Dems push Biden over global vaccinations

© AP-Matt Rourke

Congressional Democrats are increasing pressure on the Biden administration to step up its efforts to vaccinate the world, arguing more needs to be done to prevent a new COVID-19 variant from emerging to threaten the United States after omicron.

A group of more than 80 Democratic lawmakers is pushing for $17 billion to support global vaccinations in a coming government funding package, but there is no certainty yet on what will be provided.

The Biden administration has touted its pledge of 1.2 billion doses for other countries, of which 400 million have been delivered so far, as more than any other country in the world has provided.

But some Democratic lawmakers say simply donating doses is not enough, given that many poor countries still have extremely low vaccination rates.

““The truth is we just have to do more,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said, adding she had talked “extensively” with the administration about her push.

More funds could be coming: Roughly $10 billion in funding for global COVID-19 needs has been under discussion, sources told The Hill, but there’s no clarity yet.

Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) said his understanding is that now that there has been progress on the top-line numbers for a government funding deal, the White House will be putting forward a request with a “generous” number for global COVID-19 needs.

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Officials buy 600k doses of antibody drug

© Getty Images

The Biden administration on Thursday said it purchased 600,000 treatments worth of a new COVID-19 antibody drug that officials said works against the omicron variant.

The drug from Eli Lilly has not yet been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. But the Department of Health and Human Services said if the authorization occurs, the treatment will be made available to states immediately, free of charge.

Under the $720 million contract, HHS said it would receive approximately 300,000 treatment courses of the monoclonal antibody in February and about another 300,000 treatment courses in March. They would be ready to ship immediately following authorization.

Context: The announcement comes after the FDA last month significantly restricted the use of a pair of monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19 because they are ineffective against the omicron variant.

According to HHS, early data suggests that the new antibody drug is effective against both omicron and the BA.2 omicron subvariant.

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Emmanuel Macron refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian Covid-19 test when he arrived to see Vladimir Putin this week, and was therefore kept at a distance from the Russian leader, two sources in Macron’s entourage told Reuters.

Observers were struck by images of Macron and Putin sitting at opposite ends of 4-metre-long (13 ft) table to discuss the Ukraine crisis on Monday, with some diplomats and others suggesting Putin might have wanted to send a diplomatic message.

But the two sources, who have knowledge of the French president’s health protocol, told Reuters Macron had been given a choice: either he accepted a PCR test done by the Russian authorities and was allowed to get close to Putin, or he refused and had to abide by more stringent social distancing.

“We knew very well that meant no handshake and that long table. But we could not accept that they get their hands on the president’s DNA,” one of the sources told Reuters, referring to security concerns if the French leader was tested by Russian doctors.

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52 New Covid Cases on Tobago

Fifty-two new COVID-19 cases have been reported on Tobago. No new deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded there over the past 24 hours, according to the update for Wednesday 9th February 2022, released by the Division of Health, Wellness and Social Protection, in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).

This means the number of lives lost on the island, since March 2020, remains at 238. The most recent death was recorded on Tuesday February 8th—an unvaccinated person.

According to the update, there has been a sharp uptick in the number of new COVID-19 infections—some 52 new cases were recorded, bringing the current number of active positive cases to 440.

The Division’s update also reports that some 17 people currently are hospitalised with COVID-19. Of these, 14 have not been vaccinated at all against the disease, while three persons have been fully vaccinated.

The update also notes that a total of 6,149 people in Tobago have managed to recover from COVID-19.
Tagged in:

TobagoCOVID-19Health

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WORLD COVID STATS

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