|
 'Delivering hope' to millions
Cargo planes and trucks with the first U.S. shipments of coronavirus
vaccine fanned out from FedEx and UPS hubs in Tennessee and Kentucky
on Sunday en route to distribution points around the country,
launching an immunization project of unprecedented scope and
complexity.
Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky suggested the very first
injections of the vaccine will be given in his state, home to the
UPS Worldport sorting facility in Louisville - one of two
distribution command centers. The other is the FedEx air cargo hub
in Memphis, Tennessee.
“Today, we're not hauling freight, we're delivering hope,” said
Andrew Boyle, co-president of Boyle Transportation, which was hired
by UPS to help ferry vaccine.
Asian leaders find support sliding
Japan and South Korea grappled with surging cases and growing public
frustration on Monday, with Japan suspending a contentious travel
subsidy programme and South Korea closing some schools and
considering its toughest curbs yet.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had ruled out halting the programme,
citing economic considerations, but that changed after weekend polls
showed his support being eroded over his handling of the pandemic.
Across the sea in South Korea, President Moon Jae-in also faces
sliding ratings as clusters of new infections fuel criticism over
what many see as slack containment.
Germany to stay in lockdown
Germany is unlikely to lift its lockdown early next year, a top aide
to Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday, signalling Europe's
biggest economy will have to contend with the crippling restrictions
well into the winter months.
[to top of second column] |
Merkel and German state leaders agreed to shut most stores from Wednesday until
Jan. 10 to reverse a tide of infections that lighter restrictions introduced
last month had failed to tame.
"A comprehensive easing is very, very unlikely," Helge Braun, Merkel's chief of
staff, told the RTL broadcaster. "January and February are always difficult
months in terms of respiratory tract infections."
New Zealand agrees on 'travel bubble' with Australia
New Zealand agreed on Monday to allow quarantine-free travel with Australia in
the first quarter of 2021, nearly a year after it locked down its borders in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the cabinet had agreed in principle on a
trans-Tasman, quarantine-free travel bubble pending confirmation by Australia's
cabinet and no significant change in circumstances in either country.
Ardern said more work was needed to ensure safe travel and New Zealand would
move cautiously to finalise arrangements like managing airline crews.
Single-patient study adds to debate over remdesivir
A single-patient study conducted by British scientists has found that Gilead's
antiviral drug remdesivir could be highly effective against COVID-19, raising
questions about previous studies that found it had no impact on death rates from
the disease.
The study describes how doctors who gave the drug to a patient with both
COVID-19 and a rare immune disorder saw a marked improvement in his symptoms and
the disappearance of the virus.
"Our patient's unusual condition gave us a rare insight into the effectiveness
of remdesivir as a treatment for coronavirus infection," said Nicholas Matheson,
who co-led the study at Cambridge University's Institute of Therapeutic
Immunology and Infectious Disease.
(Compiled by Linda NoakesEditing by Mark Heinrich)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
