VIENNA/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Austria and Denmark, chafing at the slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccines within the European Union, have joined forces with Israel to produce second- generation vaccines against mutations of the coronavirus.

The move by the two EU member states comes amid rising anger over delays in ordering, approving and distributing vaccines that have left the 27-member bloc trailing far behind Israel’s world-beating vaccination campaign.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said it was right that the EU procures vaccines for its member states but the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had been too slow to approve them and lambasted pharmaceutical companies’ supply bottlenecks.

“We must therefore prepare for further mutations and should no longer be dependent only on the EU for the production of second-generation vaccines,” the conservative chancellor said in a statement on Tuesday.

Danish Prime Minister Danish Mette Frederiksen was also critical of the EU’s vaccine program.

“I don’t think it can stand alone, because we need to increase capacity. That is why we are now fortunate to start a partnership with Israel,” she told reporters on Monday.

When asked whether Denmark and Austria wanted to take unilateral action in obtaining vaccines, Frederiksen said: “You can call it that.”

The European Commission said member states were free to strike separate deals should they wish to. “It’s not that the strategy unravelled or it goes against the strategy, not at all,” spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker said.

An EMA spokeswoman did not have an immediate comment.

FIRST MOVERS?

Kurz and Frederiksen are due to travel to Israel this week to see Israel’s rapid vaccine roll-out up close.

Israel, which was quick to sign contracts for and to approve vaccines from U.S. drug makers Pfizer and Moderna, has given 94 doses per 100 people and the EU just seven, according to monitoring by Our World in Data.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the campaign a showcase of his bid for re-election on March 23, has spoken of “an international corporation for manufacturing vaccines”.

None of the three countries has significant vaccine making capacity, however, raising questions over how realistic their ambitions are to gain greater self-sufficiency.

A growing number of EU countries have placed side orders for vaccines from Russia and China, even though the EMA has yet to rule on whether they are both safe and effective.

Slovakia said on Monday it had ordered 2 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and expects half to arrive this month to help it end a surge in infections.

The neighbouring Czech Republic – tackling the worst COVID-19 outbreak of any EU country – is also considering ordering Russia’s Sputnik V.

Hungary, meanwhile, has taken delivery of a vaccine developed by China’s Sinopharm, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban announcing on Sunday that he had received the shot.

The three vaccines so far cleared for use in the EU, made by Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, rely on production in countries including Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Kurz said Austria and Denmark would work with Israel on vaccine production against mutations of the coronavirus and jointly research treatment options in an alliance called the First Movers Group.

The initiative, which seeks greater protection against future pandemics in addition to joint EU vaccine supply, follows Germany’s decision last month to set up a task force to address supply bottlenecks and boost local manufacturing.

Kurz invited pharmaceutical companies with a local presence including Pfizer, Valneva, Novartis, Polymun and Boehringer Ingelheim on Tuesday to discuss the new initiative.

Pfizer, which declined comment for this story, has said it will make 2 billion doses this year – 70% of them in the EU – and has conducted extensive research into their effectiveness against coronavirus variants.

A spokesman for Boehringer Ingelheim said its focus was not on human vaccines “but if we receive requests we will of course look into them.”

(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels, Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt and Robert Muller and Jason Hovet in Prague; Writing by Douglas Busvine and Caroline Copley; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)

FRANCE OPPOSES THE MOVES

France has criticised a push by Austria and Denmark to coordinate with Israel on developing new Covid-19 jabs, as EU unity frays even further over its troubled vaccine rollout, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. It says:

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US CATHOLICS TOLD TO AVOID jOHNSON & JOHNSON VACCINE

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops—the official group representing the church in the U.S.—urged Catholics Tuesday to avoid taking the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine if other options are available, saying the J&J vaccine “raises questions about the moral permissibility”—even though Johnson & Johnson has stated it did not use fetal tissues in its vaccine.

KEY FACTS

CRUCIAL QUOTE

“If one can choose among equally safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, the vaccine with the least connection to abortion-derived cell lines should be chosen,” Naumann said. “Therefore, if one has the ability to choose a vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccines should be chosen over Johnson & Johnson’s.”

CHIEF CRITIC

President Joe Biden, also known for his strong Catholic faith and being only the second-ever Catholic president, praised the vaccine’s approval over the weekend, calling it “exciting news for all Americans.”

