German Health Minister Jens Spahn announced Friday the order in which COVID-19 vaccinations will be carried out, starting with the most vulnerable, more than a week before any vaccine is expected to be approved for use.
At a Berlin news conference, Spahn said he expects the vaccinations will begin about December 27, and because initial quantities will be limited, the first shots will go to people over the age of 80 living in retirement homes, along with staff and medical personnel most at risk of exposing themselves or others to the coronavirus.
Spahn said getting the vaccine out to the general population will take time. He said it will take one to two months to ensure the most vulnerable are vaccinated. He added, “Only then will we be able to consider gradually expanding the offer, within the framework of the law on vaccination.”
German Health Minister Promises Coronavirus Vaccine Within DaysJens Spahn says he expects coronavirus vaccine to be approved for use by December 23 and for inoculations to begin before the end of the yearGermany, like the rest of the European Union, is waiting for emergency approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to grant approval for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected early next week. EU leaders wanted to wait and begin vaccinations in each member nation on the same day, in an act of solidarity.
Britain, Canada and the United States already have begun vaccinations and late Thursday, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel endorsed for emergency use a second vaccine produced by U.S. drug maker Moderna. The FDA is expected to follow that recommendation and quickly approve the vaccine.
The EMA announced Thursday it would move up a planned assessment for the Moderna vaccine to January 6 from January 12. The agency said in a statement it received the final data package from the company ahead of schedule, allowing it to move forward.
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Month: December 2020
Ransomware Cyberattacks Cripple US Systems
In late November 2020, hackers took over the Baltimore County Public Schools system in Maryland and forced the nation’s 25th largest school district to shut down for three days. But what happened to the public school system in Baltimore was not an isolated case, as Valentina Vasileva reports in this story, narrated by Anna Rice.Videographer: Aleksandr Bergan
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Thai Firm Joins with AstraZeneca to Make COVID-19 Vaccine for Southeast Asia
Thailand says a local laboratory’s pact with Britain’s AstraZeneca will make the Southeast Asian country the regional hub for supplies of what’s likely to be one of the leading vaccines against COVID-19 as governments scramble to lock in supplies.Bangkok-based Siam Bioscience signed a letter of intent with AstraZeneca late last month to make 200 million doses of the British pharmaceutical firm’s COVID-19 vaccine, AZD1222, said Nakorn Premsri, director of Thailand’s National Vaccine Institute.Thailand’s Public Health Ministry and the local conglomerate SCG, with its packaging and chemicals divisions, also joined the deal.Nakorn said most of the doses would head abroad.”Thailand will secure only 26 million doses. We may ask for more, but it will not be a big part, so maybe more than half of that [200 million] can be exported,” he told VOA.”It’s in the letter of intent that we made together with Siam Bioscience, AstraZeneca, SCG and Ministry of Public Health that it will be distributed within the ASEAN region,” he added, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.In a brief statement to VOA, AstraZeneca’s Thailand office confirmed the broad outlines of its plans.”The Ministry of Public Health, SCG, Siam Bioscience and AstraZeneca share the focus on broad, equitable and timely access to an effective COVID-19 vaccine in Thailand and Southeast Asia region. AstraZeneca has been working with Siam Bioscience through technology transfer to expand AZD1222’s global manufacturing capacity,” it said.AstraZeneca’s vaccine, developed in collaboration with Britain’s Oxford University, is still pending approval in Britain. Officials there say regulators could reach a decision by early January.In the mixNakorn said AstraZeneca has already started sharing the technology Siam Bioscience will need to make its vaccine and that production could begin in the second quarter of next year. If all goes well, he said, inoculations could start by the middle of the year.Because those taking AstraZeneca’s vaccine will need two doses each, the 26 million jabs Thailand has reserved will be enough for 13 million people, about a fifth of the country’s population. How the rest of the doses are rolled out across Southeast Asia, a region of over 650 million people, will be up to the British firm, said Nakorn.A few other ASEAN countries besides Thailand have already announced plans to source vaccine from AstraZeneca, but it’s not clear how many of their doses will be arriving via Siam Bioscience.AstraZeneca’s Thailand office refused VOA’s request for an interview.COVID-19’s toll on the region has been mixed.Despite reporting the first case outside of China, in mid-January, Thailand has managed to keep a lid on the pandemic, thanks to tight border controls, with only 4,281 cases and 60 deaths recorded to date. Laos, Cambodia and tiny Brunei have all reported well under 1,000 cases each.Others have fared much worse.The Philippines and Indonesia have recorded over 450,000 and 640,000 cases, respectively, the most in Southeast Asia. Malaysia and Myanmar are in the midst of their worst waves of infection yet, with well over 1,000 new cases a day.Countries in the region are not waiting for the AstraZeneca-Siam Bioscience pact for deliverance, though.Some of them have announced plans or deals to source from a combination of suppliers including U.S. pharmaceutical leaders Moderna and Pfizer, whose COVID-19 vaccines have already been approved by Washington. A few say they plan to pad their stocks with vaccines from China and Russia as well.Six ASEAN members have also signed up to COVAX, a global plan co-led by the World Health Organization for rich countries to help buy doses of COVID-19 vaccine for the poorest.Pros and consStill, AstraZeneca’s plans to turn Thailand into a regional production hub is a boon for the country’s neighbors, said Khor Swee Kheng, a global health specialist and independent consultant to the WHO based in Malaysia.With this deal, “Southeast Asia has greater assurance of vaccine supplies in a global race that is currently dominated by rich countries.” he said.”Two, production facilities that are physically nearer to Southeast Asian countries will aid in logistics. Three, this arrangement can be leveraged for further Southeast Asian collaboration in regional vaccine manufacturing and stockpiling.”AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine also has the advantage of holding on to its potency for at least six months in a standard refrigerator. That compares with about one month for Moderna’s offering and only a few days for Pfizer’s. For most of its time, Pfizer’s vaccine must be stored at an ultra-cold minus 70 Celsius.As countries shop for vaccines, Khor said that gives AZD1222 an edge in tropical countries and those with limited cold storage facilities, though he added that governments will also be weighing safety, efficacy, availability and price.Farming out production also raises its own hurdles.”Regulatory approval for the vaccine produced by Siam Bioscience depends on a few variables,” said Khor.“One, how much of the production process is done in Thailand in Siam Bioscience facilities versus AstraZeneca facilities? Two, how much technology transfer and patent transfers have occurred between AstraZeneca and Siam Bioscience? This information is not yet available publicly.”If Siam Bioscience takes on much of the burden, regulatory bodies may insist on approval of not only AstraZeneca’s work but separately of its Thai partner’s contributions as well.
