New Delhi: The Covid-19 pandemic continues to worry the world with more than 21 crore cases and over 44 lakh deaths. So far, the virus has made its way to more than 200 countries and territories.
In news around the world, the UK government plans to prioritise providing Covid-19 booster shots first to the “most vulnerable people” in the country, US Customs and Border Protection agents seize 3,000 fake vaccination cards in Alaska, Israel expands booster shots to all above 40 and Hong Kong’s allowing actor Nicole Kidman to skip quarantine, sparks a row.
Hong Kong allows Nicole Kidman to skip quarantine
Hong Kong government’s decision to allow Hollywood actor Nicole Kidman to skip quarantine period to film the Amazon television series, The Expats, sparked public outrage, reports the South China Morning Post.
The authorities Thursday denied having breached any of the conditions that came with exemption and claimed that they would continue to monitor the situation to ensure compliance.
When asked why the Australian actress was seen shopping at a boutique in Central District two days after her arrival last week, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau justified the allowance saying, “The case in discussion has been granted permission to travel to Hong Kong with a quarantine exemption for the purpose of performing designated professional work, taking into account that it is conducive to maintaining the necessary operation and development of Hong Kong’s economy.”
Hong Kong has one of the most stringent entry requirements in the world, with people coming from “high risk” countries, even fully vaccinated, required to undergo compulsory quarantine for 21 days in a designated quarantine hotel.
Hong Kong has reported 12,048 Covid-19 infections and 212 deaths.
Most vulnerable people to get booster shots in UK
The UK is planning to offer Covid-19 boosters shots to the “most vulnerable people” starting next month, reports the BBC.
Last month, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) spoke of the need to give the booster dose to those above 50 years, who comprise over 30 million of the country’s population and are most vulnerable to infection.
However, it is still unclear which section of the population will be prioritised — all adults above 50, or the most vulnerable among them.
“Some people will need a third dose, particularly people who we know are very unlikely to be well protected by those first two doses”, Prof Adam Finn, a member of the JCVI, told the BBC.
While the need for booster shots is claimed to be vital in people with weakened immune systems, given how two doses fail to provide them lasting protection against Covid-19, the push for a third dose by the US and UK amid a scarcity of vaccines in poor countries has been severely criticised. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Vaccine injustice is a shame on all humanity”.
According to the BBC, about 70 per cent of the entire UK population has had at least one shot while the figure stands at just 1 per cent in the poorest countries of the world.
The UK has reported 6,392,160 Covid infections and 131,373 fatalities so far.
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3,000 fake vaccination cards seized in Alaska
US Customs and Border Protection agents at Anchorage airport in Alaska confiscated more than 3,000 counterfeit Covid vaccination cards sent from China Thursday, reports The Guardian.
The cards, although of “low-quality printing”, looked very similar to the authentic Centers for Disease Control and Prevention certificates of the US provided to vaccine recipients, the agency said in a statement.
Last week, around 3,600 fake vaccination cards, sent from China, were also seized by the agency in Memphis, a city located in southwest Tennessee.
“Getting these fraudulent cards off the streets and out of the hands of those who would then sell them is important for the safety of the American public,” Lance Robinson, area port director of the Area Port of Anchorage, said in a statement.
According to a VOA report, these fake cards have a box for the recipient’s name, date of birth, the vaccine maker, lot number, date and venue of the vaccination site, and a logo of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the upper right corner. These fake cards, however, contain typographical errors and spelling errors, and are mostly imported by a non-CDC or medical entity.
The seizures of these fake vaccination cards come as more and more restaurants and entertainment venues make showing proof of vaccination mandatory to enter these places.
The US has registered 38,231,787 Covid-19 cases and 643,112 deaths.
Israel expands booster shots to all aged above 40
Israel’s Health Ministry Friday approved administering the third Covid booster shot to Israelis aged 40 and above, reports Haaretz.
Following the recommendation of the vaccination committee, the Health ministry Friday lowered the minimum age to receive the third vaccine dose from 50 to 40 as the country saw soaring infection rates.
The booster shot, which will be offered five months after the second dose, will be available to the new age group including teachers, caretakers of the elderly and pregnant women.
Israel began providing booster shots to people above 60 and some at-risk groups over two weeks ago, turning a deaf ear to pleas made by the WHO earlier this month when it urged wealthy countries to temporarily halt their third-shot programmes until the end of September.
Instead, the government spoke of how the booster shots have helped contain the virus. “We can say that today booster shots for 60-year-olds and now even people over 50 are doing their job in the sense that they reduce infection rates,” Israel’s top coronavirus expert told Ynet news site Thursday.
Israel has reported 970,606 Covid cases and 6,752 deaths so far.
What Else we’re reading
As Covid-19 Boosters Loom, Pfizer and Moderna Expected to See Billions More in Sales: The Wall Street Journal
First COVID case reported in Tokyo 2020 Paralympic village: Al Jazeera
(Edited by Paramita Ghosh)
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