Greece expected to significantly ease lockdown and reopen high schools
Epidemiologists in Greece are poised to recommend that junior and high schools re-open as the country’s coronavirus case load continues to drop.
According to local media, scientists advising the government have said schools can reopen on 1 February in what would be a big step for a nation under lockdown since 7 November. The decision is expected to be formally announced at 6pm.
It follows the reopening of shops for the first first time in over two months on Monday – albeit under strict coronavirus restrictions. Under social distancing rules, entry to stores is limited to one person per 25 square meter with the result that long queues have inevitably formed outside retails businesses during opening hours.
In the wake of a nationwide lockdown that has included a 9pm to 5am curfew, Greece has begun to finally suppress the second wave of the pandemic, epidemiologists say.
Speaking to the Guardian recently, the infectious disease expert Gkikas Magiorkinis, who is among the scientists on the advisory committee, said a surge in cases since November had proven “far more difficult to deal with but also the lockdown has been more relaxed than the first [in March]. People are clearly tired.”
Kindergardens and primary schools opened earlier this month as the centre-right government began to ease curbs aimed at stemming the spread of coronavirus.
“We are going to be very cautious about lifting measures,” Magiorkinis said. “We don’t want people to gather indoors. If restaurants open it will be strictly with tables outdoors.”
Infections rates continued to drop this week with Greece’s public health organisation, EODY, registering 509 new cases on Thursday compared to 516 and 566 over the previous 24-hour periods. Ten days ago, 866 cases were announced by EODY.
Although the country, which has a population of almost 11 million, has fared better than most EU states confirmed coronavirus diagnoses rose to 150,479 on Thursday. The death toll stands at 5,470.
Lawyers have warned that Canada is putting people needlessly at risk amidst the pandemic after it emerged that it deported thousands of people last year, Reuters reports.
Lawyers and human rights advocates are decrying Canada’s decision in November to resume deportations. Until now, the extent of the country’s pandemic deportations was not known, but recent interviews with immigration lawyers and scrutiny of government numbers has shed light on the situation.
Canada counted 12,122 people as removed in 2020 - 875 more than the previous year and the highest number since at least 2015, according to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) data seen by Reuters. The government says this was necessary and done safely.
The CBSA says the high number last year is because it includes people who decided to leave on their own, termed “administrative removals.” In 2019 there were 1,657 administrative removals, compared with 8,215 last year. Even as Canada continues to deport non-citizens during a health crisis, US president Joe Biden paused deportations for 100 days within hours of being sworn in on Wednesday. Canada officially imposed a moratorium on deportations in March that it lifted at the end of November.
“As much as a human rights concern it’s a common sense concern,” said Bill Frelick, director of Human Rights Watch’s Refugee Rights Program.
The CBSA said it has been prioritising deportations for reasons of “serious admissibility,” including criminality. The vast majority of people deported in 2020 were for reasons of “noncompliance.” Even taking into account administrative removals, more than 1,000 people were deported during the suspension, the data shows.
“As everybody is putting in place more restrictions in an effort to flatten the curve ... CBSA made a shocking decision to simply go back to business as usual,” said Maureen Silcoff, president of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers.
“Canada has taken the position that nonessential travel is barred yet people are now being removed and there’s no indication that those removals are essential.”
The CBSA said in a statement it lifted the moratorium on deportations because foreign government offices and borders had reopened, airlines restarted their routes and public-health protocols “have contributed to a high degree of safety for persons being removed by air.”
“Canada continues to uphold both its human rights and public safety obligations in relation to the removal of inadmissible foreign nationals,” the statement said. “The removal process includes many checks and balances to ensure that the removal is conducted in a fair and just manner.”
A privacy activist has filed a complaint with an EU watchdog over the European Parliament’s Covid testing app for its staff, saying it could be transferring data illegally to the US, Reuters reports.
The Austrian privacy advocacy group Noybaid, led by Max Schrems it had taken its case to the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) on behalf of six European Union lawmakers. Schrems, an Austrian and prominent figure in Europe’s digital rights movement against intrusive data-gathering by Silicon Valley tech giants, previously pursued two cases against Facebook , winning landmark judgments that forced the social network to change how it handles user data in Europe.
The complaint said that EU lawmakers, on accessing the virus test site, discovered that it had sent over 150 third-party requests, including requests to US-based companies Google and Stripe, in breach of an EU court judgment in July last year. A number of these third-party requests were for user data in targeted advertising and to enable software to function smoothly.
“The main issues raised are the deceptive cookies banners of an internal corona testing website, the vague and unclear data protection notice, and the illegal transfer of data to the U.S.,” Noybaid said in a statement. “Public authorities, and in particular the EU institutions, have to lead by example to comply with the law. This is also true when it comes to transfers of data outside of the EU. By using U.S. providers, the European Parliament enabled U.S. authorities to access data of its staff and its members.”
Cookies are used by companies to track online browsing behaviour, key to online advertising. Schrems said the EU parliament should have known better. EDPS confirmed receipt of the complaint. The European Parliament did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hungary has signed a deal to buy 2 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid vaccine, the first EU country to do so, foreign minister Peter Szijjarto told a briefing during talks in Moscow, Reuters reports.
With its order for Russia’s Covid vaccine, Hungary is the first EU member to break ranks and unilaterally approve the shot as frustrations build in Europe over delays in supplies of Western vaccines that are hampering an economic recovery.
“Under the terms of our agreement, we are buying an amount sufficient to inoculate 1 million people,” Szijjarto said during talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. “This represents 2 million doses in three tranches. An amount to inoculate 300,000 people in the first month, for half a million people in the second month and 200,000 people in the third.”
Szijjarto did not say when the first shipment of the Russian shot would arrive in Hungary and it was unclear how much Budapest would pay for the 2 million vaccines in total. The agreement comes only days after Hungary’s drug regulator gave approval for use of Britain’s AstraZeneca and Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines against the coronavirus, as Budapest strives to lift coronavirus lockdown measures to boost its economy.
The EU’s medicines regulator has yet to approve the Russian or AstraZeneca vaccine. Szijjarto said the Russian vaccines could allow Hungary to lift lockdown restrictions sooner.
Earlier today, prime minister Viktor Orban said Hungary cannot lift restrictions until it can carry out a mass inoculation. He said the best approach was to authorise the use of several vaccines as competition would force manufacturers to speed up shipments. “We don’t need explanations, we need vaccines,” Orban told state radio.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to decide on the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University on 29 January. Russia on Wednesday filed for registration of the Sputnik vaccine in the EU before an EMA review next month.
