2021-02-13: News Headlines

Global Research News (2021-02-13). Selected Articles: The Corona Virus Vaccine. globalresearch.ca Global Research brings to the attention the attention of our readers a selection of articles on the coronavirus vaccine. | "The Second Wave of the pandemic commenced in October 2020. The Pfizer Moderna corona vaccine was launched in early November 2020. …

Stephanie Nakajima (2021-02-13). The Path to Winning a Floor Vote for Medicare for All in Congress. zcomm.org The #ForceTheVote debate is about how to hold members of Congress accountable — not whether to do so…

MEE and agencies (2021-02-13). Lebanon receives first Covid-19 vaccine shipment. middleeasteye.net Lebanon receives first Covid-19 vaccine shipment | The vaccines have been sponsored by the World Bank, as Lebanon struggles with a financial crisis and a devastated healthcare system | Sat, 02/13/2021 – 15: 47 | Hospitals in Lebanon, including St George Hospital devastated by the 4 August Beirut blast, have been struggling to care for the influx of Covid-19 patients (MEE/Elizabeth Fitt)…

yenisafak (2021-02-13). Yemeni scientist in Turkish team developing COVID-19 vaccine. yenisafak.com Even as Yemen continues shocking the world, with its images of deaths, destruction, and starvation, one of its citizens Ali Azzawri is part of a Turkish scientific team rolling out a vaccine against the COVID-19.Azzawri, 39, was selected by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey known as TUBITAK in May 2020 to be part of a team of 13 scientists to indigenously develop Messenger RNA vaccines — also called mRNA vaccines to combat the pandemic.According to experts, these are new types of vaccines, who direct cells to make a particular protein to trigger an immune response. Other vaccines, inst…

Neha S Singh, Michelle Lokot, Chi-Chi Undie, Monica A Onyango, Rosemary Morgan, Anne Harmer, Jane Freedman, Shirin Heidari (2021-02-13). [Comment] Research in forced displacement: guidance for a feminist and decolonial approach. thelancet.com The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened inequities and undermined health, human rights, and gender equality for forcibly displaced populations.1,2 The United Nations Refugee Agency estimates that, at the end of 2019, there were 79 ∑5 million people forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, or events seriously disturbing public order.3 Evidence about the needs of these populations is crucial to tailor effective and equitable responses, but data collection efforts are faced with considerable new challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lancet (2021-02-13). [Editorial] Improving prisoner health for stronger public health. thelancet.com COVID-19 vaccine policy for prisoners has been in the headlines across the USA and the UK. Discordant strategies exist, ranging from no vaccination, to vaccination equivalent to people in the community, to higher prioritisation for people in prison. Prisons are dangerous hotspots for acquiring SARS-CoV-2, and individuals who return to the community could unwittingly transmit the virus. In the USA alone, 372‚Äà583 prisoners have had COVID-19, with 2359 deaths, according to the Marshall Project. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to address racial and social inequalities globally, but…

Prof Michel Chossudovsky (2021-02-13). Remember the "Fake" 2009 H1N1 Swine Flu Pandemic: Manipulating the Data to Justify a Worldwide Public Health Emergency. globalresearch.ca A Worldwide public health emergency is unfolding, 4.9 billion doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine are envisaged by the WHO.

Munyaradzi Makoni (2021-02-13). [World Report] Tanzania refuses COVID-19 vaccines. thelancet.com Government officials have dismissed COVID-19 vaccines and promoted unfounded remedies. Munyaradzi Makoni reports.

Mehr News Agency (2021-02-13). Rouhani warns Iranians of fourth wave of Covid-19. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Feb. 13 (MNA) — Iranian President, called on Iranians to be careful not to enter the fourth wave of the Covid-19, saying that people must observe health protocols even after vaccination.

