2021-02-26: News Headlines

Joe Piette (2021-02-27). Mental health effects of COVID lockdown in prison: Interview from inside SCI Albion. workers.org This telephone interview with Demitrius Grant, imprisoned at SCI Albion near Erie, Pa., was conducted by Joe Piette for Workers World newspaper on Feb. 16. Demetrius Grant: We're going to be covering the issue of COVID-19 today, as to how it impacts prisoners' mental health. About a week ago, a . . . |

Fight Back (2021-02-26). Black prisoners don't matter to Leon County jails. fightbacknews.org Tallahassee, FL – You are just a worthless Black prisoner, and we don't care about you. | That is the message that the white power structure in Leon County is sending to the prisoners in the Leon County jail. Your lives simply don't matter. | If you die from COVID-19, good riddance. It will save the public the expense involved in taking care of you. | Neither Tallahassee Mayor John Daily, County Commission Chair Rick Minor, County Administrator Vince Long, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) CEO Mark O'Bryant, the Leon County Health Department Director Claudia Blackburn, nor any lobbyist or membe…

Online News Editor (2021-02-26). Saving restaurants to feed New York's health workers. laprensalatina.com New York, Feb 26 (EFE).- Luis and Alex work from the Addictive Wine and Tapas Bar in New York preparing 250 trays of bolognese for health workers at the Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx. It is part of an initiative by Spanish chef Jose Andrés that provides a service for medical workers during the Covid-19 …

MEE and agencies (2021-02-26). Iraq: Protesters killed in clashes with security forces in Nasiriyah. middleeasteye.net Iraq: Protesters killed in clashes with security forces in Nasiriyah | At least five demonstrators have been killed over the past week as activists defied a Covid-19 lockdown to take to the streets | Fri, 02/26/2021 – 16: 00 | Iraqi protesters are pictured next to burning tyres during clashes with police during anti-government demonstrations in the city of Nasiriyah in the Dhi Qar province…

Global Research News (2021-02-26). Selected Articles: Haiti Betrayed. globalresearch.ca By There's a big mystery that needs to be solved. It's how many people are getting sick and dying from the Covid vaccines. …

Lubna Masarwa (2021-02-26). Israel's closure of Covid clinic leaves 50,000 people at high risk. middleeasteye.net Israel's closure of Covid clinic leaves 50,000 people at high risk | Termination of vaccine programme for those living in Israel without legal status may be legally challenged by rights groups
| Fri, 02/26/2021 – 13: 50 | A paramedic with Israel's Magen David Adom medical services prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for a Palestinian man in a mobile clinic on 26 February 202…

MEE and agencies (2021-02-26). Covid-19: Israel freezes programme to send vaccines abroad amid legal scrutiny. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Israel freezes programme to send vaccines abroad amid legal scrutiny | Bid to garner international goodwill suspended after attorney general said to be seeking clarification about its legality | Fri, 02/26/2021 – 10: 32 | Palestinians have accused Israel of ignoring its duties as an occupying power by not including the Palestinians in its inoculation programme (AFP) | Israel has…

news.un (2021-02-26). UN Security Council demands COVID-19 vaccine ceasefires; WHO pushes for more action to speed up inoculations. news.un.org The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously passed a resolution calling on all Member States to support a "sustained humanitarian pause" to local conflicts, in order to allow for COVID-19 vaccinations. Briefing journalists afterwards, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus argued that more could be done.

news.un (2021-02-26). Cà¥te d'Ivoire takes delivery of latest COVAX vaccine shipment, in further boost for Africa. news.un.org Cà¥te d'Ivoire received 504,000 doses of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine on Friday making it the second African nation in a week to benefit from the first shipments of shots from the UN-backed global COVAX initiative, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has reported.

news.un (2021-02-26). UN chief returns to the Bronx for second coronavirus shot. news.un.org UN Secretary-General António Guterres received his second COVID-19 vaccine shot at the Morris Academy for Collaborative Studies in the Bronx, New York, on Friday.

