25th May 2021 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=334 lockdown_exit

Israel to end COVID-19 restrictions after vaccine success

Reuters Israel will end local COVID19 restrictions following a successful vaccine rollout that has nearly stamped out new infections the countrys Health Ministry said on Sunday. With the majority of the population having received the PfizerBioNTech vaccine and about 92 of those 50 and older inoculated or recovered Israel has been gradually reopening its economy after three lockdowns. The country reported just 12 new virus cases on Saturday down from a daily peak of more than 10000 in January. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-end-covid-19-restrictions-after-vaccine-success-2021-05-23/ 24th May 2021

Chile to loosen restrictions for those vaccinated against COVID-19

Reuters Chileans fully vaccinated against COVID19 will be allowed to move more freely within the country the government said on Monday although the nations borders will remain closed through midJune to tamp down a fresh spike in infections. People in Chile who have completed their vaccination cycle will be able to move between communities that are both in and out of quarantine for some activities as well as travel more freely inside the country starting on Wednesday the government said. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chile-loosen-restrictions-those-vaccinated-against-covid-19-2021-05-24/ 24th May 2021

The world’s economic recovery from Covid-19 looks likely to be uneven

The Guardian After the most severe global recession in decades private and official forecasters are increasingly optimistic that world output will recover strongly this year and thereafter. But the coming expansion will be unevenly distributed both across and within economies. With the coronavirus still running rampant in many countries one key question is whether the emergence of virulent new strains will trigger repeated stopandgo cycles as weve seen in some cases where economies reopened too soon. One particularly ominous possibility is that more vaccineresistant variants appear heightening the urgency of vaccination efforts that have so far been too slow in many regions. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/24/world-economic-recovery-covid-19-us-china-europe 24th May 2021

SoftBank CEO slams Olympics as Japan races to catch up on vaccinations

Reuters Japanese tycoon Masayoshi Son warned of significant dangers around holding the Olympics in Tokyo where the government on Monday kicked off a mass vaccination drive to catch up with other countries and ensure a safe and secure Games. In a series of tweets the influential SoftBank Group 9984.T CEO expressed bewilderment and concern about the Tokyo Olympics calling Japan a vaccine laggard and saying the slow inoculation drive less than two months before the start of the Games could put peoples lives at risk. Currently more than 80 of people want the Olympics to be postponed or cancelled. Who and on what authority is it being forced through the billionaire executive wrote in a tweet in Japanese over the weekend. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/olympics-a-lot-lose-softbanks-ceo-speaks-out-against-games-2021-05-24/ 24th May 2021

COVID-19: Boris Johnson's review of social distancing rules set to be delayed by Indian variant

Sky News The public will likely have to wait longer for details of the governments review of social distancing rules and its proposals for COVID certification due to the growth in cases of the Indian variant. Downing Street signalled Boris Johnson would wait longer to unveil the plans despite the prime minister having previously promised to provide details by the end of this month. Mr Johnsons official spokesman on Monday said the review of social distancing rules would be published as soon as possible based on the latest data which will help inform us what measures we can take around certification. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-boris-johnsons-review-of-social-distancing-rules-set-to-be-delayed-by-indian-variant-12315874 24th May 2021

COVID-19: London's Vaxi Taxi scheme is driving vulnerable people to get their jabs

Sky News Throughout the pandemic we have heard time and time again that no one is safe until everyone is safe. That message is echoed by the London GP Dr Sharon Raymond who is putting her words into action in the form of the Vaxi Taxi project which helps vulnerable people access COVID19 vaccinations. She started the initiative in February through the COVID Crisis Rescue Foundation which she is the director of. The foundation has partnered with NHS England and third sector organisations like housing charities to support people who have difficulties accessing healthcare. Black cabs pick people up and take them to popup vaccination centres or they can receive their jab in the back of the taxi https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-londons-vaxi-taxi-scheme-is-driving-vulnerable-people-to-get-their-jabs-12315281 24th May 2021

Vaccine deliveries poised to slow this week with Canada expecting 600K Pfizer doses

