Last March, when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, it had already proved to be lethal and highly contagious. It was a new virus with many unknowns. Since then, scientists have learned a lot about how it affects vital organs and its long-term effects. VOA’s Carol Pearson reports.
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Uganda launches its national vaccination program on Wednesday, two days after receiving 100,000 additional doses of Covid-19 vaccine donated by the Indian government.
 
So far, Uganda has received 964,000 doses of the vaccine through donations.
 
Health minister Jane Ruth Aceng said healthcare workers will be the first to get their shots followed by teachers and those in high risk groups, including the elderly.
 
The health ministry earlier said Ugandans seeking vaccinations must present a national identification card and non-citizens a passport.
 
Aceng also warned that vaccination does not mean the public should abandon Covid-19 safety protocols to help prevent the spread of the virus.
 
Uganda has confirmed nearly 40,500 infections and 334 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Covid Resource Center.
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The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine neutralizes the rapidly spreading variant of the coronavirus recently discovered in Brazil, according to the results of a laboratory study.   Scientists with Pfizer and the University of Texas took blood from people who had been given the vaccine and mixed it with an engineered version of the mutation, dubbed P.1.  The researchers found the vaccine was roughly as effective against the Brazilian variant as it was against other, less contagious versions of the virus from last year.  The results of the study were published Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine.  Here’s What Doctors Know About How COVID-19 Impacts the Body It’s been a year since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemicRussia vaccine deal
In another vaccine related development, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund RDIF has signed a deal with Swiss-based pharmaceutical company Adienne to mass produce Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for eventual use in Europe.  The vaccine would be manufactured in Adienne’s production site in Milan, Italy under a deal reached Tuesday.   The European Union has warned member states against purchasing Russia’s COVID vaccine since the EU has not yet finished its review of Sputnik V.  But the EU’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, has come under growing criticism for its slow approval process of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, prompting some countries to unilaterally approve Sputnik V.  A peer-reviewed study published in The Lancet medical journal last month showed the two-dose Sputnik V vaccine is nearly 92% effective against symptomatic COVID-19.  FILE – Travelers wear face masks while waiting to check in at the Southwest Airlines counter in Denver International Airport, Dec. 22, 2020, in Denver.US airline industry calls for new standards
As more and more coronavirus vaccines become available to the general public, the U.S. airline industry is urging the Biden administration to craft new standards for travel documents for travelers to prove they have been tested for, and vaccinated against, COVID-19.  In a letter sent Monday to Jeffrey Zients, the head of President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 coronavirus response team, more than 30 airlines, trade organizations and labor unions called on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to take the lead in developing the new standards they hope will eventually lead to the resumption of global travel.Many nations and organizations are working to develop so-called “vaccine passports” for travelers to prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.  But the World Health Organization says that such documents should not be used for international travel because coronavirus vaccines are not easily available globally.    Vaccine passports
WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan told a press briefing on Monday there are “real practical and ethical considerations” for countries that are considering using vaccine passports and said the U.N. health agency advises against it for now. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new guidelines Monday for those who have been fully vaccinated, advising that they can gather without masks in small groups with others who have been inoculated, but that they should still wear masks in public. 
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Last March, when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, it had already proved to be lethal and highly contagious. It was a new virus with many unknowns. Since then, scientists have learned a lot about how it affects vital organs and its long-term effects. COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by a virus — officially known as SARS-COV2, short for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2. It’s the second time a coronavirus has sickened people and caused death. SARS first appeared in China in November 2002. The current version of the virus emerged from China in 2019, which is why it is called COVID-19.A worker inspects vials of SARS CoV-2 Vaccine for COVID-19 produced by SinoVac at its factory in Beijing, Sept. 24, 2020.The virus invades the lungs. Once there, it multiplies and neutralizes the molecules that help us fight infection.   Most people recover, but the virus can damage the lungs and leave patients gasping for air. Patient stories
Thomas Steele needed a double lung transplant because of COVID-19.  “It’s nothing like sitting in your hospital room gasping for every breath and air you take, and I did that for 58 days,” Steele said.The lungs pass oxygen into the bloodstream, and the virus can damage the lungs and make the oxygen levels fall. Patients may need to be put on a ventilator to help them breathe.    Blood clots
COVID-19 can also cause dangerous clotting in the bloodstream. People who already have damaged blood vessels, from high blood pressure or stroke, and those with heart disease have a higher risk of serious disease. These clots can form throughout the body, including in the lungs and the heart. The clotting can cause heart attack or stroke. Dr. Allen Anderson at University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio is one of many cardiologists who saw people with healthy hearts suffer heart damage.“They had elevations of blood enzyme markers that were consistent with a heart attack even though they didn’t have any blockages in their coronary arteries, they had heart rhythm disturbances, and this occurred with quite high provenance,” Anderson said.The virus and the inflammation that accompanies it, can damage the heart tissue. Some of the damage can be reversed. But some cannot.This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases – Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which cause COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S.Kidney damage
Doctors have also learned that the virus can damage another vital organ — the kidneys. A large New York medical system looked at more than 5,000 COVID patients last year.Dr. Kenar Jhaveri at Hofstra/Northwell in Great Neck, New York is the lead author whose findings were published in the journal Kidney International.“Of the 5,449 patients, 36.6% of them developed acute renal failure or kidney injury. Of the ones that got kidney injury, 14% required dialysis,” Jhaveri said.Scientists are still studying the impact of COVID-19 on the body. But the most severe effects start with the lungs. Damaged lungs have a harder time getting oxygen to the bloodstream. And organs need oxygen to function. If there is none, they can fail … the lungs, the heart, the kidneys and the liver. And then there are long-term consequences of the disease. Some are not life-threatening but can affect the quality of life. Lingering symptoms
Symptoms include persistent fatigue, headache, shortness of breath or chest pain. Others may experience brain fog or memory issues. And still others have lingering feelings of anxiety and depression. Anyone, not just those who were hospitalized, can have long-term symptoms. And there’s no way to tell who will be affected.  “We don’t really know right now how many patients will develop these long-COVID symptoms after they have had this infection,” Dr. Kristin Englund, an infectious disease specialist at Cleveland Clinic, explained. ” Studies look at anywhere between 10% and 80%, so there could be a large number of people who are experiencing symptoms well after that four-week time period when we expect people to normally recover.”   Some medical centers have started special clinics to treat the long-haulers, people whose symptoms persist even after they have recovered from COVID. Others may not be long-haulers, but their lives have changed drastically because of COVID-19.  “I’ll never be the same person for the rest of my life,” Steele said.He is one of many who will never be the same because of COVID-19.  
