World Coronavirus Dispatch: Biden sets ambitious July 4 target for normalcy

Several EU countries suspend AstraZeneca vaccine, the US is sitting on millions of AstraZeneca vaccine doses, and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Biden sets July 4 target as 'independence from virus'

In his first prime-time address as the President, Joe Biden set an ambitious target that by July 4 a return to normalcy was possible with close gatherings, providing comfort to millions of Americans desperately yearning for an end to the pandemic after a devastating year. Biden also urged the states to make vaccines available for every adult by May 1. In a carefully balanced speech that has both caution and optimism, the President warned that restrictions could be reinstated if the nation lets down its guard against the coronavirus. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 118,571,592

Global deaths: 2,629,625

Nations with most cases: US (29,286,133), India (11,308,846), Brazil (11,277,717), Russia (4,311,893), United Kingdom (4,254,714).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center

The US is sitting on millions of vaccine doses the world needs: Report

Tens of millions of coronavirus vaccine doses developed by the AstraZenca are lying idle in the United States even as the rest of the world is desperate for shots. AstraZeneca's United States clinical trial has not yet reported the results and the company has not yet applied for authorisation. On the other hand, more than 70 countries have cleared the vaccine for emergency use and are begging for access to the doses. Some nations are in talks with the US government to donate the shots. About 30 million doses are currently bottled at AstraZeneca’s facility in West Chester, Ohio. Emergent BioSolutions, a company in Maryland that AstraZeneca has contracted to manufacture its vaccine in the United States, has also produced enough vaccine in Baltimore for tens of millions. Read here
 

One year ago, the WHO declared that the world was in pandemic

Nearly three months after a mysterious virus causing unknown pneumonia started spreading like wildfire across the world, the World Health Organization on March 11, last year, declared that the world was in a pandemic. Many argue that the global health agency missed the crucial time in announcing the pandemic, and the delay left many nations vulnerable and unprepared. It was the beginning of a trail of death and suffering, the start of a succession of lockdowns across the globe. A year later, more than 118 million cases have been reported around the world, with more than 2.6 million confirmed deaths. Read here

Several EU countries suspend AstraZeneca vaccine

Three European countries, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, have suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccine to investigate the cases of blood clots. However, the European medical agency said that the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot can continue to be used during the investigation. AstraZeneca said the safety of its shot had been extensively studied in human trials and that peer-reviewed data had confirmed the vaccine was generally well tolerated. The British government too defended the vaccine and said it would continue its rollout. Read here