The global outbreak of COVID-19-induced coronavirus disease climbed above 81.5 million on Tuesday, and the World Health Organization said the pandemic is not the big one the world should be pushing for and persuading. people everywhere are learning from this crisis.
Speaking at the group’s last press conference for 2020, WHO emergency chief Mike Ryan said that pandemic infection has been devastating and has affected every corner of the planet.
“But this is not the big one,” he said. “This is a wake-up call. We now learn how to do better things – science, logistics, training and management, how to communicate better. But the planet is fragile. We live in an increasingly complex global society. These threats will continue. If there is one thing we need to take away from this pandemic, with all the tragedy and loss, [it] is [that] we must bring the act together. We need to honor those we have lost by becoming better at what we do every day. ”
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus suspended the cooperation between the private and public sectors which has led to the development of several vaccines in a higher period of time, which are now being distributed worldwide. That is “a remarkable scientific achievement,” he said.
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The WHO is working closely with scientists to understand the new versions of COVID-19 that have emerged in the UK and South Africa and assess whether they are spreading faster or making people sicker. there are any potential side effects of tests, treatments and vaccines.
“In particular we are working with scientists in the UK and South Africa who will be conducting epidemiologic and laboratory studies, which will guide the next steps,” he said.
In the meantime, the WHO is working to make vaccines available to “those who need it everywhere” and remind people, even with vaccines, to be distributed. , that they must adhere to public safety measures – frequent hand washing, social distance and wearing a face mask in public.
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‘Here [failure to meet vaccine targets in the U.S.] feels like a let down in so many ways, but I’m not surprised, sadly, by the way tests have gone, there’s no discovery at all, and how this new thing is catching on us. [virus] variable due to our lack of genomic analysis. ‘
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To date the U.S. has vaccinated 2.1 million people and dispensed more than 11 million doses of the two vaccines licensed for emergency use, one developed by Pfizer Inc. PFE,
with German partner BioNTech SE BNTX,
and one developed by Moderna Inc. MRNA,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That is far below the early predictions of “Operation Warp Speed,” the federal program created to accelerate the development of treatments and vaccines against COVID-19, according to Kavita Patel, a primary care physician and a health policy expert who served in the Obama White House.
Patel’s clinic is one of the sites that is part of the vaccination strategy in the District of Columbia, she said in an interview with MSNBC.
“In October, we heard from Operation Warp Speed that we would have 100 million doses by the end of the year,” she said. “We thought that was unreasonable. Expectations then fell to 40 million and then to 20 million by the end of December. We have donated 2.2 million, which is much shorter than that 20 million. ”
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Failure to meet vaccine targets, “feels like a let down in so many ways, but I am not surprised, sadly, by the way it has been tested, there is no detection at all, and how we are getting on guard with this new [virus] variable due to our lack of genomic analysis, ”she said.
The U.S. recorded at least 188,934 new cases of COVID Monday, and at least 1,899 people died, according to a New York Times regulator. In the past week, the U.S. has averaged 183,124 cases per day.
The number of COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals rose to a record of 121,235 Monday, according to the COVID Administration Project, surpassing the record of 120,151 set on December 24.
The U.S. continues to lead the world with cases, at 19.3 million, and deaths, at 336,325, or about one-fifth of the global collections for each, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
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In other news:
• Israel has now vaccinated more people against COVID-19 than have been infected with the virus since the start of the revolution, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing data from Health Minister Yuli Edelstein. Just nine days into the country’s vaccination campaign, 495,000 Israelis were evacuated, compared to 407,285 confirmed cases of the disease. Israel plans to vaccinate 150,000 people a day, allowing it to vaccinate 2.25 million people in a month and a half, or about a quarter of the total population.
• The new COVID variant that hit the UK appears to have been in Germany since November, according to health officials quoted by the Guardian, following the death of a patient with that variant in the north of Scotland. country. The patient was an elderly man with underlying health conditions, and his wife was also infected but survived. The couple are understood to have contracted the virus from their daughter who traveled to the UK in mid-November.
• Shares of biotechnology company Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. fell. 55% on Tuesday, as investors responded to results from the Phase 1/2 test of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate which one analyst said was disappointing. Arcturus ARCT based in San Diego,
he said late Monday that he had received permission from the Singapore Health Sciences Authority to move forward with a Phase 2 study of the ARCT-021 vaccine candidate enrolling up to 600 volunteers. The agreement is based on Stage 1/2 test data that showed that the vaccine gave neutral antibodies after a single dose even though it was at lower levels than competing vaccine candidates. Arcturus hopes its vaccine does not need to increase bullet resistance, making it easier to administer than the two-dose vaccines. Raymond James said the data was “appalling.” “While these latest data do not completely rule out a single-image ARCT-021, which may provide protection against COVID-19 infection in Phase 3, the lack of SARS-CoV neutral antibody -2 (NAb) titers at levels or higher seen in convalescent sera reduce our confidence that ARCT-021 will be able to achieve competitive levels of vaccine efficacy with single-dose doses, ”wrote analysts led by Stephen Seedhouse in a note to clients.
• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa once again banned the sale of alcohol and ordered the closure of all bars as part of new restrictions to help the country fight recovery from the coronavirus, the introduction of a new version, the Associated Press reported. Ramaphosa also announced the closure of all public beaches and swimming pools in the country ‘s disease – prone areas, which include Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and several coastal areas. In addition, South Africa is extending its overnight curfew by four hours, requiring all residents to be at home from 9pm to 6am, said the president. “Irresponsible alcohol-induced behavior has contributed to increased transmission. Alcohol related accidents and violence put pressure on our hospital emergency units, ”said Ramaphosa in a nationwide speech.
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The latest tallies
The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide climbed above 81.5 million Tuesday, the Johns Hopkins data show shows, and the death toll is 1.78 million. At least 46 million people have been exposed to COVID-19.
Brazil has the second highest death tax at 191,570 and the third with cases at 7.5 million.
India ranks second in the world in cases with 10.2 million, and third in deaths at 148,153.
Mexico has the fourth highest death tax at 122,855 and the 13th highest case at 1.4 million.
There are 73,029 deaths in Italy, the highest in Europe, and 2.0 million cases. The UK has 2.4 million cases, mostly in Europe, and 71,675 deaths, the second highest in Europe and the sixth highest in the world.
China, where the virus was discovered last year at the end of last year, has confirmed 95,773 cases and 4,777 deaths, according to its official figures.