Category Archives: Coronavirus

How EU’s floundering vaccine effort hit a fresh crisis with exports row

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A new rule on exports from Europe suddenly blew up into a threat to the withdrawal agreement – and a hasty backtrack

It started with a tweet by a blogger at 4.36pm on Friday. It ended with the prime ministers of the UK and Ireland warning the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, during late night calls, that she had put peace at risk by effectively seeking to erect a vaccine border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

“OK, I’m not usually on here any more, but I’m making an exception because this is very interesting: the EU’s regulation on export controls for vaccines *does* include vaccines going to Northern Ireland, and the EU is invoking Article 16 of the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol,” @dijdowell had tweeted. “I really didn’t have Article 16 being used *by the EU* in the first month of the Protocol’s operation on my list of predictions for 2021. I would be fascinated – *fascinated* – to know what the Irish Government makes of setting this precedent.”

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Hundreds arrested in Belgium and Hungary protests – as it happened

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This blog is now closed. We’ve launched a new blog at the link below:

We’ve launched a new blog at the link below – head there for the latest:

Related: Coronavirus live news: EU wants 70% of adults vaccinated by end of summer; Israel extends Covid lockdown

Here is a quick re-cap of recent events from the UK and around the world:

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EU’s vaccine blunder reopens Brexit battle over Irish border

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Tory MPs use short-lived announcement of export ban to call for overhaul of trade deal, as EU chief is attacked over U-turn

The European Union’s threat to impose a vaccine border between Northern Ireland and the Republic risks reigniting one of Brexit’s bitterest disputes, as senior Tories said the move proved the need for an immediate overhaul of the bloc’s treatment of Northern Ireland.

The renewed demands emerged with the EU facing an extraordinary backlash over its bungled announcement of potential export controls on vaccines produced within the bloc. The World Health Organization (WHO) condemned the move and the pharmaceutical industry warned that the measures would damage their vaccination efforts.

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Tens of thousands protest against new French security bill

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Demonstrators, including gilet jaunes activists, also protested against Covid restrictions

Tens of thousands of protesters turned out in dozens of French cities on Saturday to oppose a security bill they say will restrict the filming and publicising of images of police brutality.

Demonstrators also protested against the restrictions imposed to halt the spread of coronavirus and to stand up for the cultural sector, which has been especially hard-hit by the measures.

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Biden team scrambles to find 20m vaccine doses Trump reportedly failed to track

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Officials work to pinpoint doses in pipeline between federal distribution and administration by states

The Biden administration has spent its first week in office attempting to manually track down 20m vaccine doses in the pipeline between federal distribution and administration at clinic sites, when a dose finally reaches a patient’s arm.

The Trump administration’s strategy pushed the response to the coronavirus pandemic to individual states and omitted pipeline tracking information between distribution and when the shot is actually administered, Biden administration officials told Politico.

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In the search for Covid protection, Cormac the ‘extremely charismatic’ llama may hold a key

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The llama has provided nanobodies that effectively prevent infection, but the use of other species in Covid research raises troubling ethical questions

Cormac the llama lives a quiet life on a farm in Washington State, totally unaware that his unique immune system may be key to protecting the developing world from Covid-19.

“He is an extremely charismatic llama … he’s a pretty cool guy,” says TJ Esparza, a neuroscientist at the Uniformed Services University. He is part of the team attempting to transform Cormac’s nanobody cells into a drug that will coat the inside of human lungs, providing temporary but effective protection from coronavirus particles.

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EU ‘recognise they made a mistake’ in move to block Covid vaccine exports, says Gove – video

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Michael Gove says European commission recognised they made an error by seeking to trigger a Brexit deal clause to prevent coronavirus vaccine shipments entering the UK. He added that it was important to cooperate with the EU to make sure the vaccination rollout was effective

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Couple marry on Covid ward 46 years after first meeting

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Ceremony at Coventry university hospital follows urgent Twitter appeal for registrar

A couple have been married in a hospital’s coronavirus ward after an urgent appeal for a registrar, more than 46 years after they first met on the set of a pantomime.

Philip, 78, and Patricia, 88, were married at Coventry university hospital, where Patricia is being treated for Covid-19, on Friday.

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Fauci: US children will ‘hopefully’ get Covid vaccine by late spring or early summer – video

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Children in the US will ‘hopefully’ start to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by late spring or early summer, said Dr Anthony Fauci.

Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, the head of the National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases, was speaking at a White House coronavirus briefing, an event re-instituted by the new president after falling away during the last months of the Trump administration

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‘I wanted to give something back’: the academic who signed up for the Novavax trial

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Librarian says she feels ‘very lucky’ working from home, so she volunteered for the vaccine test

While many have endured almost a year of stress and hardship during the Covid crisis in the UK, others have remained relatively unscathed.

Caroline Ball, a 37-year-old academic librarian from just outside Derby, has even felt guilty at times, having the good fortune of a stable job which she can do from home and not worrying about homeschooling children.

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EU gives itself power to block Covid vaccine exports – video

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The European commission has announced that it will tighten the export rules of vaccines produced in the 27 EU countries. ‘We paid these companies to increase production and now we expect them to deliver,’ said the commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis.

