2020-12-31: News Headlines

David Swanson (2020-12-31). Top 10 Questions for Antony Blinken. dissidentvoice.org Before Antony Blinken can become Secretary of State, Senators must approve. And before that, they must ask questions. Here are some suggestions for what they should ask. 1. Second to the war on Iraq, which of the disasters you've helped facilitate do you most regret, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, or something else? And what have you …

The Jimmy Dore Show (2020-12-31). #ForceTheVote Pressure Growing from Inside. dissidentvoice.org Force The Vote! We demand that every progressive in Congress refuse to vote for Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House until she publicly pledges to bring Medicare for all to the floor of the House for a vote in January: forcethevote.org/

WSWS (2020-12-31). Australian youth speak on their experiences during COVID-19. wsws.org One health agency reported a 72 percent increase in serious self-harm and suicidal-ideation cases in youth under 18 years during last weeks of Melbourne's lockdown.

Online News Editor (2020-12-31). China approves commercial use of indigenous Covid-19 vaccine. laprensalatina.com Shanghai, China, Dec 31 (efe-epa).- China on Thursday greenlighted the commercial use of a homegrown coronavirus vaccine after an interim analysis of clinical trial results showed it is more than 79 percent effective against Covid-19. State-run Xinhua news agency reported that the government granted "conditional marketing authorization for a self-developed Covid-19 vaccine." A unit of …

Online News Editor (2020-12-31). Covid-19 vaccination still weeks away in hard-hit Brazil. laprensalatina.com By Alba Santandreu Sao Paulo, Dec 31 (efe-epa).- Brazil, which is second only to the United States in deaths from Covid-19, is entering 2021 without a firm date for the arrival of vaccines amid numbers indicating that the dreaded second wave of the pandemic has arrived. Mass vaccination is already underway in several Latin American …

Online News Editor (2020-12-31). Tokyo registers over 1,000 daily Covid cases for the first time. laprensalatina.com Tokyo, dec 31 (efe-epa).- The number of daily Covid-19 infections in the Tokyo region has crossed the 1,000 mark for the first time, authorities announced on Thursday even as they contemplate fresh measures to check the spread of the disease. Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike told reporters that cases registered within the past 24 hours had …

Julia Conley, staff writer (2020-12-31). New Year's Eve Celebrations Tamped Down as Officials Caution Large Gatherings Could Be 'Catastrophic' for Healthcare Systems. commondreams.org With the number of new Covid-19 cases growing faster than ever around the world, and more than a dozen countries reporting cases of the new, highly contagious coronavirus variant that was first detected in the U.K., major New Year's events have been canceled in large cities. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

teleSUR (2020-12-31). Mexico Is Set to Receive Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine in March. telesurenglish.net Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) Wednesday informed that his country will receive the first doses of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine made by the United Kingdom-based AstraZeneca company and the Oxford University. | RELATED: | On Tuesday, the U.K. approved Mexico and Argentina to use the vaccine to immunize their people. Four months ago, British authorities also allowed both countries to produce the drug and distribute it in…

news.un (2020-12-31). The virus that shut down the world: the path to a vaccine. news.un.org Vaccines that protect against COVID-19 have been developed in record time over the year but, amid fears that people from poorer countries may miss out, the UN has consistently insisted on global solidarity, to ensure that all are protected. In the final part of our series on the ways that the virus has changed the world, we trace the evolution of the COVID-19 vaccines, and how protected we are likely to be in 2021.

teleSUR, CE (2020-12-31). President Arce Encourages Use of Traditional Indigenous Medicine. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's government is encouraging the use of traditional medicine, in addition to more orthodox approaches, as a means to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as the country prepares for the arrival of the Sputnik V vaccine acquired from Russia. | RELATED: | President Luis Arce noted the benefits reported by Bolivians in rural areas, many of which experienced no major COVID-19 outbreak, in contrast with the city of Santa…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-12-31). 2020: Unprecedented struggles, renewed hope for victories. peoplesdispatch.org 2020 brought unexpected and unforeseen challenges. It tore away the fantasies of the capitalist regimes who amid the worst global healthcare crisis in history, still put profits over people. People's movements and socialist governments showed that a different world is possible, and that we must fight for it.

Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones (2020-12-31). "Say Her Name: Dr. Susan Moore" zcomm.org Black Female Doctors Condemn Racial Disparities in Healthcare…

MEE staff (2020-12-31). Nearly 10.4 million children at risk of famine in 2021: Unicef. middleeasteye.net Nearly 10.4 million children at risk of famine in 2021: Unicef | Millions of parents in Yemen in particular 'are being left to make the gut-wrenching choice between food and medical care for their children', UN body warns | Thu, 12/31/2020 – 17: 22 | A man and children seek refuge in a cave due to poverty and lack of housing near Taiz on 2 December (AFP/File photo) | Nearly 1o.4 million children will suffer fr…

MEE staff (2020-12-31). More than 10 million children at risk of famine in 2021: Unicef. middleeasteye.net More than 10 million children at risk of famine in 2021: Unicef | Millions of parents in Yemen in particular 'are being left to make the gut-wrenching choice between food and medical care for their children', UN body warns | Thu, 12/31/2020 – 17: 22 | Man and children seek refuge in cave amid poverty and lack of housing near Taiz, Yemen, on 2 December (AFP/File photo) | Almost 1o.4 million children will suffer…

Online News Editor (2020-12-31). Wuhan bids farewell to 2020 without looking back. laprensalatina.com By Jesús Centeno Wuhan, China, Dec 31 (efe-epa).- Life has returned to normal in Wuhan one year after the Chinese government informed the World Health Organization of mysterious cases of pneumonia in the city, whose residents now want to turn the page on one of their darkest periods. In the final hours of 2020, a …

Online News Editor (2020-12-31). China approves first homegrown coronavirus vaccine for general public. laprensalatina.com Shanghai, China, Dec 31 (efe-epa).- China has approved for general public distribution a homegrown coronavirus vaccine developed by state-owned pharma giant Sinopharm, moving a step closer towards a massive inoculation campaign, officials said on Thursday. The approval came after the developer on Wednesday said it had filed for conditional marketing authorization from the National Medical …

_____ (2020-12-31). A View On Health Care From 2028. popularresistance.org I just had my third heart attack. | Let me tell you about my previous two. | The first was 16 years ago in 2012. After wasting 15-20 minutes with an ER admitting clerk demanding my "insurance information" before I was allowed access to care, a triage nurse hustled me 'backstage'. I was diagnosed with a "minor" MI stopped by doses of nitroglycerin. | The following day the artery that had closed up was stented. The day after that I was kicked loose to the street. The 'retail' cost for my two day stay in the hospital and the procedure was around $250,000. My insurance "negotiated" that down to $22,000, co-pay was $2…

_____ (2020-12-31). US Blockade Prevents Venezuela From Funding COVAX. popularresistance.org Venezuela's Health Minister Carlos Alvarado on Sunday said that the economic blockade imposed by the United States is preventing his country from funding the COVAX initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO). | He recalled that his country offered to place US$18 million into the COVAX fund, but as a result of the U.S. blockade, Venezuela has not "been able to free those resources to pay the fund." | Alvarado added that the U.S. sanctions have affected other vaccination programs previously conducted through the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) revolving fund. | "We have not been able to pay the re…

WorkWeek (2020-12-31). WorkWeek Exposes Racist & Corrupt SF City Health Service System Boss Mitch Griggs. indybay.org WorkWeek on Thursday 12/31/20 at 12 noon on San Francisco's KPOO 94.1 FM www.kpoo.com will have guests who expose the systemic racism and corruption at the San Francisco City Health Service System run by Mitch Griggs and also at the Department of Public Health. Joining the show will be the new editor of the SF Bay View Malik Washington who broke the story of the racist terrorism against SF City Health Service worker Malika Alima. Also joining the show will be SFCC Department of Public Health nurse and whistleblower W.D. Flient.

Khubaka, Michael Harris (2020-12-31). 2020 California State Capitol – Racism in the Farm to Fork Capitol. indybay.org Our 22nd Annual, 2020 California State Capitol Kwanzaa continues a special tradition in the seat of authority of our Great State of California, Farm to Fork Capitol of America, where "Racism" is officially a Public Health Crisis throughout the Capitol Region.

