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Covid live: UK sending poor countries ‘to back of queue’ by ordering boosters; Iran calls for urgent pandemic action Covid live: UK sending poor countries ‘to back of queue’ by ordering boosters; Iran calls for urgent pandemic action
(32 minutes later)
UK accused of sending countries who are struggling to access vaccines ‘to back of queue’; pandemic ‘number-one’ problem in Iran, says supreme leader UK accused of sending countries who are struggling to access vaccines ‘to back of queue’; pandemic ‘No 1’ problem in Iran, says supreme leader
Turkey will start face-to-face education as scheduled, the health minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday, and unvaccinated adults will have to be tested regularly against Covid.
“It is not possible for us to compromise face-to-face education ... We will take necessary measures to protect students and their families,” Koca said in a speech following the coronavirus science council meeting.
Vaccination is a duty that cannot be left up to choice anymore Koca added. He said the teachers, instructors and families of the students should be vaccinated.
“Vaccine should be a must for business and education to continue, the people who are not vaccinated should present negative PCR test results regularly,” Koca said.
Daily cases have surged from a low of just over 4,000 in early July to over 20,000 for the last two weeks, since authorities relaxed pandemic-related restrictions.
As of Wednesday, half of Turkish adults have received at least two doses of a vaccine, Koca said on Twitter. Turkey has given nearly 6 million third doses to health workers and people over 50 years old.
The country plans to open schools in September.
Good evening from London. I’m Lucy Campbell, I’ll be bringing you all the latest global developments on the coronavirus pandemic for the next few hours. Please feel free to get in touch with me as I work if you have a story or tips to share! Your thoughts are always welcome.
Email: lucy.campbell@theguardian.comTwitter: @lucy_campbell_
The UK is sending low- and middle-income countries who are struggling to access vaccines “to the back of the queue” by ordering millions of “overpriced” booster jabs from Pfizer, according to vaccine equity campaigners from Global Justice Now. They criticised the pharmaceutical giant for “profiteering” during the pandemic as the company reportedly increased Covid-19 vaccine prices for the NHS by a fifth.
A UK government scientific adviser has said Covid is unlikely to be eradicated entirely because there is no vaccine that is 95% protective against infection. Prof Andrew Hayward also said that Covid would likely continue to mutate, meaning true herd immunity was even further unlikely. “We need to get used to the concept that this will become what we call an endemic disease,” he said.
Iran’s supreme leader has said the pandemic is the country’s “No 1 problem” and must urgently be curbed, calling for greater efforts to import and produce vaccines. “The pandemic is Iran’s number-one problem today ... The number of infected people and the fatalities are truly tragic. ... It is an urgent matter that must be curbed,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.
Europe’s drugs regulator said it is looking into three new conditions to assess whether they may be possible side-effects related to Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna following a small number of cases. Erythema multiforme, a form of allergic skin reaction, and glomerulonephritis and nephrotic syndrome, disorders related to kidneys, are being studied.
A new US practice of transferring asylum-seekers and migrants expelled under public health orders by plane to southern Mexico contravenes international law, the UN refugee agency said. Those expelled may have urgent protection needs and risk being sent back to the dangers they have fled without any opportunity to have their needs assessed and addressed, it said.
Thai police fired water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters in Bangkok for a second consecutive day as demonstrators rallied against the government and its handling of the coronavirus crisis. Hundreds sought to rally near the residence of the prime minister to demand his resignation for government corruption and mismanagement of the pandemic, but they were violently dispersed after throwing paint.
China’s drug regulator approved the country’s first mixed-vaccine trial, a company involved in the study has said, amid concern about the efficacy of domestically produced jabs. The trial will test the efficacy of combining an “inactivated” vaccine made by China’s Sinovac with a DNA-based one developed by US pharmaceutical company Inovio.
Chinese state media articles quoted a Swiss biologist accusing the US of politicising Covid origin investigations were quietly deleted, after the Swiss government said no such person exists. On 24 July, a Facebook post by an account named Wilson Edwards claimed to have witnessed or learned of US efforts to politicise the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 investigations from within.
A video of the Republican senator Rand Paul disputing the effectiveness of wearing masks was removed from YouTube. Its policy is to ban videos that claim masks do not play a role in preventing the contraction or transmission of Covid is based on the guidance of the World Health Organization – which u-turned last year after initially refraining from recommending people wear face masks in public.
Authorities in northern Germany have appealed to thousands of people to get another shot of Covid vaccine after a police investigation found a Red Cross nurse may have injected them with a saline solution. The vaccine-sceptic nurse is suspected of injecting salt solution into people’s arms instead of genuine doses.