Germany’s health minister, Jens Spahn, has called for understanding of a continuation of harsh lockdown conditions in Germany, saying that despite a slow down in the rate of infections they were necessary to prevent a “considerable worsening” of the situation.
Germany’s death toll rose to more than 51,000 on Thursday, having been increasing at an average of 1,000 deaths a day for several weeks.
Spahn told a press conference, flanked by the head of the government disease control agency, the country’s leading coronavirus virologist and the head of intensive care medicine in Germany, that the measures would have to remain in place until at least “the end of February or into March”. He cited the dangers of mutations first detected in England, South Africa and Brazil as being a factor behind the decision.
Germany, which has a population of 83 million, reported almost 18,000 new coronavirus cases today, about 4,000 less than a week ago.
Spahn said he could understand the bafflement of many Germans over why the measures had been extended and intensified in recent days, despite a fall in numbers. Public discontent was reflected in a flurry of emails, telephone calls and letters he had received, he said.
The numbers of the the last few days are encouraging. They’re going in the right direction. The infection rate is sinking. We’re seeing the first easing on intensive care wards … but it’s still a considerable burden with very many Covid-19 patients in the intensive care wards and in hospital.
But the numbers are still too high, and what we need is to collectively use the intensified measures, despite the many hardships they bring with them, to continue to suppress the numbers … so that this virus is controllable.
Germany’s coronavirus rate has for months been too high to enable contact tracing, which Spahn said was a crucial tool for being able to control the disease. Spahn said with almost 5,000 ICU beds taken up with Covid-19 patients, it was imperative to reduce numbers being hospitalised to prevent the health system being overwhelmed.
We need to explain this contradiction and this ambivalence. Why, even though the figures are moving in the right direction … we are right now intensifying the restrictions for a manageable length of time to bring down these numbers still further. Neither politicians nor citizens want to have to accuse each other that we relaxed too early, and if we look at other countries in Europe we can see how quickly the situation becomes inflamed again.
He later referred specifically to the situations in Britain and Portugal.
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The global release of the James Bond movie No Time to Die has been postponed again from April to October, its producers have announced.
No Time to Die, from MGM and Universal Pictures, had originally been set to hit the big screen in April 2020 before moving to November 2020 and then April 2021. The film, which cost an estimated $200m to produce, marks actor Daniel Craig’s last outing as agent 007.
The Bond franchise is one of the movie world’s most lucrative, with 2015’s Spectre raking in $880m at the box office worldwide, while Skyfall in 2012 grossed more than $1bn globally.
NO TIME TO DIE 8 October 2021 pic.twitter.com/HZlNG5kz8t
— James Bond (@007) January 22, 2021
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Pfizer face questions over EU vaccine deliveries
The European commission will seek clarification from Pfizer over whether there will be fresh delays in delivering Covid vaccines to EU countries next week, a spokesman for the EU executive said.
“We will seek clarification from the company,” the spokesman told a news conference in reply to a question about a new slowdowns in deliveries reported by EU countries for next week.
Pfizer and the commission had earlier said that there would have been no further slowdown next week, after supplies slowed this week.
Government officials from a number of EU states told Reuters yesterday that the US-based drugmaker had halved the volume of Covid vaccines it was delivering this week.
Romania got only 50% of its planned volume for this week, the other half being allocated gradually by the end of March, with deliveries returning to normal starting next week, deputy health minister Andrei Baciu said. It was a similar situation in Poland, which on Monday received 176,000 doses, a drop of around 50% from what was expected, authorities said.
The Czech government was bracing for the disruption to last for weeks, slowing its vaccination campaign just as the second dose of vaccinations get under way. “We have to expect that there will be a reduction in the number of open vaccination appointments in the following three weeks,” health minister Jan Blatny told reporters on Thursday, with Pfizer deliveries falling by about 15% this week and as much as 30% for the following two weeks.
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech have declined to comment on the cuts beyond their statement last week, which announced cuts to deliveries as they ramp up manufacturing in Europe. On Wednesday, Italy threatened legal action against Pfizer.
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Belgium cannot yet lift coronavirus-related restrictions despite a stabilising of Covid infections and falling daily deaths, the health ministry has said, ahead of a meeting at which the government may seek to ban tourist trips abroad temporarily, Reuters reports.
With one of the world’s highest per capita death rates from Covid-19, Belgium has so far avoided a third wave of infections such as those seen in Britain and Germany. But the health ministry said the numbers remained too high to start easing measures.
The objective is to have fewer than 800 confirmed infections a day and fewer than 75 new hospitalisations a day for three weeks before starting to ease lockdown rules, a far cry from the current average of just under 2,000 infections a day.
“For the moment, the virus still has its hand in the game but we still have our two best players: vaccination and spring,” health ministry spokesman Yves Van Laethem told a news conference.
This week also marked the first time in a month that the number of people in hospital is rising again, particularly in the last few days, Van Laethem said. “The situation remains fragile, on a plateau too high for health systems, especially since the number of cases and hospitalisations no longer seems to be decreasing,” he said.
Belgium is not under a strict lockdown but bars, cafes and restaurants remain closed as well as gyms and cinemas, while home working is obligatory. The country of 11 million, home to the headquarters of the European Union and Nato, has officially recorded 20,620 Covid-related deaths so far.
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Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said China has approved the delivery of a second consignment of the CoronaVac vaccine, produced by Sinovac Biotech, and that 10m doses could arrive in Turkey by this weekend.
Turkey has already received an initial consignment of 3m doses and has so far vaccinated 1.166 million people, mostly health workers and elderly people, Reuters reports.
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Lithuania’s president has said the country expects to receive enough Covid vaccines to inoculate 70% of its population by early July, and that this would achieve herd immunity, Reuters reports.
The ambitious supply schedule hinges on vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson being approved for use in the EU, in addition to the Pfizer shot already being administered, president Gitanas Nauseda said.
“We received assurances from the European Commission president that Lithuania will be able to vaccinate 70% of population by early summer, because we will receive 4 million vaccines during the first and second quarters,” Nauseda said.
“The challenge is about to change from vaccine shortages to setting up mass vaccinations, so that we use the time optimally and can fully reach collective immunity (by early July). This is the goal we can set for ourselves,” he told reporters.
Nauseda said Lithuania, a Baltic republic of 2.8 million people, will need to vaccinate 10,000 per day by February and up to 35,000 people per day by April to reach the July target. Between 1,000 and 4,000 people have received the vaccine daily this week, according to government data.
