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A booster jab of Covid-19 vaccine for vulnerable people is not a luxury but a good way to protect them, the World Health Organization has said, as surging infection rates and a pan-European vaccination slowdown produced a “deeply worrying” situation.

“A third dose of vaccine is not a luxury booster taken away from someone who is still waiting for a first jab,” Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO’s regional director for Europe, said on Monday. “It’s basically a way to keep the most vulnerable safe.”

The comments seemed to a contradict a statement by the WHO earlier this month that available data did not suggest a need for booster shots. The body had warned that topping up already fully vaccinated people would only serve to increase vaccine inequality between wealthier and lower-income countries.

More than 30 of the 53 states that make up the organisation’s European region last week reported a rise of 10% or more in their 14-day Covid-19 incidence rate, Kluge said, while vaccine take-up, particularly among at-risk groups, was still low in several.

The combination of high transmission rates and relatively low vaccine coverage was “deeply worrying”, Kluge said, adding that several countries were starting to see an increase in hospital admissions and deaths across the region surged 11% last week.

Kluge said vaccine scepticism and science denial were preventing some European countries from controlling the pandemic, describing slower inoculation rates as a “serious concern” as case numbers climb once more.

Anti-vaxx sentiment is “holding us back from stabilising this crisis”, he said. “It serves no purpose, and is good for no one.” Health authorities must “look very closely into what determines vaccination uptake by population groups, then establish tailored interventions to boost uptake”

Kluge added that some countries in the region were also being held back by a lack of access to vaccines, with only 6% of populations in lower and lower-middle income countries having completed a full series of vaccinations.

And while across the region nearly three-quarters of health workers were now fully vaccinated, some countries had managed to jab only one in 10. “There is a clear need to increase production, share doses and improve vaccine access,” he said.

Nearly 850m vaccine doses had been administered in the Europe region over the past eight months, Kluge said, and nearly half its population were now fully vaccinated. But take-up had slowed markedly in the past six weeks.

“The stagnation in vaccine uptake in the region is of serious concern,” he said. “Now that public health and social measures are being relaxed in many countries, public vaccination acceptance is crucial to avoid greater transmission, more severe disease, an increase in deaths and a bigger risk of new variants.”

Kluge said “significant growth” in case numbers was being driven by the more transmissible Delta variant, which was now present in 50 countries in the region, a general easing of public health measures and a surge in summer holiday travel.

Other protective measures such as masks were also important, he said, but vaccines are “the path towards reopening societies and stabilising economies – and we remain challenged by insufficient production, insufficient access and insufficient vaccine acceptance.”

As millions of children return to school after their summer holidays, Kluge also reiterated a joint demand with the UN children’s fund, Unicef, that keeping schools open – and making them safe – must be a top priority for all governments.

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US intel review inconclusive on COVID-19 origin

The 90-day sprint to get to the bottom of the origins of COVID-19 found … not much.

A summary of an intelligence community report released Friday was inconclusive as to whether COVID-19 originated in a lab or jumped from animals to humans naturally, though U.S. officials stated that it was not developed as a biological weapon.

The summary said both the natural theory and lab leak theory are plausible, but noted that Chinese officials “did not have foreknowledge of the virus before the initial outbreak of COVID-19 emerged.”

“The IC assesses that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, probably emerged and infected humans through an initial small-scale exposure that occurred no later than November 2019,” according to a two-page summary of the report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

“We judge the virus was not developed as a biological weapon. Most agencies also assess with low confidence that SARS-CoV-2 probably was not genetically engineered,” the report stated, while noting two elements of the intelligence community did not believe there was sufficient evidence to draw a conclusion.

Impact: The push to find the origin of the virus has been politically charged from the start, and Friday’s report is unlikely to significantly change the debate over the issue. The report shows an intelligence community largely divided over the origins of the disease, with several of the 19 different agencies that comprise it coming to different conclusions.

CDC director calls out schools with outbreaks that aren’t following guidance

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky called on schools that are not following guidance to “do the right thing” and implement COVID-19 precautions, like masking, to avoid outbreaks and protect children from the virus.

