THE World Bank says it would invest over $5 billion over the next five years to help restore degraded landscapes, improve agriculture productivity, and promote livelihoods in 11 African countries as they recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
World Bank Group President David Malpass said the investment would help improve livelihoods as those countries recovered from COVID-19 and dealt with the impact of biodiversity loss and climate change.
The funds would benefit countries in the Sahel region, Lake Chad and Horn of Africa, the Bank said in a statement.
THERE is no indication that the coronavirus variant identified in South Africa is more transmissible than the one spreading fast in Britain, the World Health Organization’s technical chief on COVID-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, has said.
Van Kerhove said this as Britain began its third lockdown after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a coronavirus variant first identified in Britain was spreading so fast it risked overwhelming the National Health Service within 21 days.
UK scientists also expressed concern that vaccines being rolled out in Britain may not be able to protect against another variant that emerged in South Africa.
The following countries, in alphabetical order, are among those that have reported variants among their populations.
* AUSTRALIA said two travellers from the United Kingdom were carrying the variant found in Britain.
* AUSTRIA has found four cases of the coronavirus mutation first detected in Britain and one case of the South African mutation, Franz Allerberger of public health agency AGES told a news conference on Monday.
* BRAZIL confirmed its first two cases of British variant, Sao Paulo state’s health secretariat said.
* Officials in CANADA said that two confirmed cases of the variant detected in the United Kingdom had appeared in the Canadian province of Ontario.
* CHILE said it had recorded its first case of the British variant.
* CYPRUS has discovered 12 cases of the variant in people who recently travelled from Britain.
* DENMARK estimates around 800 peoples have been infected with the variant spreading in Britain.
* Health officials in FINLAND said the variant circulating in Britain has been detected in two people, while the variant spreading in South Africa has been detected in one person.
* FRANCE said there were around a dozen cases of the UK variant in the country. Martin Hirsch, director-general of the Paris hospitals system, said the variant was present in Paris.
* GERMANY said the variant from Britain had been found in a passenger flying to Frankfurt from London on Dec. 20. It seems to have been present in Germany since November, the Die Welt daily reported.
* GREECE has detected four cases of the variant in people who recently travelled from Britain, a Health Ministry official said.
* The British variant appears to have infected two students who returned to HONG KONG from the UK, the Department of Health said.
* INDIA has found 38 cases of the variant found in Britain.
* IRAN on Tuesday registered its first case of a coronavirus variant in a traveller arriving from the United Kingdom.
* Health officials in IRELAND said increased socialising around Christmas – and not a new variant – had driven a surge in infections. Prime Minister Micheál Martin said on Wednesday the variant discovered in Britain was spreading in Ireland at a rate that has surpassed the most pessimistic models available to the government.
* ISRAEL detected four cases of the coronavirus emerging in Britain.
* ITALY detected a patient infected with the variant found in Britain, the health ministry said.
* JAPAN detected the variant found in South Africa, the government said, the first such discovery in a nation that has already identified more than a dozen cases of the variant spreading in Britain.
* JORDAN has detected its first two cases of the variant spreading in Britain.
* LEBANON detected its first case of a variant of the coronavirus on a flight arriving from London.
* NORWAY said the variant circulating in Britain had been detected in 23 people, while the variant circulating in South Africa had been detected in one person.
* OMAN registered its first case of the variant that emerged in Britain, in a resident who arrived from the UK, the health ministry said on Tuesday
* PAKISTAN health officials said the variant found in Britain had been detected in the southern province of Sindh.
* The variant linked to Britain has been detected on the island of Madeira in PORTUGAL, the regional civil protection authority said.
* SINGAPORE confirmed its first case of the variant found in Britain, the patient arriving from Britain on Dec. 6, while 11 others who were already in quarantine had returned preliminarily positive results.
* SOUTH KOREA said the variant found in Britain was found in three people who had entered South Korea from London on Dec. 22. Officials vowed to speed up vaccinations.
* SWEDEN said the variant circulating in Britain had been detected after a traveller from Britain fell ill on arrival and tested positive.
* SWITZERLAND has documented five cases of the variant from Britain and two cases of the South African mutation, a health ministry official said.
* Self-ruled TAIWAN, claimed by neighbouring China, confirmed its first case of the variant discovered in Britain, a traveller from the UK.
* TURKEY has banned Britons from entering the country after detecting 15 cases of the new variant in travellers from Britain, the government said.
* UNITED ARAB EMIRATES discovered a “limited number” of cases of people infected with a new variant, a government official said. Those affected had travelled from abroad, without specifying from where or the number of cases.
* The UNITED STATES has reported four cases of the UK variant – in New York, California, Florida and Colorado.
* VIETNAM has detected its first case of the variant that is spreading around Britain, the health ministry said.
Source – Thomson Reuters Foundation
RUSSIA has signed a contract with Algeria to supply it with the Sputnik V vaccine, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has announced.
The RDIF statement did not say how many doses had been agreed. Algeria has said it plans to begin its vaccination campaign in January.
Source – Thomson Reuters Foundation
JOHN MILLER
THE World Health Organization on Thursday listed Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, in a move seeking to speed access in the developing world.
The United Nations health agency said it will work with regional partners to tell national health authorities about the two-dose shot and its anticipated benefits.
The WHO established its emergency use listing (EUL) process to help poorer countries without their own regulatory resources quickly approve medicines new diseases like COVID-19, which otherwise could lead to delays.
The WHO’s review found Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine met the “must-have” criteria for safety and efficacy benefits outweigh its risks.
“This is a very positive step towards ensuring global access to COVID-19 vaccines,” said Mariangela Simao, the WHO’s access to medicines program leader.
“But I want to emphasize the need for an even greater global effort to achieve enough vaccine supply to meet the needs of priority populations everywhere.”
The UN health agency, with the GAVI Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), are spearheading a global effort called COVAX to secure and distribute vaccines to poorer countries, to ensure shots do not go only to wealthy nations.
The WHO-backed COVAX alliance has agreements for nearly 2 billion doses, with first deliveries due in early 2021. The alliance has been in talks with Pfizer and BioNTech to secure vaccine.
Even so, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine’s challenging storage and delivery requirements, including keeping it at minus 70 degrees Celsius, have made deliveries challenging in western countries, and may pose bigger hurdles for developing nations without adequate infrastructure.
The vaccine has gotten regulatory backing from the United Kingdom, the European Medicines Agency, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Mexico, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
Pfizer and BioNTech’s messenger RNA vaccine was found to be 95% effective after two doses 21 days apart.
Source – Thomson Reuters Foundation