Record of coronavirus cases in Brazil, which records 90,638 new infections of which 3,869 deaths. Meanwhile, the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has again criticized the adoption of confinement measures as a form of contrasting the spread of the pandemic of coronavirus. “It is not by staying at home that we will solve this problem. This lockdown policy is still in place but it only made sense in the beginning to allow time to prepare the facilities with sufficient intensive care beds, with respirators, so that people do not lose their peace of mind. life for lack of health care “, said Bolsonaro at the end of the first meeting of the inter-institutional task force created last week to coordinate actions to combat the pandemic of coronavirus. “No nation supports itself for long with this kind of policy. And what we really want is to get back to normal as soon as possible. Looking for other measures to fight the pandemic, as we have done with the vaccine issue,” added the president.
Usa: covid, one in six citizens has already been fully vaccinated
About one in six citizens in the United States has received doses of theCovid necessary to achieve complete immunization. This was revealed by data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), specifying that it is almost 55 million people, while about 29 percent of the population – more than 97 million US citizens – received at least the first dose. 150,273,292 total doses were administered, approximately 77 percent of the 195,581,725 distributed. This is about 2.7 million doses reported more than the previous survey, in line with the daily average on a weekly basis.
New York, human error: ruin 15 million doses of J&J vaccine
Human error in processing ruins about 15 million doses of Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine covid-19 in the United States. This was reported by the New York Times which tells of what happened in a factory in Baltimore, Maryland. “Workers accidentally melted vaccine ingredients several weeks ago, ruining about 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and forcing regulators to delay the authorization of the plant’s production lines” . “The facility is operated by Emergent BioSolutions, a manufacturing partner of both Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. Federal officials have attributed error to human error,” notes The New York Times. Shipments of tens of millions of doses of the J&J vaccine, which were due to leave from the Baltimore plant in the next month, are now at risk. And shipping delays are expected.
Chile: Covid, project on postponement of April elections approved in the Chamber
The Chamber of Deputies of Chile approved yesterday, March 31, the constitutional reform proposal presented by the government which will allow the elections initially scheduled for 10 and 11 April to be postponed by five weeks. The project, approved with 126 votes in favor, 3 against, and 11 abstentions, is now being examined by the Senate where rapid approval is also expected. The initiative, which concerns the administrative elections and those for the representatives of the Constituent Assembly, which would pass in this way to 15 and 16 May, was adopted by the government in the face of the sharp increase in cases of coronavirus in the country. “We are convinced that it is the best decision for Chile and for the Chileans,” said President Sebastian Pinera at the project presentation conference. According to the government, “the current situation and the risks of contagion could push a part of the population not to take part in the vote”. In this sense, the decision to postpone the elections also aims to “preserve the health of democracy”.
Americas: Covid, Ops warns of second “longer” wave risk
Due to the decision of many countries in the region not to take sufficient measures to prevent further coronavirus infections, a new “longer” wave of cases could rock the continent, the Pan American Health Organization (OPS) has warned. “Let me be clear on this: without preventive action, our region could face an even longer wave of infections than the previous one”, said the director of OPS, Carissa Etienne, in the weekly conference on the epidemiological situation in the region. . The organism’s experts stated that the prevention measures adopted in the countries, especially in the southern hemisphere, were “insufficient” and that “the main cause of concern is Brazil”. “There is an increase in cases across the region, even in places that appeared to have contained or prevented outbreaks,” Etienne said, noting that countries like the Paraguay, l’Uruguay e Cuba they are experiencing larger outbreaks this year than they faced in 2020.
South Korea: coronavirus, further increase in infections
South Korea has recorded a further increase in coronavirus infections: in the past 24 hours, 551 swabs carried out in the country tested positive for Covid-19. Since the start of the pandemic, South Korea has diagnosed a total of 103,639 cases and 1,735 deaths. The national vaccination campaign against Covid-19 launched in the country at the end of February will slow down due to delays in the delivery of vaccines to the country. The newspaper “Korea Herald” writes that non-deliveries jeopardize the government’s goal of achieving herd immunity by next November. Earlier this week, South Korean authorities announced that the scheduled delivery of a supply of AstraZeneca vaccines has been postponed to the third week of April. The delivery of the vaccines – 690,000 doses, enough to immunize 345,000 people – was initially scheduled for yesterday, March 31, as part of the global Covax initiative. South Korea has accelerated the delivery of AstraZeneca’s vaccine to people over the age of 65, just as doubts about the vaccine‘s safety grew in Europe. Seoul has negotiated with AstraZeneca to supply 7 million doses of the vaccine between next May and June.
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