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 Biden says Trump 'did not do his job' on vaccination
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said the coronavirus
vaccination program he inherited from Donald Trump was in "much
worse shape" than he had expected, while announcing the government
had bought 200 million more doses.
"We're not going to have everything fixed for a while, but we're
going to fix it," Biden said in remarks at the National Institutes
of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
With demand for the vaccine far outstripping supply, Americans are
struggling to get appointments for their inoculations, leaving Biden
with an acute problem less than a month after taking over from
Trump.
Cases in Eastern Europe surpass 10 million
The number of COVID-19 cases in eastern Europe surpassed 10 million
on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, as countries across the
region aim to increase vaccine procurements from multiple suppliers
to accelerate inoculation programmes.
Countries in eastern Europe have reported more than 10.02 million
cases and 214,691 deaths since the pandemic started. However, daily
average new cases in the region have declined by about 31% in past
30 days as compared with the previous 30 days, according to a
Reuters analysis.
Melbourne in new lockdown
Australia's second-most populous city will enter a five-day snap
lockdown, authorities said on Friday, banning spectators for much of
the Australian Open tennis tournament.
A fresh COVID-19 cluster linked to a quarantine hotel in Melbourne,
the capital of Victoria state, reached 13 cases as of Thursday
midnight, as authorities rushed to quash the spread of the virus.
All of those infections were linked to the highly contagious UK
variant.
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 Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews
announced the lockdown for the state, starting
at midnight on Friday, calling it a "short,
sharp circuit breaker" banning public
gatherings, home auctions, weddings and
religious gatherings. Portugal
extends lockdown
Portugal extended a lockdown until March 1 or perhaps later to
tackle its worst surge of infections since the pandemic began.
"The situation is still extremely serious and requires these
measures to be extended not just until the end of February but
probably until the end of March," said Prime Minister Antonio Costa.
"It's not the time to discuss the end of lockdown."
The country of just over 10 million fared better than other nations
in Europe in the first wave of the pandemic, but 2021 brought a
devastating surge.
Battle to vaccinate Amazon villagers
Medical teams working to immunize Brazil's remote indigenous
villages have encountered fierce resistance in some communities
where evangelical missionaries are stoking fears of the vaccine, say
tribal leaders and advocates.
On the São Francisco reservation in the state of Amazonas, Jamamadi
villagers sent health workers packing with bows and arrows when they
visited by helicopter this month, said Claudemir da Silva, a leader
representing indigenous communities.
"It's not happening in all villages, just in those that have
missionaries or evangelical chapels where pastors are convincing the
people not to receive the vaccine, that they will turn into an
alligator and other crazy ideas," he said by phone.
(Compiled by Linda Noakes)
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