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US Vice President Pence Receives COVID-19 Vaccine Live on TV
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, second lady Karen Pence, Thursday received their first COVID-19 vaccinations live on television, in an effort to reassure the public the vaccine is safe and effective. Pence and his wife received the vaccine at Walter Reed Medical Center, just outside Washington, D.C. Pence told the medical staff member administering the shot, “I didn’t feel a thing. Well done.” U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams received the inoculation shortly after vice president and his wife. Following the vaccination, Pence spoke to reporters, calling it a “historic week,” referring to the vaccine rollout. He said he and his wife were “more than happy to step forward before this week was out to take this safe and effective vaccination that we have secured and produced for the American people.” Doctors advised all three people that they must return in 21 days for the second dose of the vaccine and that they may feel some soreness around the injection site. President-elect Joe Biden told NBC news he expects to get the vaccine sometime next week. Pence is receiving the vaccine just days after the first shipments were delivered to health care facilities across the country and given to frontline workers and nursing home residents. It also comes as the U.S. has set records this week for daily coronavirus cases and deaths. Late Thursday, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel endorsed for emergency use a second COVID-19 vaccine produced by U.S. drug maker Moderna. The FDA is expected to follow that recommendation and quickly approve the vaccine. It comes on the heels of approval last week for Pfizer’s vaccine. The disease caused by the virus has killed more than 300,000 people and infected more than 16.3 million in the U.S. alone, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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Kidnapped Nigerian Boys To Be Reunited WIth Their Families Friday
A total of 344 boys were released Thursday after being abducted last week by gunmen from their school in Nigeria.”This is a huge relief to the entire country and international community,” Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari posted on Twitter. “The entire country is grateful to [Katsina state] Governor [Aminu Bello] Masari, the intelligence agencies, the military and the police force.”Some boys, however, remain missing, Masari told state television.”We have recovered most of the boys. It’s not all of them,” he said on state channel NTA, noting that the boys who were released were found in a forest in neighboring Zamfara state.Masari said the boys would be reunited with their families Friday in the state capital after undergoing medical examinations.It was not immediately clear if a ransom had been paid for the children’s release.Before news of the boys’ release, a father of one of the kidnapped boys told The New York Times that he was in despair because “We don’t know if he has eaten, if he’s sick, dead or alive.”News of the boys’ release came shortly after a video appeared on social media Thursday, purportedly showing some of the hundreds of kidnapped Nigerian schoolboys with the Boko Haram Islamist militant group. The video showed a group of boys in a wooded area imploring security forces to leave the area.Nigerian spokesperson Abdul Labaran said in a statement the video was authentic but a message from the group’s leader was by an impersonator.Reuters and Agence France-Presse were not able to immediately confirm the authenticity of the video, but AFP reported it received the footage on the same channel previously used by Boko Haram.The jihadist group claimed responsibility earlier this week for the Dec. 11 kidnappings in northwest Nigeria but provided no proof. If Boko Haram’s claims are valid, its presence in the country’s northwestern Katsina state indicates it has expanded its activities into new territory.The video, which also featured Boko Haram’s logo, showed a distressed teenager surrounded by a large group of boys saying he was one of the 520 students kidnapped by the “gang of Abu Shekau.”The raid last Friday on a school in rural Kankara was first blamed on criminals who have terrorized the area for years.But Boko Haram subsequently claimed responsibility for the incursion, which took place hundreds of kilometers from its birthplace a decade ago in northeast Nigeria.In 2014, Boko Haram abducted more than 270 girls from the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok. Dozens of the girls never returned to their homes.
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Snags on US COVID-19 Relief May Force Weekend Sessions
It’s a hurry up and wait moment on Capitol Hill as congressional negotiators on a must-pass, almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package struggled through a handful of remaining snags. The holdups mean a weekend session now appears virtually certain, and a top lawmaker warned that a government shutdown this weekend can’t be ruled out.All sides appeared hopeful that the wrangling wouldn’t derail the legislation, even as the chances for announcing a deal Thursday slipped away. After being bogged down for much of the day, negotiators reported behind-the-scenes progress Thursday night.The central elements of a hard-fought compromise appeared in place: more than $300 billion in aid to businesses; a $300-per-week bonus federal jobless benefit and renewal of soon-to-expire state benefits; $600 direct payments to individuals; vaccine distribution funds and money for renters, schools, the Postal Service and people needing food aid.But a temporary funding bill runs out Friday at midnight and the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, Sen. John Thune, said if there isn’t a deal by then, some Republicans might block a temporary funding bill — causing a low-impact partial weekend shutdown — as a means to keep the pressure on.Lawmakers were told to expect to be in session and voting this weekend.“We must not slide into treating these talks like routine negotiations to be conducted at Congress’ routine pace,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said. “The Senate is not going anywhere until we have COVID relief out the door.”Getting antsyThe hang-ups involved an effort by GOP conservatives to curb emergency lending programs by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve, a Democratic demand to eliminate local government matching requirements for COVID-related disaster grants, and myriad smaller disagreements over non-pandemic add-ons, lawmakers and aides said.The delays weren’t unusual for legislation of this size and importance, but lawmakers are eager to leave Washington for the holidays and are getting antsy.The pending bill is the first significant legislative response to the pandemic since the landmark CARES Act passed virtually unanimously in March, delivering $1.8 trillion in aid and more generous $600 per week bonus jobless benefits and $1,200 direct payments to individuals.The CARES legislation passed at a moment of great uncertainty and unprecedented shutdowns in a failed attempt to stymie the coronavirus, but after that, many Republicans focused more on loosening social and economic restrictions as the key to recovery instead of more taxpayer-funded aid.Now, Republicans are motivated chiefly to extend business subsidies and some jobless benefits and provide money for schools and vaccines. Democrats have focused on bigger economic stimulus measures and more help for those struggling economically during the pandemic. The urgency was underscored Thursday by the weekly unemployment numbers, which revealed that 885,000 people applied for jobless benefits last week, the highest weekly total since September.The emerging package falls well short of the $2 trillion-plus Democrats were demanding this fall before the election, but President-elect Joe Biden is eager for an aid package to prop up the economy and help the jobless and hungry. While Biden says more economic stimulus will be needed early next year, some Republicans say the current package may be the last.