CTV News Canada is set for a relatively quiet few days on the COVID19 vaccine front with only about 600000 PfizerBioNTech doses set to arrive this week. The two pharmaceutical firms were originally scheduled to deliver two million shots in the next seven days but shipped 1.4 million of those doses last week instead in anticipation of the May long weekend. Pfizer and BioNTech have been consistently delivering doses even as other vaccine makers have struggled to keep their shipments flowing. Theyre set to increase their weekly deliveries to 2.4 million doses starting in June. https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/vaccine-deliveries-poised-to-slow-this-week-with-canada-expecting-600k-pfizer-doses-1.5440641 24th May 2021

Japan opens mass vaccine centers 2 months before Olympics

The Associated Press Japan mobilized military doctors and nurses to give shots to elderly people in Tokyo and Osaka on Monday as the government desperately tries to accelerate its vaccination rollout and curb coronavirus infections just two months before hosting the Olympics. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is determined to hold the Olympics in Tokyo after a oneyear delay and has made an ambitious pledge to finish vaccinating the countrys 36 million elderly people by the end of July despite skepticism its possible. Worries about public safety while many Japanese remain unvaccinated have prompted growing protests and calls for canceling the games set to start on July 23. https://apnews.com/article/japan-coronavirus-pandemic-coronavirus-vaccine-olympic-games-sports-64115230b1805f18e5521bd0c29d1c28 24th May 2021

COVID testing’s value shrinks as vaccines beat back virus

Associated Press Federal health officials new more relaxed recommendations on masks have all but eclipsed another major change in guidance from the government Fully vaccinated Americans can largely skip getting tested for the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that most people who have received the full course of shots and have no COVID19 symptoms dont need to be screened for the virus even if exposed to someone infected. The change represents a new phase in the epidemic after nearly a year in which testing was the primary weapon against the virus. Vaccines are now central to the response and have driven down hospitalizations and deaths dramatically. Experts say the CDC guidance reflects a new reality in which nearly half of Americans have received at least one shot and close to 40 are fully vaccinated. https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-education-business-science-health-6e197fa0858a71a6339259bf84c35453 23rd May 2021

Indian migrant workers at risk of being left out of vaccine drive

AlJazeera Experts say many of Indias 140 million migrant workers run the risk of being left out of the ongoing COVID19 vaccination drive either due to a lack of awareness want of a targeted strategy or a severe shortage of doses. The trend is sharper for adults below 45 the age group that most migrant workers are in. Vaccination for this group started on May 1. S Irudaya Rajan chairman of the International Institute of Migration and Development IIMAD in Trivandrum Kerala said migrant workers were stigmatised as carriers of the disease and their vaccination should be prioritised. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/24/india-migrant-workers-at-risk-of-being-left-out-of-vaccine-drive 24th May 2021

US agencies examine reports of early COVID infections in Wuhan

Al Jazeera English United States intelligence agencies are examining reports that researchers at a Chinese virology laboratory were seriously ill in 2019 one month before the first cases of COVID19 were reported according to US government sources who cautioned that there is still no proof the disease originated at the lab. A stillclassified US intelligence report circulated during former President Donald Trumps administration alleged that three Wuhan Institute of Virology researchers became so ill in November 2019 that they sought hospital care sources familiar with US intelligence reporting and analysis told the Reuters news agency. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/24/us-agencies-examine-reports-of-early-covid-19-infections-in-wuhan-reuters 25th May 2021

India warns against mass farmers protest, citing COVID 'super-spreader' risk

Reuters India Indian government leaders appealed to farmers to call off a mass protest this week for fear it could prove a viral superspreader event as the countrys overall death toll from COVID19 crossed 300000 on Monday. Over a third have died over the past three weeks during a devastating second wave fuelled by a new virus variant detected in India mass political and religious gatherings and lowering of the guard by the public health officials and experts say. Farmers are camped out on Delhis outskirts despite a great risk of infection to themselves the joint committee of farmers organisations said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to repeal laws to liberalise the farm sector. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-total-deaths-covid-19-surpass-300000-2021-05-24/ 24th May 2021

