Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pentagon Halts Plan To Give Covid Shots To Guantanamo Bay Prisoners
Washington Examiner: Pentagon Pauses Plan To Offer Guantanamo Bay Detainees Coronavirus Vaccines
The Pentagon stopped a controversial plan to offer detainees at Guantanamo Bay access to COVID-19 vaccines. "No Guantanamo detainees have been vaccinated. We’re pausing the plan to move forward, as we review force protection protocols. We remain committed to our obligations to keep our troops safe," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a tweet Saturday. (Dunleavy and Chaitin, 1/30)
NPR: EU To Get 9 Million More AstraZeneca Doses After Supply Row
AstraZeneca will deliver nine million additional doses to the European Union in the first quarter of this year, bringing the total number of doses to 40 million, but falling well short of earlier supply promises. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her announcement Sunday that the company would also deliver the vaccines one week earlier than originally scheduled, and that the company planned to expands its manufacturing capacity in Europe. But the new delivery is half of the agreed-upon 80 million doses originally expected for the first quarter. The EU signed a deal in August for 300 million AstraZeneca doses, according to the BBC, with an option for 100 million more. (Diaz, 2/1)
AP: Israel To Give Some Coronavirus Vaccines To Palestinians
Israel has agreed to transfer 5,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine to the Palestinians to immunize front-line medical workers, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s office announced Sunday. It was the first time that Israel has confirmed the transfer of vaccines to the Palestinians, who lag far behind Israel’s aggressive vaccination campaign and have not yet received any vaccines. (Federman, 1/31)
Reuters: Two Million Australians In Lockdown After One Coronavirus Case Found
About 2 million Australians begun their first full day of a strict coronavirus lockdown on Monday following the discovery of one case in the community in Perth, capital of Western Australia state, but no new cases have since been found. Authorities ordered a five-day lockdown of Perth after a security guard at a hotel used to quarantine people returning from overseas was found to have contracted the virus. (Packham, 1/31)
The Hill: WHO Investigators Visit Wuhan Market In Hunt For Virus Origin
Members of a World Health Organization (WHO) delegation investigating the origin of COVID-19 on Sunday visited a market in Wuhan, China where many of the first infections were reported in late 2019. Peter Daszak, president of U.S.-based group EcoHealth Alliance and a member of the delegation, confirmed the visit in a tweet, as did a top official with the International Livestock Research Institute. (Bowden, 1/31)
AP: Captain Tom Hospitalized For Virus He Raised Money To Fight
Tom Moore, the 100-year-old World War II veteran who captivated the British public in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic with his fundraising efforts, has been hospitalized with COVID-19, his daughter said Sunday.Hannah Ingram-Moore revealed in a statement posted on Twitter that her father, widely known as Captain Tom, has been admitted to Bedford Hospital because he needed “additional help” with his breathing. ... Moore became an emblem of hope in the early weeks of the pandemic in April when he walked 100 laps around his garden in England for the National Health Service to coincide with his 100th birthday. Instead of the 1,000 pounds ($1,370) aspiration, he raised around 33 million pounds ($45 million). (1/31)
In other global news —
AP: Survivors Of Beirut's Explosion Endure Psychological Scars
Joana Dagher lay unconscious and hemorrhaging under a pile of rubble in her apartment after the massive Beirut port blast in August, on the brink of death. She survived because of the courage of her husband who got her out, the kindness of a stranger who transported her in his damaged car and the help of her sisters during the chaos at the overwhelmed hospital. But Dagher doesn’t remember any of that: The 33-year-old mother of two lost her memory for two full months from the trauma she suffered in the explosion, including a cerebral contusion and brain lesions. (Mawad, 2/1)
AP: Activists Back French-Vietnamese Woman's Agent Orange Case
Activists gathered Saturday in Paris to support people exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, after a French court examined the case of a French-Vietnamese woman who sued 14 companies that produced and sold the powerful defoliant dioxin used by U.S. troops. Tran To Nga, a 78-year-old former journalist, described in a book how she breathed some Agent Orange in 1966, when she was a member of the Vietnamese Communists, or Viet Cong, that fought against South Vietnam and the United States. “Because of that, I lost one child due to heart defects. I have two other daughters who were born with malformations. And my grandchildren, too,” she told The Associated Press. (1/30)