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Hong Kong to put thousands into first lockdown - report
Thousands of Hong Kongers will be ordered to stay in their homes for the city’s first coronavirus lockdown, local media have reported, as authorities battle an outbreak in one of its poorest and most densely packed districts.
AFP reports:
The order bans anyone from leaving their apartment unless they can show a negative test where cases have surged in recent days, and will last until everyone within the designated area has been tested, the reports said.
The South China Morning Post said the measures would come in at midnight Friday into Saturday with some 1,700 police ready to enforce the lockdown covering some 150 housing blocks and up to 9,000 people.
Health officials declined to comment on the proposal at an afternoon press briefing but multiple local outlets reported the lockdown citing government officials throughout Friday.
Hong Kong was one of the first places to be struck by the coronavirus since it burst out of central China. It has kept infections under 10,000 with some 170 deaths by imposing effective but economically punishing social distancing measures for much of the last year.
It’s Mattha Busby here, taking over the blog from my colleague Ben Quinn. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to everyone reading. Do drop me a note on Twitter or via email on mattha.busby.freelance@guardian.co.uk with any tips or thoughts.
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Some heartening news from Israel, where an agreement between the government and Pfizer to share data has turned the country into what has been described as a “dashboard” for how the vaccine has had an impact.
A scientist at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel, tweets this observation about medical staff who received the vaccine and the numbers who have fallen ill.
Israel: Some (cautiously) encouraging vaccine results
— Eran Segal (@segal_eran) January 21, 2021
Big drop in working days missed amongst medical staff, who were vaccinated first (green line), despite surge in cases throughout the country (blue line)
This pattern was not seen in the second wave (left side, Oct.) pic.twitter.com/d6JHQDWG2V
Israel’s coronavirus “tsar” warned earlier this week that a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine may provide less protection than originally hoped, as the country reported a record 10,000 new Covid infections on Monday.
In remarks reported by Army Radio, Nachman Ash said a single dose appeared “less effective than we had thought”, and also lower than Pfizer had suggested.
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While coronavirus cases are starting to flatten across the US, the virus is still raging in many border communities, according to the New York Times.
Three of the six “metro” areas with the highest rates of known cases since the outbreak began are small cities straddling Mexico, it adds in a report from a county in Arizona that has the most cases per capita of one those areas.
Miriam Jordan writes:
Seasonal migration, the daily flow of people back and forth and lax measures to contain the virus’s spread have created a combustible constellation.
Arizona has seen among the highest increases in newly reported deaths of any state over the past two weeks – and it is not clear when this troubling trend will abate.
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Police in London have broken up a wedding with almost 400 guests in a “completely unacceptable breach” of Covid lockdown rules that allow only six people to attend.
Under strict measures introduced at the start of the year, weddings are supposed to take place only under “exceptional circumstances”, but officers found hundreds of people when they were alerted to a gathering inside a school in Stamford Hill, north London.
The windows had been covered over to stop people seeing inside. The organiser of the wedding faces a £10,000 fine.
“This was a completely unacceptable breach of the law, which is very clearly in place to save lives and protect the NHS (National Health Service),” DCS Marcus Barnett of the Metropolitan police said today.
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Rémy Julienne, a stuntman who worked on six James Bond films as well as the 1969 classic The Italian Job, has died from Covid-19 aged 90.
A veteran of more than 1,400 films and TV commercials as an actor or stunt coordinator, Julienne had been in intensive care in a hospital in his home town of Montargis in central France since early January.
“What was bound to happen has happened. He left us early in the evening (Thursday). It was predictable, he was on a respirator,” a relative told AFP.
Julienne was born in Cepoy near Montargis in 1930. A French motocross champion, he began his film career in 1964 when he doubled for the French actor Jean Marais in the film Fantomas, in which he was required to ride a motorbike.
“They needed someone who was very controlled,” he said of this experience. It ended up being me. It was the start of a huge adventure.”
He doubled for some of the world’s most famous actors, including Sean Connery and Roger Moore, as well top French actors including Yves Montand, Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
He worked on six James Bond movies in total, including GoldenEye and For Your Eyes Only, in which he drove a heavily modified yellow Citroen 2CV during a memorable car chase.
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Canadian provinces will not get a per-capita share of Covid-19 vaccine doses amid a worsening slowdown in shipments from Pfizer-BioNTech, the Globe and Mail reports.
Major-Gen Dany Fortin, who is leading Canada’s vaccine logistics, was reported to have said that the delivery from Pfizer for the week of 1 February will be cut to 79,000 doses, amounting to a 79% drop. He said earlier this week that Canada will get none of the 208,650 doses originally expected next week.
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A research centre aimed at ensuring that the Netherlands is better prepared for future disasters is being established in a partnership between Dutch authorities and Erasmus University Medical Centre (Erasmus MC).
Ernst Kuipers of the Dutch national acute care network LNAZ and Rotterdam’s mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb, revealed details of the plans, the NL Times reports today.
The Netherlands ended up dependent on other countries for supplies like personal protective equipment, Aboutaleb said.
“In the future we must try to be as independent as possible. My wish is to set up this plan within three years. Not only nationally, but perhaps also internationally,” he added.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India was completely self-reliant on coronavirus vaccine supplies as the world’s second-most populous country inoculated more than 1 million people within a week of starting a massive campaign.
On Saturday, India began what the government calls the world’s biggest vaccination programme, using two shots made locally: one licensed from Oxford University and AstraZeneca, and another developed at home by Bharat Biotech in partnership with the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research.
“Our preparation has been such that vaccine is fast reaching every corner of the country,” Modi said while speaking with healthcare workers from his Varanasi constituency through video conferencing.
“And on the world’s biggest need today, we are completely self-reliant. Not just that, India is also helping out many countries with vaccines.”
Interacting with COVID-19 vaccination beneficiaries in Kashi. https://t.co/PxZOzyQXwy
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 22, 2021
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Japanese government insists Olympics still on track
Japan’s deputy chief cabinet secretary Manabu Sakai has told reporters on Friday that there is “no truth” to reports about the possible cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics.
The Japanese government is carrying out “thorough countermeasures” in order to be able to hold the games, Reuters reported.
The pandemic is placing “real pressure” on preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, the Australian prime minister has said, after a report claimed the Japanese government had privately concluded this summer’s Games will have to be cancelled.
“The situation in Japan, right now, in terms of the spread that’s occurred there more recently, is quite different to even when I was there in November,” Scott Morrison said on Friday.