Mehr News Agency (2020-12-31). 6,390 new COIVD cases detected in Iran. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 31 (MNA) — The country's Health Ministry has announced the detection of 6,390 new infections in the past 24 hours.

Staff (2020-12-31). Months of Chaos and Systemic Failure Are Wearing Down Health Care Workers. truthout.org Nurse Kristen Cline was working a 12-hour shift in October at the Royal C. Johnson Veterans Memorial Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when a code blue rang through the halls. A patient in an isolation room was dying of a coronavirus that had raged for eight months across the country before it made the state the brightest red dot in a nation of hot spots. | In her post-death report, Cline described how the patient fell victim to a hospital in chaos. The crash cart and breathing bag that sho…

imperial.ac.uk (2020-12-31). Economist Carol Propper made a Dame in New Year's Honours. imperial.ac.uk Professor Carol Propper has been made a Dame in the New Year's Honours for her contribution to economics and public health.

Ethan Winter (2020-12-31). Republican Voters Don't Know Anything About Their Party. That's Very Bad for American Democracy. commondreams.org For politics to rebalance at a healthier outcome where voters are actually able to assign the correct positions to the parties, we will need a new kind of reporting, one that doesn't flinch from assigning policy views to the parties or drawing out the implications of these ideas in clear and materially-grounded terms. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

WSWS (2020-12-31). Vaccine distribution fiasco continues in the United States. wsws.org Less than one-fifth of the vaccine doses distributed in the United States have been administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dan Cohen (2020-12-30). Meet the pseudo-left imperialists fighting against universal healthcare. mronline.org Since comedian Jimmy Dore called on progressive members of Congress to pressure Nancy Pelosi to hold a floor vote on Medicare For All, a collection of media personalities have launched vicious attacks against him while deflecting from his overwhelmingly popular argument.

Zero Hedge (2020-12-30). Spain Plans a "Registry" for Those Who Refuse COVID Vaccine. globalresearch.ca As Europe begins vaccinating the first wave of high-priority patients, A similar phenomenon has played out in the …

Gerald E. Scorse (2020-12-30). The Numbers Add Up for "Child-Side" Tax Policies. dissidentvoice.org A weary America is suffering through the worst public health crisis in more than a century. Covid-19 has taken over 300,000 lives. Parts of the economy have effectively shut down, throwing millions out of work and bankrupting businesses large and small. In the richest country in the world, Thanksgiving dinner for tens of thousands came …

teleSUR, CE (2020-12-30). The Answer to Covid is Caricom: Incoming Chairman Dr. Keith Rowley. telesurenglish.net The incoming chairman of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago, is channeling the regional integration movement towards stronger outcomes in the year ahead. | RELATED: | In his message to mark the start of 2021, Rowley pointed to the Caribbean Community's relatively successful management of the health aspects of COVID-19 in 2020 and says the light of the end of the t…

Rafael Figueroa (2020-12-30). New Strain of COVID-19 'Likely to Make it Here,' Memphis Health Official Says. laprensalatina.com MEMPHIS, TN (WREG) — A new variant, or strain, of COVID-19 has been identified in the United States and linked to a Colorado man in his twenties with no travel history. The fact that Colorado has detected this variant, the first in the nation, has many wondering if has or will make its way to …

Online News Editor (2020-12-30). Coronavirus vaccination gets under way in Argentina. laprensalatina.com Buenos Aires, Dec 29 (efe-epa).- Health care workers were at the head of the line Tuesday as Argentina began Covid-19 vaccination using Sputnik V, developed by Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute, amid concerns about a second wave of infections in the South American country that has already lost nearly 43,000 lives to Covid-19. "It is a …

Online News Editor (2020-12-30). China's Sinopharm says its vaccine is over 79% effective against Covid-19. laprensalatina.com Shanghai, China, Dec 30 (efe-epa).- A vaccine developed by China's state-run Sinopharm is 79.34 percent effective in protection against the Covid-19, the company said on Wednesday, seeking approval from the government for its general public use in the country. The vaccine, developed by a unit of the China National Biotec Group (CNBG), an affiliate of …

