BioNTech Chooses Africa For Expanded MRNA Vaccine Production
In other news, India pushes for more second covid vaccine doses; Germany rolls out a digital vaccine passport; Japan gets ready for the Olympics; and the world's first decuplets may have been born in South Africa.
Axios:
BioNTech Plans To Expand MRNA Vaccine Production Into Africa
BioNTech announced this week that it plans to establish mRNA vaccine production facilities in Africa, according to the Financial Times. The blockbuster success of mRNA vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic could give a boost to efforts to use the adaptable technology to tackle cancers, malaria and other intractable illnesses, as Axios has previously reported. (Doherty, 6/10)
Fox News:
Indian States Told To Improve Second Dose COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Among Essential Workers
India’s Health Ministry has recommended that states improve second dose coverage of COVID-19 vaccinations among health care personnel and frontline workers. In a meeting on Thursday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan emphasized lagging coverage among the group, allegedly calling it a "cause of serious concern," per multiple news reports. One outlet reported an 82% national average in first dose administration among health care workers, while second dose administration fell to 56%. At least a half dozen states fell below the national average. (Rivas, 6/10)
ABC News:
Germany Starts Rolling Out A Digital EU Vaccination Pass
Germany on Thursday started rolling out a digital vaccination pass that can be used across Europe as the continent gets ready for the key summer travel season.The country's health minister said starting this week vaccination centers, doctors practices and pharmacies will gradually start giving out digital passes to fully vaccinated people. The CovPass will let users download proof of their coronavirus vaccination status onto a smartphone app, allowing them easy access to restaurants, museums or other venues that require proof of immunization. (Grieshaber, 6/10)
NPR:
Japan Aims To Convince A Wary Public The Olympics Will Be Safe
Olympic organizers and Japan's government are ramping up vaccinations, inside and outside the Olympic Village. It remains to be seen whether the push will be the antidote to widespread opposition in Japan to holding the games amid the pandemic and pervasive fear that the event will threaten public health. The International Olympic Committee said Wednesday that about 75% of prospective Olympic and Paralympic athletes have either had their shots, or are scheduled to do so. It predicts more than 80% will be inoculated by the time the games start in just over six weeks. (Kuhn, 6/10)
In other global developments —
AP:
US Urges World To Ensure HIV Services For LGBTQ Community
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the world’s nations Thursday to ensure equal access to HIV services to those most at risk of getting AIDS -- the LGBTQ community, drug users, sex workers, racial and ethnic minorities and women and girls. He warned in pre-recorded video remarks on the final day of a three-day high-level meeting on AIDS at the U.N. General Assembly that the goal of ending AIDS cannot be reached “if we deny people’s sexual and reproductive rights, or foster discrimination against the very people who are the most vulnerable to HIV.” (Lederer, 6/10)
AP:
Mystery Over Claim World's 1st 'Decuplets' Born In S. Africa
South Africa has been gripped by the mystery of whether a woman has, as has been claimed, actually given birth to 10 babies, in what would then be the world’s first recorded case of decuplets. Gosiame Thamara Sithole from the Tembisa township near Johannesburg gave birth to the babies on Monday, according to the Pretoria News newspaper which quoted the parents. The babies — seven boys and three girls — have not made a public appearance or been captured on camera, although they were born prematurely, the newspaper reported. (Magome, 6/11)
The New York Times:
China Still Buys American DNA Equipment For Xinjiang Despite Blocks
The police in the Chinese region of Xinjiang are still buying hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of American DNA equipment despite warnings from the U.S. government that the sale of such technologies could be used to enable human rights abuses in the region. The U.S. government has tried to prevent the sale of DNA sequencers, test kits and other products made by American firms to the police in Xinjiang for years, amid concerns raised by scientists and human rights groups that the authorities could use the tools to build systems to track people. (Wee, 6/11)