“I can understand that that’s putting some real pressure” on the Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, the prime minister said, adding that “any prime minister anywhere, has to put, I think, the health and safety of their populations first and what can be managed”.
Morrison – who said he was aware of rumours about the future of the Games, due to open on 23 July – said cancellation “would be very disappointing for the Japanese people” and for Suga and his predecessor, Shinzo Abe, who oversaw Tokyo’s successful bid for the Games in 2013.
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News that the United States under President Joe Biden intends to join the Covax vaccine facility that aims to deliver coronavirus vaccines to poor countries, is being welcomed today.
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) tweeted:
Great news that the United States 🇺🇸 will join the #COVAX Facility!
— CEPI (@CEPIvaccines) January 22, 2021
Our global initiative with @gavi and @WHO is the fastest and fairest way to bring the devastating #COVID19 pandemic to an end🌍
Thank you, @POTUS @JoeBiden and @VP @KamalaHarris 👏
Anthony Fauci, speaking to the WHO executive board on Thursday, confirmed that the US would remain a member of the UN agency and said it would work multilaterally on issues from the Covid-19 pandemic to HIV/AIDS.
“This is a good day for WHO and a good day for global health,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Myanmar has received 1.5m doses of a Covid-19 vaccine supplied by India to inoculate 750,000 people, the first vaccine batch delivered to the south-east Asian country as it fights one of the worst outbreaks in the region.
India is donating millions of doses of vaccines to a string of countries in Asia, drawing praise from neighbours and pushing back against China’s dominating presence in the region.
Shipments of AstraZeneca’s vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, the world’s biggest producer of vaccines, have already gone to the Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Myanmar was among the countries next in line to get free consignments as India moved before China which has also pledged to supply vaccines to its neighbour.
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Authorities in Beijing have ordered more coronavirus tests for about 2 million people in its downtown area after new cases were reported in the Chinese capital.
The city health department said all residents of the Xicheng and Dongcheng districts are required to undergo testing on Friday and Saturday. Results are usually delivered by smartphone app within a few hours.
In one neighbourhood in Dongcheng, the Associated Press news agency reported how several thousand people lined up in freezing temperatures around a corner and down several blocks, waiting to enter a building for testing.
They included a group of street sweepers who stood out in their high-visibility red and green uniforms from others wearing dark winter jackets.
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Ireland faces lockdown for six more weeks - report
Ireland could be in lockdown for a further six weeks under plans being considered by authorities amid the spread of a new variant first identified in south-east England, the Irish Independent reports.
Ahead of discussions next week, Irish government ministers were said to be considering an extension of the highest level of coronavirus regulations until just before St Patrick’s Day.
Ireland’s Covid-19 death rate is at its highest level since the start of the pandemic with an average of 44 deaths a day in the past week, a senior health official said on Thursday.
“The number of deaths confirmed per day over the last seven days, 44, is the highest we have seen at any point during the pandemic,” Philip Nolan, head of the government’s Covid-19 modelling unit, told a news conference.
The infection rate, however, has fallen sharply from a pandemic high registered earlier in January. There were an average of 2,430 new cases over the past five days, down from a five-day average of 4,473 reported a week ago.
The January increase followed an easing of public health restrictions in December.
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A serving officer with London’s Metropolitan police has died after testing positive for Covid-19, the force has announced.
PC Michael Warren, 37, is believed to be the first serving Met officer to have died after being diagnosed with the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. He joined the force in 2005 and had served as a territorial support group (TSG) officer for the last four years.
PC Warren was classed as “vulnerable” and had been shielding at home, working remotely to help his team, the Met said. He died on Tuesday morning after testing positive for Covid-19 earlier this week, leaving his parents Pauline and Alan, his partner Vicky and his daughter Eden, eight, and son Joseph, five.
Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick said earlier this week that three other colleagues, including a police community support officer, have also died.
The staff association representing more than 30,000 police officers in the London area tweeted:
Devastating news. A serving Metropolitan Police Service officer has died after he tested positive for Covid-19.
— Met Police Federation (@MPFed) January 22, 2021
PC Michael Warren, aged 37, who was attached to the Met’s Territorial Support Group (TSG), died on Tuesday morning https://t.co/O7J0n2WeyM pic.twitter.com/3Z1WtzV9p0
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The Chinese government is testing millions of people in Beijing and some other cities, where authorities have called on the public to avoid travel during February’s lunar new year holiday.
The testing comes as optimism about the rollout of coronavirus vaccines was dented by a rise in infections in the country, where the disease had seemed under control.
A correspondent for RFI tweeted this footage of long queues on Friday afternoon in Beijing
Tests #Covid19 à #Pékin en ce début de vendredi après-midi. Longues files d’attente devant les centres de dépistage comme ici dans ce quartier du centre de la capitale chinoise. #Chine pic.twitter.com/X29kicBber
— Stéphane Lagarde (@StephaneLagarde) January 22, 2021
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Ultra-Orthodox Jews attacked an unmarked Israeli police vehicle overnight, pelting it with stones and smashing the windows while officers were inside, and igniting a riot in which at least six people were arrested, police have said.
The violence erupted in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox town near Tel Aviv, the Associated Press agency reported.
Tensions have run high between police and Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community throughout the coronavirus pandemic as many have openly defied lockdown restrictions to hold religious gatherings.
Police seeking to break up weddings, funerals and other gatherings have often faced violent crowds. The latest violence began when the crowd in Bnei Brak pelted the police vehicle with stones, shattering its windows and puncturing the tires. The officers inside called for backup, and when the reinforcements arrived the crowd blocked roads and burned tires.
“Police are continuing to disperse a violent and wild riot in Bnei Brak, during which stones were thrown at police officers and tires set on fire in the center of the city’s main thoroughfares,” the police said in a statement on Friday.
Hungary signs deal to buy Russian 'Sputnik' vaccine
Hungary has signed a deal to buy Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, the first EU country to do so, foreign minister Péter Szijjártó told a briefing during talks in Moscow.
In the video posted on his Facebook page, Szijjártó said the vaccines would arrive in three tranches, and that details about the size of the shipments would be revealed later.
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WHO info sharing programme received zero contributions
A World Health Organization programme for pharmaceutical companies to voluntarily share Covid-19 related knowledge, treatments and technology so they can be more widely distributed has attracted zero contributions in the eight months since it was established, the Guardian has learned.