Online News Editor (2021-02-26). Serbia embraces Chinese Covid jab as rollout leads continental Europe. laprensalatina.com Belgrade, Feb 26 (efe-epa).- Serbia is leading continental Europe's Covid-19 vaccine drive thanks to its decision to purchase millions of Chinese-produced jabs combined with a well-planned rollout strategy. The Balkan nation's health authorities on Friday said they had administered a total of 1.37 million doses to a population of around seven million, which means almost …

Online News Editor (2021-02-26). South Korea starts its vaccination campaign against COVID-19. laprensalatina.com Seoul, Feb 26 (efe-epa).- South Korea began Friday its vaccination campaign against Covid-19 more than a year after detecting its first case in the country and with the aim of having immunized the majority of its population by November and thus achieve herd immunity. The first person to be inoculated with the vaccine developed by …

Online News Editor (2021-02-26). Biden: US has administered 50 mn anti-Covid vaccine doses. laprensalatina.com Washington, Feb 25 (efe-epa).- President Joe Biden on Thursday hailed the fact that the US has now administered 50 million doses of the vaccines against Covid-19, an achievement he said was an enormous milestone in defeating the virus. "In five weeks, America's administered the most shots of any country in the world, with among the …

Site Administrator (2021-02-26). What to Expect after Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine? laprensalatina.com COVID-19 vaccination will help protect you from getting COVID-19. You may have some side effects, which are normal signs that your body is building protection. These side effects may affect your ability to do daily activities, but they should go away in a few days. Common side effects: On the arm where you got the …

Rep. Barbara Lee (2021-02-26). Friday 2/26: Virtual Town Hall: Vaccines & the Impact of COVID-19 on the Black Community. indybay.org Virtual town hall via FB livestream…

Richard Horton (2021-02-27). [Comment] Offline: Thinking the pandemic. thelancet.com The talk is now about data, not dates. But this pandemic has always been driven by facts. A rapid accumulation of evidence about the virus and the disease it causes. Layer upon layer of new information, repeatedly revising and reformulating our understanding. A steady stream of numbers, rates, and risks. Scientists and statisticians catapulted into the media to explain, expound, and explicate. Facts should indeed illuminate interpretations, guide responses, and optimise outcomes. But an emergency such as COVID-19 demands more—moments to think about what this pandemic means for us, to ask questions about its…

Rajaie Batniji (2021-02-27). [Correspondence] Historical evidence to inform COVID-19 vaccine mandates. thelancet.com The best comparison to the massive global vaccination effort that is now starting might be the smallpox vaccination campaigns that culminated in the eradication of the disease, as detailed by Richard Horton.1 With smallpox, vaccine mandates played a pivotal role in reducing mortality and case rates.

Lucien Chauvin (2021-02-27). [World Report] Peruvian COVID-19 vaccine scandal spreads. thelancet.com Several politicians have resigned and a university has been suspended from doing clinical trials. Lucien Chauvin reports from Lima.

Rosemary Frei (2021-02-26). Video: The Stats on COVID-Vaccine Injury and Death Don't Add Up. globalresearch.ca All Global Research articles can be read in 27 languages by activating the "Translate Website" drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). | *** | There's a big mystery that needs to be solved. | It's how …

Eds. (2021-02-26). The Pandemic: Half a million lives lost in U.S., more than the two World Wars and Vietnam War combined. mronline.org Over half a million people have died of coronavirus in the U.S. Grasping the enormity—half a million people gone—is difficult to visualize.

Robin Scher (2021-02-26). Pandemic may have left over 250 million people with acute food shortages in 2020. nationofchange.org As Black and Latinx families experience disproportionate food insecurity, experts warn of famine in dozens of countries.

WSWS (2021-02-26). No to school reopenings in Turkey before the pandemic is contained! wsws.org We call on all educators, parents and students who support this initiative to contact us to establish rank-and-file committees for safe education and to expand this struggle, which is vital for public health.

