Logistics, Staff Shortage Hurt Indonesia's Vaccination Progress

A shortage of healthcare workers and logistical flaws are hampering Indonesia’s efforts to inoculate its people against Covid-19, leaving the world’s largest archipelago trailing its neighbors despite being among the first in Southeast Asia to start the program. Only 17.9% of Indonesia’s 270 million people are fully vaccinated, behind almost every major economy in the region, according to Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. About 32% have received their first dose, placing the nation among the bottom four on the list.

India tells Quad will allow export of 8 mln Indo-Pacific vaccine doses - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told fellow leaders of the Quad partnership on Friday India will allow the export of 8 million COVID-19 vaccines by end of October in line with a deal reached by the grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the United States in March, India's foreign secretary said on Friday.

Mexico to use only Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on at-risk kids - The COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech will be the only one used in Mexico for at-risk children aged 12-17, Mexico's deputy health minister said on Friday. Mexico is expanding its vaccine campaign to children with health issues like cancer, diabetes or cardiovascular disease that make them vulnerable to the virus. 'We can only use the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine because it is the only one that has already been scientifically proven to be safe and effective in girls, boys and adolescents from 12 to 17 years old,' Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said at a regular news conference.

Rowdy celebrations erupt in Norway as COVID restrictions end - Police in Norway have reported dozens of disturbances and violent clashes including mass brawls in the Nordic country’s big cities after streets, bars, restaurants and nightclubs were filled with people celebrating the end of COVID-19 restrictions

Brazil approves COVID-19 booster shots for healthcare workers -  Brazil has approved booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines for 'health professionals,' with preference given to the Pfizer shot, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga said on Friday. The boosters will only be given to people six months after they complete initial round of COVID-19 vaccination, Queiroga said in a Twitter post.

This country claims it hasn't had a single Covid-19 case. Activists say that's a lie - Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic home to nearly 6 million people, is one of at least five countries that have not reported any coronavirus cases, according to a review of data collected by Johns Hopkins University and the World Health Organization. Three of those are isolated islands in the Pacific and the fourth is North Korea, a tightly-controlled hermit state. Turkmenistan's repressive President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who has ruled since 2006, has dismissed reports of Covid-19 in the country as 'fake' and told the United Nations in an address Tuesday that the response to the pandemic shouldn't be 'politicized.' But independent organizations and journalists and activists outside Turkmenistan say there's evidence the country is battling a third wave which is overwhelming hospitals and killing dozens of people -- and warn the President is playing down the threat of the deadly virus in a bid to maintain his public image.

Pfizer in talks over full license for COVID-19 vaccine in Singapore - Pfizer Inc is in discussions with Singapore's Health Sciences Authority regarding obtaining a full license application for its COVID-19 vaccine, the company said in response to a query from Reuters. Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine has interim authorisation under the pandemic special access route in Singapore. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to the vaccine last month.
Kenneth Mak, Singapore's director of medical services, said in a briefing on Friday Pfizer and Moderna  had not submitted applications for full registration to authorities.

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel says vaccines can end pandemic in one year - Moderna’s chief executive says that the coronavirus pandemic could be over in a year and that a boost in production will mean enough vaccines for “everyone on this Earth” by then. More booster shots should be available, too, to some extent, and even babies will be able to get vaccines, Stéphane Bancel told a Swiss newspaper in an interview published Thursday. Asked whether that could spell “a return to normal” next year, he replied: “As of today, in a year, I assume.” With the vaccine industry as a whole expanding production, “enough doses should be available by the middle of next year so that everyone on this Earth can be vaccinated,” the French billionaire said.

C.D.C. Chief Overrules Agency Panel and Endorses Pfizer Boosters for Frontline Workers - The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday overruled a recommendation by an agency advisory panel that had refused to endorse booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine for frontline workers. It was a highly unusual move for the director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, but aligned C.D.C. policy with the Food and Drug Administration’s endorsements over her own agency’s advisers. The CDC.’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Thursday recommended the boosters for a wide range of Americans, including tens of millions of older adults and younger people at high risk for the disease. But they excluded health care workers, teachers and others whose jobs put them at risk. That put their recommendations at odds with the F.D.A.’s authorization of booster shots for all adults with a high occupational risk.

70% vaccinated prisoners got COVID, 93% of unvaccinated: Texas study - About 70% of fully vaccinated people in a Texas prison caught COVID-19 in an outbreak, the CDC said. The data suggests that while Delta can spread among vaccinated people, vaccines protect against severe COVID-19. Of the unvaccinated prisoners, 93% caught COVID-19, and one died, the CDC said.