“In our outbreak investigations, large-scale quarantines or large number of cases are generally occurring in schools, because schools are not following our guidance, particularly our recommendations for teachers as well as students aged 12 and over to be vaccinated and for everyone right now to be masked,” Walensky said during a Friday briefing.

“I want to strongly appeal to those districts who have not implemented prevention strategies and encourage them to do the right thing to protect the children under their care,” Walensky said. “We know these multi-layered mitigation strategies work, and thanks to the American Rescue Plan schools have the resources to implement these strategies.”

The CDC director said studies have shown prevention strategies, including masking, social distancing, testing, ventilation and vaccination, help to thwart COVID-19 spread in schools.

For example: One of those studies involved an unvaccinated teacher from Marin County, Calif., who was symptomatic and took off her mask to read her class. A total of 27 people, including the teacher and more than half of the students in the class, ended up infected.

Roadblock: But some schools face obstacles in requiring masks as several GOP governors, including Gov. Greg Abbott (Texas) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (Fla.), have banned schools from mandating masks, which has prompted defiance from school officials and court battles.

Speaking of school safety: Judge blocks DeSantis from banning school mask mandates

School districts in Florida will be allowed to impose mask requirements after a district judge on Friday blocked an executive order from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) banning the mandates.

Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper ruled in favor of a group of parents who sued DeSantis over his executive order, arguing it was unconstitutional. He ruled the order is “without legal authority” and is by definition “arbitrary” and “capricious.”

Cooper issued an injunction stopping the Department of Education from taking any action against local districts that require masks in schools without a parental opt-out.

The judge said the state’s new “Parents’ Bill of Rights” does not allow the governor or the Department of Education to prohibit school districts from mandating masks.

“The law expressly permits school boards to adopt policies regarding the health care of students, such as a mask mandate, even if a parent disagrees,” Cooper said. “Parents’ rights are very important, but they are not without some reasonable limitations.”

DeSantis previously said he would appeal if the ruling was not in his favor.

Biden officials weighing shorter timeline for booster shots

President Biden on Friday said that discussions are underway over whether COVID-19 booster shots should be administered five months after second vaccine doses, a shorter timeline than the eight months previously discussed by health officials.

“This booster program is going to start here, September the 20th, pending approval of the FDA and a CDC committee of outside experts,” Biden said ahead of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

“And the question raised is should it be shorter than eight months, should it be more or less five months, and that’s being discussed. I spoke to Dr. Fauci this morning about that,” Biden added, referring to White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci.

Background: The administration earlier this month outlined a plan to give out booster shots starting Sept. 20, recommending it for most Americans who have received the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine. Health officials have said people would need boosters beginning eight months after their second dose of either vaccine.

More questions: Health experts noted that, yet again, it appeared Biden was getting ahead of the health agencies. Typically the FDA and CDC need to sign off before the White House even considers a public announcement, but the administration has been pushing forward nonetheless, raising concerns.

US opens COVID-19 vaccination site for Afghan arrivals

The U.S. has opened a mass COVID-19 vaccination site near the Dulles airport in Northern Virginia for Afghans fleeing the Taliban, the White House said Friday.

The site is operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine being administered by the Department of Health and Human Services.

A White House official said the vaccination clinic is set up at the Dulles Expo Center, which is where all arrivals from Afghanistan are screened.

Under rules from U.S. Customs and Immigration, all “humanitarian parolees” are required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they do not have proof of prior vaccination.

Evacuees are tested upon arrival and quarantined if they are positive, according to the White House. State Department translators are available to answer questions.

“This operation has been stood up in real time to ensure we are not wasting one minute, and making sure everyone arriving in the United States is able to enter the country safely and not spread COVID-19,” a White House official said. “As more arrivals from Afghanistan come, we hope to model this, including in Philadelphia, which is on track to vaccinate passengers in the next few days once flights begin to arrive.”

 

 

 

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The cruise industry has worked exhaustively during its pandemic pause to figure out how to carry passengers safely. But the restart is now being complicated by conflicting vaccine protocols that challenge its very business model.

The most impactful among them are the contradicting rules from the cruise industry’s home base and main embarkation point, Florida, and the popular ports its ships visit in the Caribbean.

