Thread by @fredwalton216

1) Coronavirus live news: Germany plans to extend lockdown; WHO says Covid won't be over this year theguardian.com/world/live/202…

2) Israel, the UAE and UK have administered the highest number of vaccine doses per capita globally. In Israel, 93.5 doses have been given per 100 people, while in the UAE the figure is 60.87. In the UK, 30.77 shots have been administered for every 100 residents;

3) Austria & Denmark, chafing at slow rollout of 💉 in EU, have broken ranks w/Brussels to form an alliance w/Israel to produce 2nd-generation 💉 against covid mutations;
4) Nigeria’s first 💉 , AZ jabs from the Covax program, landed in capital city Abuja today;

5) The uptake of AZ covid-19 💉 in France stood at 24% as of Feb 28, a Health Ministry official said Tuesday, well below 🇫🇷 target of between 80 & 85%. In comparison, 82% accepted the 💉 manufactured by Pfizer/BioNTech 💉 and 37% the 💉 of Moderna;

6) Germany plans to extend its coronavirus lockdown until March 28, but some restrictions will be eased starting from March 8. Focus Online reported the news, citing a draft agreement for talks between Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders of the 16 Federal States;

7) Restaurants in Turkey reopened and many children returned to school today, after the gov’t announced steps to ease Covid-19 curbs even as cases edged higher, raising concerns in the top medical association;

8) Iraq today received 50K Sinopharm 💉 donated by China, the Health Ministry announced, launching a long-awaited vaccination campaign;
9) Indonesia has detected two cases of the more infectious Covid-19 variant first discovered in Britain, officials said today;

10) Health experts in China say their country is lagging in its covid 💉 rollout, but plans to inoculate 40% of its population by June;
11) It is unrealistic to think the world will be done with the Covid-19 pandemic by the end of the year, the WHO warned on Monday;

12) Fauci said US must stick w/ 2 dose strategy for Pfizer-BioNTech & Moderna vaccines. Fauci said that delaying a 2nd dose of 💉 creates risks;
13) Mexico’s Covid chief released from hospital & will be monitored and receive treatment, health official said Monday;

14) WHO DG Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said new case numbers rose last week in Europe, the Americas, southeast Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. The number of new coronavirus cases globally rose last week for the first time in seven weeks;

15) The Philippines has documented six cases of the South African coronavirus variant, its Health Ministry said on Tuesday, raising concern among its experts that the current vaccines might be less effective;

16) The Biden administration on Monday downplayed the prospect of sharing coronavirus vaccines with Mexico, saying it is focused first on getting its own population protected against a pandemic that has killed more than 500,000 Americans;

17) Tokyo has requested Beijing to stop taking anal swab tests for Covid-19 on Japanese citizens because the procedure causes psychological pain, a government spokesperson has said;

18) Scientists have warned that emerging data on long Covid in children should not be ignored given the lack of a vaccine for this age group, but cautioned that the evidence describing these enduring symptoms in the young is so far uncertain.

19) Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike said on Tuesday that the pace of the fall in coronavirus cases had eased, expressing concern that it may not be enough to lift a state of emergency remaining in the greater metropolitan area, Kyodo News reported;

20) Japan said Tuesday an investigation would be launched after more than 1,000 coronavirus vaccine doses had to be thrown out when a freezer storing them malfunctioned, AFP reports;

21) Italian gov’t due to announce a revised covid emergency decree this week. Here's what’s known about changes so far. Schools closed in red zone. In orange zone, choice falls to Governors. Concern in Summit emerged about very high contagious variants, especially Brazilian;

22) 735 cases of #B1526 variant that emerged in New York City have now been identified in US, including 585 in the last 2 weeks. It's now found in 15 states, as per Bloomberg;

23) Greek officials announce plans to expand public health system capacity to admit covid patients, following emergency meeting chaired by PM Mitsotakis. With almost no bed space left in ICUs in state run hospitals in Athens, gov’t to seize private sector clinics to 🔼 capacity;

24) Merck will help manufacture Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot Covid-19 vaccine in an agreement due to be announced on Tuesday by President Joe Biden, a White House official said on Tuesday;

25) The coronavirus variant originally found in Manaus in Brazil and now detected in six cases in the UK was able to evade 25% to 61% of the protection people in the Amazonian city had after a first bout of Covid, researchers say;

26) Sweden has reported 11,804 new covid cases since Friday, 🇸🇪 Health Agency stats showed Tuesday, compared with 10,933 cases during the same period last week.
A further 56 deaths were also reported, a fall from 64 during the corresponding period last week;

27) Tunisia has detected its first cases of the more transmissible covid UK, 🇹🇳 Health Ministry said on Tuesday in a statement. The ministry did not give further details;

28) Israel: Military intel taskforce warns 🇿🇦 , 🇧🇷 and NY variants have mutation, that could cause recurrence of disease in people who were previously infected with Covid19. Urges them to receive 1 dose of mRNA vaccine. Source: Itai Gal ynetnews. 🎩 @itosettiMD_MBA ;

29) Italy reports 17,083 new cases & 343 related deaths, Health Ministry said Tues. A total of 19,570 patients in H
w/covid conditions on Tuesday, an increase of 458 since Monday. There were 222 new admissions to ICUs, taking the total number of patients in ICU to 2,327;