The Covid-19 technology access pool (C-Tap) was launched in May last year to facilitate the sharing of patent-protected information to fight the virus, including diagnostics, therapeutics and trial data. The “pooling” of treatments and data would allow qualified manufacturers from around the world to produce critical equipment, drugs or vaccines without fear of prosecution for breaching patents.
The goal would be to lower production costs, ease global shortages of key drugs and technology and, advocates say, ultimately end the pandemic sooner.
Consultations have been held in recent months including in the UK to persuade pharmaceutical companies to engage with the pool, but as of January no technology or treatments have been shared, a WHO spokesman confirmed to the Guardian.
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Russia has reported 21,513 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, including 3,104 in St Petersburg, taking the national tally to 3,677,352 since the pandemic began.
Authorities reported 580 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 68,412.
Amid increasing caution about lifting restrictions in different parts of the UK, an expert at an English university that has modelled the effectiveness of the vaccine scheme alongside the impact of the emergence recently of a new strain of Covid-19 has added his voice to that concern.
“Essentially we found that it’s going to be pretty much impossible to generate, get to level where we have herd immunity, either with the vaccine or with natural infection because of the chance that people will have second infections after their first one,” said Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We do know that the vaccines are very good at stopping people getting severe illness and dying, but we don’t really know well the vaccines work to stop the spread of infection. There will continue to be a risk to those who are not infected.”
There was “no doubt” that the vaccinations will help society get “back to normal” but the issue was what to do about sections of society who declined the vaccine: “How do we protect them?”
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Northern Ireland’s first minister was also asked about a case being taken today by the musician, Van Morrison, who will challenge authorities there in court over its “blanket ban” on live music in licensed venues arising from coronavirus restrictions.
“I understand Van and other musicians are hugely frustrated. We haven’t had live music for so long now. As you know, Northern Ireland is a very sociable place and we enjoy being together, getting together,” said Arlene Foster.
“But we are doing it to save lives,” she added, saying she did not agree with his contention that that there was no scientific basis for the ban.
“I have a lot of respect and a lot of love for Van Morrison. He is one of our most fabulous musicians but I don’t agree with him on that.”
Solicitor Joe Rice has said that Morrison, who has released several protest songs against Covid-19 rules in recent months, will ask the high court in Belfast to review the policy.
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Infection rates are falling in Northern Ireland but pressure on hospitals is taking longer to lift, according to the first minister of the devolved administration there, which is facing a lockdown until 5 March.
“The hospital admissions are at their peak now and of course we need to see that going down,” Arlene Foster told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme when asked what it would take for confirmation that the lockdown could be lifted in a part of the UK which has had some of the highest rates of Covid-19.
The vaccination rate was also key, said Foster, who said she hoped most of those aged over 80 would be vaccinated in the coming days. Mobile teams are now out visiting people after care homes have largely been covered.
A review of restrictions will take place on 8 February.
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Ministers in the British government are pressing Boris Johnson to close borders, according to a story this morning in the Daily Telegraph.
Citing sources, it reports option of banning all non-British travellers from entering the country was previously rejected by the prime minister “but is back on the agenda” and will be discussed at a high-level meeting chaired by him in the coming days.
The home secretary, Priti Patel, sparked a row two days ago after saying the UK’s borders should have been closed earlier, claiming she had been an advocate of shutting them at the start of the Covid pandemic last March.
In comments that seemed to put her at odds with Downing Street, which only last week announced a tightening of borders, Patel said she was in favour of clamping down on travel 10 months ago.
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Strict lockdown may be needed in France - government adviser
France will have to resort to a strict lockdown like those in Ireland and Britain if it fails to rein in the more contagious variants of the coronavirus, a French epidemiologist and government advisor has said.
Arnaud Fontanet, a member of the scientific council that advises the government on Covid-19 policy, also said on France Inter radio the country is in a “very tense situation with exhausted hospital staff”.
The French health minister, Olivier Véran, said last week the virus was still circulating at a “worrying” level but stopped short of recommending a third national lockdown, saying France’s nationwide 6pm curfew was sufficient for now.
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Denmark halts flights from Dubai for five days
Denmark has halted all arriving flights from Dubai for five days due to potential problems with fake coronavirus tests in Dubai, the country’s transport ministry has said.
Danmark stopper øjeblikkeligt alle fly fra De Forenede Arabiske Emirater og undersøger mistanke om uregelmæssigheder med test. Gælder foreløbigt i fem dage - vi tager ikke chancer med de ekstra smitsomme mutationer i omløb #dkpol #dktrm #covid19dkhttps://t.co/LTdqOuf1TL
— Benny Engelbrecht (@BennyEngelbrech) January 21, 2021
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Two care homes in different counties but close by exemplify what has become a postcode lottery in parts of England in which the winners gain immunity from Covid and the losers are left without protection from the deadly disease.
Lawrence Marsh, the owner of Pinewood, which sits on the far western edge of West Sussex, had been expecting his residents to receive their jabs before Christmas after the government’s vaccination experts made care home residents and staff the top priority.
But the doses did not come and on 6 January the news he had feared arrived: a positive Covid test in the home. The virus spread predictably fast and 14 of the 24 residents have tested positive and seven have died. Others remain seriously ill and Marsh is worried the worst may not be over.
By contrast, just over the border in Hampshire, the other home, which has asked not to be named, has fared very differently. Its 32 residents and some of the staff were vaccinated on 1 January and the home has remained Covid-free (read on).
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Good morning from London. This is Ben Quinn picking up the blog blog now and continuing to bring you global coverage.
Looking ahead to the day here in the UK:
• Prime minister Boris Johnson is to give an update on the vaccine rollout and the news that 2mn vaccinations are being delivered each week. But vaccine supply is to be cut in half in north-east England and Yorkshire next week by the NHS to allow London and other regions lagging behind to catch up in immunising the over-80s.
• There will be results later this morning from a weekly “social impacts survey” carried out by government statistics while at around noon there will be briefings from the devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland.
People in England are also waking up to the news that ministers are considering paying £500 to everyone in England who tests positive for Covid-19, in a dramatic overhaul of the self-isolation support scheme.
As revealed last night by the Guardian, the proposed change is thought necessary because government polling found only 17% of people with symptoms are coming forward to get a test, owing to fears that a positive result could stop people from working.
Other major news from Europe includes the announcement that Covid hotspots will be labelled “dark red” zones by the European Union, and travellers from those areas will be required to take a test before departure and undergo quarantine.
You can reach me on Twitter at @BenQuinn75 or email me if you would like to flag up any news stories that we should be covering.
