Seychelles sees uptick in Covid-19 cases despite having vaccinated 85% of population

May 5 coronavirus news

By Joshua Berlinger, Brad Lendon, Aditi Sangal and Ivana Kottasová, CNN

Updated 0424 GMT (1224 HKT) May 7, 2021
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12:59 a.m. ET, May 5, 2021

Seychelles sees uptick in Covid-19 cases despite having vaccinated 85% of population

The Seychelles reported an uptick in cases on Wednesday, according to the country’s Health Ministry, despite the fact that the island nation has already vaccinated 59,676 people -- 85% of its population.

The ministry reported 497 cases over a three-day period, it said in a Facebook post.To date, 6,373 cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in the Seychelles. The country's national broadcaster, Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC,) reported in April that the South Africa variant had been found in several patients. 

The rise in cases, which began last month, prompted the US Centers For Disease Control to issue a Level 4 Travel warning advising against going to the tourism-dependent country.

On Monday, the Health Ministry closed specialized medical clinics and suspended surgeries outside of emergency operations and cancer treatments.

 

11:58 p.m. ET, May 4, 2021

No decisions yet on coronavirus vaccine requirements to start school this fall, White House adviser says

From CNN's Ryan Prior

It's too soon to say whether school districts might require students to be vaccinated for Covid-19 to return to classrooms this fall, a top White House official said Tuesday. 

Such a decision would be made locally and might require full approval of the vaccines from the Food and Drug Administration, Andy Slavitt, a senior adviser to the White House's Covid response team, told CNN's Chris Cuomo.

The three vaccines being used in the US have emergency use authorization, or EUA, from the FDA. Full approval requires a separate application from the manufacturer.

“My understanding is that it can't be required until it goes from authorization to approval from the FDA,” Slavitt said.

Though the FDA has not authorized Covid-19 vaccinations for anyone older than 16, it is expected to do authorize the Pfizer vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds by next week.