On Aug. 19, the Bahamas issued an emergency order requiring that all adult cruise ship passengers be vaccinated in order for any ship to call in the islands. The Bahamas has emerged as a particularly important country for cruise lines, since it’s a close and convenient destination from Florida and is home to most of the lines’ private islands.

Several major lines changed their vaccination policies on their cruises from Florida to comply with the order: Carnival Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, MSC Cruises and Royal Caribbean International all now require that any cruiser 12 or older provide proof of vaccination to sail.

However, if not for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ (NCLH) victory in a lawsuit against Florida, the lines would not likely have been able to make those changes.

Earlier this year, Florida made it illegal for businesses to require proof of vaccination for service. The law affected cruise ships embarking passengers in the state. Royal Caribbean, for example, changed what had been an adult-vaccine requirement on cruises from Florida to a suggestion, since it could not legally ask for proof of the jabs. MSC came out of the gate saying that it would not mandate passengers be vaccinated on its cruises, which launched this month.

NCLH, however, has stuck to its 100% passenger-vaccination mandate on its three brands, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. And so it sued the state to invalidate its law, and earlier this month it won. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction enabling NCLH’s brands to ask for proof of inoculation on sailings from Florida.

That has enabled the other lines to comply with the Bahamas order by being able to ask passengers for vaccination status. As CLIA said in a statement, the decision by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams “concluded that a cruise line engaged in international commerce could legally require proof of vaccination.”

Or as Mark Pestronk, a Washington-based lawyer specializing in travel law and a columnist for Travel Weekly explained, “if the state tried to enforce the law against them, they could file the same suit and get the same result.”

But that ability may be fleeting.The Celebrity Edge and Royal’s Freedom of the Seas docked in Nassau earlier this summer. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst

Florida’s next move

Florida issued a notice of appeal, and Gov. Ron DeSantis has vowed to fight.

“We disagree with the judge’s legal reasoning and will be appealing to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals,” his office said in a statement.

Equally entrenched, NCLH CEO Frank Del Rio called it “shameful” that the company had to fight Florida for the right to keep passengers healthy.

“Here is a state that relies on tourism as its No. 1 industry,” he said in an interview with Yahoo Business. “And the No. 1 priority of any hospitality business is to keep their customers safe. I mean, that’s de rigueur. And you would expect that government, again, would do everything possible to support that. Instead, we had to go to court.”

No date has yet been set to hear the appeal, but Pestronk said that once it gets to the appeals court, NCLH may not prevail.

“The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals leans right, so the odds are fairly good that the injunction will be overturned,” Pestronk said. “However, it all depends on the luck of the draw, as appeals cases are generally heard by a three-judge panel, and you cannot predict which three judges will get assigned.”

Stakes are rising

The stakes have only risen since the Bahamas law went into effect. The U.S. Virgin Islands, another important call for cruise ships, last week formally updated its guidance and also requires all passengers age 12 and up on arriving cruise ships to be vaccinated.

In its original complaint against the Florida law, NCLH said that many foreign ports to which the line has scheduled cruises also require proof of vaccination to enter without testing, including the British Virgin Islands, Honduras and Belize, where the cruise company has a private destination, Harvest Caye.

This early look at the potential morass of pandemic-era regulation is particularly difficult for an industry that operates in various global jurisdictions on almost every trip.

“Florida’s ban poses significant burdens for NCLH, an internationally focused cruise line,” the cruise company said in its complaint. “Within as little as 30 minutes of departing from PortMiami, NCLH’s ships reach international waters and sail to interstate and foreign ports.”

In siding with NCLH, Judge Williams took note of this.

“It is undisputed that nearly every country and port that plaintiffs intend to set sail to during the remainder of the year have varying, often complicated requirements,” she wrote. “It is also clear that Covid-19 vaccination documents are the fulcrum of many of these requirements.”