“If we address the critical needs right now, and things improve next year as the vaccine gets out there and the economy starts to pick up again, you know, there may be less of a need,” Thune said.’Ash and trash’The details were still being worked out, but the measure includes a second round of “paycheck protection” payments to especially hard-hit businesses, $25 billion to help struggling renters with their payments, $45 billion for airlines and transit systems, a temporary 15% or so increase in food stamp benefits, additional farm subsidies, and a $10 billion bailout for the Postal Service.Some Democrats also mourned the exclusion of a $500 million aid package to help states run their elections. The money was seen as urgent this summer to help states more safely administer their elections in the middle of the pandemic. But with the election over, momentum for the money has gone away.The emerging package was serving as a magnet for adding on other items, and the two sides continued to swap offers. It was apparent that another temporary spending bill would be needed to prevent a government shutdown. That was likely to pass easily, though possibly not until the last minute.The emerging package would combine the $900 billion in COVID-19 relief with a $1.4 trillion government-wide funding bill. Then there are numerous unrelated add-ons that are catching a ride, known as “ash and trash” in appropriations panel shorthand.One leading candidate is an almost 400-page water resources bill that targets $10 billion for 46 Army Corps of Engineers flood control, environmental and coastal protection projects. Another potential addition would extend a batch of soon-to-expire tax breaks, including one for craft brewers, wineries and distillers.The end-of-session rush also promises relief for victims of shockingly steep surprise medical bills, a phenomenon that often occurs when providers drop out of insurance company networks.“It’s been very thoroughly vetted,” said retiring Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., of the surprise medical billing measure. That measure, combined with an assortment of other health policy provisions, generates savings for federal funding for community health centers.A key breakthrough occurred earlier this week when Democrats agreed to drop their much-sought $160 billion state and local government aid package in exchange for McConnell abandoning a key priority of his own — a liability shield for businesses and other institutions like universities fearing COVID-19 lawsuits.The addition of the $600 direct payments came after recent endorsements from both President Donald Trump and progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York, along with ambitious GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. The idea isn’t very popular in other corners since it’s extremely costly and would give money to millions of people who may not need it, but it has enormous political appeal and proved difficult to stop.
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For Ethiopia’s Diaspora, Seeking News Amid Communication Blackout is a Challenge
When violence erupted in Ethiopia’s Tigray region between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) last month, those living in the global diaspora scrambled for information.The Ethiopian army went into Tigray on Nov. 4, after the government accused local forces of attacking a military base there. TPLF leaders called the federal government’s response a war against the people of Tigray.The search for verified, accurate news on the conflict was hampered by authorities preventing many international media organizations from accessing the conflict zone and disruptions to phone and internet connections that FILE – In this Oct. 10, 2016, photo, Ethiopian men read newspapers and drink coffee at a cafe during a declared state of emergency in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Ethiopia has a range of media outlets run from outside the country. But oftentimes these satellite television networks are politically or ethnically aligned, journalists and scholars said.Befeqadu Hailu, executive director of the Center for Advancement of Rights and Democracy based in the capital, Addis Ababa, said that outlets abroad can play an important role but that bias sometimes influences the way they report on events.“They have a positive contribution especially in times of repression by the government here [in Ethiopia]. They can be the voice of the silenced here,” Befeqadu said. But, he added, they can sometimes “aggravate” the conversation because of their allegiances, or through using sources or information that are less reliable.“I think that the diaspora media is usually more divided than the media organizations that are here,” Befeqadu said. “The diaspora is more divided along ethnic lines, along ideological and political ideological lines, and they show their allegiance without fear.”Reeyot Alemu, a journalist for the U.S.-based Ethiopian news website Ethio 360 Media, which reports primarily in Amharic, says some journalists do their due diligence and refrain from becoming swayed along ethnic or political lines.“There are gaps created as a result of working from abroad but responsible journalists always verify information using all the means available,” Reeyot told VOA in Amharic. “But there is still a big gap when it comes to applying journalism principles not only caused by physical distance, but also taking sides.The challenges of reporting from overseas have been exacerbated during the information blackout.The government denied responsibility for the latest internet cuts. A tweet by the Ethiopia State of Emergency Fact Check, which says it provides the latest information on the state of emergency, shared a video on Twitter that it says shows unidentified individuals breaking into the northern region’s office of Ethio-Telecom, the country’s sole internet provider and then “intentionally” disconnecting the network.Ethio Telecom’s CCTV camera footage from the premises of the Mekelle Core Center. pic.twitter.com/dsNBg0h789
— Ethiopia State of Emergency Fact Check (@SOEFactCheck) A woman walks past an Ethio Telecom office in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, Nov. 9, 2015.Ethiopia had shown signs of reversing its poor press freedom record when Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018. The country was hailed for releasing journalists and political dissidents and the new prime minister last year spoke of the need to open up the media space, while cautioning against the spread of hate speech and fake news.But during points of conflict or unrest, including the Tigray fighting, Ethiopia has reverted to blocking access to information, detaining critical journalists or pressuring media who report critically on the government or appear more favorable to opposition, media rights groups say.On Dec. 12, the deputy director general of the Information Network Security Agency, Kefyalew Tefera, accused the U.S.-based Oromia Media Network and Ethio 360 Media of collaborating with the TPLF.Reeyot, who was imprisoned when the TPLF was in power, said that the accusation appears to be “simply because the media is deemed not to have a favorable view of the government.”Accusations of supporting or working for the TPLF have led to an increase in the number of journalists jailed in Ethiopia since the fighting. Figures released by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists showed seven journalists jailed in Ethiopia on Dec. 1—nearly all of whom were arrested in November for coverage of the TPLF.
