A version of this story appeared in the April 28 edition of CNN’s Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction newsletter. Sign up here to receive the need-to-know headlines every weekday.
Udwadia added that the US’s AstraZeneca stockpile should come to India because “the country needs 2 billion doses at the very least,” but the world’s biggest vaccine producer, the Serum Institute of India, based in Pune, is struggling to keep up with demand.
The US President’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said as much during an interview with the Guardian, published the same day, in which he stressed that helping India was “a responsibility that the rich countries need to assume.”
“There are responsibilities that countries have to each other, particularly if you’re a wealthy country and you’re dealing with countries that don’t have the resources or capabilities that you have,” he added.
But India’s leaders are exacerbating the dire situation. Members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continue to hold political rallies despite the horrific second wave. Images shared on the party’s account in Telangana state showed crowds of people gathered at rallies, with few wearing masks or adhering to social distancing guidelines.
Chinese leaders have repeatedly expressed a desire to help India, pledging to “offer support and assistance to the best of our capability if the Indian side informs us of its specific needs.” New Delhi, however, has yet to take Beijing up on this offer, perhaps due to a deep and often mutual distrust between the two Asian powers, Nectar Gan and Jessie Yeung report.
The pandemic occupied a major part of US President Joe Biden’s first address to Congress on Wednesday, as he made a sweeping case for big government that would transform and vastly expand its role in Americans’ lives.
YOU ASKED. WE ANSWERED.
Q. Do my kids need to be vaccinated before going to summer camp?
A: “In the next few days very likely, the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) will be coming out with updating their guidelines of what people who are vaccinated can do and even some who are not vaccinated,” Fauci told CNN.
“I have a 3½-year-old, and my husband and I often bring him and his 1-year-old sister to playgrounds. We feel very comfortable doing this,” she added. “However, if a large group of kids … come over to the same piece of equipment that my son is on and they’re not wearing masks, I would pull him at that point.”
If you’re thinking about taking your children to a playground, here’s what you should be concerned about.
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WHAT’S IMPORTANT TODAY
This comes as Michigan grapples with a surge in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, prompting state officials to expand its mask mandate to include children as young as 2. The mandate, which went into effect Monday, requires children aged 2 to 4 to wear face masks while in public spaces, including at day care and camps.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday issued new guidance on outdoor mask use for fully vaccinated Americans, saying they can now unmask at small outdoor gatherings, or when dining outside with friends from multiple households.
India’s Covid-19 crisis is a problem for the world
The EU’s 27 nations ordered 300 million doses of the drugmaker’s Covid-19 vaccine, to be delivered by the end of June, with an option to purchase an additional 100 million. But shipments repeatedly fell short, sparking a bitter public fight over the terms of the contract.
Brazil’s Senate launched an inquiry Tuesday into the federal government’s response to Covid-19. The probe could seriously hobble President Jair Bolsonaro’s re-election bid if it leads to an impeachment proceeding or criminal charges, Rodrigo Pedroso and Marcia Reverdosa report.
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines greatly reduce hospitalizations for elderly
Emergent BioSolutions’ stock has lost more than half of its value since the disclosure that it ruined as many as 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine at its Baltimore plant. But the company’s CEO dumped more than $11 million worth of stock ahead of the massive decline. If Robert Kramer had held onto the nearly 100,000 shares he has sold so far this year, they would be worth about $5 million less than the price for which he sold them, Chris Isidore reports.
A Miami private school has asked its employees to wait to get the Covid-19 vaccine until the end of the school year, but still cautioned that if they do, they won’t be allowed to return next year, the school told staff this month. The school’s CEO and co-founder Leila Centner sent a letter to faculty and staff at the Centner Academy citing unsupported assertions about Covid-19 vaccines, which contradict a large body of evidence showing vaccines’ safety and efficacy.
One in four Covid-19 deaths last week was in the Americas, says regional health body
ON OUR RADAR
- Two YouTubers are facing deportation from Bali after they made a prank video that depicted one of them breaking local mask laws.
- The economic fallout of the pandemic has been disastrous for women, who lost $800 billion in income last year, according to Oxfam International. That’s more than the combined GDP of 98 countries.
- Los Angeles County, the first county in the US to have recorded more than 1 million coronavirus cases, is set to enter its least restrictive reopening phase as early as next week.
- Turkey is beginning its national three-week lockdown on Thursday in the midst of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as the health minister warns the country will experience difficulties in securing vaccines over the next two months.
- Germany’s intelligence service said Wednesday it would put some members of an anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine movement, known as “Querdenker,” under surveillance as concerns grow over its ties to far-right extremists.
TODAY’S TOP TIP
Those could be signs of an extremely rare, severe blood clotting syndrome that may be linked to the shot. The risk appears greatest for women under the age of 50, the CDC said. Read more.
In one Chicago hospital where the use of soap and sanitizer is electronically tracked 24/7 via every room entrance and exit, a study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine found staff were 100% compliant just after the virus first struck in the US. But it only took four months for doctors, nurses, techs and cleaning staff to drop back to a 51.5% daily handwashing compliance rate, the study found.
Are you one of the growing numbers of Americans who are fully vaccinated? If so, here are 15 things the guidelines say you can do safely – sometimes without physical distancing or wearing a mask.
TODAY’S PODCAST
Pandemics and apocalyptic diseases have long fascinated both writers and readers, but will we want to read about living through Covid-19? CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta hears from writers and industry experts about the past and future of pandemics in fiction. Listen now.
For 14 months and almost 300 episodes, Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction has provided listeners with a way to make sense of the pandemic. We’re grateful you trusted us as a source of knowledge and comfort but now we’re ready for a new phase of the podcast. Stay tuned to your feed on Monday morning when you’ll hear what we have coming next.