Lawrence Wittner (2021-02-26). A Rapidly Globalizing World Needs Strengthened Global Governance. zcomm.org The world is currently engulfed in crises—most prominently, a disease pandemic, a climate catastrophe, and the prevalence of war—while individual nations are encountering enormous difficulties in coping with them. These difficulties result from the global nature of the problems. An individual nation is unable to institute adequate measures to safeguard public health because diseases spread

Mike Walter (2021-02-26). The Heat: One scientist's fight against disease & Racism against Asian-Americans. america.cgtn.com As the pandemic continues to take its toll, we'll talk to one of America's leading science pioneers. Plus — what's behind the alarming rise in violence against Asian Americans?>

Dean Baker (2021-02-26). To Prevent the Resurgence of the Pandemic, Can We Talk About Open-Source Research? cepr.net As the vaccination campaign picks up steam, we have many public health experts warning us about a possible resurgence of the pandemic due to the spread of new vaccine-resistant strains. The logic is that, as more people are protected against the predominant strain for which the vaccines were designed, it will allow room for mutations …

Marisa Peyre, Gwenaà´l Vourc'h, Thierry Lefranàßois, Yves Martin-Prevel, Jean-Franàßois Soussana, Benjamin Roche (2021-02-27). [Correspondence] PREZODE: preventing zoonotic disease emergence. thelancet.com As of mid February, 2021, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has killed approximately 2 million people worldwide and caused profound economic damage, with a global growth reduction of 4 ∑4% in 2020.1 The ultimate consequences of this crisis are difficult to predict but, from sanitary, economic, sociological, and ecological perspectives, the toll is already substantial. Nevertheless, this threat is not new. Concerns over a global pandemic have arisen many times before, so most countries already had emergency preparedness plans in place.

Staff (2021-02-26). Big Tech Shouldn't Be the Arbiter of Our Free Speech Rights. truthout.org Business corporations don't need free speech rights. Nor should they have the power to deny free speech to others. But leading up to and following the 2020 election, we saw both undemocratic realities on display. | The 2020 election was largely "democratic." Due to the pandemic, more voters had more ways to cast their ballots than ever, and the elections were overall free and fair. H…

Paul Adepoju (2021-02-27). [World Report] Ebola returns to Guinea and DR Congo. thelancet.com Experts hope that the capacity and infrastructure put in place for previous epidemics will help to control the new outbreaks. Paul Adepoju reports.

Andy Haines, Mayara Floss (2021-02-27). [Comment] The inverse care law in the Anthropocene epoch. thelancet.com Julian Tudor Hart described the inverse relationship between the need for effective health care and its provision in compelling terms. During his career in primary care in a former coal mining community in south Wales, UK, he showed how, by integrating clinical care with an epidemiological approach, much can be done to improve health in disadvantaged populations.1 He wrote the inverse care law2 based on an analysis of the UK National Health Service (NHS) 50 years ago and yet its importance has transcended that historical period and its national context.

Mustaqeem De Gama (2021-02-26). 100+ Countries Push to Loosen WTO Rules on Vaccine Patents. zcomm.org Why Is the U.S. Still Blocking the Way?>

Reem Zubaidi (2021-02-27). Exposing Israel's vaccine apartheid in West Bank & Gaza. liberationnews.org Five million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza are excluded from vaccine rollouts while Israeli citizens, even those living in illegal settlements in the Occupied Territories, are prioritized.

Nicole Karlis (2021-02-26). Vaccine "scavengers" are waiting outside clinics for leftover doses — and their strategy often works. salon.com People are lining up at vaccination sites hoping to get a leftover dose that would otherwise go in the trash…

21st Century Wire (2021-02-26). UK and Greece Collude to Push New 'Vaccine Passport' on Holiday Travelers. globalresearch.ca All Global Research articles can be read in 27 languages by activating the "Translate Website" drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). | *** | As 21WIRE

Dr. Rudolf Hà§nsel (2021-02-26). The Issue of Vaccines: Open Letter to Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal President of Germany. globalresearch.ca All Global Research articles can be read in 27 languages by activating the "Translate Website" drop down menu on the top banner of our home page (Desktop version). | *** | Sir, | Today, 25 February 2021, the German media reported that you …

Joe Parkin Daniels (2021-02-27). [World Report] Colombia grants protected status to 1 ∑7 million migrants. thelancet.com The decision will enable 950‚Äà000 undocumented Venezuelans to access the health system in Colombia. Joe Parkin Daniels reports from Bogotá.

