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Diplomatic headache as China struggles to get nations to trust its vaccines

China has made a global effort to reassure governments and populations about the efficacy and safety of its vaccines. In October, a group of ambassadors and diplomats representing 50 African countries toured a Sinopharm Group Co. facility amid a publicity blitz touting China’s promise to deliver vaccines to Africa. “When the coronavirus vaccine completes research and is put into use, we are willing to prioritize benefiting African countries,” said Liu Jingzhen, chairman of Sinopharm.

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Will COVID-19 vaccines work on the new coronavirus variant?

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said data coming from Britain indicates the vaccines still will block the virus. But the U.S. also will do tests to be sure.

Viruses often undergo small changes as they reproduce and move through a population. In fact, the slight modifications are how scientists track the spread of a virus from one place to another.

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Delhi airport ‘completely ready’ to handle vaccine distribution challenge

India is relying largely on two domestically made vaccines from Bharat Biotech International Ltd. and the Serum Institute of India Ltd., which has partnered with AstraZeneca Plc to produce at least one billion doses. Ultra-cold storage requirements for Pfizer Inc.’s shot make it an unlikely choice for widespread use given India’s patchy health networks and infrastructure, especially in rural areas where the bulk of the country’s nearly 1.4 billion people live.

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Spain to keep registry of people who refuse Covid vaccine

“What will be done is a registry, which will be shared with our European partners… of those people who have been offered it and have simply rejected it,” he said.

“It is not a document which will be made public and it will be done with the utmost respect for data protection,” he added, noting that employers or members of the general public would not have access to it.

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Urgent action expected in South Africa as hospitals run out of beds, oxygen amid Covid-19 spike

Embattled doctors, nurses have pleaded with government for urgent action as they can no longer cope with the large number of patients arriving for Covid-19 treatment, with hospital administrators saying they have to make heart-breaking choices between younger people who are now being affected by the new strain and older ones with co-morbidities as priorities.

Dr Irene Boeddinghaus, an oncologist at Life Vincent Pallotti Hospital in Cape Town, told the weekly that patients were far sicker than in the first wave. ICU bed availability was dire and doctors and nurses were burnt out and sick with Covid, she said.

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