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Football administration in St. Kitts and Nevis has a new president and executive. Former St. Kitts and Nevis national player Atiba Harris was on Sunday elected President of the St. Kitts and Nevis Football Association at the 2021 SKNFA Ordinary Congress held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort. Majority of the members of his team that contested the elections were also elected on the new executive. Of the 26 votes available, Mr. Harris garnered 15 votes, while his challenger Don Grant got 11 votes.  Mr. Grant served as first vice president in the outgoing SKNFA executive. Shawn White was elected first vice president and Cuthbert Caines second vice president. In his first address as President, Mr. Harris congratulated his fellow executive members and promised to raise the standard of football in St. Kitts and Nevis. “Looking forward to raising the standard of football in St. Kitts and Nevis. It’s going to be with inclusiveness, equality, fairness all across the board, both in St. Kitts and Nevis. Whatever is happening in St. Kitts should be happening in Nevis as well,” he said with applause from the audience. “I am looking for everybody’s support going forward. So, thank you for electing us and we are ready to work,” he added.

 

The other members of the SKNFA Executive are John Bergan (15 votes), Javeim Blanchette – (12 votes), Phil Cooper (14 votes), Patricia Claxton (14 votes), Ernest Queeley (14 votes), Alleyne Morris (13 votes) and Carlton Pinney (14 votes). Speaking shortly after the congress, Mr. Harris said his team, though new will bring some new ideas to the table, building on the gains already made by the previous executive. “The previous executive has been doing a good job. Getting insurance (for the players) and we are just looking on building on it so that St. Kitts and Nevis can be a strong reputable nation in world football,” he said.

 

He also wants to prioritize improving the stake of the various national teams of St. Kitts and Nevis.  “Youth development—We got to look at the foundation and I think having consistent running programs will be vital for us going forward,” he said. I strongly believe we can qualify for a youth World Cup because its raw talent for talent at that level and we’re going to be pushing for that. Also, Women’s Football is something dear to me and we are going to be paying a lot of attention to this,” he promised.

 

The executive he said, would look at the current state of the various programs to determine the step forward. In the meantime, however, he stressed that the SKNFA Leagues will resume as soon as they would have received the greenlight from the health authorities.

 

“I think a tentative date was put out for September 18 however we have to revisit. We have to be careful because we are actually in a pandemic still and we have to be very cautious. With the numbers increasing we got to sit down with the Ministry of Health etc. also with the Minister of Sports (along with the COVID-19 Task Force) to see what’s the best way forward,” Harris said. “Once we get the go ahead, we look to start football immediately because I think that a lot of the clubs have been training, they’ve have been having friendly matches against each other and the footballers are eager to play some football along with the fans. I think we need to have fans back at our games because the fans bring the atmosphere so we want to have that solid atmosphere in football in St. Kitts and Nevis.” Mr. Harris was congratulated by outgoing president Anthony Johnson, who during the congress spoke of the accomplishments of the SKNFA under his tenure.

 

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THE NGO SAVE THE CHILDREN is deeply concerned about the safety of foster children and children who have lost their parents in the recent earthquake in Haiti, as they are at risk of neglect, different forms of abuse or even trafficking.

An estimated 30 per cent of 48 children’s homes in the south of Haiti that care for about 1,700 children were damaged by the earthquake on 14 August, according to reports, forcing children onto the streets and sleeping outside. Some children are now being cared for by foster families.

The 7.2 magnitude earthquake claimed around 2,200 lives with thousands more injured, and an unknown number of children having probably lost their parents. In crises like these, unaccompanied children face a higher risk of abuse and neglect, Save the Children warned.

Fabienne (not her real name), lives in one of the children’s homes where she helps to care for other children. She goes to a nursing school and was inside the building when the earthquake happened: “Because of the earthquake, we cannot go inside. We are sleeping outside, and looking at the house with no possibility to enter again. And also school has stopped, this is shocking.

“When it happened, we started to run and we ran all into each other. I was slightly injured and unfortunately when we got downstairs we saw dead bodies that were sent to funeral homes. Thank God the building didn’t fall.

“Life has changed in a way that I now feel traumatised. I am afraid that I don’t feel the aftershocks. I don’t want to go inside because I’m that stressed, that I don’t know whether to run or not.”

Save the Children has been helping some of the impacted foster homes with items like tarpaulin sheets, jerry cans and other basic goods, and is urging for extra protection for these already extremely vulnerable children. It also supported the reactivation of a coordinating group of organisations that work on protection.

