New Delhi: While India has been witnessing a fall in Covid cases, and has reported 12,899 new cases and 107 deaths Thursday, the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world. The latest count of Covid cases was over 1.4 crore cases and over 22 lakh deaths worldwide.
Some of the stories picked from across the globe today include a worrying scandal in China where at least 80 have been arrested for selling counterfeit vaccines & WHO’s strong admonishment to a Covid-sceptic government in Tanzania.
Counterfeit vaccines reduce confidence in Chinese jabs
Thousands of counterfeit vaccines have been confiscated in China raising doubts about the reliability of the vaccines, reports Asia Times
Chinese police have arrested over 80 people in the past week in Beijing and in the eastern Shandong and Jiangsu districts. Chinese media’s reporting on the issue has been scant and bereft of details.
Beijing, in the meantime, is rushing to assure other countries that have ordered its approved Sinopharm and Sinovac-made vaccines that the scandal won’t affect exported doses.
China has reported 89,649 coronavirus cases and 4,636 deaths so far.
Australia isolates over 600 tennis players and officials
Ahead of Australian Open which begins 8 February, over 600 players and officials have been put under isolation after a hotel official at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne tested positive for Covid-19, reports South China Morning Post.
Australia had allowed most players to train during their 14-day lockdown but 72 players were confined to a 24-hour long quarantine in their hotel rooms after Covid-19 cases were detected on flights that flew them in to Australia, which sparked resentment from the locked down players.
Currently, six ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) and WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tournaments are underway in Melbourne to get players into shape for the first grand slam of the tennis season.
Australia has reported 28,838 coronavirus cases and 909 deaths so far.
Also read: ‘Anonymous’ author’s paper on US’ China strategy makes a buzz, has sharp message for India
WHO urges Tanzania to follow science after President rubbishes vaccines
Tanzanian President John Magufuli, re-elected to power in the country after a disputed election in October 2020, has been downplaying the virus and cautioning the health ministry against the rushed procurement of vaccines. The President has called vaccines “dangerous” and that “not all vaccines are of good intentions to our nation.”, reports CNN.
Following the President’s comments, WHO officials in the country have been urging the administration to deal with the pandemic and stick to science. WHO’s Regional Africa Director Dr Matshidiso Moeti and WHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took to Twitter following the President’s comments and urged Tanzania to prepare for a vaccine campaign. They also said the country should share data actively. Tanzania hasn’t updated its Covid-19 data since late April.
Tanzania has reported only 509 coronavirus cases and 21 deaths so far.
Refrigerator malfunction leads to a frenzy overnight vaccination drive in Seattle
A refrigerator holding 1,600 vaccines broke down in the US city of Seattle, which led to thousands of people rushing to Kaiser Permanente hospital to get a jab, reports The New York Times.
Health officials alerted residents of the city at 11 pm that they had a rare chance of getting the vaccine if they could come right away, since the Moderna jabs in the fridge would have become ineffective and would be disposed if they weren’t immediately administered. The hospital’s regional manager, Susan Mullaney said at a press conference that the hospital had only 12 hours to administer the vaccines before they become useless.
Within minutes there were long lines in front of the hospital and by 3:30 am all jabs had been administered.
The US has reported 2,71,50,457 coronavirus cases and 4,61,930 deaths so far.
France decides against administering AstraZeneca to people over 65
After the French government’s health advisory body concluded there wasn’t enough data to prove AstraZeneca’s effectiveness on elderly, the country decided to not administer the shots to those above age 65, reports Associated Press.
The decision could threaten France’s vaccination process which has prioritised giving the vaccine to health workers and citizens who are over 75.
Health authorities in various countries, including Germany, have raised concerns that the Anglo-Swedish company hasn’t tested the efficacy of its product on enough older people, and indicated they wouldn’t recommend it to senior citizens above 65.
France has reported 32,51,160 coronavirus cases and 77,595 deaths so far.
What else we are reading:
UK ‘past the peak’ of COVID wave as hospitalisations begin to come down: Euro news
Purchase of Russia’s COVID vaccine sparks debate in Iran: Al Jazeera
Also read: Poland won’t give AstraZeneca shot to elderly, vaccine shortage in California & other Covid news