Officials ‘hounded’ over PPE contract approval, High Court told

Evening Standard Senior officials in the UK were hounding colleagues over the approval of a PPE supply contract worth a quarterofabillion pounds to a hedge fund with close ties to the Government the High Court has heard. The Good Law Project and EveryDoctor are bringing legal action against the Department of Health and Social Care DHSC claiming that contracts awarded to PestFix Clandeboye and Ayanda Capital were given unlawfully at the height of the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in April and May 2020. The two groups allege DHSC has failed to provide proper reasons for why the contracts were awarded and say the Government violated principles of equal treatment and transparency when making the deals worth more than 700 million. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/ayanda-capital-ppe-high-court-department-for-international-trade-government-b936082.html 20th May 2021

Revealed: Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy highest among among 25- to 34-year-olds as nearly one in 10 say they will refuse jab

Independent.ie Covid19 vaccine hesitancy is highest among Irelands 25 to 34yearolds despite a growing majority of the population saying they will take the jab. A tracker poll on vaccine takeup shows nearly 9pc almost one in ten of 25 to 34yearolds say they will not get the vaccine. And 12pc in this age group are unsure about accepting the jab the latest poll from the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association IPHA representing the big drug companies shows today. Last month 10pc of this age group said they would refuse a vaccine and 8pc were unsure. If this group turn down the offer of a vaccine it would mean a substantial number of people will remain susceptible to the virus and be at risk of passing it on to others. https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/revealed-covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy-highest-among-among-25-to-34-year-olds-as-nearly-one-in-10-say-they-will-refuse-jab-40460102.html 24th May 2021

He’s a Stanford professor and a Nobel laureate. Critics say he was dangerously misleading on Covid

STAT News One day last August as they struggled to figure out whether to lift Covid19 restrictions the supervisors of Placer County California convened a panel of experts. It was a reasonable move. If being a local official could be thankless in normal times the pandemic had made it nearly impossible. Federal messaging had been hopelessly muddled. Rules meant to stop viral spread came with painful side effects. One constituent insisted the sheriff enforce lockdowns another called stayathomeorders an economic death sentence. Wanting advice from doctors and professors was hardly surprising. What was surprising was that the first invited speaker had chosen to frame himself as an authority on Covid19 at all. His name was Michael Levitt. His credentials were stellar an endowed Stanford professorship onethird of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry but utterly unrelated to infectious disease outbreaks. Hed won his honors with the computerprogramming work hed done in the 1960s and 70s revealing the intricate origami of proteins modeling how they fold and form the tiny machinery of life. Prior to those papers the chair of the Nobel selection committee had said studying chemical reactions was like seeing all the actors before Hamlet and all the dead bodies after and then you wonder what happened in the middle. Levitt and his colleagues had described the whole drama showing how each character died. https://www.statnews.com/2021/05/24/stanford-professor-and-nobel-laureate-critics-say-he-was-dangerously-misleading-on-covid/ 24th May 2021

Canada to deploy healthcare resources to help Manitoba combat COVID-19

Reuters The government of Canada said it was preparing to deploy a number of healthcare resources for the province of Manitoba that is reeling under a third wave of the COVID19 pandemic. This comes after Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister last week said he had asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to supply critical care nurses respiratory therapists and contact tracers to battle the raging health crisis in the province. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/canada-deploy-healthcare-resources-help-manitoba-combat-covid-19-2021-05-24/ 24th May 2021

COVID-19 may increase the risk of other health conditions

Medical News Today A recent study concludes that people with COVID19 have an increased risk of developing a new health problem after the initial phase of the underlying infection. The study reviewed data from more than 200000 people who had diagnosed COVID19. While older people are more likely to have poor COVID19 outcomes the study suggests that younger people have a higher risk of developing new health conditions. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/covid-19-may-increase-the-risk-of-other-illnesses 24th May 2021