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US FDA Approves Australian COVID-19 Self-Test Kit
A rapid over-the-counter COVID-19 test developed by an Australian company has been given emergency approval in the United States. It will be America’s first at-home testing technology that does not require any laboratory involvement to process a result.The Australian-manufactured test kit uses a nasal swab and then processes the sample through an analyzer connected to a smartphone. Results are delivered in about 20 minutes.It is the first at-home coronavirus test that does not require a prescription in the U.S. and has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA said the technology would ease the burden on laboratories and test supplies and allow Americans to be screened for the virus from the safety of their homes.The test has been developed by Ellume, a firm based in Brisbane, Australia. The company hopes to manufacture up to 200,000 kits each day by March. The first consignment is expected to be delivered next month.Ellume founder and chief executive Sean Parsons, a former emergency and intensive care physician, said the self-test will help reduce the spread of COVID-19.“It is new technology that we created here in Brisbane over a long time, and it is terrific to see this product being approved by the FDA in these tumultuous times to help respond to coronavirus,” he said.The technology, however, is unlikely to be used in Australia.“Here in Australia, we do not have that emergency that they have in the U.S.,” said Dr. Paul Kelly, acting chief medical officer. “The other thing that is different here in Australia is we have a very large and deliberately expanded laboratory network using the gold standard of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing. We have plenty of capacity there.”Australia has mostly contained COVID-19. It has recorded about 28,000 infections since the pandemic began, and 908 people have died.But after months of relative calm and low case numbers, residents in parts of Australia’s biggest city were urged Thursday to stay at home for at least three days because of a cluster of new infections. Other states are imposing restrictions on travelers from Sydney’s northern beaches region, where the new outbreak is centered.Authorities are racing to identify the source of the infections. Sophisticated contact tracing has been a key part in Australia’s coronavirus strategy.
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US Expands COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
The United States is expanding its rollout of the newly approved COVID-19 vaccine to hundreds of distribution centers where thousands of health care workers are expected to be vaccinated. More from VOA’s Mariama Diallo.
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As Pandemic Rages Across US, Congress Scrambles to Reach Relief Deal
As the coronavirus pandemic roared to new record highs across the United States, it lit a fire in the U.S. Congress, where Republicans and Democrats were scrambling to pass a new round of aid after months of partisan finger-pointing and inaction. Even as they contemplated passing a third stopgap measure to give them a few more days to agree on final amounts, lawmakers from both parties said COVID-19’s worsening toll meant that failure to agree was no longer an option. Multiple lawmakers floated the possibility the federal government would run out of money early Saturday morning while the COVID-19 relief negotiations continue if Congress is unable to pass a temporary government funding bill before Friday at midnight. FILE – Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., answers reporters questions outside his office at the U.S. Capitol, Jan 29, 2020.The Senate’s No. 2 Republican, John Thune, said there could be an objection to passing such a stopgap measure from those who want to keep the pressure on for a deal on COVID-19 aid. “Government shutdowns are never good. If it’s for a very short amount of time on a weekend, hopefully it’s not going to be something that would be all that harmful. But that being said, the preferable route is to keep the government open and get this done and get it done quickly,” Thune said. But a House Democratic aide familiar with the negotiations said there was confidence that the Democrat-run House could meet the midnight Friday deadline for passing spending and coronavirus aid measures. Lawmakers said they were being spurred to action by hospitalizations and deaths caused by the pandemic rising at an alarming rate. The United States has registered more than 17 million COVID-19 cases and more than 310,000 deaths, by far the most in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. FILE – Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks during a Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, May 7, 2020.”Today, this week, we’re seeing more deaths due to COVID than ever. The fact that even with a vaccine coming in my state, we are at our highest rate ever for transmission of the virus, for hospitalizations,” said Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. “That’s the difference … the calendar, the passage of time, and the passing of lives,” Murkowski said when asked by reporters why a coronavirus aid bill was gaining momentum among Senate Republicans. FILE – Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, speaking during a news conference in Washington, Oct. 26, 2020.Republican Senator Rob Portman pointed to growing lines of unemployed Americans at food banks. “Something’s going on here, folks … people waiting five, six hours for a box of food,” he said. Republicans also have a wary eye on the impact inaction might have on a pair of January 5 U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia, which will decide whether their party maintains control of the Senate for the next two years or hands it over to Democrats. For months, the Republican-run Senate refused to take up a $3 trillion bill the Democrat-run House passed in May, pointing out that Congress had previously passed $3 trillion in aid in March and April. For a long time, leading Republicans argued for something closer to $500 billion (about twice the value of the gross domestic product of South Africa) more. Now, House and Senate leaders are negotiating a bill of about $900 billion that would be attached to a $1.4 trillion measure to fund federal programs through next September. The plan is to attach the bill to a massive government bill and pass both by midnight Friday to avoid a shutdown of much of the federal government. Lawmakers in both parties said they wanted to avoid a shutdown. The coronavirus legislation is expected to include stimulus checks of about $600, extended unemployment benefits, help for states distributing the vaccine and assistance for small businesses struggling through the pandemic as millions have been thrown out of work. Fed lending and other sticking points While congressional leaders reported progress in negotiations, there still were thorny problems to iron out. Republicans were trying to ensure that the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending program that was enacted earlier this year ended this month, a move that Democrats oppose. FILE – Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, listens during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Dec. 1, 2020.Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, a Republican, told reporters he was negotiating for a rental assistance program that would “avoid the need for an eviction moratorium.” Negotiators were in varying stages of debates over increased food aid for the poor and reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to local governments for expenses related to COVID-19, like personal protective equipment for schools. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that if a deal is not reached by midnight Friday, he would insist that lawmakers put off a Christmas break until one is reached. That would necessitate, he said, passage of a “very, very” short stopgap measure to keep the government running. FILE – In this image from video, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., takes his face covering off as he speaks on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, April 23, 2020. (House Television via AP)House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has talked about a temporary bill possibly running through next Tuesday. Two contentious issues appear to have been left by the wayside. The measure was not expected to include a dedicated funding stream for state and local governments, a Democratic priority, or new protections for companies from lawsuits related to the pandemic, something high on the Republican agenda. Lawmakers were discussing $300 weekly in federal unemployment benefits — which would also be half the amount passed last spring that expired in the summer — and about $330 billion to help small businesses, lawmakers said.