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The United States denounced Monday what it called a Russian disinformation campaign against U.S.-made COVID-19 vaccines, saying Moscow was putting lives at risk. The Global Engagement Center, an arm of the State Department whose activities include monitoring foreign propaganda, said that Russian intelligence was behind four online platforms involved in a campaign. The sites have “included disinformation about two of the vaccines that have now been approved by the FDA in this country,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “It is very clear that Russia is up to its old tricks, and in doing so is potentially putting people at risk by spreading disinformation about vaccines that we know to be saving lives every day,” Price said.A medical specialist holds a vial of Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus in a department store in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 2, 2021.The Wall Street Journal first reported on the Global Engagement Center’s findings, which said that the websites played up risks of the U.S.-made Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in an apparent bid to boost Russia’s homegrown Sputnik V. In an assessment provided last year to AFP, the Global Engagement Center said that thousands of Russian-linked social media accounts have run a coordinated campaign to undermine official narratives on COVID-19 including by spreading allegations of U.S. involvement. The center found that China briefly made a similar effort but ultimately decided it made more traction by highlighting Beijing’s own efforts. U.S. intelligence has long suspected Russia in disinformation campaigns on health, including spreading the myth in the 1980s that U.S. scientists created the HIV virus that causes AIDS. 
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Italy’s death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 100,000 on Monday, a year after it became the first country in Europe to go into lockdown to try to stop the spread of the virus.  Italy’s Health Ministry recorded 318 deaths Monday in the past 24 hours, bringing the country’s total of COVID-19 deaths to 100,103 and making it the seventh country in the world to surpass the marker, following the United States, Brazil, Mexico, India, Russia and Britain, according to a tally by Reuters. Italy has the second-highest death toll from the pandemic in Europe after Britain. Earlier Monday, the Italian Health Ministry changed course and signed an order approving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for people 65 and older.  Even though Europe’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, fully approved the vaccine, the Italian government initially balked, as did Germany, at giving the vaccine to people older than 65 because of limited data on its efficacy within that age group. Germany has reversed course on its use, as well.  The doubts raised by some health officials prompted people to turn down the vaccine, resulting in doses going unused and slowing down the vaccination process throughout the continent.  Around the globeMeanwhile, Britain reopened all its schools Monday for the first time since late 2020. The openings come as the country experiences some of its lowest coronavirus death tolls since October. The coronavirus causes the COVID-19 disease.  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday called the reopening of schools in the nation “a crucial first step” in a “road map to freedom” from the coronavirus pandemic but added a warning against complacency.  Students listen to a teacher during a lesson at Heath Mount school as schools reopen in England, amid the coronavirus pandemic, in Watton at Stone, Hertfordshire, Britain, March 8, 2021.In Israel, health officials celebrated the country’s 5 millionth coronavirus vaccination and extended its vaccination campaign to Palestinians working in Israel or its West Bank settlements. The country has faced criticism for not providing more doses to Palestinians in occupied territory. Greek authorities say they have registered the country’s youngest COVID-19 victim so far — a 37-day-old baby boy. The infant had been in the hospital with the virus for the past three weeks after being brought in with a nasal infection and fever. VaccinesThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new guidelines for those who have been fully vaccinated, advising that they can gather without masks in small groups with others who have been inoculated, but that they should still wear masks in public. U.S. students in Detroit, Michigan, returned to classrooms for in-person learning Monday for the first time in months, while officials in New York City announced that public high schools will reopen for in-person learning March 22. The World Health Organization argued that so-called “vaccine passports” for COVID-19 should not be used for international travel because coronavirus vaccines are not easily available globally. WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan told a press briefing on Monday there are “real practical and ethical considerations” for countries that are considering using vaccine passports and said the U.N. health agency advises against it for now. Also on Monday, Vietnam launched its COVID-19 vaccination program, with its front-line health care workers and first responders receiving the first shots.   A woman receives a vaccine as Vietnam starts its official rollout of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for health workers, at Hai Duong Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Hai Duong province, Vietnam, March 8, 2021.In Japan, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the country will speed up its vaccination program after a slow start thanks to vaccine and syringe shortages. Three weeks in, a little more than 46,500 front-line medical workers have received their shots. The elderly will be next in line.  The Reuters news agency reported that Suga promised to have enough of the shots to vaccinate the entire population by the start of the Summer Olympics in July.   The European Union has warned member states against buying Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, since the EU has not yet completed a review of it. Despite the warning, several nations have made moves to purchase the vaccine.   Early Monday, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported almost 117 million global coronavirus cases. The United States has more infections than any other country with 29 million, followed by India with 11.2 million and Brazil with 11 million. 
