Africa Needs More Covid Vaccines, UN Says

AP: UN Urges More Vaccines For Africa, With Only 2 Percent Now
The U.N. Security Council called for accelerated availability of coronavirus vaccines for Africa on Wednesday, expressing concern that the continent has received only about 2% of all doses administered globally. The call came in a presidential statement approved by all 15 members at a council meeting on promoting post-pandemic recovery in Africa and addressing the root causes of conflict on the continent. It reiterated the need for “equitable access to quality, safe, efficacious, and affordable COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, medicines and vaccinations to all.” (Lederer, 5/20)

AP: China Says Providing Vaccines To Almost 40 African States
China said Thursday it is providing COVID-19 vaccines to nearly 40 African countries, describing its actions as purely altruistic in an apparent intensification of what has been described as “vaccine diplomacy.” The vaccines were donated or sold at “favorable prices,” Foreign Ministry official Wu Peng told reporters. Wu compared China’s outreach to the actions of “some countries that have said they have to wait for their own people to finish the vaccination before they could supply the vaccines to foreign countries,” in an apparent dig at the United States. (5/20)

AP: EU Declares Vaccination Campaign A Success
A top European Union official is declaring the bloc’s COVID-19 vaccination drive a success after its much-criticized slow start. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU’s executive Commission, proclaimed in comments broadcast Thursday that “we are the only region in the world that has managed both to supply our own population and to share fairly with others.” She touted the EU’s role as the world’s leading exporter of vaccines. (5/20)

Reuters: European Commission Signs Third Contract With BioNTech-Pfizer For 1.8 Bln Vaccine Doses
The European Commission said on Thursday that it signed a third contract with pharmaceutical companies BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE) and Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) for an additional 1.8 billion doses of the coronavirus vaccine. The contract reserves the doses on behalf of all European Union member states, between end 2021 to 2023, the statement added. The contract requires that the vaccine production is based in the EU and that essential components are sourced from the EU. (5/20)

The Wall Street Journal: When Can Americans Travel To Europe? EU Announces They Are Opening Their Borders
On Wednesday, ambassadors from the 27 European Union member states agreed to a proposal that would re-open their borders to fully vaccinated travelers from countries deemed safe, if the final shots were taken two weeks before travel and were from providers approved by the World Health Organization or the EU’s medicines regulator. EU officials have indicated the U.S. will soon be added to the safe list. Vaccines from Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson are all allowed. The proposal still needs to be approved by national leaders. Once approved, the EU-wide agreement is expected to come into effect very soon, according to an EU spokesperson. (Sylvers and Kronsberg, 5/19)

AP: Gaza's Health System Buckling Under Repeated Wars, Blockade
The Gaza Strip’s already feeble health system is being brought to its knees by the fourth war in just over a decade. Hospitals have been overwhelmed with waves of dead and wounded from Israel’s bombardment. Many vital medicines are rapidly running out in the tiny, blockaded coastal territory, as is fuel to keep electricity going. Two of Gaza’s most prominent doctors, including the No. 2 in Gaza’s coronavirus task force, were killed when their homes were destroyed during barrages since fighting between Hamas and Israel erupted 10 days ago. (Akram and Batrawy, 5/20)

NPR: Philippines Says People Won't Be Given A Choice Of COVID-19 Vaccine
The Philippines' Health Department says it will no longer allow local governments to announce which brand of coronavirus vaccines will be available at inoculation sites. The move comes after hundreds of people this week lined up at a site in Manila when they found out the Pfizer vaccine would be given out there. "What we're going to enforce now is brand agnostic," Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje told CNN Philippines' The Source. (Westerman, 5/19)

CIDRAP: COVID Hot Spots Persist In Latin American Countries
Brazil's decline in cases has stopped, and cases and deaths doubled last week in parts of Argentina and Uruguay, a sign that the Americas region is still in the heat of battle with COVID, officials from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said today during a briefing. Though the world's cases declined last week, four of the five highest burden countries are in the Americas region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday in its weekly snapshot of the pandemic. They include the Brazil, the United States, Argentina, and Colombia. (Schnirring, 5/19)

The Wall Street Journal: India’s Covid-19 Daily Death Toll Hits World’s High
India recorded the world’s highest number of deaths from Covid-19 in a single day, as the country suffers through one of the most ferocious surges of the pandemic. On Wednesday, India reported 4,529 deaths in the past 24 hours, topping the previous high set by the U.S. on Jan. 12, when it recorded 4,475 deaths. It was the ninth time this month that India has recorded more than 4,000 deaths in a single day. The rising death toll comes following a surge in cases that rose faster than any the world had previously seen, overwhelming the country’s healthcare system, with hospitals turning patients away and running short of beds, oxygen and Covid-19 medications. (Agarwal and Pokharel, 5/19)