(2021-01-21). Domestic Worker Organizing in Times of Crisis: Perspectives from the US and Latin America. dsausa.org Domestic workers have been hard hit by the global pandemic. Forced to choose between losing their jobs and livelihoods to protect their health or to continue to go to work while risking exposure to the virus in the homes they work in and in the public transportation they use to get to their workplaces, domestic…
(2021-01-20). Covid-19: Turkey vaccinates more than one million people, says health ministry. middleeasteye.net 
Covid-19: Turkey vaccinates more than one million people, says health ministry | Turkey has now given a first shot of the coronavirus vaccine to more than one percent of the population | Wed, 01/20/2021 – 13: 17 | A healthcare worker checks the body temperature of an elderly woman at a nursing home in Ankara, on 19 January 2021, amid the Covid-19 pandemic (AFP) | More than one million peop…
(2021-01-20). Italian Doctors Sanctioned for Raising Questions About COVID Vaccine. anti-empire.com 
An Italian doctors association has warned or disciplined 10 medics for promoting anti-vaccination propaganda and is considering sanctions against three others who are accused of downplaying the gravity of covid-19. | This comes amid growing concern that public scepticism over covid-19 vaccines could undermine Europe's fight against the coronavirus pandemic. | Antonio Magi, president of the Ordine dei Medici di Roma (Rome Doctors Guild), said that inquiries into 10 medics accused of unwarranted criticism of vaccinations had been completed, with punishments ranging from warnings to two month suspensions. The other…
(2021-01-20). Healthy diets 'nearly impossible' for 1.9 billion in Asia-Pacific: UN report. news.un.org The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and surging food prices have made it "nearly impossible" for almost two billion people in Asia and the Pacific to eat healthy diets, a new United Nations report revealed on Wednesday.
(2021-01-20). 'Subsidizing The Spread Of Covid'. popularresistance.org Nearly 200 corporate landlords received $320 million in federal pandemic-related assistance only to turn around and file more than 5,380 evictions between mid-March and mid-October of last year, recklessly displacing thousands of impoverished Americans in the midst of a public health and economic emergency. | That's according to Taxpayer Subsidized Evictions: Corporate Landlords Pocket Federal Sweetheart Deals, Subsidies, and Tax Breaks While Evicting Struggling Families, a newreport(pdf) published Tuesday by the Jobs With Justice Education Fund and the Private Equity Stakeholder Project.
(2021-01-20). Brazilians celebrate arrival of Venezuelan oxygen supplies to struggling Manaus. peoplesdispatch.org Following the collapse of the healthcare system in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, Venezuela has sent 130,000 liters of oxygen and a brigade of 107 doctors to help combat the pandemic…
(2021-01-20). Brazilians celebrate arrival of Venezuelan oxygen to struggling Manaus. peoplesdispatch.org Following the collapse of the healthcare system in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, Venezuela has sent 130,000 liters of oxygen and a brigade of 107 doctors to help combat the pandemic…
(2021-01-20). UK travel agency bashes 'disgusting' competitor over new policy making Covid-19 vaccination mandatory. rt.com 
A UK travel agency has publicly blasted a rival, Saga Holidays, after it announced a new policy requiring all customers to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Hundreds of others have joined in the condemnation. | Saga Holidays announced its mandatory vaccine policy in a statement on Wednesday, telling customers that they "must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at least 14 days before travelling" through the company. | Accepting that the policy would be "disappointing" for many, the company said it wanted to ensure the "safest possible experience" for customers. | A message to all holiday customers. Please…
(2021-01-20). Dean Baker on Beating Inequality & COVID-19: Tackle Patent and Copyright Monopolies. theanalysis.news Intellectual property like pharmaceutical patents is one reason so many people face a long wait for COVID-19 vaccines says Dean Baker. GPEnewsdocs…
(2021-01-20). Israel's Fauci Says Pfizer Vaccine's First Dose Less Effective Than Drugmaker Indicated. anti-empire.com 
A single dose of Pfizer's vaccine may be less effective than the drugmaker had indicated, Israel's COVID-19 czar has warned. | Nachman Ash — Israel's equivalent of Dr. Anthony Fauci — said the protection offered by the first dose is "less effective than we had thought," "Many people have been infected between the first and second injections of the vaccine," Ash said, adding that the protective effect appears "lower than [the data] presen…
(2021-01-20). Dean Baker on Beating Inequality & COVID-19: Tackle Patent and Copyright Monopolies. theanalysis.news Intellectual property like pharmaceutical patents is one reason so many people face a long wait for COVID-19 vaccines says Dean Baker. (GPE Newsdoc)…