 
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The U.S. government on Monday sued the automobile device manufacturer EZ Lynk for selling tens of thousands of “defeat devices” that enabled car and truck owners to disable their vehicles’ computerized emission controls at the push of a button. In a complaint filed in the federal court in Manhattan, the U.S. Department of Justice accused EZ Lynk of having since 2016 violated the federal Clean Air Act by selling its aftermarket EZ Lynk System for drivers of Ford, GMC and Chrysler trucks, among other vehicles. The government said the system includes a device that plugs into vehicles’ computers to install deletion software, a cloud platform that stores the software, and an app that lets drivers buy and install the software through their smartphones. According to court papers, the Cayman Islands-based company “actively encourages” drivers to use EZ Lynk System, including through an online forum where drivers praise the product and some EZ Lynk representatives even offer technical support. “Emissions controls on cars and trucks protect the public from harmful effects of air pollution,” U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan said in a statement. “EZ Lynk has put the public’s health at risk by manufacturing and selling devices intended to disable those emissions controls.” EZ Lynk did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Other defendants include co-founders Bradley Gintz and Thomas Wood and an affiliate, Prestige Worldwide. Lawyers for the defendants could not immediately be identified. The lawsuit seeks civil penalties, including daily fines, for Clean Air Act violations, and an injunction against further EZ Lynk System sales and installations. Drivers can sometimes obtain faster acceleration and better fuel economy by using defeat devices. The U.S. government has stepped up oversight of vehicle emissions after Volkswagen AG admitted in 2015 to intentionally evading emissions rules. The German automaker has since incurred more than $30 billion in penalties and costs. The case is U.S. v EZ Lynk SEZC et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 21-01986.  
 
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As coronavirus vaccine rates in the U.S. continue to climb, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Monday that those who have been vaccinated can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without masks or social distancing. The CDC also said vaccinated people can gather with younger people and those who are considered low risk for developing a severe case of COVID-19. This would mean that grandparents can now visit their grandchildren, even if the grandchildren are not vaccinated. Furthermore, the CDC said vaccinated people no longer must be quarantined after encountering an infected person. “We know that people want to get vaccinated so they can get back to doing the things they enjoy with the people they love,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, CDC director, said in a statement. “There are some activities that fully vaccinated people can begin to resume now in the privacy of their own homes. Everyone — even those who are vaccinated — should continue with all mitigation strategies when in public settings. As the science evolves and more people get vaccinated, we will continue to provide more guidance to help fully vaccinated people safely resume more activities.” Vaccinated people should continue to wear masks and practice social distancing when in public, the CDC said, adding that a vaccinated person should still get tested if they develop any COVD-19 symptoms. In order to be considered fully vaccinated, the CDC said a person should wait two weeks after receiving the final dose of vaccine. There are currently three vaccines available in the United States. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one. Currently, about 30 million Americans have been fully vaccinated. 
 
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Wang  Jingyu didn’t think he would become an enemy of China for his online comments.    The 19-year-old left his hometown of Chongqing in July 2019 and is now traveling in Europe. On February 21, netizens on the popular micro-blogging website, Weibo reported him to Chinese authorities for questioning the actions of the China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as official media reported an incident in the disputed Himalayan border regions.   On February 19, China revealed that four of its soldiers died during a bloody Himalayan border clash with Indian troops in June last year. State media said the men “died after fighting foreign troops who crossed into the Chinese border.”   On the same day, China’s military news outlet PLA Daily named the “heroic” Chinese soldiers who “gave their youth, blood and even life” to the region. China’s official media outlet, the People’s Daily, said the soldiers were posthumously awarded honorary titles and first-class merit citations.Four Chinese soldiers, who were sacrificed in last June’s border conflict, were posthumously awarded honorary titles and first-class merit citations, Central Military Commission announced Friday. A colonel, who led them and seriously injured, was conferred with honorary title. pic.twitter.com/Io9Wk3pXaU— People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) February 19, 2021Wang posted his comments on February 21, questioning the number of deaths and asking why China had waited nearly eight months before making the deaths public.“That very night, around 6:50 p.m., Chongqing police and some people without uniforms knocked on the door of my parent’s condo,” Wang told VOA. In a statement, police in Chongqing city said Wang had “slandered and belittled the heroes” with his comments, “causing negative social impact,” according to The Guardian. “Public security organs will crack down on acts that openly insult the deeds and spirit of heroes and martyrs in accordance with the law.” According to Wang, the police handcuffed his parents, and confiscated an iPad, cash and computers. Then they took his parents to the local police station, where the couple was told to tell their son to delete his Weibo posts.   “And since then, they take my parents to the police station every day around 6 a.m., put them in separate interrogation rooms without providing any food, and only let them return home around 6 or 7 p.m.,” he said about being “pursued online.”“The police keep asking them one thing: ‘When will your son come back?’ ‘Think twice before you answer me.’”   “The police even texted me directly, asking me to return to China within three days, otherwise my parents [situation] ’won’t end well,’” Wang said.   In 2018, China passed the Heroes and Martyrs Protection Law. According to the official English-language outlet, the China Daily, the law “promotes patriotism and socialist core values, bans activities that defame heroes and martyrs or distort and diminish their deeds.” An amendment set to take effect this month could mean those who violate the law could be sentenced to up to three years in jail.Apart from Wang, the authorities have also detained at least six people for posting critical comments online about the same incident.   China’s government is expanding its censorship controls by targeting Chinese citizens overseas who criticize Beijing on social media. The tactic, which predated the Communists, is known as “zhulian” or “guilt by association.” Today, it usually involves police threatening family members in China for the actions of their relatives overseas.    Teng Biao, an academic lawyer and a human rights activist affiliated with Hunter College in New York City, told VOA via Skype that he has seen an increasing number of cases like Wang’s.   “In any normal society, there is no such thing as zhulian,” he said. “No one, other than yourself, is responsible for your own actions.  Chinese laws state that everyone is responsible for their own actions. Yet in practice, it’s a different story.”   Wang, who is now traveling in Europe, has been worried about his parents’ safety. Yet during a brief video chat on February 25, he said his father told him to withstand the pressure.   “Don’t give in. Even if you lose your life for this, you have to hold on to your dreams,” his father told him. “History will remember you.”     Wang said his family has always been on the “rebellious side.”  When he was a little boy, Wang said his father showed him how use a virtual private network  (VPN)  to remain anonymous while accessing information outside the Great Firewall of China.  He told VOA he would not go back to China and that he plans to keep speaking out for those on the other side of the Great Firewall.   “Maybe 99% of the people won’t understand why I’m doing this,” he said. “But as long as I can wake up 1%, it’s worth it.”  Shih-Wei Chou and Lin Yang contributed to this report. It originated on VOA Mandarin. 
