World Coronavirus Dispatch: Global infections fast approaching 100 million

Zimbabwe president promises vaccines after four officials die, Australia halts New Zealand travel bubble and other-pandemic related news across the globe

Why vaccines alone will not end the pandemic

Many countries, including the United States, had hoped the vaccinations would put an end to the pandemic. However, scientists believe inoculation is not a silver bullet and even if millions are inoculated in the US, for instance, many more will still be vulnerable to infection, unless people continue to wear masks and maintain social distancing for many months, according to a new model by scientists at Columbia University. The model also cautions against lifting or relaxing precautions too soon, as it could mean millions more infections and thousands more deaths. Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 99,225,963

Change Over Yesterday: 443,227

Global deaths: 1,898,655

Nations with most cases: US (25,127,009), India (10,667,736), Brazil (8,844,577), Russia (3,698,246), United Kingdom (3,657,857).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.

Zimbabwe’s president promises vaccines after four officials die

"The virus has been indiscriminate, there are no spectators, adjudicators, no holier-than-thou, no supermen or superwomen, we are all exposed,” Zimbabwe’s President Mnangagwa said in a televised address after the pandemic killed four high profile officials in the country. Zimbabwe’s foreign minister, Sibusiso Busi Moyo died of the virus last Wednesday. Two days later, the country’s transportation minister, Joel Matiza, succumbed from complications from Covid-19. On the same day, Zimbabwe’s former education minister, Aeneas Chigwedere, died of similar causes. "We are all potential victims, the president said, adding that help is on the way and his government would roll-out vaccination across the length and breadth of the nation. Read here

Egypt begins its vaccination campaign 

Egypt started inoculating its front line workers with Chinese vaccine Sinovac, even as some doctors questioned the efficacy and safety of the shot, given the lack of transparency and data from clinical trials. The vaccination is going on at 40 isolation facilities, pulmonology hospitals and fever wards, according to the authorities. The health minister said the government would begin by offering the vaccine to medical staff on a voluntary basis, then proceed to the general public in the next several weeks. Read here

Australia halts New Zealand travel bubble

Australia has suspended its travel bubble with New Zealand for three days after a 56-year-old woman contracted the highly contagious new variant that first appeared in South Africa. This was the first community case in nearly two months. Authorities said, the decision has been taken out of an "abundance of caution to reduce the risk of this variant, which has been shown to spread more readily between individuals, entering the Australian community.” The woman likely caught the virus in a Auckland hotel while in quarantine. New Zealand health authorities are concerned because the woman had left the hotel after serving her full quarantine period and after producing two negative test results.  Read here

More than 2 million could use postal votes in Scotland elections

Scotland is promoting postal voting heavily in the upcoming parliamentary elections in May to minimise the risk from the pandemic and mitigate the impact on turnout. Officials expect more than 2 million people could use postal votes if elections take place in May without any delay. The polling by the electoral body has found that up to 68 per cent of Scotland’s 4 million voters could opt for postal votes. Even political parties are heavily promoting promote postal voting heavily among their supporters and to target voters. Read here