(2021-01-20). Biden Lifts Health Care Plan From Insurance Lobbyists. popularresistance.org President-elect Joe Biden's new COVID relief plan does not adopt existing Democratic legislation to expand government sponsored medical coverage nor does it propose a promised public health insurance option. Instead, it adopts proposals from health insurance lobbying groups' recent letter to lawmakers demanding lucrative new subsidies for insurance companies, at a moment when those corporations have recorded record profits as millions lose coverage and many face claims denials. | Biden's plan would shovel billions of dollars to private health insurers by providing subsidies for Americans to buy coverage through t…
(2021-01-20). "Covid Relief Plan": Biden Lifts Health Care Plan from Insurance Lobbyists. globalresearch.ca President-elect Joe Biden's new COVID relief plan does not adopt existing Democratic legislation to expand government sponsored medical coverage nor does it propose a promised public health insurance option. Instead, it adopts proposals from health insurance lobbying groups' recent …
(2021-01-20). NYC Cancels Thousands of Vaccine Appointments Due to Lack of Federal Supply. truthout.org 
On Wednesday, while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a coronavirus press conference that the state would be running out of vaccines to administer in "Approx 22…
(2021-01-20). Vaccine Will Not Reverse Economic Problems. dissidentvoice.org No matter how many vaccines are rush-produced by large for-profit corporations with a long record of malpractice, vaccines will not reverse severe economic deterioration because the economic collapse, nationally and internationally, was not caused by any virus.1 The economic depression that is unfolding was a long time in the making and was accelerated and intensified …
(2021-01-20). Is Wireless Technology an Environmental Health Risk? globalresearch.ca Early in 2012, I started having debilitating cognitive lapses, pressure headaches, nausea and worse when around wireless and electronic devices. | That winter and spring, I'd put in long hours, drafting an eco-themed novel, writing for a hyperlocal news blog and …
(2021-01-19). Covid-19: Palestinians to receive first batch of Russian vaccine by weekend. middleeasteye.net 
Covid-19: Palestinians to receive first batch of Russian vaccine by weekend | The Palestinian health ministry has approved Sputnik V vaccine for domestic use, making it 'the first country in the Middle East' to do so | Tue, 01/19/2021 – 14: 15 | Palestinian health workers collect random swab samples from people to test for the Covid-19 coronavirus in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on 1…
(2021-01-19). Flint Residents Still Sick as Former Michigan Gov. Faces "Willful Neglect" Charges in Water Scandal. democracynow.org 
Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and eight other former officials were charged last Thursday in a sweeping criminal investigation into the Flint water crisis. Snyder faces two charges of willful neglect of duty, a misdemeanor. In 2014, Flint's unelected emergency manager, appointed by then-Governor Snyder, switched the city's water supply to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure. The move has been linked to at least 12 deaths from an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease and widespread lead poisoning in residents, including children, in the majority-Black city. "It is really important that many of those electe…
(2021-01-19). Michigan Governor Charged With "Willful Neglect of Duty" in Flint Water Scandal. truthout.org 
Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and eight other former officials were charged last Thursday in a sweeping criminal investigation into the Flint water crisis. Snyder faces two charges of willful neglect of duty, a misdemeanor. In 2014, Flint's unelected emergency manager, appointed by then-Governor Snyder, switched the city's water supply to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure. The move has been linked to at least 12 deaths from an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease and widespread lead…
(2021-01-19). Michigan Ex-Governor Charged With "Willful Neglect" in Flint Water Scandal. truthout.org Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and eight other former officials were charged last Thursday in a sweeping criminal investigation into the Flint water crisis. Snyder faces two charges of willful neglect of duty, a misdemeanor. In 2014, Flint's unelected emergency manager, appointed by then-Governor Snyder, switched the city's water supply to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure. The move has been linked to at least 12 deaths from an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease and widespread lead…
(2021-01-19). About Suffering: A Massacre of the Innocents in Yemen. commondreams.org The United Nations estimates the war has already caused 233,000 deaths, including 131,000 deaths from indirect causes such as lack of food, health services and infrastructure. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2021-01-19). Headlines for January 19, 2021. democracynow.org WHO Warns of "Catastrophic Moral Failure" as Wealthy Nations Hoard Vaccines, U.S. COVID-19 Death Toll Passes 400,000, New York Seeks Vaccines Directly from Pfizer After HHS Fails on Promise to Distribute Doses, FBI to Vet 25,000 National Guard Troops Deploying to Washington, D.C., for Inauguration, FBI Arrests More Far-Right Militia Leaders, White Supremacists Over Capitol Attack, New Yorker Footage Shows How Insurrectionists Breached Senate Chamber on Jan. 6, Senate to Begin Confirmation Hearings for Joe Biden Cabinet Nominees, Biden Executive Orders on Day 1 to Reverse Many of Trump's Most Contentious Actions,…