The Australian Olympic Committee condemned the South Australian government over its “cruel and uncaring” decision to force athletes who have already quarantined in Sydney to complete an additional 14-day home quarantine on return to the state.
Stevie Nicks cancelled her solo concerts for 2021, citing her fear of catching Covid-19. The Fleetwood Mac star said: “While I’m vaccinated, at my age I am still being extremely cautious and for that reason have decided to skip the five performances I had planned for 2021 … These are challenging times with challenging decisions that have to be made.”
A fake check-in app is being used by Covid-19 conspiracy theorists and anti-lockdown groups to dupe business owners and keep location data out of the hands of contact tracers in at least three states, my colleagues Christopher Knaus and Nick Evershed report.A fake check-in app is being used by Covid-19 conspiracy theorists and anti-lockdown groups to dupe business owners and keep location data out of the hands of contact tracers in at least three states, my colleagues Christopher Knaus and Nick Evershed report.
Guardian Australia can reveal that conspiratorial websites and Telegram groups with at least 15,000 followers are sharing links that allow users to generate fake check-in confirmations on their phones.Guardian Australia can reveal that conspiratorial websites and Telegram groups with at least 15,000 followers are sharing links that allow users to generate fake check-in confirmations on their phones.
The user simply enters their name and a check-in location, and the app instantly generates a check-in confirmation screen that is near-identical to those displayed on government-run apps in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.The user simply enters their name and a check-in location, and the app instantly generates a check-in confirmation screen that is near-identical to those displayed on government-run apps in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
The app passes no information to government, making it difficult for contact tracers to find people in the event of an outbreak.The app passes no information to government, making it difficult for contact tracers to find people in the event of an outbreak.
Two US companies, Pfizer and Moderna, have raised the prices of their Covid-19 vaccines after data from clinical trials showed their mRNA formula was more effective than cheaper vaccines from Britain’s AstraZeneca and the American drugs maker Johnson & Johnson. Two US companies, Pfizer and Moderna, have raised the prices of their Covid-19 vaccines after data from clinical trials showed their mRNA formula was more effective than cheaper vaccines from Britain’s AstraZeneca and the American firm Johnson & Johnson.
AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have pledged to provide their doses on a not-for-profit basis until the pandemic ends.AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have pledged to provide their doses on a not-for-profit basis until the pandemic ends.
A new US practice of transferring asylum-seekers and migrants expelled under public health orders by plane to southern Mexico contravenes international law, the UN refugee agency has said.A new US practice of transferring asylum-seekers and migrants expelled under public health orders by plane to southern Mexico contravenes international law, the UN refugee agency has said.
Those being expelled may have urgent protection needs and risk being sent back to the very dangers they have fled in their countries of origin in central America without any opportunity to have those needs assessed and addressed, UNHCR said.Those being expelled may have urgent protection needs and risk being sent back to the very dangers they have fled in their countries of origin in central America without any opportunity to have those needs assessed and addressed, UNHCR said.
“These expulsion flights of non-Mexicans to the deep interior of Mexico constitute a troubling new dimension in enforcement of the Covid-related public health order known as Title 42,” Matthew Reynolds, the UNHCR representative to the US and the Caribbean, said.“These expulsion flights of non-Mexicans to the deep interior of Mexico constitute a troubling new dimension in enforcement of the Covid-related public health order known as Title 42,” Matthew Reynolds, the UNHCR representative to the US and the Caribbean, said.
“Removal from the US to southern Mexico, outside any official transfer agreement with appropriate legal safeguards, increases the risk of chain refoulement - pushbacks by successive countries - of vulnerable people in danger, in contravention of international law and the humanitarian principles of the 1951 Refugee Convention.” “Removal from the US to southern Mexico, outside any official transfer agreement with appropriate legal safeguards, increases the risk of chain refoulement – pushbacks by successive countries – of vulnerable people in danger, in contravention of international law and the humanitarian principles of the 1951 Refugee Convention.”
He said the expulsion flights would also further strain the humanitarian response capacity in southern Mexico and heighten the risk of Covid-19 transmission across national borders.He said the expulsion flights would also further strain the humanitarian response capacity in southern Mexico and heighten the risk of Covid-19 transmission across national borders.