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That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for the day. Thanks for following along – my colleagues will keep you abreast of developments for the rest of the day.
Before I go, a reminder:
when the celebs made the imagine video we’d been inside for a WEEK
— Ely Kreimendahl (@ElyKreimendahl) January 21, 2021
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Summary
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- South Africa will buy doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine at a price 2.5 times higher than most European countries, the health ministry said on Thursday. The continent’s worst virus-hit country has ordered at least 1.5m shots of the vaccine from the Serum Institute of India, expected in January and February.
- France introduces mandatory PCR tests for arrivals. French president Emmanuel Macron told his European Union counterparts France would make PCR tests compulsory for all travellers into France from Sunday, including from fellow EU countries, his office said on Thursday.
- EU introduces ‘dark red’ travel zones for hotspot areas. Covid hotspots the European Union will be labelled “dark red” zones, and travellers from those areas will be required to take a test before departure and undergo quarantine, citing the chief of the bloc’s executive.
- South African cabinet minister dies of coronavirus. South Africa’s president announced on Thursday that Jackson Mthembu had died from the coronavirus, becoming the first cabinet minister to succumb to the disease.
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Beijing launches mass testing as cases dip slightly. Beijing launched mass coronavirus testing in parts of city on Friday, while Shanghai was testing all hospital staff, as China battles the worst outbreak since March 2020. China reported a slight decline in new daily cases on Friday – 103 from 144 cases a day earlier.
- Mexico posted new one-day highs for the pandemic Thursday, with 22,339 newly confirmed coronavirus infections and 1,803 deaths from Covid recorded for the previous 24 hours. The recent surge in cases has swamped hospitals. Mexico City is the country’s epicentre of the pandemic, and its hospitals are at 89% capacity, while nationwide 61% of hospital beds are filled.
- The pandemic is placing “real pressure” on preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, the Australian prime minister has said, after a report claimed the Japanese government had privately concluded this summer’s Games will have to be cancelled.
- Japan’s cabinet approved draft laws to toughen coronavirus restrictions on Friday, a move that could threaten rule-breakers with fines and prison sentences for the first time since the outbreak began, AFP reports.
- Spain ICU admissions rise by 60% in a fortnight. Over the past fortnight, the number of people going to hospital rose by 82% while intensive care admissions increased by 60%, prompting some regions, such as Valencia to set up field hospitals.
- Supply delays could threaten start of Australia’s Covid vaccine rollout. The Australian government has left states and territories in the dark about how many Pfizer vaccines Australia will receive by mid-February, as other countries face supply issues.
- James Bond film No Time To Die has been delayed again as Hollywood grapples with the continued disruption caused by the pandemic.Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007 will now arrive on 8 October, the official Bond Twitter account announced. It had been set to be released in April following multiple pandemic-enforced delays.
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Covid vaccine acceptance rising across Europe but falling in parts of Asia
Covid vaccine acceptance is rising across Europe as inoculation programmes slowly advance, according to a survey, with the proportion of people saying they are willing to have the jab improving sharply over the past two months.
YouGov tracker data shows double-digit percentage point increases in coronavirus vaccine acceptance rates in eight of the nine European countries surveyed since mid-November, with one country, Sweden, recording a rise of 21 points.
The picture was less positive outside of Europe, however, with people in several countries in Asia appearing no more willing now – and in some cases even slightly less willing – to get vaccinated than when they were asked late last year:
James Bond film delayed again
James Bond film No Time To Die has been delayed again as Hollywood grapples with the continued disruption caused by the pandemic, PA Media reports.
Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007 will now arrive on October 8, the official Bond Twitter account announced.
It had been set to be released in April this year following multiple pandemic-enforced delays.
No Time To Die is the latest major release to be pushed back as Hollywood studios scramble to protect their films from certain box office doom, with cinemas remaining closed in markets around the world.
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Dave Chapelle tests positive for coronavirus
Dave Chappelle tested positive for the coronavirus just before his comedy show scheduled for Thursday, forcing his upcoming appearances to be canceled, a spokeswoman said.
AP: Chappelle was expected to perform Thursday through Sunday at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater in Austin, Texas. Those shows have been canceled and Chappelle is quarantining, his representative Carla Sims said in a statement. The comedian is asymptomatic.
Chappelle had been performing socially-distanced shows in Ohio since June, and moved his shows to Austin during the winter, Sims said. Rapid testing for the audience and daily tests for Chappelle and his team were implemented.
Comedian Joe Rogan was scheduled to perform at the shows Friday and Saturday. He apologized on Instagram to followers for the canceled shows, saying they’d be rescheduled. A post earlier this week showed Rogan at Stubb’s with Chappelle and other stars including Donnell Rawlings, Ron White and Elon Musk.
Refunds will be available for ticketholders at their point of purchase.
In Germany, coronavirus is proving a catalyst for a new way of talking about mortality.
A national conversation about dying has captured the radio waves and television screens. In My Perfect Funeral, a critically acclaimed new series for radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, interviewees describe how they want to be put six feet under:
Supply delays could threaten start of Australia's Covid vaccine rollout
The Australian government has left states and territories in the dark about how many Pfizer vaccines Australia will receive by mid-February, as other countries face supply issues.
After national cabinet on Friday, the prime minister, Scott Morrison ,conceded Australia’s order could be affected by supply delays, and sought to manage expectations by noting the rollout would start at a “small scale”.
The national cabinet meeting was not able to agree on an increase to international arrival caps, but after the meeting the Victorian and Tasmanian governments announced a deal to allow 1,500 seasonal workers to quarantine in Tasmania before coming to work in Victoria:
Germany death toll goes past 50,000 after 859 new fatalities reported
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 17,862, down from yesterday’s reported total of 20,398, to 2,106,262, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Friday.
The reported death toll rose by 859 to 50,642, the tally showed.
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Spain ICU admissions rise by 60% in a fortnight
In Spain, the easing of travel restrictions over Christmas to allow families to get together caused a huge spike in infections, AFP reports, with the country counting record numbers of new cases as the pandemic’s third wave has taken hold.
And it is the hospitals that are counting the cost, government figures show.
Over the past fortnight, the number of people going to hospital rose by 82% while intensive care admissions increased by 60%, prompting some regions, such as Valencia to set up field hospitals.
And the rising caseload has medics worried, with Spain registering record new infection levels since Christmas, pushing the number of cases over 2.4 million and deaths to more than 55,000.
According to a study of 10,000 Spanish medics carried out by Hospital del Mar researchers, nearly half - 45 percent - suffered mental health issues following the first wave of the pandemic.