KEY BACKGROUND

The Vatican made its statement in December after citing “diverse and sometimes conflicting pronouncements in the mass media by bishops, Catholic associations, and experts” when it came to vaccine ethics, especially given that there has also been concern around Pfizer and Moderna’s development practices. One week before the Vatican released its statement, the U.S. Conference of Bishops said Pfizer and Moderna vaccines came from a “remote connection to morally compromised cell lines,” while saying a potential vaccine from AstraZeneca was “more morally compromised” when it came to abortion.

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EU countries to approve Russian vaccine – Moscow

The MHRA’s chief executive Dr June Raine said there’s no evidence current vaccines are lacking effectiveness against known variants.

Since December last year, we have all been concerned about the appearance of variants – Kent, South Africa, more recently Brazil – and, therefore, we’re well-prepared to look at, when it’s needed, updates to ensure the vaccines being used in citizens are fully effective.

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By Daniela Cristancho

It has now been nearly a year since 4-year-old Sebastián García stepped into a classroom.

When the pandemic forced schools in Colombia’s capital to close last March, his kindergarten teacher tried to keep up with lessons through a once-a-week phone call. Later, the school began offering instruction through Zoom. But for the last two months, his mother has heard nothing from the school.

“The teacher told me to check periodically when the school was reopening,” said his mother, Lorena Mora, a manicurist living in Bogota. “But I haven’t heard anything up until today.”

A new study released Wednesday by UNICEF concludes what many in Latin America and the Caribbean have suspected: Children in the region have lost out on more schooling during the pandemic than any other area across the globe. In all, almost 60% of children worldwide who have lost an entire year of school are in Latin America. On average, schools in the region have been fully closed for 158 days.

“Children here have been out of the classroom longer than any other child in the world,” said Jean Gough, UNICEF’s regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “In many parts of the world, schools are the first to reopen and the last to close. But in Latin America and the Caribbean, schools are often the last to open and the first to close”.

The impact could be felt for years to come, the U.N. agency warns, noting that keeping schools closed can have devastating consequences not just in children’s learning, but also in developing social skills, overall wellbeing, and psycho-emotional development. The most disadvantaged – those with no access to online learning – are at a higher risk of never returning to school and entering the workforce instead.

“When schools are not open, children cannot develop transferable skills, such as the ability to work in a team, to communicate, to have empathy, to respect diversity and other key skills for active citizenship,” said Margarete Sachs-Israel, regional education advisor for UNICEF.

María Fuentes, a child psychologist at a primary school in Mexico City, has seen first hand how the reliance on online learning is impacting young children. Mexico has the fourth highest total number of COVID-19 numbers in Latin America, according to John Hopkins University. The Secretary of Public Education launched a distance education program during the pandemic that offers educational content on television certain days of the week.

“Unfortunately there is an increase in anxiety and stress levels in children,” Fuentes said. “We have little kids with difficulties expressing and managing their emotions in a functional way.”

In schools that have begun reopening, educators say they are already seeing the impact of a year away from class. Sara Fonseca, a preschool teacher based in Bogota, says being at home shielded many children from developing skills like independent decision-making and learning how to treat others.

“Socialization has become very difficult for the children,” she said. “Homes are generally more controlled environments because they have their parents close by and interact with very few people.”

Several studies indicate the pandemic has also deepened already steep levels of inequality in education. Children from lower-income families are often unable to access remote learning and public schools do not have the infrastructure and resources to reopen immediately in a safe way.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, schools are also often the place where children have access to their most nutritious meals. The school where Mora’s son used to attend classes sent them a small bag of groceries once a month to compensate for the meals he was not getting at school last year.

“It included one pound of rice, grains, powder milk, oil, pasta, eggs,” Mora said. “But this was last year. Since we have had no notice of the school’s reopening, we have not gotten the groceries in 2021.”

Sachs-Israel estimates there are 85 million children that do not have access to school and might be at risk for malnutrition. But there are other risks children in the region face. Another U.N. study found that more than 300,000 children and adolescents in the region could be forced to work.

“We know from other crises, like Ebola, that there’s a high risk of students dropping out,” she said. “Our projections show there is a risk of 3.1 million students dropping out permanently in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Latin America and the Caribbean is known to be the most unequal region in the world along with Sub-Saharan Africa. The pandemic has further deepened these gaps. According to UNICEF, children from indigenous groups, those with disabilities, kids from remote areas, poor families, and girls are at a higher risk. Girls are also at risk of becoming victims of sexual abuse, a problem that has already increased and will further increase the longer schools are closed.

UNICEF acknowledged the decision and efforts made by several governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to the reopening of schools. Countries like Uruguay, which had gradual reopenings last year, starting with rural schools and ending with schools in Montevideo, could set an example of proper procedure in the region, the U.N. said. UNICEF is calling on other governments in the region to prioritize reopening.

