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Up to 100 million additional doses of any eventual Covid-19 vaccine will be insured for delivery to the poorest countries in 2021, health groups announced Tuesday, as the virus showed no signs of regressing after cashing in more than a million euros. lives around the world.
The announcement doubles the number of doses already obtained from the Serum Institute of India by the Gavi vaccine alliance and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, following an initial agreement last month.
The public-private health partnership emphasized that the eventual total is “potentially several times” higher, and said the price would be capped at $ 3 per dose.
“No country, rich or poor, should be left at the end of the queue when it comes to Covid-19 vaccines; this collaboration brings us one step closer to achieving this goal, ”Gavi CEO Seth Berkley said in a statement.
With nine vaccine candidates in late-stage trials, the World Health Organization is stepping up its efforts to provide faster and cheaper tests to the poorest countries.
The WHO said Monday that some 120 million rapid tests for Covid-19 will be available to low- and middle-income countries at $ 5 each under a $ 600 million scheme, provided funding can be secured.
The kits – faster, cheaper and easier to administer than standard but also less reliable polymerase chain reaction (PCR) swab tests – will be rolled out in 133 countries in the next six months.
“This will allow for the expansion of testing, particularly in hard-to-reach areas that do not have laboratory facilities or enough trained health workers to perform PCR testing,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a conference of virtual press.
For months, experts have been calling for widespread adoption of this low-cost technology so that people can test themselves several times a week.
– European wave –
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said “responsible leadership is important” to lead the world through the pandemic.
“Science matters. Cooperation matters, and misinformation kills, ”he warned, urging people to respect family infection control measures, such as washing hands, distancing themselves and wearing masks.
Meanwhile, the number of cases is rising rapidly in Europe, whose governments are cracking down on the movement in a bid to stem the rise.
Germany introduced new limits on the number of people who can attend private events, after Spain, France, Great Britain and Northern Ireland imposed new restrictions in recent days.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said “a reaction is needed” after the recent outbreaks were often attributed to weddings and other gatherings.
In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared to share the general confusion over his government’s measures, apologizing via Twitter after wrongly saying that the rules limiting gatherings in the northeast of England to no more than six people they were not applied outdoors.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia said they were preparing to declare a state of emergency.
In Greece, the first cruise ship to sail into the country since its closure received the virus completely clear after a “false alarm” among crew members forced it to dock.
In Israel, which has the highest per capita infection rate in the world, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said Tuesday that there was “no way” the second nationwide coronavirus lockdown would be lifted after three weeks. as originally planned.
– ‘Concern’ in New York –
Across the Atlantic, the rate of positive tests from New York’s former coronavirus hotspot increased to more than three percent from less than two in just 24 hours, authorities said, adding that Orthodox Jewish communities have been faced with a particularly steep increase.
The numbers were a “real cause for concern,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters when he introduced fines for those who do not wear masks in public and said he would meet virtually with Orthodox Jewish leaders.
More than one in ten of the 203,107 people who have died of coronavirus in the US so far were New Yorkers.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump and challenger Joe Biden were preparing for a first televised election debate, and the country’s response to the virus is likely to be a key battleground.
Worldwide, the virus has infected nearly 33.5 million people and killed more than a million, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.
Mid-September saw a record rise in cases in most regions and the WHO warned that virus deaths could even double to two million without further global collective action.
On Monday, the number of cases in India surpassed six million, with the country on track to overtake the United States in the coming weeks as the country with the most infections.
The country’s main pandemic agency said Tuesday that up to 60 million of India’s 1.3 billion people may already have been infected, according to a study of antibodies in the blood.
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