Around 28 percent presented signs of depression, a figure six times higher than in the general population, and 3.5 percent had considered suicide, the study showed.
Japan cabinet approves bill for tougher virus measures
Japan’s cabinet approved draft laws to toughen coronavirus restrictions on Friday, a move that could threaten rule-breakers with fines and prison sentences for the first time since the outbreak began, AFP reports.
With just six months until the virus-postponed Tokyo Olympics are due to begin, the capital and other regions are currently under a state of emergency in an attempt to quell a record spike in Covid-19 infections.
But unlike strict lockdowns seen elsewhere in the world, the measure has no means of enforcement - with people urged rather than ordered to stay home, and no fines for businesses who ignore requests to close early.
The new laws would allow authorities to punish and even imprison people for up to a year if they test positive but refuse hospitalisation.
They would also penalise bars and restaurants that continue evening service when instructed not to with fines of up to 500,000 yen ($4,800).
The bills are expected to pass parliament next week, but reports said the opposition will push for an amendment to the section on forced hospitalisation following criticism that it impinges on civil liberties.
Tokyo Olympics: Covid putting 'real pressure' on Japan, says Australia PM amid cancellation rumours
The pandemic is placing “real pressure” on preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, the Australian prime minister has said, after a report claimed the Japanese government had privately concluded this summer’s Games will have to be cancelled.
“The situation in Japan, right now, in terms of the spread that’s occurred there more recently, is quite different to even when I was there in November,” Scott Morrison said on Friday.
“I can understand that that’s putting some real pressure” on the Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, the prime minister said, adding that “any prime minister anywhere, has to put, I think, the health and safety of their populations first and what can be managed”.
The Guardian’s Justin McCurry in Tokyo and Sean Ingle report:
Amazon Inc said on Thursday it will open a pop-up clinic in its Seattle headquarters on 24 January, Reuters reports, with an aim to vaccinate 2,000 eligible members on the first day.
Amazon Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs Jay Carney, who announced the plan in a news conference with Washington Governor Jay Inslee, said a company executive will be working with Washington State’s Vaccine Command Center.
The clinic will be hosted in partnership with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health.
The move came a day after Reuters reported that Amazon had offered to help with the United States’ efforts involving the vaccine, citing a letter addressed to President Joe Biden.
The State currently allows people aged 65 and older and people 50 and older living in a multi-generational household to get vaccinated. It has yet to grant doses for the vaccination of warehouse employees, such as Amazon’s.
The company employs more than 800,000 people in the country and more than 19,000 US workers at Amazon had contracted the virus as of September, underscoring the vaccine’s importance in keeping its staff safe and warehouses operational.
More on the situation in Mexico, from AP: One video circulating on Facebook shows a Mexican couple connecting a fish-tank air pump to a hose in an effort to boost the man’s oxygen levels.
The head of civil defense for the city of Puebla, Gustavo Ariza, issued a public warning against such improvised devices, noting they do not increase oxygen concentration and simply re-circulate air.
“This is trickery. Please, people, don’t do this,” Ariza said.
Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell joined in the warnings. “We are concerned that people might waste time in te hope that this would work, and over the course of hours or days, very few days, the person’s condition worsens,” he said.
López-Gatell said the Mexican government is going to pass rules that would give priority to medicinal oxygen production over industrial uses to free up supplies. The government is also looking to buy oxygen tanks abroad.
Mexico reports record cases and deaths
Mexico posted new one-day highs for the pandemic Thursday, with 22,339 newly confirmed coronavirus infections and 1,803 deaths from Covid recorded for the previous 24 hours, AP reports.
The recent surge in cases has swamped hospitals. Mexico City is the country’s epicentre of the pandemic, and its hospitals are at 89% capacity, while nationwide 61% of hospital beds are filled.
The difficulty in finding space in hospitals has led many families to try to treat their relatives at home, which has created spot shortages of oxygen and tanks. That has been accompanied by a jump in prices as well as an uptick in thefts targeting oxygen tanks.
The situation has also sparked home remedies, including home-made oxygen concentrators that officials warned are dangerous.
The full story on South Africa paying more than double major EU countries for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine now:
Beijing launches mass testing as cases dip slightly
Beijing launched mass coronavirus testing in parts of city on Friday, while Shanghai was testing all hospital staff, as China battles the worst outbreak since March 2020.
China reported a slight decline in new daily cases on Friday - 103 from 144 cases a day earlier.
Reuters: Of these new cases, 94 were local transmissions: northeastern Heilongjiang reported 47 new cases, while Jilin province reported 19 new cases. Shanghai reported six new cases, while the capital Beijing reported three new cases.
Some districts in Beijing launched mass tests following several consecutive days of new cases in the Chinese capital, with long queues forming in certain parts of the town.
Shanghai began testing all hospital staff for the disease on Thursday after two such workers tested positive.
The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, rose to 119 from 113 cases a day earlier.
The total number of confirmed cases in Mainland China now stands at 88,804, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,635.
Updated
More Fauci:
Speaking of Dr Fauci:
Yesterday, President Biden reversed the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization. And this morning, Dr. Fauci joined his first meeting as the head of our delegation. Here’s what he said: pic.twitter.com/yvv2ojcfXh
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 22, 2021
Anthony Fauci, the top infectious diseases expert in the US, spoke on Thursday of a “liberating feeling” of being able to speak scientific truth about the coronavirus without fear of “repercussions” from Donald Trump.
The Guardian’s David Smith and Julian Borger report that Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, endured a tortuous relationship with the former president and was increasingly sidelined from public briefings.
But the 80-year-old returned to the White House podium on Thursday after Joe Biden released a national Covid-19 strategy and signed 10 executive orders to combat a pandemic that has now claimed more than 400,000 lives in the US.
“One of the things that we’re going to do is to be completely transparent, open and honest,” Fauci told reporters. “If things go wrong, not point fingers, but to correct them. And to make everything we do be based on science and evidence.
“That was literally a conversation I had 15 minutes ago with the president and he has said that multiple times.”
Asked if he would like to amend or clarify anything he said during the Trump presidency, Fauci insisted he had always been candid, noting wryly. “That’s why I got in trouble sometimes”:
In the UK, the union representing firefighters hampered efforts to deploy the emergency service into potentially life-saving scenarios during the coronavirus pandemic with outdated and unnecessary practices, independent inspectors have said in a damning report.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) asked firefighters not to volunteer to support the NHS test-and-trace system and the Covid-19 vaccination programme, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services said:
South African cabinet minister dies of coronavirus
South Africa’s president announced on Thursday that Jackson Mthembu had died from the coronavirus, becoming the first cabinet minister to succumb to the disease, AP reports.