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Cyclone Yasa Leaves Extensive Damage but Few Casualties, Aid Agencies Say
Hurricane-force winds and torrential rain have destroyed scores of houses and flattened crops in Fiji’s northern regions, aid agencies said Friday, though early assessments suggest minimal casualties. Cyclone Yasa, a Category 5 storm, made landfall over Bua province on the northern island of Vanua Levu on Thursday evening, bringing heavy rain, widespread flooding and winds of up to 285 kph (177 mph) across the archipelago. Fiji declared a state of natural disaster Thursday, ordered its entire population of nearly 1 million people to seek shelter and implemented a nightly curfew. A house is shuttered in the preparation for Cyclone Yasa in the Tamavua neighborhood of Suva, Fiji, Dec. 17, 2020.The alarm was largely heeded, and as a result, humanitarian groups said it appeared the initial impact of Cyclone Yasa was less than originally feared, though still extensive. “Villages in Vanua Levu have lost a lot of houses. The wind has flattened many community buildings, and crops have been flattened,” Fiji Red Cross Society Director-General Ilisapeci Rokotunidau told Reuters by phone from Suva, the country’s capital. “So far there is just one fatality that has been reported.”Images shared on social media showed roads blocked by landslides, floodwaters and fallen trees. All roads in Rakiraki, a district on the main island with about 30,000 residents, were flooded, Fiji’s Road Authority said. Authorities remain concerned about heavy rains bought by Cyclone Yasa, though the storm has weakened in strength and is now a Category 2 as it moves south across the island chain. Still, the adverse weather has hampered efforts by aid groups to dispatch assistance, with waves of more than 3 meters (10 feet) preventing ships from leaving Suva. Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said with treacherous conditions, the country’s citizens must remain vigilant. “#TeamFiji, we are not out of the woods yet, keep safe and adhere to weather warnings!!” Bainimarama tweeted on Friday.
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US Panel Endorses Second COVID-19 Vaccine
A U.S. panel endorsed emergency use of a second COVID-19 vaccine Thursday.A committee of independent expert advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted, after seven hours of discussion, to recommend the use of a vaccine developed by U.S. drug manufacturer Moderna, one week after federal regulators authorized the first vaccine for emergency use. “The evidence that has been studied in great detail on this vaccine highly outweighs any of the issues we’ve seen,” Dr. Hayley Gans, Stanford University Medical Center, said Thursday. FILE – Biotechnology company Moderna protocol files for COVID-19 vaccinations are kept at the Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida, Aug. 13, 2020.The news comes as the United States has recorded nearly 310,000 deaths from the virus, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. There are more than 17 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in the U.S. FDA authorization of emergency use of the vaccine could come as soon as Friday. Once approved, Moderna would then begin shipping nearly 6 million doses, with the first planned for health workers and nursing home residents. Last week, after the advisers endorsed the use of the first vaccine, the FDA authorized it for emergency use a day later. That vaccine, developed by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, is being distributed throughout the U.S. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine’s distribution was threatened Wednesday and Thursday in Northeastern U.S. states by the region’s first major snowstorm, which forecasters said might leave more than 30 centimeters (12 inches) of snow on parts of New England before heading out to sea later Thursday. A massive inoculation program with an initial round of 2.9 million doses began Monday at U.S. hospitals and in long-term care facilities, as cases continued to surge across the U.S. Staff members receive the COVID-19 vaccine at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, N.J., Dec. 17, 2020.Thousands of people are dying daily, while intensive medical care units across the country are approaching capacity, threatening to overwhelm health care systems. Both vaccines were about 95% effective in clinical trials, but Moderna’s requires less onerous cold storage requirements than the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, making it a better choice for rural and remote areas. Moderna, however, reported more frequent side effects from its 30,000-person trial than those reported by Pfizer. These were mainly short-term reactions, such as hives, rashes and itching, officials said. FDA staffers did not mention any significant safety concerns about the Moderna vaccine in documents released Tuesday in preparation for the meeting. General Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine project, told reporters Monday the U.S. plans to transport 6 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine if it is approved. Operation Warp Speed scientific leader Moncef Slaoui said Monday that 20 million people in the U.S. would be vaccinated with either vaccine this month. Slaoui estimated that 100 million people, about one-third of the U.S. population, could be inoculated by the end of the first quarter of 2021.
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Biden Names Deb Haaland as First Native American to Head Interior
President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate New Mexico Congresswoman Deb Haaland to be secretary of the interior. She would be the first Native American to lead the agency. Haaland, 60, is a member of the Laguna Pueblo. The Interior Department has a large influence over the country’s nearly 600 federally recognized tribes, in addition to overseeing federal lands, including wildlife, national parks and mineral wealth. Native American groups were pleased. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said he was overjoyed, according to The Associated Press. “It is truly a historic and unprecedented day for all Indigenous people,” he said. Environmental groups also praised the choice. “Representative Haaland’s historic appointment means a new era of protection for our wildlife, public lands and waters from the rapacious extractive industries that have ruled the day under the Trump administration,” said Kierán Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s critical for Native American leaders to be part of all decision-making about public lands, and Haaland’s appointment will ensure that.” FILE – Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La.Some Democrats expressed concerns over the selection of Haaland because it further, albeit perhaps temporarily, depletes the party’s newly slimmed majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Biden has picked two other representatives to serve in his administration, Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond and Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge. FILE – Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-OhioAny concerns were allayed by party leadership. Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn, the No. 3 Democrat, blessed the choice. Haaland is one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress in 2018. She is vice chair of the House Committee for Natural Resources. Before coming to Congress, she was head of New Mexico’s Democratic Party. Interior secretary could be a key position in the Biden administration, as Biden has promised to curb fossil fuel extraction from federal lands.