Trained on smelly socks, bio-detection dogs sniff out COVID-19

Reuters Sniffer dogs trained using smelly socks worn by people infected with the SARSCoV2 virus could soon be used at airports or mass gathering venues to pick up the corona odour of COVID19infected people British scientists said on Monday. Working in teams of two the COVIDtrained dogs could screen a line of several hundred people coming off a plane within half an hour for example and detect with up to 94.3 sensitivity those infected the scientists said. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/trained-smelly-socks-bio-detection-dogs-sniff-out-covid-19-2021-05-23/ 24th May 2021

Johnson & Johnson seeks COVID-19 vaccine approval in Japan

The Japan Times U.S. health care conglomerate Johnson Johnson said Monday one of its units had filed for regulatory approval of its oneshot COVID19 vaccine in Japan and that it could begin supplying doses to the country in early 2022 once approval is given. According to the unit Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K. its Phase 1 study results from 250 healthy people between the ages of 20 and 55 and those aged 65 or older in Japan showed that the vaccine did not pose safety risks. The health ministry on Friday gave its final approval for emergency use of two COVID19 vaccines developed by U.S. pharmaceutical company Moderna Inc. and Britains AstraZeneca PLC respectively in hopes of giving the developed worlds slowest vaccine rollout a muchneeded shot in the arm. They are administered in two shots similar to the vaccine produced by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc. the only coronavirus vaccine approved prior to that. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/05/24/national/johnson-coronavirus-vaccine-japan-approval/ 24th May 2021

The women possibly at higher risk for Covid-19 that no one is talking about

CNN More than a year into the pandemic one study has found that some women are at higher risk for Covid19 compared to others in their age and sex groups. These women often young and otherwise healthy like Aguilar have an underlying condition that isnt mentioned on any Covid19 comorbidity list polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS. PCOS which affect about 1 in 10 women of childbearing age is an imbalance of reproductive hormones that can lead to irregular menstrual cycles high androgen levels and ovarian cysts. But it can also come with a host of other health problems nearly all of which overlap Covid19 comorbidities. https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/23/health/women-covid-pcos-high-risk/index.html 24th May 2021

Single Covid vaccine dose 'not particularly protective,' says Nervtag scientist

Bristol Live A single dose of a Covid19 coronavirus vaccine is not particularly protective a scientist who advises the UK Government has said. Professor Ravi Gupta from the University of Cambridge and a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group Nervtag advising the Government told BBC Breakfast this morning Monday May 24 that people needed to have a second dose. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/single-covid-vaccine-dose-not-5448679 24th May 2021

Coronavirus: so many variants, but vaccines are still effective

The Conversation Viruses are constantly changing. This is because errors sometimes occur when they copy their genetic material. Some errors have no effect at all. Some might make the virus less viable. Some make it more benign which means it can survive but doesnt cause disease. The errors to watch for are those that might make the virus more infectious or better able to avoid the immune system that is trying to counter them either driven by natural infection or stimulated by a vaccine. SARSCoV2 the virus that causes COVID19 is no different. Each time it divides it rolls the dice which could give rise to a more malign virus. This can happen anywhere anytime. So its important to track variants and to see if they are spreading more easily from person to person causing more mild or more severe disease might avoid detection with current tests or might respond less well to current treatments. Perhaps the biggest concern is breakthrough infections where a fully vaccinated person still gets COVID. https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-so-many-variants-but-vaccines-are-still-effective-161222 24th May 2021

India: Dirty oxygen cylinders, ventilators behind ‘black fungus’?

AlJazeera A rapid rise in cases of mucormycosis also known as black fungus has added to the challenges faced by Indias healthcare system as it deals with a massive second wave of COVID19 infections. Mucormycosis is a fungal infection that causes blackening or discolouration over the nose blurred or double vision chest pain breathing difficulties and coughing blood. Mucormycosis is caused by exposure to mucor mould which is commonly found in soil air and even in the nose and mucus of humans. It spreads through the respiratory tract and erodes facial structures. Sometimes doctors will have to surgically remove an infected eye to stop the infection from reaching the brain https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/24/what-is-black-fungus-that-is-hitting-indias-covid-19-patients 24th May 2021