The 62-year-old Mthembu in recent months had been a central figure in communicating to the public the South African government’s response to Covid. In announcing the death Thursday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa called Mthembu “an exemplary leader.”
He tested positive on 11 January. Mthembu’s death comes as South Africa battles a second wave of the coronavirus that may be driven in part by a new variant of the coronavirus.
South African leaders paid trubute to Mthembu on Twitter, with former public protector Thuli Madonsela saying he “epitomised human decency.”
There goes a man who epitomized human decency. Heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the late Minister Jackson Mthembu and to his colleagues in the ANC and government. The Social Justice community has lost a partner. May his kind soul #RIP #RIPJacksonMthembu pic.twitter.com/HHwwfOSLL0
— Prof Thuli Madonsela (@ThuliMadonsela3) January 21, 2021
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More on South Africa being charged twice what EU countries are paying for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, from AFP.
AstraZeneca France told AFP in November that its shots would be capped at 2.5 euros (around $3) per dose “to provide vaccines to the widest population, with as fair access as possible”.
The pharmaceutical giant did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the health ministry’s price quote.
South Africa’s AstraZeneca vaccine order is part of 20 million secured doses to be delivered in the first half of 2021.
The WHO-backed Covax facility is expected to provide shots for 10 percent of the population between April and June.
Other vaccines will be provided via the African Union and bilateral contracts with suppliers that have not yet been disclosed.
Around 2,000 South Africans participated in Trials for the AstraZeneca vaccine in 2020.
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EU introduces 'dark red' travel zones for hotspot areas
Reuters reports that Covid hotspots the European Union will be labelled “dark red” zones, and travellers from those areas will be required to take a test before departure and undergo quarantine, citing the chief of the bloc’s executive.
“A dark red zone would show that in this zone, the virus is circulating at a very high level,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference after a meeting of EU leaders.
“Persons travelling from dark red areas could be required to do a test before departure, as well as to undergo quarantine after arrival.”
This system would apply to travel within the EU, she said.
Von der Leyen said that with infections rising and contagious variants of the virus spreading fast, non-essential travel should be “strongly discouraged” within the EU but essential workers and goods must be able to cross borders smoothly.
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France introduces mandatory PCR tests for arrivals
French President Emmanuel Macron told his European Union counterparts France would make PCR tests compulsory for all travellers into France from Sunday, including from fellow EU countries, his office said on Thursday.
Reuters: Cross-border workers and land transportation will be exempt from that obligation, the French presidency added. The test will have to be carried out no later than 72 hours before departure, it said after a video summit of EU leaders.
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South Africa to pay 2.5 times more than EU for virus vaccine
South Africa will buy doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine at a price 2.5 times higher than most European countries, the health ministry said Thursday.
The continent’s worst virus-hit country has ordered at least 1.5 million shots of the vaccine from the Serum Institute of India, expected in January and February, AFP reports.
A senior health official on Thursday told AFP those doses would cost $5.25 (4.32 euros) each - nearly 2.5 times the amount paid by most European countries.
“The National Department of Health confirms that the price $5.25 is what was quoted to us,” deputy director-general of health Anban Pillay said via text message, without explaining the price difference.
European Union (EU) members will pay just 1.78 euros ($2.16) for AstraZeneca’s shots, according to information leaked by a Belgian minister on Twitter last month.
Bilateral deals between wealthier governments and coronavirus vaccine manufacturers have raised concern over price hikes and lack of supply for low- and middle-income countries.
The World Health Organization last year warned against “vaccine nationalism” and “price gouging” once a successful shot was found.
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.
I’m on Twitter @helenrsullivan and email at helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.
South Africa will buy doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine at a price 2.5 times higher than most European countries, the health ministry said Thursday.
The continent’s worst virus-hit country has ordered at least 1.5 million shots of the vaccine from the Serum Institute of India, expected in January and February.
A senior health official on Thursday told AFP those doses would cost $5.25 (4.32 euros) each - nearly 2.5 times the amount paid by most European countries.
Meanwhile French President Emmanuel Macron told his European Union counterparts France would make PCR tests compulsory for all travellers into France from Sunday, including from fellow EU countries.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- Biden warns Covid will ‘get worse before it gets better’ as he unveils strategy. Joe Biden began his first full day as president confronting a host of major crises facing his fledgling administration, starting with a flurry of actions to address his most pressing challenge: the raging Covid-19 pandemic. At a White House event on Thursday afternoon, Biden unveiled a new “wartime” strategy to combat the coronavirus, vowing “help is on the way.”
- PM Johnson raises fears of lockdown in England continuing into summertime. Boris Johnson raised fears that tough Covid restrictions could continue well into the spring and beyond as ministers refused to be drawn on plans for any potential easing of lockdown.
- France to recommend wearing of surgical masks in public. The French government will recommend that people wear surgical masks in public because fabric masks do not provide enough protection from Covid-19 transmission, health minister Olivier Véran said.
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No way to hold Rio carnival in July, the city’s mayor says. It will not be possible to host carnival celebrations in July, Rio de Janeiro’s new mayor has said, as Brazil’s second wave of coronavirus infections spreads, and with vaccine supplies still scarce.
- Hungary breaks ranks with EU to license Russian vaccine. Hungary has licensed Russia’s coronavirus vaccine, breaking ranks with other EU countries and ignoring calls to stick to a common European vaccine policy.
- Portugal bans all UK flights to tackle rapid spread of new Covid-19 variant. Portuguese prime minister António Costa said all flights to and from Britain will be suspended from Saturday onwards as Portugal scrambles to tackle the rapid spread of the new variant of the coronavirus.
- Austrian mayors who got leftover Covid vaccines accused of ‘queue-jumping’. Local government officials in Austria have been accused of jumping the queue for Covid-19 vaccinations at care homes for elderly people, prompting a clarification of guidelines for handling leftover doses.
- Pfizer cuts vaccine deliveries to some EU countries in half. Pfizer has slashed in half the volume of Covid vaccines it will deliver to some EU countries this week, government officials said, as frustration over the US drugmaker’s unexpected cut in supplies grows.
- Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa tests positive to Covid-19 at Australian Open. Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa has become the first player to test positive to Covid-19 while in hard quarantine ahead of the Australian Open.
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