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EU, British Leaders Concede Big Gaps Remain in Post-Brexit Talks
Britain and the European Union provided sober updates Thursday on the state of post-Brexit trade discussions, with only two weeks to go before a potentially chaotic split.While Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Union’s executive commission, noted “substantial progress on many issues,” she voiced concerns about the discussions taking place around fishing rights. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also warned that a no-deal outcome seemed “very likely.”The two spoke early Thursday evening, their latest in a series of conversations in the past couple of weeks aimed at unclogging the talks, which have moved at a snail’s pace since Britain left the EU on January 31.Britain remains within the EU’s tariff-free single market and customs union until December 31. A failure to reach a post-Brexit deal would likely lead to chaos on the borders at the start of 2021 as tariffs and other impediments to trade are enacted by both sides. The talks have gotten bogged down on three main issues — the EU’s access to Britain’s fishing waters, the level playing field to ensure fair competition between businesses, and the governance of any deal.Following their latest conversation, von der Leyen warned that bridging big differences, in particular on fisheries, “will be very challenging.” Negotiations, she added, would continue Friday.According to a statement from Johnson’s office, the prime minister stressed that “time was very short” and that it “now looked very likely that agreement would not be reached unless the EU position changed substantially.”European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses European lawmakers during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Brussels, Dec 16, 2020.Intractable disputeJohnson, like von der Leyen, focused on the lack of progress on fisheries. which has proved to be a hugely intractable issue in the talks — even though it accounts for only a very small amount of economic output.On fisheries, the EU has repeatedly said it wants an agreement that guarantees a reciprocal access to markets and waters. EU fishermen are keen to keep working in British waters and Britain’s seafood industry is extremely dependent on exports to the 27-nation bloc. Johnson has made fisheries and British control over its waters a key demand in the long saga of Britain’s departure from the EU.According to Downing Street, Johnson stressed that Britain could “not accept a situation where it was the only sovereign country in the world not to be able to control access to its own waters for an extended period and to be faced with fisheries quotas which hugely disadvantaged its own industry.”The EU’s position, according to Johnson, “was simply not reasonable, and if there was to be an agreement, it needed to shift significantly.”Earlier, the European Parliament issued a three-day ultimatum to negotiators to strike a trade deal if it is to be in a position to ratify an agreement this year. European lawmakers said they would need to have the terms of any deal in front of them by late Sunday if they were to organize a special gathering before the end of the year.If a deal comes later, it could only be ratified in 2021, as the Parliament would not have enough time to debate the agreement before that.An anti-Brexit placard is held in Parliament Square, in London, Dec. 16, 2020.’Intolerable’ uncertainty”We give until Sunday to Boris Johnson to make a decision,” said Dacian Ciolos, president of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament. “The uncertainty hanging over citizens and businesses as a result of U.K. choices becomes intolerable.”A trade deal would ensure there are no tariffs and quotas on trade in goods between the two sides, but there would still be technical costs, partly associated with customs checks and nontariff barriers on services.Britain’s Parliament must also approve any Brexit deal, and the Christmas break adds to the timing complications. Lawmakers are due to be on vacation from Friday until January 5, but the government has said they can be called back on 48 hours’ notice to approve an agreement if one is struck.Though both sides would suffer economically from a failure to secure a trade deal, most economists think the British economy would take a greater hit, at least in the near term, as it is relatively more reliant on trade with the EU than vice versa.Both sides have said they would try to mitigate the impact of a no-deal, but most experts think that whatever short-term measures are put in place, the disruptions to trade will be immense.”The prime minister repeated that little time was left,” Downing Street said in its statement after the call. “He said that, if no agreement could be reached, the U.K. and the EU would part as friends, with the U.K. trading with the EU on Australian-style terms.”Australia does not have a free-trade deal with the EU.
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Spain’s Lower House of Parliament Approves Bill to Make Euthanasia Legal
Lawmakers in the lower house of Spain’s parliament approved a bill Thursday, amid ongoing protests, that would allow people to lawfully end their lives if they suffer from serious or incurable diseases.The bill, which is awaiting Senate approval, passed 198-138, in the face of staunch opposition from the conservative People’s Party, its supporters and religious groups.FILE – Santiago Abascal, leader of far-right party Vox, speaks at parliament in Madrid, Spain, Oct. 22, 2020.Many of the protesters who gathered outside parliament Thursday held banners that read “Government of death.”“The euthanasia law is a defeat for civilization and a victory for the culture of death, for those who believe that some lives are more worthy than others,” far-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal said in a video on social media.But Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa told lawmakers the society “cannotFILE – Spain’s Health Minister Salvador Illa speaks at Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, Spain, Feb. 12, 2020.remain impassive when faced with the intolerable pain that many people suffer.”Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.The practice is illegal in most countries but has received favorable consideration in the European Union. If passed by the Senate, Spain would become the fourth European country after Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium to allow people to legally end their lives because of medical conditions.Without any amendments, the law could go into effect as early as next spring.After that point, patients who choose to die because of a medical condition are required to demand euthanasia or ask to be assisted to commit suicide four separate times.The first two requests must be in writing and submitted two weeks apart, while the fourth just before the procedure takes place. All these requests have to be approved by an oversight board with jurisdiction over the patient’s location.Only Spanish citizens or residents of adult age can request to end their lives. The law does, however, give doctors the chance to deny requests based on their personal beliefs.
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Trump Administration, Biden Voice New Alarm About Latest Cyberattack
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration and President-elect Joe Biden both voiced new alarm Thursday about a wide intrusion into computer systems around the world that officials suspect was carried out by Russia.The cybersecurity unit of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the hack “poses a grave risk to the federal government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations.”The assessment by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency was the most pointed yet since news of the intrusion first emerged last weekend. Both the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments were among the agencies whose secure data and emails were penetrated by the hack.US Says Recent Hacking Campaign Hit Government NetworksThe hackers are believed to be working for RussiaThe cybersecurity unit warned that removing the malware inserted in the network software will be “highly complex and challenging.”Biden, set to become the 46th U.S. president after his January 20 inauguration, said, “There’s a lot we don’t yet know, but what we do know is a matter of great concern.”Biden said he had “instructed my team to learn as much as we can about this breach” and praised career government civil servants “who are working around-the-clock to respond to this attack.”He vowed that after he assumes power, “my administration will make cybersecurity a top priority at every level of government, and we will make dealing with this breach a top priority from the moment we take office.”Biden said he would strengthen the government’s cybersecurity partnerships with the private sector.“But a good defense isn’t enough,” he said. “We need to disrupt and deter our adversaries from undertaking significant cyberattacks in the first place.”“We will do that by, among other things, imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks, including in coordination with our allies and partners,” Biden said. “Our adversaries should know that, as president, I will not stand idly by in the face of cyber assaults on our nation.”
