Give priority to poor nations, vaccine manufacturers urged

Britian warns coronavirus monitor devices may give inaccurate readings for people with darker skin; vaccinated people can carry as much virus as others, finds study

Four of the world’s most prominent health, trade and financial organisations on Saturday implored COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to prioritise doses for poorer countries to combat the “acute and alarming shortage.”

A joint statement by the heads of the World Health Organisation ( WHO), World Trade Organisation (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) said countries which have progressed far in vaccinating against the disease should release doses rapidly in favour of less fortunate nations.

“We reiterate the urgency of providing access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments to people throughout the developing world,” they said.

“In the area of vaccines, a key constraint is the acute and alarming shortage in the supply of doses to low and low-middle income countries, especially for the rest of 2021.

“We call on countries with advanced COVID-19 vaccination programmes to release as soon as possible as much of their contracted vaccine doses and options as possible to Covax, AVAT (the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust), and low and low-middle income countries.” Covax aims to get donor-funded jabs to poorer countries.

“We urge COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to redouble their efforts to scale up production of vaccines specifically for these countries, and to ensure that the supply of doses to Covax and low and low-middle income countries takes precedence over the promotion of boosters and other activities,” they said.

BRITAIN: Britain has reported 26,144 new cases of COVID-19, government data showed on Saturday, meaning the fall in cases between July 25 and July 31 stood at 33% compared with the previous seven days.

Britain’s state-run healthcare service warned that devices used by people with COVID-19 to monitor blood-oxygen levels at home may give inaccurate readings for people with darker skin.

The warning concerned pulse oximeters, currently being used by many of those at risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms to check their blood-oxygen levels. Below a certain reading, they need to be hospitalised.

The NHS, the UK state-funded health service, supplies them to those with virus symptoms, aged over 65 or clinically vulnerable.

The NHS said in a statement that “there have been reports that pulse oximeters can be less accurate for people with darker skin because they may show higher readings of the oxygen level in the blood.”

The devices, clipped on to a finger, work by shining a light through a person’s skin to measure the level of oxygen in the blood.

AUSTRALIA: Australia’s third-largest city of Brisbane and other parts of Queensland state will enter a snap COVID-19 lockdown as authorities race to contain an emerging outbreak of the Delta strain.

AMERICA: Millions of people in the US who haven’t goten the COVID-19 vaccine could soon have a new reason to roll up their sleeves: money in their pockets.

President Joe Biden is calling on states and local governments to join those that are already handing out dollars for shots. New York, the nation’s biggest city, started doling out $100 awards on Friday.

GERMANY: Germany’s government plans to stop covering the cost of rapid coronavirus tests, according to the nation’s health ministry.

FRANCE: Thousands in France protesting a special virus pass marched through Paris on Saturday, with French police in full riot gear using their fists to push some demonstrators back and firing tear gas against some crowds.

Meanwhile, in another dispiriting setback for the nation’s efforts to stamp out the coronavirus, scientists who studied a big COVID-19 outbreak in Massachusets concluded that vaccinated people who got so-called breakthrough infections carried about the same amount of the coronavirus as those who did not get the shots.

Health officials released details of that research, which was key in this week’s decision by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend that vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the US where the Delta variant is fuelling infection surges. The authors said the findings suggest that the CDC’S mask guidance should be expanded to include the entire country, even outside of hotspots.