Japanese impatient over virus steps; state of emergency extended in Tokyo WHO panel to decide on emergency use of Chinese vaccine Doctors in Nepal warn of major crisis as virus cases surge
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
LONDON Britain says a coronavirus strain first identified in India has been labelled a “variant of concern” because it appears be more transmissible than some other variants.
Public Health England says the number of cases of the B.1.617.2 variant identified in the U.K. has increased from 202 to 520 in the past week. The majority are in northwest England and London and just over half the cases haven’t been linked to travel to India.
A United States proposal to discuss waiving patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines will intensify talks on the issue within the World Trade Organisation, the WTO director general said on Friday. Speaking at an online conference, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said there were arguments for and against a waiver, but she was sure (the proposal) will give impetus to negotiations. I read with interest statement made y day by USTR Katherine Tai & welcome her willingness to engage with proponents of temporary waiver of TRIPS Agreement to help in combatting COVID19 pandemic: Director-General of World Trade Organization (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (in file pic) pic.twitter.com/K3ix00riAL
Prepare for rising interest rates, warns IMF head
Sign outside the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, DC, 15 April, 2020 [SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images] May 7, 2021 at 5:42 pm
The International Monetary Fund head on Thursday warned that policy support provided as part of measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic should be withdrawn very carefully, saying countries need to prepare for higher interest rates,
Anadolu Agency reports. It is especially important to monitor the US interest rates since there is significant movement there, Kristalina Georgieva told an event organized by the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, via video conference.
GENEVA
European leaders voiced increasing skepticism Friday that a U.S. proposal to lift patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines would solve the problem of getting shots into the arms of people in poorer countries, with some instead calling for more exports of the doses already being produced.
While activists and humanitarian groups have cheered the Biden administration’s decision and urged others to follow suit, European Union leaders are hammering home the message that any benefit from a temporary waiver of intellectual property protections would be long in coming. Instead, they’ve taken the U.S., in particular, to task for not sharing more vaccines with the rest of the world.
GENEVA The head of the World Trade Organization said Friday the U.S. administration s call to remove patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines could help expand fair access to vaccines but might not be the most critical issue, as officials in Europe increasingly insisted that more vaccine exports are the more pressing priority. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told a virtual conference that the trade body aimed to find a pragmatic solution that assures access to developing countries to deal with vaccine inequity, whilst at the same time making sure we don t disincentivize research and innovation. Activists and humanitarian institutions cheered the American reversal in policy Wednesday and urged others to follow suit in order to remove the intellectual property protections on the COVID-19 vaccines. They argue that would allow more factories around the world to produce the shots, increasing the supply, especially in poorer countries. The decision ultimately is up