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F.D.A. Grants Full Approval to Pfizer-BioNTech Covid Vaccine

F.D.A. Grants Full Approval to Pfizer-BioNTech Covid Vaccine

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday gave Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine full approval for people aged 16 and over, making it the first to go beyond emergency status in the United States.

The decision will trigger a cascade of vaccine requests from hospitals, colleges, corporations, and other organizations. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III will send vaccination guidelines to the country’s 1.4 million active military personnel, the Pentagon said on Monday.

United Airlines recently announced that its employees must provide proof of vaccination within five weeks of regulatory approval.

Oregon has introduced a similar requirement for all government employees, as have a variety of universities in the states of Louisiana through Minnesota.

Approval comes as the nation’s fight against the pandemic has re-intensified, with the highly contagious Delta variant dramatically slowing the country’s progress in the first half of the year. The Biden administration hopes the development will motivate at least some of the roughly 85 million unvaccinated Americans eligible for syringes.

President Biden plans to commemorate this in a speech urging vaccination, which is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on Monday afternoon. “If you haven’t been vaccinated, now is the time,” the president said on Twitter.

“While millions of people have safely received Covid-19 vaccines, we recognize that FDA approval of a vaccine may now create additional confidence for some to get vaccinated,” said Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting FDA commissioner, in a statement. “Today’s milestone brings us one step closer to changing the course of this pandemic in the US”

Pfizer said it provided the FDA with data from 44,000 participants in clinical trials in the United States, the European Union, Turkey, South Africa and South America. The company said the data showed the vaccine 91 percent prevented infection – a slight decrease from the 95 percent effectiveness rate the data showed when the FDA decided to approve the emergency vaccine in December. Pfizer said the decrease reflects the fact that researchers had more time to capture infected individuals.

A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which tracked public attitudes during the pandemic, found that three in ten unvaccinated people said they were more likely to be vaccinated with a fully approved vaccination.

But pollsters and other experts warned that the percentage could be exaggerated. “I think that’s a tiny number of people in real life,” said Alison Buttenheim, an associate professor of nursing at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on vaccination hesitation.

More important, says Dr. Buttenheim, is the effect of requirements. “Mandates make things easier for people,” she said.

Government action gives doctors more leeway to prescribe patients a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine, but federal officials strongly advised people not to seek additional vaccinations until regulators decide they are safe and effective. Pending regulatory approval, the federal government plans to offer booster syringes for adults next month.

The vaccine continues to be approved for emergency use in children ages 12-15 as Pfizer collects the data necessary for full approval. A decision on whether to approve the vaccine for children under the age of 12 could be at least several months away, and Dr. Woodcock said no child this age should get a Covid-19 vaccine due to a lack of safety data from regulators.

To date, more than 92 million Americans – 54 percent of those fully vaccinated – have received Pfizer vaccinations. Most of the others got the vaccine from Moderna.

Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA’s lead vaccine regulator, said the approval of Pfizer vaccine followed a rigorous review of hundreds of thousands of pages of data and included inspections of the factories where the vaccine is made. “The public and the medical community can rest assured that while we were swiftly approved this vaccine, it met our existing high standards for vaccines in the United States,” he said.

He said federal health officials would continue to monitor the safety of the vaccine and that the FDA would require Pfizer to assess the risks of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis, an inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart, including long-term results for the recipients. The FDA added warnings to the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in June indicating a possible increased risk for these conditions after the second dose.

Although Pfizer can now market the drug under the Comiraty name, the company said only the federal government will be distributing doses in the United States.