World Health Assembly kicks off with pandemic issues at fore

CIDRAP The World Health Assembly WHA annual meeting began today virtually for the second year in a row with ending the pandemic and preparing for the next one as the main themes. In an address to the group today World Health Organization WHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus PhD warned the group that the world remains in a very dangerous situation and as of today more COVID19 deaths have been reported in 2021 than in all of 2020. Since our Health Assembly started this morning almost 1000 people have lost their lives to COVID19. And in the time it takes me to make these remarks a further 400 will die he said. Though global cases have dropped for the past 3 weeks the world remains in a fragile situation Tedros said. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/05/world-health-assembly-kicks-pandemic-issues-fore 24th May 2021

Moderna taps Samsung for fill-finish duties on 'hundreds of millions' of COVID-19 vaccine doses

Fierce Pharma As Modernas COVID19 vaccine rolls out across the globe the mRNA specialist has continued to bolster its production network. With a deal unveiled over the weekend its now bringing a Korean manufacturing heavyweight into the fold. Moderna has tapped Samsung Biologics for largescale commercial fillfinish duties on its mRNAbased vaccine the companies said Saturday. Once the deal closes tech transfer will kick off immediately at Samsungs facilities in Incheon South Korea where the CDMO plans to leverage a finishing labeling and packaging line to crank out hundreds of millions of vaccine doses for countries other than the United States. https://www.fiercepharma.com/manufacturing/moderna-taps-samsung-for-fill-finish-duties-hundreds-million-covid-19-vaccine-doses 24th May 2021

Low oxygen levels, shallow breathing tied to COVID death

CIDRAP A blood oxygen level below 92 and fast shallow breathing were associated with significantly elevated death rates in a study of hospitalized COVID19 patients suggesting that people who test positive for the virus should watch for these signs at home according to a study led by University of Washington at Seattle researchers. The study published today in Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses involved a chart review of 1095 adult coronavirus patients hospitalized at University of Washington hospitals or Rush University Medical Center in Chicago from Mar 1 to Jun 8 2020. Almost all patients with low oxygen levels 99 and rapid breathing 98 were given supplemental oxygen and glucocorticoids to quell inflammation. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/05/low-oxygen-levels-shallow-breathing-tied-covid-death 24th May 2021

Brazil nears 450,000 COVID-19 deaths, says Health Ministry

Reuters Brazils Healthy Ministry on Monday registered 790 new COVID19 deaths in the past 24 hours and 37498 new cases of coronavirus. The country has confirmed 449858 deaths from the virus out of more than 16 million confirmed cases since the pandemic began according to ministry data. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-nears-450000-covid-19-deaths-says-health-ministry-2021-05-24/ 24th May 2021

Osaka buckles under strain of Japan’s fourth COVID-19 wave

Al Jazeera English Hospitals in Japans secondlargest city of Osaka are buckling under a wave of coronavirus cases running out of beds and ventilators as exhausted doctors warn of a system collapse and advise against going ahead with the Olympics this summer. The speed at which Osakas healthcare system has been overwhelmed underscores the challenges of hosting a key global sports event in two months time particularly when only about half of Japans medical staff have completed inoculations. Simply put this is a collapse of the medical system said Yuji Tohda the director of Kindai University Hospital in Osaka. The highly infectious British variant and slipping alertness have led to this explosive growth in the number of patients. Japan has avoided the large infections suffered by other nations but Osaka prefecture has taken the brunt of the fourth wave with 3849 new positive tests in the week to Thursday. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/24/osaka-buckles-under-strain-of-japans-fourth-covid-19-wave 24th May 2021

Singapore airport tightens measures after COVID-19 outbreak

Reuters Singapores airport said on Monday it was stepping up measures to keep out the coronavirus including further segregating arrivals and about 14000 workers into different risk zones after it became the countrys largest active COVID19 cluster. The Changi airport cluster which involves over 100 cases may have initially spread through a worker who helped an infected family arriving in the country according to authorities. Some of the cases included the B.1.617 variant first detected in India. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/singapore-airport-tightens-measures-after-covid-19-outbreak-2021-05-24/ 24th May 2021