(2021-01-19). WHO panel 'discouraged & frankly disappointed' by global Covid-19 vaccine rollout plan. rt.com 
An independent WHO panel studying the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has criticized global vaccine rollout plans over inequalities that will see most of Africa missing out on receiving any jabs this year. | "The panel is discouraged and frankly disappointed by the unequal plans for vaccine rollout," panel co-chair Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former Liberian president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, told an Executive Board meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO). | As things stand now, large-scale distribution of vaccines against the coronavirus won't begin in Africa until 2022 or even 2023, she pointed…
(2021-01-19). Dystopia Now! — Surveillance Through Vaccine Certificates, Digital IDs, and Biometric Data. globalresearch.ca With the pandemic, the "digital transformation" that so many analysts have been referring to for years, without being exactly sure what it meant, has found its catalyst. One major effect of confinement will be the expansion and progression of the …
(2021-01-19). Nigeria To Tackle COVID-19 by Local Vaccine Production. telesurenglish.net Health Minister Osagie Ehanire on Monday revealed that the Nigerian government has released a US$25.3 million fund to support domestic vaccine production to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | "While we are working to develop our own vaccines, Nigeria is exploring options for licensed production, in collaboration with recognized institutions. We are also exploring the option of local production of the vaccines," E…
(2021-01-19). Independent panel finds critical early failings in COVID-19 response. news.un.org The global system for pandemic alert and response is "not fit for purpose", highlighting the need for a new framework in the wake of COVID-19, experts appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO) said in an interim report presented on Tuesday.
(2021-01-19). We're Being Locked-down for an Infection Fatality Rate of Less than 0.2%? Dr. Richard Schabas to Ontario Premier Doug Ford. globalresearch.ca Below is an important letter from former Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Richard Schabas, addressed to Ontario Premier Doug Ford. | "The national lockdown was never part of our planned pandemic response nor is it supported by strong …
(2021-01-19). U.S. Needs to Quickly Ramp Up Vaccinations. zcomm.org Please Help ZNet Source: Democracy Now! As the United States breaks all records for coronavirus cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns another 92,000 could die in the next three weeks as complaints grow over the slow distribution of COVID vaccines. Across the country, hospitals are overflowing, and ICU beds are in short
(2021-01-19). Surge in COVID-19 on UK's Isle of Wight overwhelms health care infrastructure. wsws.org Stephen Parker, medical director of the island's National Health Service Trust, warned, "If the NHS is going to be overwhelmed, it is going to be in the next two to four weeks."
(2021-01-19). Germany extends Covid-19 lockdown, makes masks compulsory amid fears of new virus strains. rt.com 
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Germany's 16 state leaders have agreed to extend the country's current lockdown until the middle of February in response to the spread of Covid-19 and the appearance of new variants. | Confirming the extension on Tuesday evening, Merkel said the country's efforts to control Covid-19 were being threatened by a spreading new mutation in the virus, and she called for a common European approach in tackling the strain. | Schools, non-essential retail, restaurants, bars and cafes are all closed under Germany's current restrictions. | Among a raft of new health measures also agreed upon i…
(2021-01-19). Two Years to Stop the Spread: Australia to Shut Borders Until 2022 Despite Vaccine. anti-empire.com 
Australians and Kiwis are looking at the very real possibility of being shut off from the rest of the world for at least another year. | The two countries, often touted by the media and the "public health expert" class as a COVID-19 response success story (and In a conversation with the Australian Broadcasting Corpora…
(2021-01-19). IATA Creates Universal Health Passport for International Travel. telesurenglish.net The initiative will be implemented as of this upcoming March 2021 under the IATA Travel Pass's official name and consists of an application for mobile devices in which passengers can store and administer test certificates for COVID-19 or the vaccine against the disease. | This way, physical documents can be avoided, which provides more security and efficiency and explains the entity in a statement. | RELATED: | It will also allo…
(2021-01-19). The global COVID vaccination distribution debacle is mirrored in the US. wsws.org The global vaccination distribution has been characterized as a "catastrophic moral failure" by the WHO's director-general. Despite the US predominance in access to these life-saving vaccines, its national vaccine initiative has been a dismal disaster.