Bogota’s mayor announced in February that schools 400 public schools in the city would reopen by April.

“This is a return to a new school,” Mayor Claudia Lopez said, describing safety precuations like mask wearing, hand washing stations and social distancing that will be employed. “A better school.”

In the meantime, Lorena Mora and young Sebastián wait to hear back from their kindergarten. Sebastián plays at home where he is taken care of by his grandmother and a trustworthy neighbor.

“I don’t know if I should start looking for another school,” Mora said. “Because it’s been two months without any news.”

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As a young boy in Haiti, Jacques Duroseau witnessed two coup-d’etats by the time he turned 9, enduring a childhood scarred by poverty, hurricanes and earthquakes.

In 1994, he watched American troops roll through his neighborhood “and take on the criminals, thugs and cartels,” federal court documents said. Seeing them, he found his life’s ambition: Join the Marines.

But on Tuesday, Duroseau learned he will spend more than five years in prison for smuggling guns and military equipment into his native country, much of the weaponry purchased in Jacksonville around Camp Lejuene.

The ex-Marine stood before U.S. District Court Judge James C. Dever in Raleigh and recited a speech from Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, best known as the lyrics to the Bob Marley song “War.”

And Duroseau vowed to continue his struggle.

“I see positivity even in the shadow of darkness,” he said, adding later, “I fight for the poor man. The ones that don’t have any voice.”

Boxes and suitcases full of guns

In 2019, Duroseau and an unidentified accomplice came to the airport in New Bern, checking three suitcases and three plastic boxes full of guns and ammunition, declaring them before boarding the plane, according to Duroseau’s indictment.

Customs agents in Haiti found eight guns in his luggage, including a Ruger model Precision Rifle 300WIN MAG and a Spike’s Tactical model ST15. He also carried body armor, optic scopes and other equipment. Navy investigators found receipts from a Jacksonville gun shop in Duroseau’s trash.

He was not authorized to leave the United States while still a Marine, nor could he legally export the guns, his indictment said. Former U.S. Attorney Robert Higdon Jr. said last year that Duroseau’s intent was to train the Haitian Army and engage in foreign combat.

WANTED TO BE PRESIDENT OF HAITI

“One of his statements was he wanted to be president of Haiti,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Sebastian Kielmanovich, recalling Duroseau’s December trial. With such significant weapons, he added, “It’s not for self-defense. It’s to kill people.”

Duroseau boarded the flight and traveled through Charlotte and Miami to Haiti, The Miami Herald previously reported. In Haiti, Duroseau was met by someone whose role was to “expeditiously move Mr. Duroseau through the airport and customs process and to help him with his bags as he checked through that process,” Naval investigators said.

In December 2019, Duroseau was returned to North Carolina. A federal judge ordered that he be detained until trial, citing the weight of evidence against him, his “significant ties outside the United States” and the “erratic behavior leading to his arrest,” court filings show. Jurors convicted him on five counts in December.

Duroseau reportedly became agitated when he was asked to fill out a customs declaration form, resulting in an altercation with a Haitian police officer.

“From the reports we received, it appears that he actually slapped a Haitian police officer, which drew the attention of further Haitian officers and that once again led to him being detained and a secondary inspection being conducted,” Naval investigators said.

Defense cites brain injury

At his sentencing hearing Tuesday, federal public defender Edward Gray said Duroseau only meant to help his country’s neediest people and had no intention of overthrowing its government.

Gray noted Duroseau’s Marine service, for which he earned multiple honors, and noted that Duroseau earned his citizenship while fighting in Afghanistan. He also suffered a traumatic brain injury there, adding to post-traumatic stress already troubling him since childhood.

Before going to Haiti, Gray said, Duroseau sought a meeting with its ambassador and was instructed to “stay in his lane” by superior officers.

“It was tough for him to just sit there and say, ‘This is something I need to ignore,’ “ Gray said.

Dever declined to sentence Duroseau outside of advisory federal guidelines, giving him 63 months in federal prison but also ordering mental health treatment and job training. But he said the defendant’s sentence should not be reduced because of his military service, mental health issues or desire to right wrongs in his native country.

“There’s a proper way to do that,” Dever said, “and this is not one of those proper ways.”

Before federal marshals escorted him out, Duroseau gave a second statement in a halting voice. He recalled being sent back to the United States, when a correctional officer in Haiti told him, “When they are done with you, you can come back to us. We know why you did what you did.”

McClatchy journalist Hayley Fowler contributed to this story.

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