Understand US vaccination and mask requirements

    • Vaccination rules. On August 23, the Food and Drug Administration fully approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for people aged 16 and over, paving the way for increased mandates in both the public and private sectors. Private companies are increasingly demanding vaccines for employees. Such mandates are legally permissible and have been confirmed in legal challenges.
    • Mask rules. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July recommended that all Americans, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks in public places indoors in areas with outbreaks, reversing the guidelines offered in May. See where the CDC guidelines would apply and where states have implemented their own mask guidelines. The battle over masks is controversial in some states, with some local leaders defying state bans.
    • College and Universities. More than 400 colleges and universities require a vaccination against Covid-19. Almost all of them are in states that voted for President Biden.
    • schools. Both California and New York City have introduced vaccination mandates for educational staff. A survey published in August found that many American parents of school-age children are opposed to mandatory vaccines for students but are more likely to support masking requirements for students, teachers and staff who are not vaccinated.
    • Hospitals and medical centers. Many hospitals and large health systems require their employees to have a Covid-19 vaccine, due to increasing case numbers due to the Delta variant and persistently low vaccination rates in their communities, even within their workforce.
    • New York City. Proof of vaccination is required by workers and customers for indoor dining, gyms, performances, and other indoor situations, though enforcement doesn’t begin until September 13. Teachers and other educational workers in the city’s vast school system are required to have at least one vaccine dose by September 27, with no weekly testing option. City hospital staff must also be vaccinated or have weekly tests. Similar rules apply to employees in New York State.
    • At the federal level. The Pentagon announced that it would make coronavirus vaccinations compulsory for the country’s 1.3 million active soldiers “by mid-September at the latest. President Biden announced that all civil federal employees would need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or undergo regular tests, social distancing, mask requirements and travel restrictions.

Health experts and state officials welcomed the development. With the delta variant driving up case numbers across the country, “full approval could not come at a more important time,” said Dr. Richard Besser, President of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He urged schools and businesses to require a vaccination before people can gather indoors.

Less than two months after the spread of the virus appeared to be contained, the US is now recording an average of around 150,000 new cases per day and more than 90,000 hospitalized Covid-19 patients. An average of around 1,000 per day die from Covid-19 – a toll that federal health experts recently dismissed as highly unlikely before the delta variant fully caught on. Many children under the age of 12 also become infected.

Vaccination rates have also risen in the past few weeks, in part because of the greater fear of the virus. Vendors were delivering approximately 837,000 shots a day, a significant increase from earlier this summer.

Some experts estimated that full consent could only convince five percent of the unvaccinated to get injected. Even if that is the case, “that is still a huge part of the people,” Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the Chief Health Officer of Mississippi, a state particularly hard hit by the Delta variant. He said the approval will help “get rid of this false claim that the vaccines are an ‘experimental’ thing”.

Dr. Marks, the vaccines agency, cited a number of other myths about the vaccines as a major stumbling block in fighting the pandemic, including false claims that the vaccinations cause infertility, promote Covid disease rather than prevent it, or have resulted in thousands of deaths. “Let me be clear. These claims are just not true,” he said.

The FDA is in the middle of a decision marathon related to coronavirus vaccines. The next important question emerging for regulators is whether or not to approve booster injections. The Biden government said last week it plans to offer third vaccinations starting September 20, for adults who received the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines eight months after their second injection. Third vaccinations are already approved for some people with immunodeficiency, but the risk-benefit ratio is different for the general population.

Federal health officials said that both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s vaccines, which are based on similar technology, lose effectiveness over time. That trend is converging with the advent of the particularly dangerous Delta variant, making those who completed their vaccinations earlier in the year increasingly more susceptible to infection.

Some health experts have challenged the decision to recommend booster vaccinations as premature, as the data showed the vaccines withstand serious illness and hospitalization, including the Delta variant. Boosters would only be justified if the vaccines didn’t prevent hospital stays with Covid-19, some of these experts said.

Regulators are still examining Moderna’s application for full approval of its vaccine. This decision can take several weeks. Johnson & Johnson is expected to file for full approval shortly.

Helene Cooper contributed to the reporting.

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Health

Breed requires full Covid vaccination for indoor actions

Breed requires full Covid vaccination for indoor activities

Anjali Sundararaman, a student nurse at San Francisco State University, administers a dose of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Cuixia Xu during a vaccination clinic at the Southeast Health Center in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood in San Francisco, California on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021.

Stephen Lam | San Francisco Chronicle | Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images

San Francisco on Thursday became the first major U.S. city to requiring patrons and employees to provide proof of full vaccination to enter restaurants, gyms, bars and entertainment venues.