The Canary (2021-02-13). Scientists warn of new coronavirus wave if lockdown is lifted too quickly. thecanary.co Britain could face a coronavirus wave as big as the current one if lockdown restrictions are lifted too quickly, a scientist advising the government has said. | Professor Steven Riley, a member of the SPI-M modelling group, said that while the rollout of the vaccination programme had been "incredibly successful" it did not mean controls could simply be dropped. | "Scientists are genuinely worried": | Prof Riley told the BBC Radio Today programme: No vaccine is perfect. We are certainly going to be in the situation where we can allow more infection in the community but there is a limit… | I think scientis…

Jamie Metzl (2021-02-13). Miraculous mRNA Vaccines Are Only the Beginning. zcomm.org The radical future unleashed by the genetics and biotechnology revolutions has already begun. It's up to us to start shaping it…

yenisafak (2021-02-13). Massive fire engulfs Afghan port bordering Iran. yenisafak.com A massive fire broke out on Saturday in a dry port in western Afghanistan, officials said.The fire engulfed scores of oil and gas tankers in the Islam Qala Port bordering Iran.Herat province's Governor Sayed Abdul Wahid Qatali said the reason of the fire and damage caused by it could not be immediately assessed. However, he added, the blaze was so big that neighboring Iran was asked for help in controlling it.Mohammad Rafiq Sherzai, spokesman for the Health Department, told Anadolu Agency that at least 10 people with fire burns were rushed to the public hospital. He feared the casualties could rise.Visuals circul…

Onyinyechi Eke, Onyeka Otugo, Jessica Isom (2021-02-13). [Perspectives] Black women in medicine—rising above invisibility. thelancet.com The voice and agency of Black women health professionals have been systematically neglected, despite progress towards egalitarianism in medicine. The relationship of Black women to medicine has historically included unethical treatment, dismissal, invalidation, and other harms with roots in structural racism and racial stereotyping. This history has present-day consequences that must be understood as foundational to a representative recognition of Black women in medicine. There needs to be a restructuring of the systems that have been complicit in the silencing of Black women and reducing their value to a diversi…

Georgina Ferry (2021-02-13). [Perspectives] Rebecca Lee Crumpler: first Black woman physician in the USA. thelancet.com A passionate vocation to care for others and a desire to empower her patients drove Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831—95) to overcome 19th-century prejudice against her gender and ethnicity and qualify as "doctress of medicine" (the term she used), the first African American woman to do so. Crumpler gained extensive experience treating destitute former enslaved people in the southern states after the end of the American Civil War, and published A Book of Medical Discourses: in Two Parts, a practical guide to the care of infants and women's health.

Richard Lane (2021-02-13). [Perspectives] Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha: advancing maternal health justice. thelancet.com "I see myself as a scholar—activist", says Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, Associate Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, MA, USA. At Tufts she leads research on the underlying causes of maternal health disparities in Black women. "This previously underrecognised issue has come into sharp focus after the US Surgeon-General declared last November how maternal health disparities across the USA have become a national crisis", she says.

Graham McIlroy (2021-02-13). [Correspondence] Progress towards inclusive blood donation. thelancet.com GLADD—The Association of LGBTQ+ Doctors and Dentists welcomes the announcement that the UK Department of Health & Social Care has accepted in full the recommendations of the FAIR (For the Assessment of Individualised Risk) steering group, moving the UK towards inclusive blood donation while maintaining the safety of our blood supply.1…

Esther Choo (2021-02-13). [Perspectives] Easy in, tough out: the dam of health-care racism. thelancet.com Until the 1980s, the practice of turning away patients on the basis of their ability to pay, without evaluating or treating them, was legal and frequent in US hospitals. A 1986 study at Cook County Hospital, a public hospital in Chicago, noted that 89% of patients transferred from private hospitals to their facility were Black and Hispanic, and 87% of them were transferred because they did not have adequate insurance. Mortality was disproportionately high among those transferred, likely due to delays in stabilisation and definitive care.

Nayanah Siva (2021-02-13). [World Report] New global initiative to tackle Alzheimer's disease. thelancet.com The Davos Alzheimer's Collaborative aims to build a diverse patient cohort for study, coordinate clinical trials, and improve care. Nayanah Siva reports.

Zach Conti (2021-02-13). Global Economic Recovery, Debt, Climate, Vaccines Top G7 Finance Agenda. indybay.org Japan Says Accessing Global Reserve Funds Discussed…

Magnifying Glass (2021-02-13). The Centers For Disease Control (CDC). indybay.org The CDC began as yet another federal agency like the NIH and FDA, controlling access to pharmaceuticals. Its unelected officials have gradually turned an agency which should defer to the legislature into a dictatorship.