Online News Editor (2020-12-30). Biden blasts Trump for delays on vaccine distribution. laprensalatina.com Washington, Dec 29 (efe-epa).- President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday lambasted President Donald Trump for delays in the distribution of the vaccine against Covid-19 and promised that, when he takes office on Jan. 20, 2021, he will use a law dating back to the Cold War to force the private sector to accelerate the process. "The …

Online News Editor (2020-12-30). UK approves Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine. laprensalatina.com London, Dec 30 (efe-epa).- The United Kingdom's government on Wednesday accepted the medicines and health regulatory body's recommendation to authorize the use of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, the health ministry said. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) gave the green light for the vaccine to be used on people 18 years and …

Staff (2020-12-30). "This Is How Black People Get Killed": Dr. Susan Moore Dies of COVID After Decrying Racist Care. democracynow.org ‚Ä®As the United States reports record deaths and hospitalizations from COVID-19 in the final days of 2020, we look at how the pandemic that ravaged the country this year has shone a stark new light on racism in medical care. In a viral video recorded by Black physician Dr. Susan Moore, she describes racist treatment by medical staff at a hospital in Indianapolis and says they did not respond to her pleas for care, despite being in intense pain and being a doctor herself. In the video, Dr. Moore says she had to beg to receive pain medication and the antiviral drug remdesivir, and accuses a doctor a…

Staff (2020-12-30). "Say Her Name: Dr. Susan Moore." Black Female Doctors Condemn Racial Disparities in Healthcare. democracynow.org When Black doctor Susan Moore died from COVID-19 after posting a video from her hospital bed describing racist treatment by medical staff, her chilling message was compared to the video of George Floyd begging for his life as he was killed by Minneapolis police. We speak to two leading Black women doctors fighting racial disparities in healthcare who wrote The Washington Post opinion piece, "Say her name: Dr. Susan Moore." "It is a typical and ongoing devaluation of our lives and distrust of our word," says Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones, a family physician and former president of the American Public Health Association…

Jessica Corbett, staff writer (2020-12-30). Faced With Concurrent Crises, UNICEF Warns Millions of Children Threatened by 'Looming Famine'. commondreams.org "For countries reeling from the consequences of conflicts, disasters, and climate change, Covid-19 has turned a nutrition crisis into an imminent catastrophe." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

sputniknews (2020-12-30). CDC Says New COVID-19 Strain First Detected in UK Has Likely Been Circulating Person-to-Person in US. sputniknews.com On Tuesday, authorities in the US state of Colorado detected the US's first known case of infection by the new variant of COVID-19, originally discovered in the UK earlier this month. Colorado health officials described the patient as a man in his 20s with no travel history and said a possible second case is currently under investigation.

teleSUR (2020-12-30). US: Colorado Confirms First Case of British COVID-19 Strain. telesurenglish.net Colorado Governor Jared Polis on Tuesday announced that the British COVID-19 variant was identified in a young man who has no travel history. | RELATED: | He will remain in isolation until cleared by health officials. No close contacts of the man have been identified yet, but authorities are working on contact tracing. | The Colorado state lab was the first in the country to quickly identify the variant through sophisti…

RT (2020-12-30). Argentina 2nd to approve Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab, as EU expected to soon follow suit. rt.com The coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca was approved by Argentina on Wednesday, the second nation to greenlight the jab after the UK. | The vaccine has been awarded emergency use authorization for one year, It added that access to the jab will only be permitted by prescri…

teleSUR (2020-12-30). Chile Confirms Its First Case of the UK COVID-19 Strain. telesurenglish.net Chile's Health Under-Secretary Paula Daza Tuesday confirmed one case of British COVID-19 variant. | RELATED: | The new strain (SARS-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01) was detected in a Chilean woman who arrived in the country on December 22 from Spain. She had previously traveled to London and Dubai. | The woman, who is asymptomatic, was quarantined in the city of Panguipulli located in the Los Rios region, along with her closest contacts. | Daza al…

