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WASHINGTON, United States – Global tensions eased on Thursday during the race for a coronavirus vaccine, as the United States and China exchanged jabs, and France criticized pharmaceutical giant Sanofi for suggesting the United States would receive any eventual vaccines first.
Scientists are working at breakneck speed to develop a vaccine against COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, which has killed more than 300,000 people worldwide and has hit economies.
From the USA USA Even Europe and Asia, national and local governments are easing shutdown orders to get people back to work, while worrying about a possible second wave of infections.
Greater freedom of movement means an increased risk of contracting the virus, which is why national laboratories and private companies are working to find the right formula for a vaccine.
The European Union drug agency offered some hope when it said one could be ready in a year, according to data from clinical trials already underway.
But Marco Cavaleri, EMA’s chief vaccine strategy, acknowledged that the timeline was the “best case scenario” and warned that “there may be delays.”
The race for a vaccine has exposed a nerve in relations between the United States and China, where the virus was first detected late last year in the central city of Wuhan.
Two US agencies warned Wednesday that Chinese hackers were trying to steal the COVID-19 vaccine investigation, a claim that Beijing rejected for “tarnishing” its reputation.
United States President Donald Trump, who has stepped up rhetoric against China, said he doesn’t even want to compromise with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which could jeopardize a trade deal between the world’s two main economies.
“I am very disappointed with China. I will tell you right now,” he said in an interview with Fox Business.
“There are many things we could do. We could do things. We could cut the whole relationship.”
‘Darker Winter’
On Capitol Hill, a deposed US health official told Congress that the Trump administration had no strategy for finding and distributing a vaccine to millions of Americans, warning of the “darkest winter” ahead.
“We don’t have a single lead point at the moment for this response, and we don’t have a master plan,” said Rick Bright, who was removed last month as head of the US agency tasked with developing a coronavirus vaccine.
The United States has recorded more than 84,000 COVID-19 related deaths, the highest number of any nation.
France upsets Sanofi
World leaders were among the 140 signatories to a letter published Thursday that said that no vaccine should be patented and that science should be shared among nations.
“Governments and international partners must come together around a global guarantee that ensures that when a safe and effective vaccine is developed, it is produced quickly at scale and made available to all, in all countries, in a comprehensive manner. free, “he said.
But a dispute erupted in France after drug maker Sanofi said it would reserve the first shipments of any vaccine it discovered to the United States.
The comments prompted a swift reprimand from the French government: President Emmanuel Macron’s office said any vaccine should be treated as “a global public good, not subject to market forces.”
Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said the United States had a risk-sharing model that allowed manufacturing to begin before a vaccine was finally approved, while Europe did not.
“The United States government is entitled to the largest pre-order because it is invested in taking the risk,” Hudson told Bloomberg News.
Macron’s top officials are scheduled to meet with Sanofi executives on the matter next week.
The search for a vaccine became even more urgent after the World Health Organization said the disease would never go away and that the world would have to learn to live with it forever.
“This virus can become another endemic virus in our communities and this virus will never disappear,” said Michael Ryan, the UN agency’s director of emergencies.
US jobless claims on the rise USA
The possibility that the disease will persist leaves governments facing a delicate balancing act between suppressing the pathogen and starting up their economies.
In the United States, bleaker economic data emerged Thursday, with nearly three million more Americans applying for unemployment benefits.
That brings the grand total to 36.5 million, more than 10 percent of the United States population.
Other signs of the damage to companies emerged when Lloyd’s of London predicted that the pandemic will cost the global insurance industry about $ 203 billion.
European markets closed, but Wall Street rebounded despite new jobless claims.
A move to reopen
The reopening of economies continued throughout Europe, where the EU has put forward proposals for a gradual restart of travel and the eventual lifting of border controls.
“It may be a mistake, but we have no choice. Without tourists, we will not be able to pass!” Enrico Facchetti, a 61-year-old former goldsmith, said of the reopening of Venice.
And Japan, the third largest economy in the world, raised a state of emergency in most of the country, except Tokyo and Osaka.
New Zealanders mingled with friends and arrived at shopping malls for the first time in seven weeks when the national shutdown ended.
And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the national parks would partially reopen on June 1.
But in Latin America, the virus continued to rise, with a jump of 60 percent in cases in the Chilean capital of Santiago, which led authorities to impose a total blockade on the city.
South Sudan reported its first death from COVID-19. And in Bangladesh, the first case was confirmed in the abundant Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, which house almost a million people. – with Danny Kemp in The Hague and AFP offices
How does it happen
LAST UPDATE: May 15, 2020 – 11:12 a.m.
Follow this page for updates on a mysterious pneumonia outbreak that has affected dozens of people in China.
May 15, 2020 – 11:12 a.m.
The US health authorities. USA They issue an alert about a rare but sometimes fatal autoimmune condition among children believed to be related to COVID-19.
The disease, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called multisystemic inflammatory syndrome in children, was first reported in Britain in late April. – AFP
May 15, 2020 – 7:26 a.m.
The new coronavirus has killed more than 300,000 people worldwide, primarily in Europe and the United States, since it first emerged in China late last year, according to an AFP count of official figures Thursday at 2030 GMT.
A total of 300,140 people have died worldwide from 4,403,714 officially registered cases. The United States has recorded the highest number of deaths at 85,194, followed by Great Britain with 33,614, Italy with 31,368, France with 27,425 and Spain with 27,321 deaths. – AFP
May 14, 2020 – 9:16 PM
A northeast Chinese city partially closed its borders, cut transportation links, and closed schools after the emergence of a local COVID-19 group that has fueled fears of a second wave of infections in China.
Jilin authorities, with a population of more than four million, suspended bus services and said it will allow residents to leave the city only if they have tested negative for COVID-19 in the past 48 hours and complete an unspecified period. of “strict self isolation”. – AFP
May 14, 2020 – 6:34 pm
Beijing accused the United States of tarnishing China after Washington alleged that Chinese hackers were trying to steal investigations into the development of a coronavirus vaccine.
The claims have added fuel to tensions between the global superpowers, which have exchanged comments on the origin of the pandemic that has killed 300,000 people. – AFP
May 14, 2020 – 4:03 pm
The Health Department reports 258 new cases of COVID-19, raising the national count to 11,876.
There are 86 new recoveries and 18 new deaths.
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