“But more needs to be done urgently to keep them safe. We are worried about the risk of possible illegal adoption of vulnerable children from Haiti”, said Perpetue Vendredi, Save the Children’s deputy country director. “Hundreds of children were taken out illegally of the country after the 2010 earthquake by western organisations. That cannot happen again.”

After the earthquake of 2010 that claimed about 230,000 lives, children were illegally ‘adopted’ and taken to other countries with adoptions fast-tracked, although many children most likely still had at least one parent or other family. According to early estimations, between 1,000 and 2,000 children were taken out of Haiti in the first few months after the 2010 earthquake.

Ms Vendredi continued: “Often, children in foster homes still have at least one parent, but families don’t have the means to take care of them. That’s a heart-breaking decision to make for any parent, and instead of taking these children even further away from them, we need to tackle the root causes of why children are brought to foster homes – poverty, a lack of a future. Children who have lost their parents are far better off in their own communities, in foster families or with extended family.”

Children from foster homes that were impacted by this month’s earthquake need extra protection, and the foster homes need urgent support to ensure that they can shelter children in a child friendly and safe way and help them to cope with their experiences, Save the Children said.

Save the Children emphasised that foster homes are always the last resort for children and it is far better to find families who can take care of children if they are really orphans, preferably extended family.

 

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The role of the Christian church in Caricom will be the focus of the Caribbean Apostolic Council’s first-ever Apostolic Virtual Conference on September 4 and 5.

Setting Things In Order is the theme for the conference which will bring together Christian leaders from across the region to examine the role of the church in advancing the spiritual, economic and social development of the Caribbean.

“This will not be a talk shop. We will be considering some real issues. We must contribute to the positive development of the region,” said Apostle Terrence Honore, president of the Council.

He said the sessions will not follow “the traditional model of theological debate.”

“This is about how the church relates in real-time, in a real way, to real problems,” Honore explained. “We are dealing with the immediacy of the challenges we face. This is not about pontificating about creating impact for change on the Caribbean community.”

Established in 2019, the Caribbean Apostolic Council is an independent, non-profit Christian organisation, committed to improving the quality of life of the people of the region. Key areas of focus include the convening of special meetings and conferences among apostolic leaders in the Caribbean; staging of special events to enhance the contribution of apostolic leaders to the Caribbean; conducting research and studies on topics of interests and issues within the region; and collaborating and working with governmental and other agencies to improve the quality of life of people in the Caribbean.

The organisation was formed out of a need to establish apostolic leadership “that is indigenous to the region, culturally relevant and biblically based proclaiming the word to the region…to speak to nations.”

A statement explaining its rationale reads: “It is essential that the people of this region break free of the constraining factors that have been endemic and have negated our efforts to unite and fulfil the purpose of the church in the region.

“We subscribe to and support the United Nations MDG’s “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” and the application of goals and targets for our Caribbean community.”

The upcoming conference, comprising two four-hour sessions over the first weekend in September, with presentations from Christian leaders, as well as panel discussions involving ministers and professionals in a range of disciplines.

Apostle Praim Persaud, of Guyana, will speak on “The True Apostolic Church,” followed by Dr Brenda Pratt, of the Bahamas on “Navigating and Transitioning Through the Apostolic.” There will also be presentations by Apostle Dave Alleyne of T&T and Apostle of Gilberto Bakhuis of Curacao.

Security expert Garvin Heerah, the former head of the National Operations Centre and financial expert Moonilal Lalchan are among the Christian professionals who will share their expertise as subject matter experts in panel discussions that are also part of the programme.

Coming out of these sessions a summary document will be shared with Christian organisations across the Caribbean and position points will be collated and submitted to the Caricom Secretariat.

Honore said the Council has written to Caricom seeking a meeting.

“We want to find out how Caricom perceives the church,” he said, adding that the objective is to realign the church for the advancement of societies across the region using dialogue and a consultative approach.

Noting that the church has a strength like no other institution in the region, Honore said the Council’s purpose is to “shift the reality in our Caribbean communities.”

Registration details and more information on the virtual conference can be obtained by calling 373-4988 or 678-0272.

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