Change For The Better (2021-02-13). 15 Of Many Things We Can Learn From the European Union. indybay.org fewer wars, no executions, free health care, lower drug costs, better animal rights and environment legislation, less censorship etc…

WSWS (2021-02-12). Netanyahu relies on vaccine to beat pandemic in Israel while offering just 5,000 doses to the Palestinians. wsws.org The prime minister's refusal to supply the Palestinians with the vaccine is a violation of Israel's responsibilities under the 1949 Geneva Convention for the health of the Palestinians living in the areas it controls…

WSWS (2021-02-12). Why do US health care workers continue to refuse vaccination against COVID-19? wsws.org Haunted by the inadequate, criminal, chaotic and disorganized response by the ruling class to the coronavirus pandemic, some health care workers turn away from a safe and efficacious vaccine.

Staff (2021-02-12). Israel's vaccine apartheid is killing Palestinians. therealnews.com As COVID-19 continues to wreak deadly havoc, Israel touts record-setting efforts to inoculate its citizens while denying Palestinians in occupied territories life-saving vaccines. This is no accident: It is political, deliberate, and must be stopped.

Medicare for All Resolutions (2021-02-12). Wednesday 2/17: Medicare for All Resolutions Webinar: Take Health Care Action in Your Community. indybay.org Online…

CP Editor (2021-02-12). Ralph Nader on Corporate Crime, Holding Boeing Accountable for 737 MAX Deaths & Biden's First Weeks. counterpunch.org

Site Administrator (2021-02-12). CDC Study Finds Two Masks Are Better Than One Vs. COVID-19. laprensalatina.com NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. government researchers found that two masks are better than one in slowing coronavirus spread, but health officials stopped short of recommending that everyone double up. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday, February 10, reported the results of a lab experiment that spaced two artificial heads 6 feet …

teleSUR (2021-02-12). Vaccination To Help Revive Tourism in Chile's Easter Island. telesurenglish.net Residents of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in this week are receiving the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines made in China. | RELATED: | This Chilean territory has seen zero coronavirus cases since March 2020, when local authorities barred the entry of tourists to curb the spread of the disease. | The move was effective, but potentially painful, cutting off the community's major source of income. Now residents hope the vaccine push w…

Staff (2021-02-12). Fauci Says There Could Be "Open Season" for COVID Vaccines by April. truthout.org On Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, delivered hopeful news about vaccine availability and the country's lagging roll-out. "By the time we get to April, t…

RT (2021-02-12). South Africans being infected with Covid-19 variant AGAIN after recovering from virus — WHO chief scientist. rt.com Some people in South Africa have been re-infected with variants of Covid-19 after they had already recovered from the virus, the World Health Organization's (WHO) chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, said on Friday. | "We are now getting reports of people getting re-infected with the new variant of the virus, and there have been some initial reports from South Africa suggesting that people who have had prior infection could get infected again," she told a WHO news briefing. | Swaminathan did not specify the number of people re-infected in South Africa, but said that ongoing scientific studies are looking at ho…

RT (2021-02-12). French health advisory body says single dose of Covid-19 vaccine is enough for people who previously caught virus. rt.com France's public health authority HAS (Haute Autorité de Santé) has recommended that just one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine be given to people who have previously contracted the virus, instead of the two currently being administered. | People who have already caught Covid-19 should wait for three to six months before being immunized with a single dose, but not longer, the HAS said in an opinion released on Friday. | The HAS is a scientific advisory body, meaning that the French government will now need to decide whether to deviate from France's current vaccine rollout and take up its recommendation. | France is ro…