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US Panel Expected to Endorse Second COVID-19 Vaccine
A second COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be recommended Thursday for emergency use in the United States, where COVID-19 has killed nearly 308,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University.A committee of independent expert advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) likely will recommend the use of a vaccine developed by U.S. drug manufacturer Moderna, one week after federal regulators authorized the first vaccine for emergency use.If the panel recommends the Moderna vaccine after considering its risks and benefits, FDA authorization could come as soon as Friday.Moderna to Seek Quick Approval of Coronavirus Vaccine in US, EuropeUS biotechnology company’s request could mean that health workers will be able to inoculate patients against virus as soon as mid-December After the advisers endorsed the use of the first vaccine last week, the FDA authorized it for emergency use a day later.That vaccine, developed by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, is being distributed throughout the U.S. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine’s distribution was threatened Wednesday and Thursday in northeastern U.S. states by the region’s first major winter snowstorm, which forecasters said may leave more than 30 centimeters of snow on parts of New England before heading out to sea later Thursday.California Hoping to Get More Than 2 Million Early Doses of COVID VaccineThe first recipients of the serum will be medical workers and nursing facility residents in the stateA massive inoculation program with an initial round of 2.9 million doses began Monday at U.S. hospitals and in long-term care facilities, as cases continued to surge across the U.S. Thousands of people are dying daily, while intensive medical care units across the country are approaching capacity, threatening to overwhelm health care systems.Both vaccines were about 95% effective in clinical trials, but Moderna’s requires less onerous cold storage requirements than the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, making it a better choice for rural and remote areas.Moderna, however, reported more frequent side effects from its 30,000-person trial than those reported by Pfizer. These were mainly short-term reactions to the vaccine, officials said.FDA staffers did not mention any significant safety concerns about the Moderna vaccine in documents released on Tuesday in preparation for the meeting. Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine project, told reporters Monday the U.S. plans to transport 6 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine if it is approved.Operation Warp Speed scientific leader Moncef Slaoui said Monday that 20 million people in the U.S. will be vaccinated with either vaccine this month.Slaoui estimated that 100 million people, about one-third of the U.S. population, could be inoculated by the end of the first quarter of 2021.
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Cameroonian Soldiers Accused of Killing Women, Children Appear in Court
A few civilians were at a military tribunal in Yaounde on Thursday to witness the trial of three soldiers accused in the February 14 Ngarr-buh massacre of women and children.Gabriel Foyong said he lost two family members and wanted to see justice served.”We are not asking for something much from the government of Cameroon,” he said. “What we require is just justice, that justice should take its rightful course so that such incidents may be avoided. Honestly, government needs to sit up, because most of the people dying are the innocent ones. Ngarr-buh is a very perfect example.”The defendants pleaded not guilty before the session was adjourned. The presiding judge, Yvonne Leopoldine Akoa, did not say when the proceedings would resume.Human Rights Watch described the Ngarr-buh killings as one of the worst incidents of abuse by security forces in the history of Cameroon’s separatist crisis. The rights group said 17 members of a vigilante group and a separatist fighter were also charged and remain at large.Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior central African researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the trial was expected to be an important step toward tackling impunity.”We call for a public trial where all participants can feel safe and comfortable that their security will be guaranteed, and this will be key to really help end the cycles of violence and impunity that have affected the Anglophone regions for the past four years,” Allegrozzi said. 21 deathsHuman Rights Watch said 21 civilians, including 13 children and a pregnant woman, were killed. Five houses were torched, property was looted and some residents beaten.Allegrozzi said the killings and torture were not isolated cases but part of a long history of military abuses in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.In a press release, government spokesperson Rene Emmanuel Sadi said the central African state would make sure the trial was fair and that those found guilty would be punished.Authorities initially denied that troops were responsible for the massacre, describing the accusation as propaganda from separatists to discredit government forces. But following international pressure, Cameroon President Paul Biya ordered investigations. The central African state later acknowledged troops were responsible.The government promised to give what it called a decent burial for the dead and to compensate the bereaved families.But Edward Nfor, a member of the Donga Matung administrative unit where Ngarr-buh is located, said the government had not honored its promise.”I think a commission, a special commission should be created by legislation to actually look into this Ngarr-buh incident,” Nfor said. “The international community is watching. Those of us from the area are watching and listening. Placing a military base in Ngarr-buh does not solve the situation.”Armed groups have been fighting to create an independent state in the English-speaking North West and South West regions, separate from the rest of Cameroon and its French-speaking majority.Violence in the English-speaking regions since 2016 has claimed more than 3,000 lives and caused the displacement of more than 430,000 civilians, according to the United Nations.
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UN Sends Millions in Humanitarian Aid to Ethiopia
The United Nations said Thursday that it had mobilized $35.6 million to aid those affected by the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.Some 50,000 people from the region have fled to neighboring Sudan and tens of thousands have been internally displaced since fighting broke out last month.The U.N. said some of the money would go to aiding refugees in Sudan, while the rest would reach those in need in Tigray itself.“Conflicts like this are hard to stop once they get out of control, the lives they extinguish cannot be brought back, and the grievances they create are long-lasting. Right now, children are cut off from help. We need unfettered access now,” said Mark Lowcock, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.The announcement followed a loosening of some restrictions, including restoration of some telecommunications this week. Many civil servants returned to work and gun owners were asked to disarm as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sought to restore order in the embattled region.Telecommunications had been suspended and access to the area limited since the conflict broke out, making it nearly impossible to confirm death tolls in the region.The U.N. has been urging Ethiopia’s central government to allow humanitarian access to the region for more than a month.On November 4, Ethiopia’s federal government launched what it called a “law enforcement operation” against “rogue” leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the region’s ruling party, after TPLF fighters attacked a federal military base. TPLF leaders called the federal government’s response a war against the people of Tigray.The conflict erupted weeks after Tigray held regional elections in defiance of the federal government.
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Vietnam Arrests Popular Facebook User for ‘Anti-state’ Posts
Police in Vietnam have arrested a well-known Facebook user over allegations of abusing democratic freedom and publishing posts against the state, state media reported on Thursday.Truong Chau Huu Danh, 38, a former journalist, will be detained for three months for posts that the police said were abuses of freedom of speech and infringements on state interests, the Ho Chi Minh City police newspaper reported.”Danh owns a Facebook page with nearly 168,000 followers and has got several anti-state posts, causing division of national unity,” the report added.Danh’s arrest comes as the Vietnam government steps up a crackdown on activists ahead of a key party congress in January next year. Despite sweeping economic reform and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party tolerates little criticism.Facebook, which serves about 60 million users in Vietnam as the main platform for both e-commerce and expressions of political dissent, is under constant government scrutiny.In November, Reuters exclusively reported Vietnam had threatened to shut down Facebook in the country if it did not bow to government pressure to censor more local political content on its platform.Vietnam has been widely rebuked for its tough moves to curb online dissent as public appetite for the internet soars and web users turn to blogs to read about issues that state-controlled media avoids.
