COVID-19 Lockdown Exit Analysis

COVID-19 Lockdown Exit Analysis - 8th Apr 2021 8th Apr 2021 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=268 lockdown_exit Vaccine policy is economic policy IMF chief stresses

‘Vaccine policy is economic policy,’ IMF chief stresses

Al Jazeera English Unprecedented policy response and speedy vaccine development helped pull the global economy back from the brink last year but the outlook is still marked by severe uncertainty and increasingly lopsided access to wealth and opportunity the International Monetary Funds IMF managing director said on Wednesday. There is light at the end of the tunnel IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said at a virtual news conference on the second day of the World Bank and IMFs weeklong spring meetings. This could have been another Great Depression. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/4/7/vaccine-policy-is-economic-policy-imf-chief-stresses 7th Apr 2021 Africa needs 9bn to buy enough vaccines to stop Covid19 spread say World Bank and IMF

Africa needs £9bn to buy enough vaccines to stop Covid-19 spread, say World Bank and IMF

The Daily Telegraph Africa needs around 9bn 12bn to buy and distribute Covid19 vaccines to reach enough people to stop the coronavirus spreading according to a new paper by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The worlds rich G20 countries should also extend a debt moratorium until the end of the year to help the poorest countries through the pandemic the paper said. The money needed by Africa roughly is roughly the same as debt repayments already deferred by 45 of the poorest countries the bodies said. Meanwhile a new Rockefeller Foundation report found that moves to bolster the IMFs emergency reserves could provide billions for poor countries to vaccinate at no added cost to rich countries. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/africa-needs-9bn-buy-enough-vaccines-stop-covid-19-spread-say/ 7th Apr 2021 We failed the test of COVID19 says human rights champion

‘We failed the test’ of COVID-19, says human rights champion

Washington Post Agns Callamard is best known for her investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and has made a career uncovering extrajudicial killings. The French human rights experts focus on rights abuses is taking on new dimensions as she assumes leadership of Amnesty International and turns her attention to what she says is one of the worlds most pressing issues vaccine equity to end the coronavirus pandemic which has eroded freedoms globally. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ap-interview-human-rights-champion-turns-to-vaccine-equity/2021/04/06/17e69954-973a-11eb-8f0a-3384cf4fb399_story.html 7th Apr 2021 Chinas vaccine diplomacy stumbles in Southeast Asia

China’s vaccine diplomacy stumbles in Southeast Asia

Al Jazeera English In May last year at the height of the COVID19 pandemic Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that his country would soon provide safe and effective vaccines as a global public good especially to the developing world. To this end the Chinese leader launched a massive statebacked campaign allocating large amounts of subsidies and corralling up to 22 firms and research institutes to work on as many as 17 vaccine projects. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/4/5/chinas-vaccine-diplomacy-stumbles-in-southeast-asia 5th Apr 2021 Scientists call for new probe into COVID19 origins with or without China

China’s vaccine diplomacy stumbles in Southeast Asia

Reuters A joint ChinaWorld Health Organization WHO study into COVID19 has provided no credible answers about how the pandemic began and more rigorous investigations are required with or without Beijings involvement a group of international scientists and researchers said on Wednesday. The joint study released last week said the likeliest transmission route for SARSCoV2 the virus that causes COVID19 involved bats and other wildlife in China and southeast Asia. It all but ruled out the possibility it had leaked from a laboratory. In an open letter 24 scientists and researchers from Europe the United States Australia and Japan said the study was tainted by politics. Their starting point was lets have as much compromise as is required to get some minimal cooperation from China said Jamie Metzl senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank who drafted the letter. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-china-idUSKBN2BU2J2 7th Apr 2021 COVID19 in Brazil Country records 4195 deaths in a single day as commuters pack trains