The order from Mayor London Breed takes effect Aug. 20 for customers and Oct.13 for staff, prohibiting residents from submitting negative Covid-19 test results as a substitute to vaccination. Breed’s directive also applies to select health-care personnel, including pharmacists, dentists and home health aides.

“Vaccines are our way out of the pandemic, and our way back to a life where we can be together safely,” Breed said in a statement.

Under the order, anyone older than 12 must submit proof of vaccination to visit any indoor event with more than 1,000 guests. California previously only required attendees to get vaccinated for events with over 5,000 people, Breed’s statement said.

Breed noted the order entirely excludes individuals under the age of 12, who remain ineligible for all current Covid vaccines. Customers picking up food instead of dining inside are not required to get vaccinated either.

San Francisco County recorded a seven-day total of 1,708 new coronavirus cases as of Tuesday, a decrease of less than 3% from the prior week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But California reported a seven-day average of more than 12,000 new cases as of Wednesday, an increase of 24% from a week ago, Johns Hopkins University measured.

San Francisco joins New York City as one of the country’s largest municipalities with vaccine mandates for select indoor activities. New York City will start enforcing its mandate Sept. 13, when customers and staff must provide proof of having received at least one vaccine dose to exercise, eat at restaurants and access entertainment options inside.

San Francisco previously collaborated with six other Northern California counties in mandating facial coverings for indoor public places on Aug. 2, upgrading a mask recommendation they first issued in July.

Several Bay Area-based companies have ordered all or part of their staff to immunize against the coronavirus as well, including Google, Facebook and Gap. At least a dozen other major employers nationwide have enacted similar guidance as the delta variant continues to surge.

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Health

The C.D.C. Points New College Steerage, With Emphasis on Full Reopening

The C.D.C. Issues New School Guidance, With Emphasis on Full Reopening

In another shift, the C.D.C. made clear that masks could be optional for vaccinated people, in line with its recommendations for the general public.

Still, the agency said that schools may opt to require universal masking if local cases were rising, for example, or if a school could not determine how many of its students and staff members were vaccinated. And it urged schools to “be supportive of people who are fully vaccinated, but choose to continue to wear a mask.” In general, students and staff members did not need to be masked when outdoors, the agency said.

The C.D.C. also strongly urged schools to promote vaccination, which the guidance called “one of the most critical strategies to help schools safely resume full operations.” Studies suggest that vaccines remain effective against the Delta variant.

The country’s two major teachers’ unions, which have close relationships with the Biden administration, praised the guidance. Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, whose members in some cases fought the reopening of schools this past school year, said the recommendations are “grounded in both science and common sense.”

Still, both school and public health officials predicted challenges ahead.

Ms. Weingarten said the mask guidance posed a particular test, since classes with students 12 and older would most likely include a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated students. Many officials in areas with low vaccination rates have already said they will not require masks in schools — and at least eight states have already banned such requirements.

Updated 

July 9, 2021, 6:08 p.m. ET

Some parents who have advocated school reopening greeted the new guidelines with relief. Meredith Dodson, whose son is entering kindergarten this fall in San Francisco, organized a group of parents who spent the last school year fighting for the city to open its schools. The city finally allowed elementary school students to return in mid-April, but most middle and high school students were not able to do so at all.

“This is a huge step in the right direction,” Ms. Dodson said.

Many schools have already largely or entirely returned to in-person learning. By mid-spring, the vast majority of districts had allowed at least younger students to return to classrooms, although many, especially on the West Coast, only allowed them to attend part-time. Many families — especially Asian American, Black and Hispanic families — chose to keep their children learning remotely.

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Health

Moderna Seeks Full F.D.A. Approval for Covid Vaccine

Moderna Seeks Full F.D.A. Approval for Covid Vaccine

Moderna was the next pharmaceutical company to file with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday for full approval of its coronavirus vaccine for use in people aged 18 and over.

Last month Pfizer and BioNTech filed with the agency for full approval of their vaccines for use in people 16 years and older.

