New Delhi: The novel coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate countries across the world — the latest count being over 8.3 crore cases and more than 18 lakh deaths.
The UK has changed its Covid-19 vaccination roll-out rules. South Korea enforces tough social distancing measures in its prisons and non-health workers look to enter Mexico’s priority list for vaccines unlawfully.
ThePrint brings you the most important global stories on the coronavirus pandemic and why they matter.
UK changes vaccine strategy to maximise benefits
Changing its vaccine strategy, the UK Wednesday said that it would prioritise giving the first shot of vaccine over administering the second shot to those who have already received one, reports Reuters.
The UK government has approved both the Pfizer/Biotech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines. Both of these require administering two shots.
Under the new rules, the second dose of both the vaccines was advised to be given up to 12 weeks later. Earlier, the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine was administered in 21 days.
The report quotes a health ministry spokesperson who said that the approach will “maximise the benefits of both vaccines”.
However, Pfizer added a note of caution saying that it had not accounted for a different dosing schedule.
The UK has reported 24,32,888 cases and 72,548 deaths of Covid-19, so far.
Also read: Australia struggles to contain growing Covid clusters in Sydney, Melbourne
South Korea enforces tough measures in prisons after major cluster
The South Korean government is enforcing tough social distancing rules at correctional facilities across the country after a major Covid cluster emerged in a prison in Seoul, reports the Associated Press.
According to the report, 792 people, including inmates and staff, had tested positive in Seoul’s Dongbu Detention Center.
“The new curbs will ban visitors and let inmates connect people on the outside by video or phone, while trials and summoning involving inmates will be minimized,” AP notes.
South Korea has reported 60,740 cases and 900 deaths.
Non-health sector workers attempt to jump vaccine line in Mexico
Several people in Mexico are looking to jump the “vaccine line” by unlawfully getting in the list of priority groups, reports Mexico News Daily.
According to the report, leaders of the government workers’ union in Mexico City tried to obtain Covid shots by getting on the list of healthcare workers, the first to be inoculated in the country.
The report quotes Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, as saying, “The first to receive [it] are healthcare personnel on the front line in treating Covid … there is [to be] no influence peddling here.”
The Army has also been accused of allowing the vaccination of a doctor’s family.
Mexico has reported 14,13,935 cases and 1,24,897 deaths.
Also read: Preliminarily tests show two people in Singapore have UK Covid strain
US steps up Covid response after discovery of virus variant
The new variant of Covid-19, which was first found in the UK, has now been detected in US’ Colorado and California, reports The New York Times.
The report notes that scientists do not know how widely the variant has spread in the country, but “the answer to that question will color virtually every aspect of the nation’s pandemic response”.
It quotes epidemiologist Bill Hanage of Harvard University as saying, “The overall picture is pretty grim.”
Hanage also remarked on the likelihood that the virus is present in a lot of places where it has gone undetected.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention is “working with state laboratories in California, Delaware and Maryland to analyze patient samples for the infection”, according to NYT.
The US has reported 2,02,16,991 cases and 3,50,778 deaths.
Worshippers in West Bank settlement accuse police of selective enforcement of Covid rules
Israeli police has been accused of selectively charging worshippers from a congregation in the disputed West Bank settlement of Modi’in Ilitin for violating Covid-19 rules, reports Haaretz.
“During Israel’s first coronavirus lockdown in spring, the police issued tickets to 13 worshippers from a congregation,” the report notes. After appeals were filed, the charges against four of them were dropped but legal proceedings against the other nine began two weeks ago.
The report adds that Menachem Stauber, the lawyer representing the worshippers from Modi’in Ilit, is representing nearly 100 clients who have been accused of violating health norms.
“Stauber also claimed that because Modi’in Ilit is a settlement in the West Bank, Israeli health regulations don’t automatically apply there and were only applied to West Bank settlements a day after his 13 clients were issued tickets,” Haaretz reports.
Israel has reported 4,19,312 cases and 3,314 deaths.
What else we are reading:
Wuhan one year on: normality returns, but pain over handling of Covid outbreak endures: The Guardian
A year when some retailers lost the battle for survival: The Straits Times
Also read: China is making it harder to solve the mystery of how Covid began