3 hours ago
Margaret Harris on The AM Show. Credits: Video - The AM Show; Image - Getty
An expert in the spread of infectious diseases says it s likely Fiji has acted quickly enough to stamp out an Indian-style explosion of COVID-19 cases.
But it s not out of the woods yet, with the island nation s health chief James Fong warning a single misstep will bring about the same COVID tsunami that our friends in India, Brazil, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States are enduring .
The capital Suva entered a two-week lockdown on Monday after transmission of the double mutant variant, first found in India, was detected in the community. There have been 24 community cases found in the outbreak, nearly a quarter of Fiji s total cases since the pandemic began.
Satish Bate/Hindustan Times/Getty Images
All adults in India can get vaccines starting May 1, but the shots may not be widely accessible.
India s government allows vaccine manufacturers to charge fees at private hospitals.
The cost could amount to $10 to $32 per vaccine well above India s average daily income.
The Indian government announced last week that all adults will be eligible to receive coronavirus vaccines starting May 1. But there s a catch: The shots won t be free everywhere.
Healthcare workers, frontline workers, and Indians older than 45 can already get their shots through government vaccination centers at no cost. But under the nation s plan, the rest of India s adult population could be charged a fee at those same locations. Most Indian states have promised to waive costs for all adults at the sites, but that s not the case at private hospitals, which will continue to charge for vaccines. India s government has also given vaccine ma
Biden Talks Up Benefits of Vaccines After New Mask Guidance Bloomberg 2 hrs ago Fiona Rutherford, Elaine Chen and Jordan Fabian
(Bloomberg) President Joe Biden urged Americans hesitant to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to reconsider, pointing to new U.S. guidance that inoculated people can socialize outdoors without masks.
“Beginning today, gathering with a group of friends in a park, going for a picnic, as long as you are vaccinated and outdoors, you can do it without a mask,” Biden said Tuesday at the White House. “If you’re vaccinated, you can do more things, more safely, both outdoors as well as indoors.”
April 27, 2021
India, home to the world s worst ongoing coronavirus outbreak, has reported more than 17.6 million cases since the pandemic began last year. Courtesy file photo
NEW DELHI India, home to the world s worst ongoing coronavirus outbreak, has reported more than 17.6 million cases since the pandemic began last year.
But the real number, experts fear, could be up to 30 times higher meaning more than half a billion cases.
Health workers and scientists in India have long warned that COVID-19 infections and related deaths are significantly underreported for several reasons, including poor infrastructure, human error, and low testing levels.
Some things have changed since then testing has greatly increased in the wake of the first wave, for instance. But still, the true extent of the second wave now ravaging India is likely much worse than official numbers suggest.
Coronavirus cases and deaths in India are going unreported, experts say msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.