Fauci says Americans may still be wearing masks in 2022; UK speeds up vaccination plan; WHO calls on Tanzania to act
- Fauci laments ‘historic’ Covid toll as US nears 500,000 deaths
- UK roadmap out of lockdown revealed
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- Israel’s use of Covid vaccines in prisoner swap deal sparks row
- See all our coronavirus coverage
More now on the UK accelerating its vaccination plan:
The British government declared Sunday that every adult in the country should get a first coronavirus vaccine shot by July 31, at least a month earlier than its previous target, as it prepared to set out a “cautious” plan to ease the UK’s lockdown, AP reports.
The previous aim was for all adults to get a jab by September. The new target also calls for everyone 50 and over and those with an underlying health condition to get their first of two vaccine shots by April 15, rather than the previous date of 1 May.
The makers of the two vaccines that Britain is using, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, have both experienced supply problems in Europe. But U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Sunday that “we now think that we have the supplies” to speed up the vaccination campaign.
Britain is delaying giving second vaccine doses until 12 weeks after the first, rather than three to four weeks, in order to give more people partial protection quickly. The approach has been criticized in some countries — and by Pfizer, which says it does not have any data to support the interval — but it is backed by the UK government’s scientific advisers.
Tanzania’s president is finally acknowledging that his country has a coronavirus problem after claiming for months that the disease had been defeated by prayer, AP reports.
Populist President John Magufuli on Sunday urged citizens of the East African country to take precautions and even wear face masks but only locally made ones. Over the course of the pandemic he has expressed wariness about foreign-made goods, including Covid vaccines.
The president’s comments came days after the country of some 60 million people mourned the death of one of its highest-profile politicians, the vice president of the semi-autonomous island region of Zanzibar, whose political party had earlier said he had Covid. The president’s chief secretary also died in recent days, though the cause was not revealed.
source https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/feb/22/coronavirus-live-news-us-death-toll-nears-500000-uk-roadmap-out-of-lockdown-revealed
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