Title 42 is a coronavirus policy dating from the presidency of Donald Trump, allowing the immediate deportation of undocumented migrants, including those who arrive seeking asylum, AFP reports.Title 42 is a coronavirus policy dating from the presidency of Donald Trump, allowing the immediate deportation of undocumented migrants, including those who arrive seeking asylum, AFP reports.
At the end of July, US authorities began deporting some migrant families on flights to central America as part of an expedited system to remove people who arrived without authorisation via Mexico.At the end of July, US authorities began deporting some migrant families on flights to central America as part of an expedited system to remove people who arrived without authorisation via Mexico.
The Department of Homeland Security said the families were sent back to their home countries, including Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, but did not provide a number of people.The Department of Homeland Security said the families were sent back to their home countries, including Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, but did not provide a number of people.
Cuba is bringing back hundreds of doctors working abroad and converting hotels into isolation centres and hospitals in order to battle a spike in cases that is overwhelming healthcare services in parts of the Caribbean island.Cuba is bringing back hundreds of doctors working abroad and converting hotels into isolation centres and hospitals in order to battle a spike in cases that is overwhelming healthcare services in parts of the Caribbean island.
Reuters reports that Cuba’s rolling seven-day average of confirmed Covid-19 cases has surged eightfold within two months to 5,639 per million inhabitants, ten times the world average.Reuters reports that Cuba’s rolling seven-day average of confirmed Covid-19 cases has surged eightfold within two months to 5,639 per million inhabitants, ten times the world average.
The case fatality rate was 0.93% in the first week of August, according to reports, with the 3,608 Covid deaths in Cuba since the start of the pandemic still well below the global average per capita, according to official data.The case fatality rate was 0.93% in the first week of August, according to reports, with the 3,608 Covid deaths in Cuba since the start of the pandemic still well below the global average per capita, according to official data.
The Covid-19 surge has come amid Cuba’s worst economic crisis in decades that had already resulted in medicine shortages – amid tightening US sanctions largely premised on ideology – and long queues for scarce goods that made implementing lockdowns problematic, Reuters reports.The Covid-19 surge has come amid Cuba’s worst economic crisis in decades that had already resulted in medicine shortages – amid tightening US sanctions largely premised on ideology – and long queues for scarce goods that made implementing lockdowns problematic, Reuters reports.
“I witnessed queues of more than 20 hours, people dying in the corridors (of the polyclinic),” wrote Ana Iris Diaz, a professor at the university of the central Cuban city of Santa Clara in a Facebook post that went viral this week.“I witnessed queues of more than 20 hours, people dying in the corridors (of the polyclinic),” wrote Ana Iris Diaz, a professor at the university of the central Cuban city of Santa Clara in a Facebook post that went viral this week.
“I saw an elderly woman die after several hours of waiting and four days without an antigen test or PCR. Simply put, I saw what I would have hoped to never see: the collapse of our health system.”“I saw an elderly woman die after several hours of waiting and four days without an antigen test or PCR. Simply put, I saw what I would have hoped to never see: the collapse of our health system.”
President Miguel Diaz-Canel told a government meeting on Monday: “We are at the limit of our capacity for infrastructure, resources, medicine and oxygen.” The president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, told a government meeting on Monday: “We are at the limit of our capacity for infrastructure, resources, medicine and oxygen.”
A quarter of Cuba’s 11.2 million inhabitants have been inoculated with its two most advanced domestically-made vaccines that officials say have proven more than 90 % effective.A quarter of Cuba’s 11.2 million inhabitants have been inoculated with its two most advanced domestically-made vaccines that officials say have proven more than 90 % effective.
When it comes to the pandemic, plenty of films have had their turn in the spotlight. Contagion was one of them, for contextualising the scale of the virus and teaching everybody what an R number was. So was Jaws, with Amity Island’s safety-denying mayor, Larry Vaughn, serving as an analogue for any authority figure who was skeptical about the concept of lockdown. When it comes to the pandemic, plenty of films have had their turn in the spotlight. Contagion was one of them, for contextualising the scale of the virus and teaching everybody what an R number was. So was Jaws, with Amity Island’s safety-denying mayor, Larry Vaughn, serving as an analogue for any authority figure who was sceptical about the concept of lockdown.
To some extent, those films make sense. In times of great uncertainty, we reach for the familiar to guide us. But sometimes that’s a bad idea. Because sometimes what they reach for is the Will Smith movie I Am Legend.To some extent, those films make sense. In times of great uncertainty, we reach for the familiar to guide us. But sometimes that’s a bad idea. Because sometimes what they reach for is the Will Smith movie I Am Legend.