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The Italian Health Ministry Monday changed course and signed an order approving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for people 65 and older. Even though Europe’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, fully approved the vaccine, the Italian government initially balked, as did Germany, at giving the vaccine to people over 65 due to “limited data” on its efficacy within that age group. Germany has reversed course on its use, as well. The doubts raised by some health officials prompted people to turn down the vaccine, resulting in doses going unused and slowing down the vaccination process throughout the continent. Italy’s decision comes as the nation’s COVID-19 death toll approaches 100,000 since the pandemic started. The nation is expected to pass the milestone by Tuesday. Syrian President and First Lady Test Covid-19 Positive ‘They are in good health and their condition is stable,’ the statement added. Meanwhile, Britain reopened all its schools Monday for the first time since late 2020. The openings come as the country experiences some of its lowest coronavirus death tolls since October. The coronavirus causes the COVID-19 disease. Also on Monday, Vietnam launched its COVID-19 vaccination program, with its front-line health care workers and first responders receiving the first shots.  In Japan, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the country will speed up its vaccination program after a slow start due to vaccine and syringe shortages. Three weeks in, a little more than 46,500 front-line medical workers have received their shots. The elderly will be next in line.  The Reuters news agency reported that Suga promised to have enough of the shots to vaccinate the entire population by the start of the Summer Olympics in July.  The European Union has warned member states against buying Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, since the EU has not yet completed a review of it. Despite the warning, several nations have made moves to purchase the vaccine.  The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Monday that there are almost 117 million global coronavirus cases.   The United States has more infections than any other location with nearly 30 million, followed by India with 11.2 million and Brazil with 11 million. 
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When the coronavirus first emerged, many East Asian countries were hailed as global examples due to their impressive containment efforts. But as the one-year anniversary of the pandemic approaches, some of those countries are falling behind in their vaccine campaigns, as VOA’s Bill Gallo reports from Seoul.Camera: Kim Hyungjin, William Gallo
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Before COVID-19, the United States considered itself one of the best-prepared countries in the world for a health crisis. The pandemic proved otherwise. One year into the crisis, more than half a million Americans have died. VOA’s Steve Baragona has more.
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Canada’s postal service is trying to bridge the socially distanced gap of the coronavirus pandemic by encouraging people to send postcards to loved ones.To facilitate that effort, Canada Post is delivering a postcard to every residential address in the country that people can then send to anyone they want at no charge.The postcards come in one of six different designs with messages such as “Sending hugs” and “Wishing I were there.”Doug Ettinger, Canada Post’s president and CEO, said in a video describing the program that “everyone is missing someone.”“We want all Canadians to send these postcards to loved ones to remind them that they’re missed, they’re special and they matter,” he said.
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Britain opened all its schools Monday. The openings come as the country has experienced some of its lowest coronavirus death tolls since October.Vietnam began its COVID-19 vaccination program Monday with its front-line health care workers as the first recipients of the shots.Japan’s rollout of its COVID vaccine program has been slow, hampered by vaccine and syringe shortages. Three weeks in, a little over 46,500 front-line medical workers have received their shots. The elderly will be the next in line.Japan, however, intends to speed up its vaccination program. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has promised to have enough of the shots to vaccinate Japan’s entire population by the start of the Summer Olympics in July, according to Reuters.The European Union has warned member states against purchasing Russia’s COVID vaccine since the EU has not yet finished its review of Sputnik V. Despite the warning, several nations have made moves to purchase the vaccine.Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Monday that there are almost 117 million global coronavirus cases.The U.S. has more infections that any other location with nearly 30 million, followed by India with 11.2 million and Brazil with 11 million.
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There is a call for an amnesty for the estimated 100,000 undocumented workers in Australia because of fears they could miss out on the coronavirus vaccine.They are an unseen workforce in Australia, from cleaning to hospitality and farm work. Of the estimated 100,000 undocumented workers, about two-thirds are employed in agriculture. Without a valid working visa, they are in jobs illegally.Australia’s Department of Home Affairs said they were “unlawful non-citizens.” But farmers, unions and some politicians are now calling for an amnesty to allow undocumented workers to be given employment visas.The federal government has promised a vaccine for everyone in Australia, regardless of their visa status, including asylum seekers awaiting the outcome of their refugee claims. But there are concerns undocumented workers will not come forward fearing deportation.Dr. Joanna Howe, a senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide, said it is a problem that needs fixing. “There are certainly public health risks that the government may assume that it has vaccinated broadly the Australian community, but then there are these pockets that escape that because they have got no incentive to come forward,” she said. “In fact, they are extremely fearful of accessing the vaccine.”Australian authorities will soon require vaccine recipients to divulge where they were born and the languages they speak. The data will help show the government if certain minority communities are avoiding the vaccine.After a slow start, health officials insist that more than 500,000 vaccinations a week will soon be given in Australia. A mass inoculation program began last month with the Pfizer-BioNTech drug.Domestic production of the AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to deliver 1 million doses each week in Australia by the end of the month.New South Wales, the nation’s most populous state, has gone 50 consecutive days without a locally acquired COVID-19 case.Australia has recorded 29,000 coronavirus infections since the pandemic began. The Health Department says 909 people have died.
