New Delhi: The coronavirus pandemic continues to rage on around the globe, with the latest count being more than 11 crore cases and 26 lakh deaths.
Australia has warned its doctors to not spread anti-vaccination claims. Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina was angry in Germany over the Covax initiative.
ThePrint brings you the most important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic and why they matter.
Australia to punish healthcare workers for anti-vax claims
If a healthcare worker like doctors and nurses chooses to spread anti-vax claims during the Covid-19 vaccine drive in the country, not only will they face harsh penalties but might also get stripped of their ability to practise medicine, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
This directive was issued by the country’s medical boards and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Agency (AHPRA) as the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout begins.
The AHPRA and other boards in the country claim to have received information in September that doctors and other healthcare workers are spreading anti-vaccination messages and Covid conspiracy theories in semi-private social media groups, breaking laws that prohibit them from spreading false, misleading and deceptive claims.
Australia has reported 29,074 coronavirus cases and 909 deaths so far.
Mexico’s gamble on China vaccines
Mexico has bought 32 million doses of China-made coronavirus vaccines, dwarfing its purchases of 5 million doses from other sources, reports South China Morning Post.
The country has signed agreements for 12 million doses of the currently unapproved Sinopharm vaccine and 20 million total doses of Sinovac. Additionally, it has ordered 4 million doses of the CanSino shot.
Amid dearth of public data on Chinese vaccines, hesitations on their efficacy are pervasive in countries dependent on them. None of China’s three vaccine candidates in use globally have publicly released their late-stage clinical trial data.
The Mexican foreign relations secretary’s office has constantly refused to answer questions about the efficacy of Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino vaccines, says the report.
Mexico has reported a total of 2,137,884 cases and 191,789 deaths.
Also read: Covaxin safe, its immune response can last at least 3 months, says study published in Lancet
Italy to start making Sputnik V vaccines
Italy has become the first European Union country to start making Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, which is still under review by the European Medicines Agency. The production will start in July, reports Euro News.
Ten million doses are expected to be produced between July 2021 and January 2022. Russian authorities have claimed they are ready to provide vaccines to 50 million Europeans starting June.
Even though the review is pending, some European countries like Hungary and Slovakia have started administering the Sputnik V vaccine already.
Italy has reported 31,01,093 coronavirus cases and 1,00,479 deaths so far.
Bosnia says it didn’t receive any vaccine under Covax initiative
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic has expressed anger over not receiving a single vaccines from the European Union-backed Covax initiative, and has said Bosnians are “justifiably unhappy”, reports Al Jazeera.
“We expect COVAX to fulfil its contractual obligations,” she said at a press conference while visiting German capital Berlin Tuesday.
The foreign minister claimed that Bosnia had fulfilled its side of the obligation by paying for more than 1.2 million doses under Covax, which is a global vaccine-sharing effort, and yet hasn’t received a single dose of the vaccine.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has reported 1,38,542 coronavirus cases and 5,345 deaths so far.
What else we’re reading:
Covid-19 worsening already alarming rate of violence against women: WHO — EWN
How a Holocaust survivor showed up for a vaccine and charmed a hospital — The New York Times
Edited by Sanghamitra Mazumdar
Also read: ‘Too early to say if Covid is becoming endemic’: Experts disagree with Delhi health minister