“We look forward to working with the FDA and will continue to submit data from our Phase 3 study and complete the ongoing filing,” said Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, in a statement.

Moderna’s emergency vaccine was approved in December, and by Sunday more than 151 million doses had been administered in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I think there are a lot of people on the fence who are worried that things are moving too fast and about possible side effects,” said Dr. William Schaffner, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases medical director and vaccine expert. “But those concerns are allayed as they see more of their friends and acquaintances celebrating their vaccination.”

Jan Hoffman contributed to the coverage.

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Health

Moderna applies for full FDA approval

Moderna applies for full FDA approval

A medical worker from Parrish Medical Center holds a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a drive through vaccination clinic for employees of Port Canaveral, workers at local hotels and restaurants, and residents of the Port Canaveral community.

Paul Hennessy | LightRocket | Getty Images

Moderna on Tuesday asked the Food and Drug Administration for full U.S. approval of its Covid-19 vaccine — the second drugmaker in the U.S. to seek a biologics license that will allow it to market the shots directly to consumers.

The mRNA vaccine is currently on the U.S. market under an emergency use authorization, which was granted by the FDA in December. It gives conditional approval based on two months of safety data. It’s not the same as a biologics license application, or a request for full approval, which requires at least six months of data. Over 100 million of the shots have already been administered, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We are pleased to announce this important step in the U.S. regulatory process for a Biologics License Application (BLA) of our COVID-19 vaccine,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a press release. “We look forward to working with the FDA and will continue to submit data from our Phase 3 study and complete the rolling submission.”

The FDA approval process is likely to take months.

Moderna will continue to submit data to support the BLA to the FDA on a rolling basis over the coming weeks, the company said Tuesday.

Once companies submit applications to the FDA, agency scientists painstakingly look through the clinical trial data, including for any discrepancies or safety concerns, said Dr. Paul Offit, a voting member of the agency’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. “They want to make sure that the company has fairly and accurately displayed all those data,” he said.

Full U.S. approval will allow Moderna’s vaccine to stay on the market once the pandemic is over and the U.S. is no longer in a public health emergency, said former FDA commissioner Dr. Robert Califf. It also sets the stage for the company to begin advertising the shots on TV and other media platforms, he said, which is not permitted under an EUA.

Moderna is the second company to seek full U.S. approval of its Covid vaccine. On May 7, Pfizer and partner BioNTech said they started the process of seeking full approval for their vaccine for use in people 16 and older in the U.S.

Moderna’s vaccine, which requires two doses given four weeks apart, has been found to be more than 90% effective at protecting against Covid and more than 95% effective against severe disease up to six months after the second dose. The company said in an earnings report on May 6 that it planned to begin the process of seeking full FDA approval soon.

In addition to seeking full approval, the company is also expected to ask the FDA to expand the emergency use of its Covid vaccine for adolescents as young as 17. The company said last week its shots were found to be 100% effective in a study of kids ages 12 to 17.

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Politics

U.N. Safety Council requires full adherence to Gaza cease-fire

U.N. Security Council calls for full adherence to Gaza cease-fire

A woman gestures after finding her home collapsed after the cease-fire brokered by Egypt between Israel and Hamas in Beit Hanoun, Gaza on May 21, 2021.

Mustafa Hassona | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

The U.N. Security Council on Saturday called for a “full adherence” to the cease-fire in Gaza and urged immediate humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians in its first statement on the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas.

The cease-fire, which took affect at 2 a.m. Friday local time, has held so far despite clashes in Jerusalem outside Al Aqsa mosque between Israeli police and Palestinians just hours after the truce officially began.

Al Aqsa mosque is one of the most sacred places in Islam and sits in a site known in Judaism as the Temple Mount, the religion’s holiest site. Clashes at the complex were one of the factors that sparked the war.

The security council urged a “restoration of calm in full” and emphasized “achieving a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace with secure and recognized borders.”

The U.S. had previously blocked the U.N’s most powerful body from calling for an end to the conflict, arguing that doing so would hinder diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration to help achieve a cease-fire.

