• Centene can sell its international businesses, in Spain Ribera (Forbes, Dec 10 21)
• The alliance with Moderna bears fruit: Rovi enters the IBEX, instead of Viscofán (Valencia Plaza, 9 Dec 21)
• Vivanta focuses its activity on dental to continue growing (PlantaDoce, 3 Dec 21)
• Quirónsalud consolidates in Latin America (ConSalud, Dec 10 21)
• The San Juan de Dios Hospital closes in Burgos (Medical Writing, Dec 10 21)
• Ubikare, the healthcare start-up owned by Mutua, arrives in Madrid (10 Dec 219
• Fertility moves more than 4,000 million in corporate operations (El Economista, Dec 11 21)
• Otsu fuels its male sexual health business: ten new openings in 2022 (PlantaDoce, 9 Dec 21)