COVID-19 deaths in Latin America surpass 1 mln as outbreak worsens

Reuters The death toll from COVID19 in Latin America and the Caribbean passed 1 million people on Friday according to a Reuters tally with the pandemic worsening in the part of the world with the highest per capita death rate. From the dusty highlands of Bolivia to the Brazilian metropolis of So Paulo the pandemic has swamped underfunded healthcare systems after spreading fast across nations where many people survive handtomouth and have been unable to enter lockdown. In Peru among the hardest hit nations in the region COVID19 patients have died in crowded hospital corridors of the capital Lima. Deep in the Amazon jungles of Brazil many residents of the city of Manaus have died at home with no oxygen to fill damaged lungs after supplies ran out there this year. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/covid-19-deaths-latin-america-set-surpass-1-mln-outbreak-worsens-2021-05-21/ 24th May 2021

Thailand to tighten border controls after detecting South African COVID-19 variant

Reuters Thai border controls will tighten after the discovery of three local cases of the South African COVID19 variant stemming from illegal border crossings authorities said on Sunday as the country grapples to contain its worst coronavirus outbreak yet. The first local case of the South African variant known as B.1.351 was detected on May 4 in a 32yearold Thai man after he was visited by family who entered Thailand from Malaysia through an informal border crossing the directorgeneral of the disease control department said. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/thailand-tighten-border-controls-after-detecting-south-african-covid-19-variant-2021-05-23/ 24th May 2021

Thai villages isolated over variant find amid vaccine worry

The Independent Thailand placed barbed wire and checkpoints in several southern villages along the Malaysian border Monday after identifying a cluster of infections with a coronavirus variant thats believed to spread faster. The lockdown came as Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha sought to assure people that his government could manage a recent surge as it is set to start a national vaccination campaign next month. Please understand that we can manage this Prayuth said as he received the second dose of his coronavirus vaccine. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/thai-villages-isolated-over-variant-find-amid-vaccine-worry-thai-bangkok-malaysian-covid-south-africa-b1852672.html 24th May 2021

Top Pakistan health official doesn’t foresee India scenario

The Associated Press Pakistans top health official said Monday the COVID19 variant that devastated neighboring India causing record infections and deaths has not yet been found in Pakistan. Faisal Sultan said Pakistan was still in the middle of a third wave of infections that began earlier this year flooding hospitals with COVID patients. But he said he hoped the tide of new cases would subside in the coming weeks. I dont foresee an Indialike situation in Pakistan he told The Associated Press. Pakistan recently offered medical aid to India to help handle the COVID19 crisis there but the Foreign Ministry says New Delhi did not respond. Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and they have fought two of their wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. https://apnews.com/article/asia-pacific-pakistan-india-coronavirus-pandemic-health-6b7795a313dee25a48d0175b942c6320 24th May 2021

UN chief says world at ‘war’ against COVID-19

AlJazeera The world is at war against COVID19 the UN chief says calling for the application of wartime logic to the inequitable access to the weapons needed to fight the pandemic. Addressing the opening of the World Health Organizations annual assembly of member states on Monday UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres decried the tsunami of suffering sparked by the coronavirus crisis. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/24/un-chief-says-world-at-war-against-covid-19 24th May 2021

Venezuela receives 1.3 million COVID-19 vaccines from China: Maduro

MSN.com Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said 1.3 million vaccines from China had arrived in the South American country which is poised to start a vaccination campaign in the coming days. The announcement comes as Venezuela mired in an economic crisis experiences a second wave of COVID19 cases amid a weak healthcare system and slow vaccination rollout. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/venezuela-receives-13-million-covid-19-vaccines-from-china-maduro/ar-AAKkohF 24th May 2021

Squabbles and accusations: Inside Brazil’s COVID Senate inquiry

Al Jazeera English In the latest session of Brazils COVID19 Senate inquiry set up to investigate the governments handling of the pandemic former Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello mistook one senators surname for a military rank. I am not a military man Coronel is a surname Senator Angelo Coronel whose last name means colonel in Brazilian Portuguese told the former minister. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/24/squabbles-and-accusations-inside-brazil-covid-senate-inquiry 24th May 2021