Israel hit Gaza with scores of airstrikes and Hamas militants fired more than 4,000 rockets at Israel. Palestinian medical officials said at least 248 people were killed in Gaza, including 66 children and 39 women. At least 12 people were killed in Israel, all civilians except one soldier.

The security council “mourned the loss of civilian lives resulting from the violence” and expressed support the U.N. Secretary General’s call to develop an “integrated, robust package of support for a swift, sustainable reconstruction and recovery.”

More than 77,000 Palestinians have been displaced and reconstruction costs in Gaza could amount to tens of millions of dollars, according to Palestinian officials, with damage to infrastructure affecting water, sanitation and hygiene services.

The U.N. said Friday that it released $22.5 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza. A day earlier, President Joe Biden promised the U.S. would work with the U.N. to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinians and help rebuild Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to Israel and the West Bank next week to build on the cease-fire, according to Reuters. Egyptian mediators are also continuing talks with Hamas and Israel to secure longer-term calm after the truce

— Reuters contributed reporting

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Entertainment

Radio Metropolis Music Corridor to Reopen to Maskless, Vaccinated Full Homes

Radio City Music Hall to Reopen to Maskless, Vaccinated Full Houses

In the latest sign of how fast vaccinations are changing, what New Yorkers can and can’t do, Radio City Music Hall plans to reopen next month to welcome full-capacity non-masked audiences – as long as every ticket holder has been vaccinated .

The music hall will welcome streams of vaccinated people past their neon tents and back into their gilded Art Deco auditorium for the final evening of the Tribeca festival on June 19, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Monday.

“This beautiful hall is being filled again,” said Cuomo at a press conference in the music hall. “Having Radio City back 100 percent without masks, with people enjoying New York and New York art, won’t just be symbolic and metaphorical. But I think it will go a long way in restoring that state. “

James L. Dolan, the chairman and general manager of Madison Square Garden Company, who owns the music hall, said the hall would remain open beyond June 19, but only to vaccinated people. When asked how the rules would be implemented – and whether ushers would follow the honor system or look for proof of vaccination – he admitted that some details were still being worked out.

“That’s a really good question, I have no idea,” said Mr Dolan. “We will work with the state and find a way to do this.”

The announcement came as the plans to reopen have changed and accelerated day by day.

Mr Dolan said his group’s venues would start booking concerts and other events for what he thought was a “blockbuster summer”.

Updated

May 17, 2021, 3:33 p.m. ET

“We didn’t think this was going to happen,” said Mr Dolan. “We really had planned a blockbuster fall.”

He said the group’s other venues, which also host sporting events, would allow a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated patrons, but would give priority to vaccinated patrons. Still, he acknowledged that planners would need to make a more detailed assessment of the venues before specific rules could be put in place.

In his remarks, Mr. Cuomo emphasized that people who are not vaccinated would not be allowed into the music hall and stated in his PowerPoint: “Vaccinations have advantages!”

Although the number of new coronavirus cases in New York state is declining, the average averaged 1,864 coronavirus cases per day, according to the New York Times on Monday. Around 43 percent of the state’s residents are vaccinated, and more than half have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

The organizers of the Tribeca Festival have already announced that they will open the festivities with the premiere of “In the Heights”, the film from the Lin Manuel Miranda musical. Mr Cuomo said Monday that Pier 76 Park on the Hudson will host one of the opening screenings on June 9th.

Monday’s announcement of the revered hall’s return is the last in a series of reopenings officials have planned for the coming weeks and months. As more New Yorkers became vaccinated against the virus and federal health officials relaxed their guidelines on how to wear masks, indoor arts venues have slowly begun welcoming visitors back while adhering to capacity limits and other safety requirements.

Perhaps most notably, Broadway shows have started selling tickets for full capacity shows, some of which will begin as early as mid-September.

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Health

Pfizer and BioNTech start the method of searching for full U.S. approval for his or her Covid vaccine

Pfizer and BioNTech begin the process of seeking full U.S. approval for their Covid vaccine

Vials containing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday, February 11, 2021 at the vaccination site of the Sun City Anthem Community Center in Henderson, Nevada, USA.

