International aids vaccine initiative

BHUBANESWAR -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inoculated with the first dose of a home-grown coronavirus vaccine on Monday, kicking off an expansion of the country’s immunisation campaign as infections rise in some big states. People above 60, and those who are 45 or more and suffering from certain medical conditions, are now eligible for the vaccinations. But some inoculation centres reported issues with the government’s Co-Win portal used to coordinate the drive, which could slow its progress. India, which has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases after the United States, has so far vaccinated 12 million health and front-line workers since starting its immunisation programme in mid-January. It wants to cover 300 million of its 1.35 billion people by August. “I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine,” 70-year-old Modi said on Twitter, posting a picture of him getting the shot at a government hospital in New Delhi. “Together, let us make India COVID-19 free!” The government said last week it would let people choose their vaccination centres, effectively letting beneficiaries pick either the home-grown COVAXIN shot or the AstraZeneca vaccine, unlike earlier. The inoculation campaign has run slower than expected due to a reluctance of health and front-line workers to take COVAXIN, which was approved without late-stage efficacy data. Only about 11% of vaccinated people have opted for the product developed by Bharat Biotech and the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research. Bharat Biotech has said efficacy data from a late-stage trial on nearly 26,000 volunteers who took COVAXIN will be out soon. The company, along with India’s drug regulator, says COVAXIN is safe and effective, based on early and intermediate studies. “Inspired and humbled by Hon’ble PM’s remarkable commitment to build an Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” Bharat Biotech said in reply to Modi’s tweet, referring to his self-reliance pitch to back local products. …

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 25: Lorraine Harvey, an in home care worker, receives her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from registered nurse Rudolfo Garcia at a clinic at Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in South Los Angeles on February 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. African Americans and Latinos comprise a majority of the South LA community and are dying of COVID-19 at a rate significantly higher than whites. Vaccine equity has also lagged in South Los Angeles relative to some more wealthy areas. (Mario Tama/Getty Images/AFP) Brazil hit 250,000 fatalities -- the second-highest national death toll after the US -- while the worldwide vaccine campaign received the royal endorsement of Queen Elizabeth II, 94, who urged people not to be wary of the injection. President Joe Biden declared the US rollout is now "weeks ahead of schedule" as he celebrated 50 million vaccines administered since he took office on January 20, but he warned Americans to keep masking up. "We're moving in the right direction despite the mess we inherited," Biden said, referring to the program under his predecessor Donald Trump. The United States is the world's hardest-hit country, with coronavirus deaths crossing the 500,000 mark earlier this week. Biden said that there would be "enough supply" for all adult Americans by the end of July. The EU announced Thursday it expected to vaccinate 70 percent of adults by the end of the summer, after months of problems and friction. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said fully vaccinating just under three-quarters of adults by late summer was a "goal that we're confident with." But in Brazil, the grim quarter-million deaths milestone came one year after the first Covid-19 case was confirmed in the country, which is struggling with severe vaccine shortages and a devastating second wave. - Mass graves - The coronavirus has hit especially hard in Brazil's impoverished "favelas," among indigenous …

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A nurse fills a syringe with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine at a health care centre in Seoul on February 26, 2021, as South Korea starts coronavirus vaccination campaign.(JUNG YEON-JE / POOL / AFP) Beginning at 12:30 pm local time (1130 GMT), the meeting is the first in post for US President Joe Biden's new Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, expected to be far less confrontational than Donald Trump's representatives at past gatherings. "With the new American administration, it will certainly be easier to reach a deal" for increased aid to poorer nations, international economy professor Lucia Tajoli of Milan's Polytechnic business school said. Bu while "Joe Biden's approach to international cooperation is much more open... it won't be easy to gather funds given the economic crisis hitting many countries," she added. On Thursday, Washington urged wealthy G20 countries to launch a truly global, coordinated vaccination campaign. "Without access to vaccines, low-income countries in particular will experience further tragic loss of life and needlessly delay their economic recoveries," Yellen wrote in an open letter to G20 finance counterparts. - New moves on debt - Yellen also signalled openness to issuing new so-called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) at the International Monetary Fund to worse-off countries, reversing a Trump position. Several G20 countries have already suggested the move, after the financial instruments -- which can be exchanged for US dollars, euros, Chinese renminbi, Japanese yen or British pounds -- proved their worth as crisis firefighting tools in 2009. Financial crisis-era SDR allocations amounted to around half the $500 billion now under discussion. Last year, the rich country club also agreed a pause in debt interest payments for the poorest countries, extending it until June 30 this year. And in November the G20 finance ministers agreed a framework for reducing debt burdens. So far Chad, Zambia and Ethiopia …

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