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The United States is marking one year since the first stay-at-home orders went into effect because of the coronavirus pandemic; but, returning to normal is happening slowly as Michelle Quinn reports.
Producer: Mary Cieslak
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March 11 marks a year since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. The Middle East was one of the first regions to be hit outside China – and as Henry Ridgwell reports, the pandemic has exacerbated existing crises caused by conflict and forced migration.
Camera: Henry Ridgwell    Producers: Henry Ridgwell and Jon Spier 
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Cameroon says two polio cases discovered in the capital, Yaoundé, three weeks ago are a consequence of people refusing to inoculate their children for fear of being infected by COVID-19. The central African state has redeployed health teams to all towns and villages to ask parents to vaccinate their children.Cameroon says it has dispatched health workers to 360 hospitals as part of an awareness campaign against polio. Tetanye Ekoe, president of Cameroon’s National Polio Certification Commission, said the awareness teams will teach communities to observe hygiene and to intensify routine immunization, and epidemiological surveillance.He said the discovery of two type 2 polio cases in Yaoundé three weeks ago should serve as a wake-up call for people who have turned their backs on polio vaccination. He said it is an illusion to think that the government is hiding behind vaccinations to harm its citizens. Ekoe said he is calling on all Cameroonians to inoculate their children and convince others to take their children to vaccination centers. He said the emergence of polio shows a weak collective immunity.Ekoe said some polio cases may still be undetected because many parents have not been bringing their children to the hospitals out of fear of COVID-19 infection.Cameroon was declared polio-free in 2015, but in 2019, the government of the central African state announced a resurgence on its northern border with Nigeria.The new polio cases were reported in Cameroon in the middle of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.This month Cameroon’s Public Health Ministry reported that the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 had increased from 26,000 to 39,000 between January and February.In December, the government said more than 240,000 children had not received polio vaccines since COVID-19 cases were first reported in Cameroon last March. The government said parents were refusing to take their children to the hospitals for inoculation because of fear of the coronavirus.Ekoe said rumors last month that the government would secretly vaccinate all Cameroonians against COVID-19 further discouraged people who are scared of the vaccine from visiting hospitals.Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute denied in a message Friday that Cameroon is vaccinating all its citizens who visit hospitals against COVID-19. Ngute said Cameroon is still negotiating to buy a million coronavirus vaccine doses, which will not be administered to people who do not want them.”Once this vaccine become available, vaccination shall be voluntary,” he said. “I will like to note that although vaccination is voluntary and not compulsory, the government encourages all Cameroonians to be vaccinated when the time comes in order to acquire the immunity that will enable our community to protect itself against COVID-19 for a return to normalcy.”On Aug. 25, the World Health Organization announced that wild poliovirus had been eradicated from Africa after four consecutive years without any reported cases and massive efforts to immunize children. The WHO said polio-free Africa was a historic moment, moving the world closer to achieving global polio eradication.The WHO statement said only Pakistan and Afghanistan continue to see wild poliovirus transmission.Polio affects mostly young children. Cameroon did not say if the new cases were detected in children or adults.
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Africa’s year with the pandemic has been a challenging one, full of suspense and surprises. VOA’s Anita Powell looks back at the continent’s bout with the virus, which has infected at least 2.8 million people and killed about 72,000, according to the World Health Organization. She reports from South Africa.
Camera: Zaheer Cassim
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In recent weeks, as Africa prepared to mark the milestone of one year since the coronavirus reached its shores, millions of doses of long-awaited vaccine finally began to arrive across the continent. Most were provided by the global COVAX Facility, which distributes vaccine to lower income countries.That, officials say, has flipped this tale from one of despair to one of optimism.And, says South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Africans played a valuable part in turning the tide.“South Africa’s scientists and research institutions have made an important contribution to these efforts and have contributed to global knowledge about the disease, including on the emergence of new variants,” he said this week, addressing his nation on television. “And in this regard, our scientists who we should be proud of, have really led the way and they are recognized globally.”Ramaphosa, who held the rotating head of the African Union in 2020, was also instrumental in establishing a continental plan to acquire vaccines. He and other African leaders have repeatedly stressed the importance of global vaccine equity and urged access for poorer nations.In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa, officials this month received their first delivery of 1.7 million vaccine doses through COVAX.Village Reach is an aid organization that focuses on remote, rural low-income countries. Their DRC country director, Freddy Nkosi, told VOA that while African nations appear to have a lower proportion of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths, the pandemic has still hit hard here.“Yes we are as affected as the rest of the world, in different proportion,” he said via Google Hangouts, from Kinshasa. “We have to continue to protect ourselves through all the protective measures, but also we have to get vaccinated so that we are all protected.”Dr. Richard Lessells, one of South Africa’s top viral researchers, says the continent’s largest vaccine drive, in South Africa, looks promising after fits and starts.The country was set to distribute 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but reversed course last month after researchers found it to be less effective against a variant that accounts for the majority of the nation’s new cases.South Africa has since switched to the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, but the process still delayed the vaccination campaign.Lessells says that as the continent stares down this anniversary, it needs one thing: time.“Once we get beyond that first priority group of the health care workers and start delivering it to the other vulnerable groups within the population,” he said. “We then get a much better sense of how we’re doing here in South Africa.”So, what is year two of the pandemic going to look like in Africa? On this, everyone seems to agree: hopeful.       
