Live coronavirus news: WHO warns that ‘vaccine nationalism will generate new Covid mutations’ | World News

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and World Bank President David Malpass on Tuesday stressed the need for coordination in responding to the global pandemic, improving access to vaccines for the poorest countries and fighting climate change , said the Treasury.

Reuters: During a call with Malpass, Yellen “emphasized that climate change is an existential threat to our environment and global economy and called for robust support from low-income countries,” the Treasury said in a statement.

“The Secretary stressed the need to work closely to help countries reduce debt vulnerabilities and improve debt sustainability and transparency,” he added. She noted her gratitude for the World Bank’s efforts in these areas.

Mexico was about to approve the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine after the publication of the first results of an advanced study, Mexican officials said on Tuesday.

AP: Deputy Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell, government spokesman for the pandemic, said the health ministry signed on Monday a contract for 400,000 doses of Sputnik V that will arrive this month. He said regulatory approval is expected within hours.

It couldn’t come too soon. Mexico was so hit that hospitals in the capital were 87% full, and ambulance drivers waited hours to find a free bed for patients.

“Unfortunately, because of the saturation of hospitals and telephone lines, we are waiting about three or four hours before they designate us a hospital and to get there,” said ambulance team chief Eduardo Vigueras.

Vigueras noted that patients are sometimes sent to the only beds available in hospitals, away from the crowded district of Iztapalapa on the east side. He said that some relatives are angry and aggressive with paramedics because of the delay in treatment.

As some patients are in poor condition, some families make an even more difficult choice. Paramedics say they often come to a patient with a seriously ill coronavirus only to find that their loved ones want to cancel the emergency call, because they know that treatment is scarce and may never see their relative again.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that “all vaccines” approved by the EU drug regulator are welcome, including Russian and Chinese vaccines, reports Reuters.

In a TV interview, she said that Germany welcomed the strong test data for the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

All vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency are welcome. I spoke to the Russian president about this. We saw good data today [about the Russian vaccine]. Every vaccine is welcome in the EU, as long as it is approved by the EMA.

It comes after she said last month that she was “open to the idea” of using European manufacturing capabilities to increase Russian vaccine production.

Today, Merkel said Germany would have vaccinated 10 million people against the new coronavirus by the end of the first quarter.

Merkel added that the EU was right not to approve the emergency approval that allowed Britain to launch the first vaccine for public use before anyone else, as it was crucial to maintaining people’s confidence in vaccines.

“You could say that we will already be able to vaccinate 10 million people with both vaccines in the first trimester, or others will say ‘just’ [10 million]; but in any case, it will increase from there, ”she said.

She also said it would be considered whether those who refuse vaccination should ever face restrictions.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that all of his countrymen who want a vaccine will receive one “by the end of the summer,” reports Reuters.

He told TF1 that 80 percent of nursing home residents – about 500,000 people – would be vaccinated in early March.

Macron defended France’s record in the face of criticism for its slow launch, especially compared to neighboring Britain, which started its vaccination program weeks ahead of EU countries and set a much faster rate.

He said France’s launch “may seem very slow” when compared to countries that “have placed other bets”.

“But I defend the strategy that we have adopted with Germany, with the European Union, which is precisely to vaccinate in Europe,” he said.

The nationalism of the coronavirus vaccine is harmful to everyone, said World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday and said that weak cooperation between nations is a major barrier to achieving global vaccination. on the scale needed to end the coronavirus pandemic.

“Despite the growing number of vaccine options, current manufacturing capacity meets only a fraction of the global need,” said the WHO director-general in an article published in Foreign Policy magazine.

“Allowing the majority of the world’s population not to be vaccinated will not only perpetuate unnecessary illness and death and the pain of ongoing blockages, but will also generate new virus mutations as Covid-19 continues to spread among unprotected populations” he wrote.

Hello, welcome to live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.

As always, you can find me on Twitter @helenrsullivan.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Tuesday that weak cooperation between nations is a major barrier to achieving global vaccination on the scale necessary to end the coronavirus pandemic.

“Enabling the majority of the world’s population to not be vaccinated will not only perpetuate unnecessary illness and death and the pain of ongoing blockages, but will also generate new virus mutations as Covid-19 continues to spread among unprotected populations” , wrote Tedros in Foreign Policy magazine.

Here are the other important developments from the past few hours:

• The nationalism of the Covid-19 vaccine is harmful to everyone, said World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He said that weak cooperation between nations is a major barrier to achieving global vaccination on the scale necessary to end the pandemic.
• The number of patients hospitalized with coronavirus in France is the highest since November. The health ministry reported that 28,029 people were hospitalized with the virus and 3,270 in intensive care. Both numbers set new highs in 2021.
• Nicola Sturgeon announced a gradual return to school for Scotland’s youngest children, with daycare centers and all elementary school students from P1 to P3 planned to return to classes from February 22nd. The announcement will put pressure on the UK government to respond to calls from conservative lawmakers on why England is operating on a slower schedule.
• Saudi Arabia suspended the entry of 20 countries in an attempt to contain an increase in coronavirus infections. The interior ministry announced that the “temporary suspension” would take effect as of 9 pm on Wednesday.
• A single dose of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine provides sustained protection against Covid-19 for at least three months and reduces virus transmission by two-thirds, according to a new study.
• French President Emmanuel Macron said that all French people who wish to be vaccinated will receive a vaccine by the end of the summer.
• Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that most blockade measures in the Netherlands, many of which have been in place since October, will remain in effect until at least 2 March. due to fears about an increase in cases as a result of new variants of the coronavirus.
• Portugal, currently feeling the full force of his third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, he called for international help to alleviate the hospital’s overworked staff. Prime Minister Antonio Costa acknowledged that the country’s hospitals are under “gigantic pressure”. The government acted after the 24-hour death toll in the country exceeded the 300 mark and television stations broadcast images of ambulances lining up in front of Lisbon’s largest hospital.
• The Palestinian Authority has started vaccinating its health workers in the occupied West Bank against Covid-19 after receiving doses from Israel.