Roger Kisby | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Pfizer and German drug maker BioNTech announced that they have begun filing for full approval of their Covid-19 vaccine for people aged 16 and over in the United States. This makes the companies the first in the nation to apply for full regulatory approval.

The Food and Drug Administration issued emergency approval for their Covid vaccine at the end of December. Since then, Pfizer has distributed 170 million doses in the US, with the goal of having 300 million doses by the end of July.

“We are proud of the tremendous progress we have made in working with the US government to deliver vaccines to millions of Americans since December,” said Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO, in a statement. “We look forward to working with the FDA to complete this ongoing filing and support its review with the aim of ensuring full regulatory approval for the vaccine in the months ahead.”

Pfizer needs to demonstrate that it can reliably manufacture the vaccines in order to get full clearance. If approved, companies could market their shots directly to consumers and potentially change the pricing of the cans. It also allows the shot to stay in the market once the pandemic is over and the US is no longer considered an “emergency”.

It usually takes the FDA about a year or more to determine whether a drug is safe and effective for the general public. Due to the once in a century pandemic that killed nearly 600,000 people in the United States, the FDA allowed the gunshots to be used as part of an emergency clearance.

The permit grants conditional approval based on data for two months. It’s not the same as a biological license application that requires six months of data and ensures full approval. Companies apply for approval on a “rolling filing” basis, which speeds the review process by allowing the FDA to review new data as soon as the company receives it.

“The BLA filing is an important cornerstone in achieving long-term herd immunity and future COVID-19 containment,” said Dr. Ugur Sahin, CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech, in a statement. “We are excited to be working with US regulators to apply for approval of our COVID-19 vaccine based on our key Phase 3 study and follow-up data.”

Early data from 12,000 vaccinated people aged 16 and over in this Phase 3 study showed that the shots were 91.3% effective at getting the disease up for up to six months after the second dose and 95.3% effective against severe Covid as defined by the FDA. The companies said on April 1st. The data also showed “a favorable safety and tolerability profile,” they said at the time.

The companies are awaiting FDA emergency approval to use their vaccine in children ages 12-15 and intend to apply for a full license once they have six months of data.

They said in late March that the vaccine was 100% effective in a clinical study involving more than 2,000 adolescents. They also said the vaccine produced a “robust” antibody response in the children that outperformed that in a previous study in older teenagers and young adults. The side effects were generally consistent with those seen in adults, they added.

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Entertainment

Watch John Legend’s Full Duke College Graduation Speech

Watch John Legend's Full Duke University Commencement Speech

John Legend prepares our graduates for success for 2021. On May 2, the “Wild” singer delivered a powerful speech to Duke University graduates. This is John’s first return to a large audience since February 2020 and he prepared some precious words of wisdom especially for the occasion. Everyone should take his advice to heart.

John admitted the 2021 class didn’t have the typical college experience. “I feel your pain: you lost something that you won’t get back. I’m not going to gloss over it – it sucks,” he said. “Last year you had to pause to see yourself not only in competition with one another, but also in community with one another.”

He continued, “We all had to slow down, social distance, cover our faces, stop filling our days with maximum productivity, and just protect each other, keep each other alive, take care of each other.” John encouraged graduates to remember that “Love should be your North Star. Let it guide you.” See his full remarks above.

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Health

Turkey goes into first full lockdown as third-wave Covid instances surge

Turkey goes into first full lockdown as third-wave Covid cases surge

People are shopping in the Egyptian bazaar and around Eminonu before a full lockdown from Thursday evening through May 17 to contain the spread of the coronavirus in Istanbul, Turkey on April 29, 2021.

Ezra Bilgin | Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Turkey will be completely in lockdown for three weeks starting Thursday as a third wave of coronavirus cases hit the country’s health system.

The 82-million country had by then managed to avoid a full lockdown and impose a series of partial restrictions that brought the average daily caseload to 6,000 by February. However, a loosening of these restrictions in March sparked a new wave of infections that gave Turkey the highest daily case rate in Europe, reaching more than 60,000 registered cases per day by the end of April.