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The virus swept through a nursery school and an adjacent elementary school in the Milan suburb of Bollate with amazing speed. In a matter of just days, 45 children and 14 staff members had tested positive.Genetic analysis confirmed what officials suspected: The highly contagious coronavirus variant first identified in England was racing through the community, a densely packed city of nearly 40,000 with a chemical plant and a Pirelli bicycle tire factory a 15-minute drive from the heart of Milan.”This demonstrates that the virus has a sort of intelligence. … We can put up all the barriers in the world and imagine that they work, but in the end, it adapts and penetrates them,” lamented Bollate Mayor Francesco Vassallo.Bollate was the first city in Lombardy, the northern region that has been the epicenter in each of Italy’s three surges, to be sealed off from neighbors because of virus variants that the World Health Organization says are powering another uptick in infections across Europe. The variants also include versions first identified in South Africa and Brazil.Europe recorded 1 million new COVID-19 cases last week, an increase of 9% from the previous week and a reversal that ended a six-week decline in new infections, WHO said Thursday.”The spread of the variants is driving the increase, but not only,” said Dr. Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, citing “also the opening of society, when it is not done in a safe and a controlled manner.”50% more transmissibleThe variant first found in the U.K. is spreading significantly in 27 European countries monitored by WHO and is dominant in at least 10 countries: Britain, Denmark, Italy, Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Israel, Spain and Portugal.It is up to 50% more transmissible than the virus that surged last spring and again in the fall, making it more adept at thwarting measures that were previously effective, WHO experts warned. Scientists have concluded that it is also more deadly.”That is why health systems are struggling more now,” Kluge said. “It really is at a tipping point. We have to hold the fort and be very vigilant.”In Lombardy, which bore the brunt of Italy’s spring surge, intensive care wards are again filling up, with more than two-thirds of new positive tests being the U.K. variant, health officials said.After putting two provinces and some 50 towns on a modified lockdown, Lombardy’s regional governor announced tightened restrictions Friday and closed classrooms for all ages. Cases in Milan schools alone surged 33% in a week, the provincial health system’s chief said.The situation is dire in the Czech Republic, which this week registered a record-breaking total of nearly 8,500 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Poland is opening temporary hospitals and imposing a partial lockdown as the U.K. variant has grown from 10% of all infections in February to 25% now.Two patients from hard-hit Slovakia were expected to arrive Saturday for treatment in Germany, where authorities said they had offered to take in 10 patients.Rate of decline slowingKluge cited Britain’s experience as cause for optimism, noting that widespread restrictions and the introduction of the vaccine have helped tamp down the variants there and in Israel. The vaccine rollout in the European Union, by comparison, is lagging badly, mostly because of supply problems.In Britain, the emergence of the more transmissible strain sent cases soaring in December and triggered a national lockdown in January. Cases have since plummeted, from about 60,000 a day in early January to about 7,000 a day now.Still, a study shows the rate of decline slowing, and the British government says it will tread cautiously with plans to ease the lockdown. That process begins Monday with the reopening of schools. Infection rates are highest in people ages 13-17, and officials will watch closely to see whether the return to class brings a spike in infections.While the U.K. variant is dominant in France, forcing lockdowns in the French Riviera city of Nice and the northern port of Dunkirk, the variant first detected in South Africa has emerged as the most prevalent in France’s Moselle region, which borders Germany and Luxembourg. It represents 55% of the virus circulating there.Austria’s health minister said Saturday the U.K. variant is now dominant in his country. But the South Africa variant is also a concern in a district of Austria that extends from Italy to Germany, with Austrian officials announcing plans to vaccinate most of the 84,000 residents there to curb its spread. Austria is also requiring motorists along the Brenner highway, a major north-south route, to show negative test results.The South Africa variant, now present in 26 European countries, is a source of particular concern because of doubts over whether the current vaccines are effective enough against it. The Brazilian variant, which appears capable of reinfecting people, has been detected in 15 European countries.WHO and its partners are working to strengthen the genetic surveillance needed to track variants across the continent.The mayor of Bollate has appealed to the regional governor to vaccinate all 40,000 residents immediately, though he expects to be told the vaccine supply is too tight.Bollate has recorded 3,000 positive cases and 134 deaths — mostly among the elderly — since Italy was stricken a year ago. It took the brunt in the resurgence in November and December and was caught completely off guard when the U.K. variant arrived, racing through school-age children before hitting families at home.”People are starting to get tired that after a year there is no light at the end of the tunnel,” Vassallo said.