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WHO: China Welcoming COVID-19 Investigators
World Health Organization regional officials said Thursday China will welcome an international team of WHO experts to investigate the origins of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.At a news conference in Manila, WHO Regional Emergencies Director Dr. Babatunde Olowokure told reporters the agency has been in contact with China and is discussing places they will visit. The WHO announced Wednesday it was sending a team of researchers to China in the first week of January to study what led to the global pandemic that has so far killed more than 1.6 million people out of a total of more than 74.2 million cases.In an interview with the Associated Press news agency earlier this week, a member of the WHO team traveling to China, German biologist Fabian Leendertz, said the visit will likely start in the city of Wuhan where COVID-19 was first detected late last year. Most researchers believe the infection originated in bats.China has previously opposed calls for an international inquiry into the origins of the ailment, saying such calls are anti-China, but has been open to a WHO-led investigation. The United States, which has accused China of having hidden the outbreak’s extent, has called for a “transparent” WHO-led probe and criticized its terms, which allowed Chinese scientists to do the first phase of preliminary research.Chinese state media have suggested the coronavirus existed abroad before it was discovered in Wuhan, citing its presence on imported frozen food packaging and scientific papers claiming it had been circulating in Europe last year.
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Sweden’s King Says His Country ‘Has Failed’ Handling COVID
Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf says his country has “failed” in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Swedish people have suffered “enormously” as a result.In pre-recorded comments released Thursday, the king said many people have died in Sweden from the virus, and “that is horrible.” The 74-old king, whose son and daughter-in-law tested positive for the virus last month, was asked if he was fearful of getting COVID-19 himself. “Lately, it has felt more obvious,” he said. “It has crept closer and closer. That is not what you want.”The king made the comments as part of a year-end holiday broadcast scheduled to air Monday on Swedish television. The monarch plays a ceremonial role and holds no political power.Sweden initially took a different approach to the pandemic than its Nordic neighbors, Norway and Denmark, as well as other nations in Europe. The government never imposed lockdowns or mandated face masks, allowed restaurants and businesses to remain open, and relied mainly on voluntary social distancing and hygiene recommendations to slow the spread.But the nation saw a rising death toll, particularly among elderly residents of care facilities, and its per capita death rate far exceeded that of Norway and Demark. In a preliminary report released Tuesday, an independent commission appointed by the Swedish government said the government failed to sufficiently protect the elderly in care homes from the virus.In recent weeks, the government has imposed tighter COVID-19 restrictions, mandating remote learning for schools, limiting the size of public gatherings and banning the sale of alcohol after 10 p.m. in bars and restaurants.Sweden’s total COVID-19-related deaths stand at 7,667, much higher than its regional neighbors, but still lower than other European nations such as Britain, Spain, Italy and France, all of whom imposed lockdowns.
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US Jobless Benefit Claims Increased Again Last Week
U.S. unemployment benefit claims rose again last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, as the surging number of coronavirus cases restricts many businesses throughout the world’s biggest economy.Seasonally adjusted, a total of 885,000 laid-off workers filed for jobless compensation last week, up 23,000 from the revised figure of the week before. It was the second straight week that the weekly figure had topped 800,000 after hovering in the 700,000-plus range for seven consecutive weeks.With more than 200,000 new coronavirus cases being recorded every day recently, state governors and municipal officials have been imposing new restrictions on business activity, after lifting similar curbs months ago, when the virus seemed to ebb. Employers, in turn, have been laying off more workers, and applications for unemployment benefits have now risen in four of the last five weeks.The layoffs are being imposed even as thousands of Americans started getting inoculated against the virus this week with a vaccination developed by U.S. drug maker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. Another vaccine produced by the U.S. biotechnology firm Moderna is likely to be approved within days.Health care workers and nursing home patients are getting the first wave of shots to curb the pandemic in the U.S. More than 307,000 people have been killed by the virus in the U.S. and nearly 17 million infected, both world-leading figures, according to Johns Hopkins University.But until the vaccines are widely deployed over the coming months, the tens of thousands of new infections are likely to severely affect the country’s labor market.The newest jobless claims figure – as has been the weekly total for nine months –remained above the highest pre-pandemic figure in records that date to the 1960s. Last week’s total extends the run of high weekly claim totals that started in mid-March when the coronavirus swept into the United States.Jobless workers, however, could get some extra relief in the coming weeks.Lawmakers in Congress, stalemated for months on more coronavirus aid for unemployed workers, businesses and state and local governments, say they are on the verge of approving more assistance beyond the $3 trillion they approved months ago, almost all of which already has been spent.After months of stalemated negotiations, Congress is nearing an agreement on a new coronavirus relief measure totaling about $900 billion that includes extra $300-a-week payments for jobless workers for three months on top of less generous state jobless pay. The new total is half the $600-a-week stipends that expired at the end of July.In addition, the government plans to send $600 checks to all but the top-earning American adults to help boost the coronavirus-ravaged economy. That figure is also half the amount the government doled out months ago as the virus first swept into the United States from China and Europe.President-elect Joe Biden has called the aid package “a down payment” on coronavirus relief and has promised to propose more assistance after he is inaugurated on January 20.The 6.7% unemployment rate recorded in the U.S. in November is a marked improvement from the pandemic low point — a 14.7% jobless rate in April — but perhaps is somewhat artificially lower because the figure does not include people who have dropped out of the labor market and are not actively looking for work.The Counter restaurant is closed for indoor dining, Dec. 15, 2020, in New York. A ban on indoor dining at New York City restaurants was enacted by officials trying to slow the resurgence of the coronavirus.With new stay-at-home orders being imposed in some places with the worst outbreaks, the new restrictions could portend more U.S. workers being laid off in the coming weeks. Also, there are now about 10 million fewer jobs in the U.S. labor market than in February before the coronavirus hit the country.Retail stores and restaurants are cutting hours if they are open, while entertainment and arts centers have canceled live shows. The travel and hospitality industries also have been hit hard. Colder winter weather in the U.S. also means that fewer outdoor gatherings are possible.There has been an uptick in shipping, technology and cybersecurity employment, though, because of the number of Americans who have embraced stay-at-home shopping.The country’s Commerce Department says the economy surged at an annualized 33.1% rate from July to September, after an almost equal plunge from April to June, as the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic swept through the country. Analysts say U.S. economic growth will end up being slower in the last three months of the year, especially as business restrictions are markedly increased, such as renewed limitations on indoor seating at restaurants.Government officials have been reluctant to curtail business activity as much as they did in the March-to-June period. As the virus spreads, though, some state governors who refused to impose earlier restrictions now are ordering limitations.
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California Hoping to Get More Than 2 Million Early Doses of COVID Vaccine
California expects to receive a little over two million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in December, which would be enough to vaccinate half of the state’s health care workers. Angelina Bagdasaryan has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
Camera: Vazgen Varzhabetyan
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