WSWS (2020-12-30). Hands off COVID-19 whistleblower Rebekah Jones! wsws.org Sri Lankan health workers denounce the persecution of data scientist Rebekah Jones and hail her determination to protect lives by exposing the real extent of the coronavirus pandemic in the US.

teleSUR, CE (2020-12-30). Puebla Group's Plea to US & EU: Release Venezuela's Funds. telesurenglish.net The Puebla Group (Grupo de Puebla) has penned a statement demanding the release of Venezuela's financial resources by the U.S., EU and European countries to ensure that citizens have access to the vaccine against COVID-19. | RELATED: | The statement signed by 32 progressive political leaders of Latin America and Spain notes the retention of billions of dollars in assets belonging to the Venezuelan people. While th…

RT (2020-12-30). Bolivia signs contract to purchase 2.6 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine. rt.com Bolivia has become the third Latin American nation to strike an agreement with Russia's Direct Investment Fund for supplies of its Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19. Under the deal, La Paz will receive 2.6 million doses. | The contract between the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Bolivia's Health Supply Center (CEASS) was signed during a videoconference, in which Bolivian President Luis Arce took part. | The president praised Sputnik V in a Twitter

teleSUR, CE (2020-12-30). Legislator Nicolas Maduro Guerra Receives Second Sputnik V Dose. telesurenglish.net Deputy-elect to the National Assembly, and legislator of the National Constituent Assembly Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra, received his second dose of the Russian vaccine against COVID-19, Sputnik V on Wednesday. | RELATED: | The son of the Venezuelan President was one of the first citizens in his country to be administered the initial doses of Sputnik V as part of the third phase of the clinical trial, which has hundreds of vol…

WSWS (2020-12-30). Catastrophe worsens as UK records nearly 100,000 new COVID-19 cases in 48 hours. wsws.org Hospitals are being overwhelmed with a number having to declare emergencies. Moreover, the surge in infections threatens to overwhelm a vaccine rollout taking place at a snail's pace.

RT (2020-12-30). 'Great difficulties': Pfizer vaccine delivery to Berlin CANCELLED for 1st week of January due to logistical problems. rt.com The German capital will not receive its batch of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in the first week of January, the city's health chief has said, blaming it on federal government mishaps. | "We have just received a message from the Federal Ministry of Health that the [vaccine] delivery will be cancelled in the first calendar week [of 2021]," Berlin Health Minister Dilek Kalayci told dpa news agency, adding that the news will be "causing great difficulties" for the city. | The unfortunate development risks jeopardizing Berlin's vaccination plan, since the city was scheduled to receive 29,250 additional Pfizer vaccin…

Brian Shilhavy (2020-12-30). "Mass Sterilization": Kenyan Doctors Find Anti-fertility Agent in UN Tetanus Vaccine? globalresearch.ca Global Research Editor's Note | This article first published by Global Research on May 24, 2019 is of utmost relevance to the ongoing debate on the Covid Vaccine. | *** | In October 2014, the conference of Catholic bishops in Kenya released a …

RT (2020-12-30). Bolivia signs contract to purchase 2.6mn doses of Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine. rt.com Bolivia has become the third Latin American nation to strike an agreement with Russia's Direct Investment Fund for supplies of its Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19. Under the deal, Bolivia will receive 2.6 million doses. | The contract between the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Bolivia's Health Supply Center (CEASS) was signed during a videoconference, which was also attended by Bolivian President Luis Arce. | The president praised Sputnik V in a Twitter

RT (2020-12-30). Three-quarters of English population being placed under Tier 4 restrictions as UK health secretary extends Covid-19 curbs. rt.com Britain's health secretary has announced that an additional 20 million people in England will be subjected to Tier 4 restrictions as a new and highly contagious virus strain spreads throughout the UK. | Speaking to Parliament on Wednesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the rising Covid-19 cases numbers and hospitalisations "demonstrate the need to act where the virus is spreading." | Hancock announced that it had become necessary to expand the Tier 4 measures to a wider area, including the remaining parts of the South East of England, as well as large parts of the Midlands, north-east and south-west of t…