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Traveling across the rugged, unforgiving and roadless Alaska terrain is already hard enough, but whatever comforts mushers previously had in the world’s most famous sled dog race will be cast aside this year due to the pandemic.In years past, mushers would stop in any number of 24 villages that serve as checkpoints, where they could get a hot meal, maybe a shower and sleep — albeit “cheek to jowl” — in a warm building before getting back to the nearly 1,609-kilometer Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. When the race starts Sunday, north of Anchorage, they will spend the next week or so mostly camping in tents outside towns, and the only source of warmth — for comfort or to heat up frozen food and water — will come from their camp cookers.“It’s a little bit old school,” said Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach.This year’s Iditarod will be marked by pandemic precautions, a route change, no spectators, the smallest field of competitors in decades, the return of one former champion and the swan song of a fan favorite, all against the backdrop of pressure on the race and sponsors by an animal rights group.The most noticeable change this year will be no spectators. The fan-friendly ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage, which draws thousands of people, has been canceled, and the actual start in Willow of the race is being moved to a boat dock 11 kilometers out to help cut down on fans who would normally attend the race start just off a main highway. Urbach is encouraging fans to watch the race start and finish live on TV or on the Internet.The route has also been shortened to 1,384 kilometers. For the first time in the race’s 49-year history, the finish line will not be in Nome.Instead, mushers will go from Willow to the mining ghost towns of Iditarod and Flat, and then back to Willow for the finish. This, Urbach notes, was the original vision of the race co-founder, the late Joe Redington.Howard Farley, 88, of Nome remembers that well. He disagreed with it in the early 1970s when Redington proposed it, and he’s against it now.He said he told Redington before the first Iditarod in 1973: “There’s nobody in Iditarod. It’s a ghost town. There’s nobody there to clap. I said, ‘Just bring it to Nome.’”The Iditarod could have easily and safely held the finish in Nome again this year, too, he said.“It just makes me sad that all of our work and all of our prayers down through the years have come to this,” Farley said.Since the mushers will have to double back to Willow for the finish, they will go over the Alaska Range twice. Mushers will have to navigate the dangerous Dalzell Gorge and the Happy River Steps, or a series of steep switchbacks that routinely leave competitors bruised and sleds broken.In an effort to prevent the spread of the virus, the Iditarod will skip most of the communities to help prevent any transmission, leaving mushers to sleep in tents specially made for Alaska’s tough weather or under the stars in temperatures that could be well below zero.Urbach has had challenges at every turn as he tries to pull off the second Iditarod during the coronavirus pandemic. The virus took its hold on the U.S. in the middle of last year’s race, one of the few major sporting events not to be canceled in March 2020, when they learned to deal with the pandemic on the fly.FILE – A handler cares for dogs on second place finisher Aliy Zirkle’s team after they pull into the finish line during the Iditarod dog sled race in Nome, Alaska, March 11, 2014.This year, they’ve had more time to prepare. Mushers will undergo vigorous testing and anyone with a confirmed positive COVID-19 test before the start of the race will not be allowed to compete. Additional testing and monitoring will take place on the trail. Any musher with a confirmed positive test during the race will be withdrawn and isolated.Defending champion Thomas Waerner is not the race, telling The Associated Press “it is impossible to plan ahead” during the pandemic. Last year, he and his dogs were stranded in Alaska for months because of travel restrictions after his win. They only made it home to Norway after hitching a ride on an airplane that was being flown from Anchorage to its new home at a museum in Oslo.The race will start with 47 mushers, the smallest field in decades. This year’s field includes four former champions, including two four-time winners, Martin Buser and Dallas Seavey. Buser last won in 2002; Seavey collected his four titles over a five-year span, ending with his last championship in 2016.Seavey last raced the Iditarod when he came in second in 2017, when Iditarod officials said four of his dogs tested positive for a banned opioid painkiller. He adamantly denied giving his dogs the painkillers. The next year, the Iditarod reversed its decision and cleared Seavey, but he took his dogs to Norway to race instead.At only age 34, Seavey is considered by many to someday match and perhaps surpass the win total of the race’s most decorated musher, Rick Swenson who collected five championships between 1977-91.“Five would be awesome,” Seavey said. “I’m going to do my best to win this. If I get beat, which is a pretty likely outcome … whoever beats me is going to earn it.”While Seavey returns, one of the sport’s most liked mushers is bowing out after this year’s race. Aliy Zirkle, 50, announced on her website last month that it was time to retire. Zirkle has finished in the top 10 seven times since 2002 and finished second three years in a row starting in 2012. She has never won.Support workers for the Iditarod Trail sled dog race line up outside the Lakefront Anchorage Hotel, the site of the temporary Anchorage Iditarod headquarters, to be tested for COVID-19, in Anchorage, Alaska, March 4, 2021.The individual prize money for the world’s premiere sled dog race hasn’t been determined. Waerner picked up about $50,000 and a new Dodge pickup for winning last year’s race. However, Chrysler through its Anchorage dealership dropped sponsorship of the Iditarod after that race.The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has been applying pressure on national sponsors, claiming credit for ExxonMobil announcing it would end its sponsorship after this year’s race.PETA contends the race is cruel to dogs and says more than 150 have died during races since the first in 1973. The Iditarod disputes that number but has not provided its count to The Associated Press despite many requests over the years.“PETA absolutely makes it challenging,” Urbach said.He said PETA is “inflammatory and grossly inaccurate” in their approach, but admitted it creates a difficult dynamic for the race.However, Urbach said they are trying to change the narrative, continuing to promote dog wellness, nutrition, training and breeding on its website.The Iditarod has had two other financial hits this year. Because of the pandemic, fundraisers have been canceled, and they have spent thousands of dollars on personal protective equipment and COVID-19 tests. They also reduced the entry fee in half and reduced the total prize purse by 20%, to $400,000.