The government is asking all businesses to shut down, unless the Home Office grants an exception, to ban intercity travel without a permit, and to relocate all schooling online. Supermarkets can remain open except on Sundays.

Turkey has reported more than 4.7 million cases of the virus and over 39,000 deaths since the pandemic began. That’s a relatively low 0.8% death rate, which official figures say is due to the country’s strong health system.

However, as the new surge continues to spread, residents fear the economic impact of the lockdown on a population already affected by high inflation, rising unemployment and a dramatically weakened currency.

The lockdown will “destroy the people who want to make money for their loved ones as the economy was badly hit even before the corona,” Eyal, an Istanbul tourist who works in the tourism industry, told CNBC.

“As a person in the tourism sector, we also have problems with the government’s poorly managed corona situation as after (the announcement of the lockdown) the few reservations we had were canceled,” Eyal said, withholding his last name for fear of government reprisals .

The Turkish Ministry of Health did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, tourism accounts for 7.7% of Turkish employment. Record sales were achieved in tourism in 2019 before falling a whopping 72% in the first eleven months of 2020, Reuters reported in November.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that without stricter restrictions and slowed down infection rates, a “high price” would be paid for tourism, education and trade. He wants to reduce the daily infections to 5,000. According to the Johns Hopkins University, the daily recorded cases as of Wednesday were 40,444.

“More and more unemployed”

The bus stops in Istanbul were full of travelers trying to get out of the city before the lockdown. Many Turks fear that this could only make the situation worse.

“This curfew might be the only solution to lessen the new cases, but almost all of the people who have the money didn’t want to stay in Istanbul,” he said, describing an exodus to other parts of the country that he fears Increase the new falls instead of decreasing them. “

Erdogan has also come under fire for hosting overcrowded events, like a massive gathering for his political party’s congress in late March, which packed thousands of people into a 10,400-capacity sports complex to obey the socially distant rules to withdraw from Turkey.

“I’m just as scared as I was watching the big indoor government gatherings for no reason,” Eyal said. “There’s a little bit of government support, almost nothing, and there are more and more unemployed and I’m worried about them.”

The Turkish Presidency Office did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

“Bad Execution” and Prohibition of Alcohol

“It’s not the lockdown itself that is frustrating, but the poor execution,” a European expat living in Istanbul told CNBC anonymously over concerns about government reprisals.

“Whenever the number of cases seems to be going down, the restrictions are being lifted prematurely, which happened not so long ago. The number of cases ended up being below 5,000 and all bars and restaurants were up and running, which is the biggest increase we’ve had . ” ,” he said.

Another government policy has rubbed off many Turks and residents: a ban on alcohol sales from April 29th to May 17th.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY – APRIL 29: People are waiting in a queue in the Cevizlibag district to board metro buses and trams to return their homes before the full lockdown Thursday evening through May 17 to stop the spread of coronavirus in Istanbul, Turkey on May 29 Curb April, 2021 (Photo by Isa Terli / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

“Probably the furthest thing is the ban on alcohol,” said the expat resident, adding, “This has caused outrage among secular Turks, saying that the government has no right to deal with any person and what they drink at home , too busy. “”

Earlier this week, #alkolumedokunma – meaning “don’t touch my alcohol” – was the most popular hashtag on Turkish Twitter as secular politicians criticized the government’s move to impose religious values ​​on the country’s people.

Light at the end of the tunnel?

The lockdown “comes at a bad time for Turkey,” said Agathe Demarais, global forecasting director at the Economist Intelligence Unit. Inflation in Turkey is 15%, youth unemployment is 25% and the Turkish lira has hit record lows against the dollar in recent months.

“The new measures will further reduce confidence and increase uncertainty, which will weigh on economic growth this year,” said Demarais.

Still, she noted, “There is light at the end of the tunnel on the coronavirus front: Turkey’s vaccination program is proceeding rapidly and the government should be able to lift restrictions later this year, possibly before the crucial summer season for tourism. “

The EIU estimates that Turkey vaccinated the majority of its adult population in the first half of 2022, which would place it in the same category as Canada, Australia or South Korea.