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Added on the 07/01/2021 14:56:32 - Copyright : Wochit
Various Asian Cities, Aug 6 (EFE/EPA).-A number of countries in South and Southeast Asia have ramped up vaccination drives against Covid-19 after the region was hit by devastating waves of the pandemic in recent months, in which hundreds of thousands deaths were reported and the medical infrastructure was unable to handle the massive caseload. The World Health Organization said in a press release on Friday that more than half a billion vaccine doses had been administered in Southeast Asia as more doses had become available and governments had scaled up efforts amid recurring outbreaks. “Countries across the Region are making unprecedented efforts to reach more and more people with life-saving COVID-19 vaccines demonstrating their commitment to contain the pandemic at the earliest," Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the regional director of WHO for Southeast Asia, said in a statement. (Camera: ARCHIVE).ARCHIVE FOOTAGE OF COVID-19 VACCINATION DRIVES IN INDIA, NEPAL, THAILAND AND INDONESIA.
The world is rejoicing that the first vaccinations against COVID-19 have been jabbed into the arms of grateful Britons. However, health experts say getting vaccinated is by no means a free pass to live in the "Before Times," maskless and hanging out in crowds. According to Business Insider, infectious-disease pharmacist Debra Goff warns that we still don't know how long the vaccine's protection will last. Likewise, we also don't know whether it prevents recipients from continuing to spread the virus to other people. What's more, the vaccine also won't protect recipients right away, and, for a small percentage of the population, won't protect them at all. Still, vaccinated people can start making plans for 2021 and look forward to resuming aspects of the old normal as more and more people get vaccinated.
In less than three months, Israel expects to have immunized all its citizens who are over 16 against the novel coronavirus. Business Insider reports achieving that goal would likely make Israel the world's first to immunize the vast majority of its population. Israel has far outpaced the rest of the world with its vaccination campaign. In fact, it has already administered the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to about one in five of its citizens. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced a deal with Pfizer to secure enough doses to immunize its adult population by the end of March.
Interpol has warned that criminal organizations are planning to infiltrate or disrupt supply chains related to COVID-19 vaccines. But that's not the only way bad guys might try to cash in on the coming global vaccine bonanza. According to Business Insider, groups may try to sell counterfeit or expired vaccines, on a small-scale or a large-scale basis. Criminals may also try to 'sell' vaccines online, in an attempt to steal personal data and credit card numbers. They may also try to extort companies, or hold supply chains hostage in return for ransom money. Finally, they could do a better job than governments at vaccinating neighborhoods, thereby installing themselves as a semi-legitimate, parallel government.
Images show vehicles driving on a highway in Israel's Shar Agay area, west of Jerusalem, as they participate in the "Freedom Convoy" against the government's Covid-19 restrictions. IMAGES
Thousands of demonstrators from across the US march in Washington, DC, to decry Covid-19 mandates. Mostly maskless, the protesters walk from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial in a city that has adopted mask and vaccine mandates. IMAGES
A nurse was arrested in Palermo, Sicily, for pretending to administer a Covid-19 vaccine to consenting patients, in particular to two spouses. In the video surveillance images, the nurse empties the content of a syringe into a gauze before giving the injection. IMAGES