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Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center has recorded more than 116 million global coronavirus cases. The U.S. is on the verge of having 30 million infections, followed by India with 11 million and Brazil with 10.8 million.Earlier this week, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had callous words for fellow Brazilians unhappy with the president’s response to the pandemic.“Stop all this fussing and whining,” the president said. “How long are you going to keep on crying?” Bolsonaro was speaking in the Brazilian state of Goiás, where almost 9,000 people have died.Only the U.S. has more COVID deaths than Brazil. According to Hopkins, the U.S. has more than 522,000 COVID deaths, while Brazil has reported more than 262,000.Russia’s statistics agency said Friday more than 200,000 Russians diagnosed with COVID-19 have died, more than double the figure used by the government’s coronavirus task force.The figures released Friday from Rosstat, a government agency that releases coronavirus data infrequently, said it had recorded 200,432 deaths through January. Those figures include nearly 70,000 people who had the virus at the time of death, but whose main cause of death was not deemed to be COVID-19.The tally is significantly more the government’s coronavirus task force’s data, which had recorded 88,285 deaths as of Friday. The government’s task force does not count deaths in which the virus was present but is not ruled the main cause.Using the figures from Rosstat, Russia would have the third most COVID-19 fatalities in the world, behind only the United States and Brazil.Rosstat also reported Friday that Russia has recorded 394,000 more deaths since the start of the pandemic until the end of January than in the previous period — suggesting that coronavirus-related deaths in the country could be even higher.In another development Friday, the World Health Organization said investigators who conducted an inspection in China to determine origins of the COVID-19 virus would release a report on their findings in mid-March.Peter Ben Embarek, who led the mission, clarified at a regular coronavirus news briefing Friday in Geneva that an interim report would not be released as previously reported.“To clarify, there was never a plan for an interim report, first of all,” Embarek said. “It was hoped we would get a summary report out,” but “the director-general [Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus] will receive that report from the team in the near future and we will discuss the recommendations.”The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday the WHO team decided not to release its interim account “amid mounting tensions between Beijing and Washington.”Another international group of scientists has called for the WHO to conduct a new inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. The scientists calling for a new probe said in an open letter Thursday that the WHO team “did not have the mandate, the independence, or the necessary accesses to carry out a full and unrestricted investigation.”The scientists also noted in their letter that the WHO investigators in China were accompanied by their Chinese counterparts.The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.Throughout his term, former U.S. president Donald Trump strongly suggested, without evidence, the coronavirus leaked from a Wuhan laboratory.A global team of inspectors began its four-week investigation in Wuhan in January and finished it last month.Italy on Friday surpassed 3 million confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic began. The health ministry reported 24,036 new confirmed cases Friday, the third straight day this week that daily new caseloads exceeded 20,000 cases.The government said it would further tighten coronavirus restrictions in three of its 20 regions after health officials warned of the increase of cases of more contagious variants.France reported 23,507 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, which is down from the previous week, however officials said the number of people in intensive care with COVID-19 reached its highest level this year.Canada’s drug regulator announced Friday that it had approved Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, the fourth such inoculation to get approval. Canada has also approved vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.Mickey Mouse may once again scamper on Disneyland’s streets, according to California officials who said Friday the state’s theme and amusement parks could open as early as April 1.There are, of course, COVID-19 restrictions on the openings. The parks would open under restricted capacity. They would also have to be in a county that is not under certain constraints, designed to slow the coronavirus transmission rate.A purple county has the most restrictions due to its coronavirus rate of infection, under California’s color-code system. Disneyland is in a purple country, but at the present rate of transmission, officials expect the theme park would likely be eligible for reopening sometime in April.
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Pharmaceutical giant Merck and an American laboratory announced progress Saturday in the design of an oral drug against COVID-19. Their antiviral has shown positive effects in reducing the viral load in current tests.”Knowing that there is an unmet need for antiviral therapy for SARS-CoV-2, we are encouraged by these preliminary results,” Wendy Painter, chief drug officer at Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, said in a statement.Merck interrupted its work on two potential COVID-19 vaccines at the end of January but continues its research on two treatments against the disease, including molnupiravir, developed with the American company Ridgeback Bio.The drug significantly reduced the viral load in patients after five days of treatment, the company said Saturday in a meeting with infectious-disease specialists.Phase 2a of the test — the trials have three phases before possible marketing — was carried out on 202 out-of-hospital patients who had COVID-19 with symptoms. There was no alert in terms of safety, and “of the four serious incidents reported, none was considered in connection with the drug studied,” the laboratory said.Influenza drugs like oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) are sometimes prescribed for seasonal flu, but research is struggling to find an antiviral for COVID-19.The results of this study, “namely a more rapid decrease in the viral load in individuals with COVID-19 in the initial phase and who have received molnupiravir, are promising,” assured William Fischer, one of the directors of the study and professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina.”If they are reinforced by additional studies, they could have important consequences in terms of public health, as the virus continues to spread and evolve in the world.”Merck is also working on a treatment called MK-711. The first results of clinical trials show a reduction of more than 50% in the risk of death or respiratory failure in hospitalized patients with moderate to severe forms of COVID-19, the group said at the end of January.  
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U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday came one step closer to his first major political victory: passage of his coronavirus economic relief package.What is it? A $1.9 trillion bill that Democrats said would help the country defeat the coronavirus and repair the economy. Republicans say it is more expensive than necessary. The measure follows five earlier virus bills totaling about $4 trillion that Congress has enacted since last spring.What is the latest? The Senate approved the pandemic relief package over Republican opposition Saturday by a party-line vote of 50-49.What’s next? The Senate made several changes to the bill, which was passed earlier by the U.S. House. Now the bill returns to the House for final passage, which could come early next week.How does it fight the pandemic? The bill contains about $14 billion to help distribute vaccines faster and get shots into arms quicker. It also provides $46 billion to expand federal, state and local testing, and enhance contact tracing.What’s in it for jobless Americans? It would extend the expanded unemployment benefits from the federal government through September 6 at $300 a week. The first $10,200 of jobless benefits would be nontaxable for households with incomes of less than $150,000.What about health care? It would provide a 100% subsidy of COBRA health insurance premiums through September so that laid-off workers can remain on their employer health plans. It also would increase subsidies for insurance through the Affordable Care Act through the end of 2022.Will there be subsidy checks? Yes, a direct payment of $1,400 for a single taxpayer, or $2,800 for a married couple who file jointly, plus $1,400 per dependent. Individuals earning up to $75,000 would get the full amount, as would married couples with incomes up to $150,000. The size of the check would shrink as incomes rise, with a hard cutoff at $80,000 for individuals and $160,000 for married couples.What about schools? The bill calls for about $130 billion in additional help to schools for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The money would be used to modify classrooms to allow more social distancing, install ventilation systems and buy personal protective equipment. The money could also be used to increase the hiring of nurses and counselors and to provide summer school.Will businesses receive help? It offers $25 billion in a new program aimed at restaurants and bars hurt by the pandemic. It also has $7.25 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, and it allows more nonprofits to apply for loans that are designed to help borrowers meet their payroll and operating costs and can potentially be forgiven.Can it help renters and homeowners? It provides about $30 billion to help pay the rent and utilities for low-income households and people who are unemployed, and to provide vouchers and other support for people who are homeless. States and tribes would receive an additional $10 billion for homeowners who are struggling with mortgage payments because of the pandemic.  
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