Thai police have fired water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters in Bangkok for a second consecutive day as demonstrators rallied against the government and its handling of the coronavirus crisis.Thai police have fired water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters in Bangkok for a second consecutive day as demonstrators rallied against the government and its handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Hundreds sought to rally near the residence of prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to demand his resignation for government corruption and mismanagement of the pandemic.Hundreds sought to rally near the residence of prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to demand his resignation for government corruption and mismanagement of the pandemic.
Reuters reports protesters threw paint at a line of riot police who confronted them as they tried to march on the PM’s home and police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and charging to disperse them.Reuters reports protesters threw paint at a line of riot police who confronted them as they tried to march on the PM’s home and police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and charging to disperse them.
Barbed wire fences and shipping containers were used to block the road. The Associated Press reports that a group also gathered in the nearby Din Daeng area, firing slingshots and hurling firecrackers and small explosive devices called ping-pong bombs. They also set fire to a vehicle that burned fiercely beneath a nearby elevated roadway.Barbed wire fences and shipping containers were used to block the road. The Associated Press reports that a group also gathered in the nearby Din Daeng area, firing slingshots and hurling firecrackers and small explosive devices called ping-pong bombs. They also set fire to a vehicle that burned fiercely beneath a nearby elevated roadway.
Earlier protesters burnt an effigy of a Thai judge who had denied bail to leaders of past protests. “Police are not our enemies. Our true enemy is the government,” one protester told the rally.Earlier protesters burnt an effigy of a Thai judge who had denied bail to leaders of past protests. “Police are not our enemies. Our true enemy is the government,” one protester told the rally.
Police also used tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to violently break up a similar protest yesterday, when thousands of demonstrators drove in a convoy of cars and motorcycles through Bangkok. Some core leaders of the movement controversially remain in detention, but the movement has resurged.Police also used tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets to violently break up a similar protest yesterday, when thousands of demonstrators drove in a convoy of cars and motorcycles through Bangkok. Some core leaders of the movement controversially remain in detention, but the movement has resurged.
“The protesters repeatedly attacked police by throwing firecrackers, ping pong bombs, and (using) slingshots,” royal Thai police deputy spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen said.“The protesters repeatedly attacked police by throwing firecrackers, ping pong bombs, and (using) slingshots,” royal Thai police deputy spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen said.
The PM, Prayuth, has been criticised for a slow vaccination campaign – using jabs produced by a company owned by the king that has no prior experience of making vaccines – and a failure to quell Thailand’s worst Covid-19 wave yet, which has accounted for the bulk of the country of 70m’s more than 788,000 cases and 6,700 deaths.The PM, Prayuth, has been criticised for a slow vaccination campaign – using jabs produced by a company owned by the king that has no prior experience of making vaccines – and a failure to quell Thailand’s worst Covid-19 wave yet, which has accounted for the bulk of the country of 70m’s more than 788,000 cases and 6,700 deaths.
Though the demonstrations have focused on Covid, they are part of a wider push for sweeping political change that includes Prayuth’s resignation, a new constitution and – most contentious of all – fundamental reform of the powerful but opaque monarchy, AP reports. Financial hardship from restrictions have fuelled public anger over these grievances.Though the demonstrations have focused on Covid, they are part of a wider push for sweeping political change that includes Prayuth’s resignation, a new constitution and – most contentious of all – fundamental reform of the powerful but opaque monarchy, AP reports. Financial hardship from restrictions have fuelled public anger over these grievances.
The Swiss government plans to halt most free Covid-19 testing for people who are not vaccinated now that nearly half the population has received their jabs.Reuters reports:The Swiss government plans to halt most free Covid-19 testing for people who are not vaccinated now that nearly half the population has received their jabs.Reuters reports:
France will strengthen lockdown rules in the overseas territory of Guadeloupe to rein in the spread of Covid-19 as rising infections in its Caribbean islands overwhelm hospitals. Restrictions have also been tightened in Martinique, as Reuters reports:France will strengthen lockdown rules in the overseas territory of Guadeloupe to rein in the spread of Covid-19 as rising infections in its Caribbean islands overwhelm hospitals. Restrictions have also been tightened in Martinique, as Reuters reports:
The UK recorded 29,612 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday and 104 deaths within 28 days of a positive test for the virus, Reuters reports.The UK recorded 29,612 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday and 104 deaths within 28 days of a positive test for the virus, Reuters reports.
That compares with 23,510 new cases and 146 deaths on Tuesday.That compares with 23,510 new cases and 146 deaths on Tuesday.