Doug Johnson Hatlem (2021-02-12). The City of Toronto's Dangerous Game and the Covid-19 Outbreak at Seaton House Shelter. counterpunch.org In spite of a Covid-19 outbreak affecting dozens of residents and staff at what was once Canada's largest homeless shelter, Seaton House, the City of Toronto's Public Health unit and Shelter administration say they have no plans to change policies, procedures, or reporting practices. In April 2020, Brian Cleary (pictured above) developed symptoms consistent with

teleSUR (2021-02-12). Indigenous Peoples Improvise a COVID-19 Hospital in Manaus. telesurenglish.net In response to the inefficiency of the Brazilian authorities, the residents of the Manaus neighborhood "Tribes Park" (Parque das Tribos) set up their "Support Unit" (SU), a rudimentary field hospital to treat COVID-19 patients. | RELATED: | Despite the high number of COVID-19 cases, they are not being treated directly by the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health (SESAI) because they reside in an urban area. | "

teleSUR (2021-02-12). Amazon Sars-Cov-2 Variant More Contagious, Minister Claims. telesurenglish.net Brazilian Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello has claimed that a SARS-CoV-2 mutation identified in the Amazon region be three times more contagious, although available COVID-1 vaccines can be effective against it. | RELATED: | "Thank God, we had clear news from the analysis that the vaccines still affect this variant. But it is more contagious. By our analysis, it is three times more contagious," the official said. | Técnico…

The Conversation (2021-02-12). Public option in Biden plan could change the face of US health care. juancole.com By Michael Williams | — President Joe Biden issued 10 executive orders to fight COVID-19 on his first day in office on Jan. 20, 2021. Among those orders: Speed up vaccine production, expand testing, support the safe reopening of schools and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in care and treatment. As a physician and health …

teleSUR (2021-02-12). President Maduro Seeks Multilateral Mechanisms To Get Vaccines. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Thursday said he was looking for an agreement with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to create a fund to finance COVID-19 vaccines. | RELATED: | This agreement would seek to obtain US$300 million to purchase COVID-19 vaccines, a task that is currently very difficult due to the U.S. blockade on the country. | The Bolivarian leader made p…

RT (2021-02-12). Swedish university wants to test-compare Covid vaccines' effectiveness on population of ENTIRE REGIONS, promises option to opt-out. rt.com Researchers at Sweden's Uppsala University aim to embark on the world's first comparative study evaluating the parade of Covid-19 jabs coming to market. They promise it will be voluntary and won't disrupt the vaccination program. | The scientists are waiting for authorization to launch a study comparing every Covid-19 vaccine that has been given the green light by the Swedish Medical Products Agency. They say that while those jabs were tested against a placebo, they haven't been tested against each other to see how their attributes compare among the Swedish population. | "In Sweden we have unique conditions to…

Staff (2021-02-12). 'West Baltimore Ruins' preserves the memory of neglected neighborhoods before they're lost to gentrification. therealnews.com In this week's "Battleground Baltimore" news roundup: "West Baltimore Ruins"; Governor Hogan is criticized for vaccine rollout; Keith Davis Jr. tests positive for COVID-19…

Makia Freeman (2021-02-12). Do Mandatory Masks and Vaccines Break the 10 Points of the Nuremburg Code? dissidentvoice.org Mandatory masks continue to be the standard operating procedure for many counties, regions, districts, states and nations worldwide, as the COVID cult agenda progresses. In many places, while COVID vaccines are not yet mandatory, authorities are rushing to prepare to make them so, by setting up schemes like immunity passports, vaccine certificates and mandatory tracking …

MEE and agencies (2021-02-12). Yemen: UN expects over two million children to go hungry or starve in 2021. middleeasteye.net Yemen: UN expects over two million children to go hungry or starve in 2021 | Over a million pregnant or breastfeeding women also expected to suffer from extreme malnutrition this year | Fri, 02/12/2021 – 10: 30 | millions of Yemenis are on the brink of famine with the economy destroyed, schools and hospitals barely functioning, and tens of thousands killed (AFP) | About 400,000 children un…

Staff (2021-02-12). Biden Indicates Americans May Need to Wear Masks Throughout 2021. truthout.org In remarks he made on Thursday while visiting the National Institutes of Health, President Joe Biden indicated that Americans may need to wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus for the remainder of 2021. | In his statement, Biden mentioned how he continued to wear his mask

Rob Urie (2021-02-12). Neoliberalism and Its Discontents. counterpunch.org While the recent election provides brief respite from the non-stop antagonism of the prior four years, few of the background problems that currently plague the West are likely to be addressed through existing political channels. In contrast to the American tendency, this isn't a matter of the character defects of elected officials.

