End vaccine apartheid
June 28, 2021
The term ‘delta’ in science and mathematics denotes a difference, or a gap; as in the delta between two values. In geography, a delta is where a river meets the sea, spreading out, covering the most area in its course. In reference to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Delta is the highly contagious variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is tearing through unvaccinated populations around the globe. First referred to by scientists as B.1.617.2, the Delta variant is more contagious than others and may lead to more serious cases of Covid-19. The best protection against this or other coronavirus variants is to get vaccinated. In wealthy nations like the United States, where over 62 percent of the eligible population has received at least one vaccine shot, Covid-19 case rates and deaths are the lowest they have been since March of 2020, and continue to fall. Conversely, in the world’s poorest countries, only between 0.3 to 0.9 percent of the populat
The G-7 vaccine charade
Jun 27,2021 - Last updated at Jun 27,2021
AUSTIN In a recent essay on Samantha Power, President Joe Biden’s new administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, Michelle Goldberg of The New York Times writes correctly that Power’s “first big test … lies in what America does to help vaccinate the rest of the world against COVID-19”. And Power herself is quoted as saying that, “It’s about a very, very tangible, results-oriented agenda.”
Results seemed to follow. At the G-7 summit, Goldberg duly reports, Biden announced that the US would contribute 500 million vaccine doses for use in “low- and middle-income countries”. According to Goldberg, this “spurred other countries to step up their contributions”, ensuring “a billion doses by 2022”.
Latin America, which accounts for one-third of the total global COVID-19 deaths, is struggling to secure vaccines. The region's ambivalence toward a patent waiver for vaccines has left many perplexed.
India, South Africa bid to ban COVID vaccine patents finds few takers in Latin America 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.
The Coming Biden Climate Intellectual Property Crisis newsweek.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsweek.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.