(2021-01-19). UN agencies supporting mammoth India COVID-19 vaccine rollout. news.un.org India has begun what is the world's biggest COVID vaccination campaign so far, deploying hundreds of thousands of health workers, with the training and support of the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
(2021-01-19). China Health Experts Call for Suspension of COVID Vaccines as Norway Investigates 33 Deaths, Germany Probes 10 Deaths. globalresearch.ca Norway upped the number of deaths under investigation, from 23 last week to 33, while in Germany, health officials said they are investigating 10 deaths that occurred among elderly patients who received the COVID vaccine. | *** | China health experts say …
(2021-01-19). Patching up capitalism during COVID. workers.org 
On Jan. 21, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first recognized case of COVID-19 in the U.S. One year later, over 400,000 people in the country are dead from the virus — the equivalent of wiping out the entire population of Cleveland, Ohio, or Tampa, Fla. . . . |
(2021-01-19). Scientists closer to finding motor neurone disease cure after discovering how to repair damaged nerve cells — study. rt.com 
Researchers in Scotland say they have made a breakthrough in finding potential cures to motor neurone disease (MND) following their work on repairing the nerve damage caused by the degenerative illness. | In their
(2021-01-19). Mass Call Up of Unarmed Troops Needed to Battle Terrorists During a Plague That Necessitates Everyone Stays at Home. anti-empire.com 
Oh look, The Powers That Be couldn't get real people to turn out for Biden so they're planting flags so it wouldn't look so. No no, that can't be right. That's way too cynical of me. Surely there are hundreds of thousands of people who would love to attend the inauguration but sadly the establishment must turn them away because there is a deadly invisible virus out there, that nonetheless did not preclude them from calling up 20,000 federalized National Guard soldiers that have nowhere to sleep but on top of each other. But that was necessary because of the grave "domestic terrorist" threat from the unpopular "an…
(2021-01-19). Citing famine, UN urges reversal of terrorist designation for Yemen's Houthis; U.S. refuses. mronline.org 
Mark Lowcock of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that recent labeling of Houthis as a terrorist organization by the U.S. would likely trigger a "famine on a scale we have not seen in 40 years.
(2021-01-19). When Medicare Helped Kill Jim Crow. thenation.com When Medicare Helped Kill Jim Crow…
(2021-01-19). Physician Performance in the Medicare Merit-based Incentive Payment System. jamanetwork.com To the Editor In their recent article, Dr Johnston and colleagues reported that health system affiliation was associated with significantly better performance scores and more favorable value-based reimbursement for clinicians participating in the inaugural payment year (2019) of the Medicare Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Even though this program may accelerate clinician consolidation within health systems, I believe their findings may be overstated for 3 reasons.
(2021-01-19). Physician Performance in the Medicare Merit-based Incentive Payment System—Reply. jamanetwork.com In Reply We agree with Dr Rathi's main observation about our recent article that the financial incentives were small in the MIPS 2019 performance year, and the performance threshold for avoiding a payment penalty was low. In fact, the performance threshold was so low in 2019 that only clinicians who did not comply with the MIPS (did not report any performance measures to the CMS) received payment penalties.
(2021-01-19). WHO Chief Denounces Vaccine-Hoarding by Rich Nations. zcomm.org "The price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world's poorest countries."
(2021-01-19). Mexico to Produce 6 Million Doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine. telesurenglish.net Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) on Monday informed that Argentina sent to his country the active substance that will allow the manufacture of 6 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. | RELATED: | Argentina's MAbxience, the laboratory responsible for the raw material production, sent a first batch of the active substance to Mexico thanks to the project that both countries signed in…
(2021-01-19). Ukraine begs Europe for coronavirus vaccine. wsws.org While still providing military backing to the Kiev government in its ongoing civil war with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, US and European imperialism have refused to provide even minimal vaccine assistance to the poorest country in Europe.
(2021-01-19). Warning world is on 'brink of a catastrophic moral failure,' WHO chief denounces vaccine-hoarding by rich nations. nationofchange.org "The price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world's poorest countries."
(2021-01-19). British Medical Journal: Pfizer and Moderna's "95% Effective" Vaccines—Let's be Cautious and First See the Full Data. globalresearch.ca The following are excerpts of an important article published by the British Medical Journal. The author Dr Peter Doshi is associate editor of The BMJ. | In the United States, all eyes are …
(2021-01-19). Monthly Malaria Prophylaxis Cuts Child Deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa. jamanetwork.com Treating children in sub-Saharan Africa's malaria-endemic areas with a monthly preventive drug regimen during the rainy season reduced children's deaths from the disease by up to 57%, a study found.
(2021-01-19). Drop in Vaccination Causes Surge in Global Measles Cases, Deaths. jamanetwork.com Failure to vaccinate children against measles has led to a 556% surge in the number of reported cases and a 50% increase in deaths from the disease since 2016, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
(2021-01-19). The Language of Health Care Reform. jamanetwork.com This Viewpoint posits that the US will engage in another debate about health care reform to consider expanding coverage, improving affordability, and containing costs.