yenisafak (2021-02-12). EU recovery package signed amid pandemic crisis. yenisafak.com The European Union's €672.5 billion ($814 billion) recovery package was signed on Friday.The largest stimulus package in the bloc's history aims at relaunching the European economy after the COVID-19 crisis by channeling EU funds to preserve jobs, to maintain social security systems and to invest in health care.The act was signed by Portuguese premier Antonio Costa on behalf of the EU member countries, as the chair of rotating presidency of the Council of European Union, and European Parliament President David Sassoli.The recovery package is "vaccine to save lives, vitamin to boost the economy"

yenisafak (2021-02-12). Catalan election campaign draws to an end in Spain. yenisafak.com Another tense election campaign is wrapping up in the Spanish region of Catalonia on Friday, though political divisions and the separatist drive are expected to endure long after Sunday's vote.Spain's Socialist Party and its Catalan chapter, the PSC, have been hoping to lead a change in the region that has been ruled by governments vowing to separate from Spain since 2012.To draw on momentum, and perhaps a certain amount of voter fatigue around the issue of independence, the Socialists brought in one of their most high-profile leaders. Salvador Illa, who acted as Spanish health minister throughout the pandemic, s…

yenisafak (2021-02-12). Dutch experts warn of mental health issues amid virus. yenisafak.com Psychologist Jean-Pierre van de Ven said the young people and couples are most affected by the pandemic, adding: "Young people feel lonely and fear that the epidemic will never end."Van De Ven said the pandemic has resulted in a significant increase in the consumption of alcohol and drugs, while some people are suffering from anxiety, depression and loneliness. He warned that this trend may continue even after the pandemic.Psychologist Sarah Craig said the pandemic has also caused an increase in domestic violence, adding the second wave of the virus has further affected the mental health of couples.She urged peop…

Online News Editor (2021-02-12). Indigenous Covid field hospital set up in crisis-riddled Manaus. laprensalatina.com Manaus, Brazil, Feb 12 (efe-epa).- Amid an oxygen crisis and the collapse of healthcare systems in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, residents of an indigenous neighborhood of Manaus, the regional capital, have set up a field hospital exclusively for the treatment of indigenous people with Covid-19. Because they live in an urban area, the native …

news.un (2021-02-12). 'Constellation' of post-COVID symptoms will impact global healthcare, says WHO. news.un.org Far more research is needed into the "constellation" of sometimes debilitating symptoms among people who've recovered from COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, adding that it "will impact" global health systems.

yenisafak (2021-02-12). Over 3.5M people vaccinated against COVID-19 in Turkey. yenisafak.com The number of people in Turkey who were vaccinated against the coronavirus crossed the 3.5 million mark, the country's health minister said on Friday.Vaccination for people over 65 years started as of Friday, Fahrettin Koca added on Twitter.Turkey began its mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Jan. 14, starting with healthcare workers along with top officials to encourage public confidence in the vaccines.Since last December, Turkey has also been implementing curfew on weeknights and a full weekend curfew to curb the spread of the virus.As of Thursday, Turkey registered a total of 27,187 deaths from COVID-19, wh…

Staff (2021-02-12). Ralph Nader: Biden Must Hold Boeing Accountable for Deaths Due to Faulty Planes. truthout.org Legendary consumer advocate Ralph Nader says the U.S. is experiencing a "corporate crime wave," and that the Trump administration's $2.5 billion settlement with Boeing over the manufacturer's faulty 737 MAX jets amounts to a "slap on the wrist." Boeing's faulty planes were involved in two fatal crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019, including Nader's 24-year-old grandniece Samya Stumo. Nader says the Biden Justice Department should reopen the previous administration's settlement and…

Staff (2021-02-12). Where Are the Witnesses? Ralph Nader Says Democrats' Impeachment Case Is "Prescription for Defeat" democracynow.org As the historic Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump continues, we speak with longtime consumer advocate, corporate critic and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who says Democrats have set themselves up for defeat by rushing proceedings and failing to call witnesses — including Trump himself. "The narrow approach of the articles of impeachment keep the Democrats from having a full hand," says Nader. "They have like 10 arrows in their quiver and they're using one or two."