The ‘vaccine export transparency mechanism’ would be used until the end of March and would control shipments to non-EU countries and ensure any exporting company based in the EU first submits its plans to national authorities

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Malawi sex workers protest at ‘targeted police brutality’ after Covid-19 curfew

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Petition urges government to extend closing times for bars as women go hungry and are forced to skip HIV medication

Dozens of sex workers took to the streets of Malawi’s capital Lilongwe on Thursday to protest against what they described as “targeted police brutality” following new Covid-19 restrictions.

The protests were led by the Female Sex Workers Association (FSWA), which has about 120,000 members across the country, according to its national coordinator, Zinenani Majawa.

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Coronavirus live news: Coachella festival cancelled; fears over Australian vaccine

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Shock and anger at EU’s move to invoke Brexit clause on Irish border; Fauci says ‘virus will continue to mutate’ as Democrats aim to fast-track Covid relief plan; Johnson & Johnson one-dose Covid vaccine shown to work

Hello everyone, I’m Molly Blackall, taking over the blog in London. I’ll be bringing you all the key updates in the coronavirus pandemic around the world over the next few hours.

If you spot something you think we should be reporting on in this blog, please feel free to drop me a message on Twitter. Tips and pointers always much appreciated!

The former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith has weighed into the row over the EU’s threat to override part of Northern Ireland Protocol under its coronavirus vaccine controls, calling it “almost Trumpian.”

The Tory MP told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Years have been spent trying to ensure goods will flow freely and there will be no hard border and last night the EU pulled the emergency cord without following any of the process that are in the protocol if one side wants to suspend it.

And they did that, in my view, without anywhere near the understanding of the Good Friday Agreement, of the sensitivity of the situation in Northern Ireland, and it was an almost Trumpian act.

It is not just a backdoor for goods going to Britain, it is a very sensitive place and we have a duty of care between the EU and the UK to preserve no hard border and stability in Northern Ireland.

Related: EU in U-turn over move to control vaccine exports to Northern Ireland

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WHO’s Covid warnings were not heeded. Now the world has a new chance to beat the virus

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If nations make vaccine delivery equitable, step up testing and study variant genomes, the pandemic could be under control by January 2022

A year ago, on 30 January, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the new coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern – the highest level of alarm at our disposal under international law.

At the time there were 98 confirmed cases and no deaths reported outside China. The WHO repeatedly urged all countries to capitalise on the “window of opportunity” to prevent widespread transmission of this new virus.

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From lockdowns to pool parties: how Covid rules vary around the world

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Countries have adopted different rules on business activity, education, socialising and travel

Curfews and lockdowns Restrictions have largely been relaxed in most of Brazil’s 26 states, although several continue to limit opening hours for bars, restaurants and shops. A round-the-clock curfew was imposed this week in Brazil’s biggest state, Amazonas, after hospitals were overwhelmed.

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‘Half-friends is not a concept’: UK should decide who its allies are, says Macron

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‘History and geography don’t change – I don’t think British destiny is different to ours,’ says French president

Emmanuel Macron has warned that Boris Johnson’s government has to decide who its allies are, insisting that “half-friends is not a concept”.

“What politics does Great Britain wish to choose? It cannot be the best ally of the US, the best ally of the EU and the new Singapore … It has to choose a model,” the French president said, in an interview with the Guardian and a small group of other media.

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Explainer: what is article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol?

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The Brexit deal clause has been triggered by the EU to place controls on the export of Covid vaccines to NI

Under Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol, all products are normally permitted to be exported from the EU to Northern Ireland without checks, as NI remains in the single market for goods and continues to operate under EU custom rules.

The protocol was a resolution to the sticky Irish border question and was designed to avoid a return of checkpoints along the politically sensitive frontier and minimise potential disruption of cross-border trade.

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Coronavirus is an existential crisis that comes from an awareness of your own freedoms | Dr Sarb Johal

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Book extract: A lot of things will change as a result of this pandemic and it’s clear the recovery won’t be marked by a discrete event

In 1844, Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote: “Whoever has learnt to be anxious in the right way, has learnt the ultimate.”

I’m no Kierkegaard, but I think he may have been on to something. The anxiety we may be experiencing in these coronavirus times might be something that feels different, deeper, and beyond perhaps your usual fear or anxiety about day-to-day troubles. This feels more existential.

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Arlene Foster: EU limit on vaccines into Northern Ireland is ‘hostile and aggressive’ – video

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Stormont's first minister branded the EU’s triggering of article 16 of Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol to stop the unfettered flow of inoculations from the EU into the region an 'incredible act of hostility'

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‘We had to go it alone’: how the UK got ahead in the Covid vaccine race

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Early partnership between Oxford and AstraZeneca, plus upfront funding, proved vital headstart

When it became clear the China coronavirus outbreak might lead to a global pandemic, Oxford University’s life scientists convened a crisis meeting. It took place on Thursday 30 January last year, and if the rest of the world hadn’t yet realised the potential consequences of what was unfolding in Wuhan, they had.

Around the table in the Nuffield Department of Medicine were experts from in and around the university, gathered for a moment they had feared would one day come.

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