The Conversation (2021-02-27). Gulf War: As Biden bombs Iraqis, 30 years on the consequences of Desert Storm are still with us. juancole.com By Lorena De Vita and Amir Taha | — It was a short message to end a short war. On February 26 1991, Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz put his signature to a letter addressed to the United Nations Security Council: I have the honour to notify you that the Iraqi Government reaffirms its agreement …

Michael Kowalchuk (2021-02-27). Sojourner Truth's Massachusetts days. liberationnews.org Sojourner Truth, born into slavery in New York as "Isabella Baumfree" in 1797, was one of the most important abolitionists and feminists of the nineteenth century.

Shabbir Manjee (2021-02-27). Chicago City Council passes unanimous resolution to end the blockade on Cuba. liberationnews.org All 50 aldermen voted to oppose the blockade, adding that normalizing relations can benefit the economic conditions of both Cubans and Chicagoans.

John Catalinotto (2021-02-27). 'Rubin never lost a case' — Rubin Kanowitz, 1931-2021. workers.org Some younger Workers World Party members met Rubin Kanowitz for the first time when he was a communist elder, still confronting cops on recent demonstrations chanting, "Black Lives Matter." Older ones knew him from when he first joined the party in 1965. All grieved as they learned he died this . . . |

Clean Energy Wire (2021-02-27). By the End of the Year, Germany will have a Million Electric Cars on the Road out of 4.7 mn Total. juancole.com By Sà∂ren Amelang | — Germany will probably reach its target of having one million fully electric or plug-in hybrid cars on the road this year, government advisors have said. The head of the country's National Platform Future of Mobility (NPM), Henning Kagermann, told business daily Handelsblatt he was pleased "that it appears we will …

Tony Pecinovsky (2021-02-26). Alphaeus Hunton: A life devoted to equality, liberation, and internationalism. peoplesworld.org In a November 1950 article in Paul Robeson's newspaper Freedom, the scholar-activist Alphaeus Hunton noted that "the most reactionary minority of the American people," the U.S. ruling class, "has advanced from its role of silent partner of the Western European imperialist powers." No longer "content with arming and financing their wars against the colonial revolutionaries," …

RT (2021-02-27). NYT columnist faces conflict of interest accusations after singing praise for Facebook 'Groups' feature in tech giant's blog post. rt.com New York Times writer David Brooks has come under fire for a potential conflict of interest after penning a blog post for Facebook's corporate site while a project he helped to found accepted money from the social media giant. | A

RT (2021-02-27). NYT columnist faces conflict of interest accusations after singing praise of Facebook 'Groups' feature in tech giant's blog post. rt.com New York Times writer David Brooks has come under fire for a potential conflict of interest after penning a blog post for Facebook's corporate site while a project he helped to found accepted money from the social media giant. | A

Jean-Yves Blay, Pierre Fenaux, Ruth Ladenstein, Nicoline Hoogerbrugge (2021-02-27). [Correspondence] Continue rare cancers collaboration with European Reference Networks after Brexit. thelancet.com We read the Correspondence by Marc Tischkowitz and colleagues,1 signed by UK participants in the European Reference Networks (ERNs) programme and related to the risk of Brexit on patients with rare diseases.

Emmanuel Chanda (2021-02-27). [Comment] Averting malaria transmission with lethal house lure intervention. thelancet.com In 2019, malaria accounted for 229 million cases and 409‚Äà000 deaths globally, with 94% of the burden occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.1 Despite determined efforts to combat malaria through definitive diagnoses, case management, and preventive interventions, the huge disease burden persists. Although effective vector control unequivocally curtails malaria transmission, integrated vector management has faced numerous challenges,2 including diminished effectiveness and uncertain sustainability of interventions, partly caused by insecticide resistance and residual transmission.

Kuniaki Takahashi, David van Klaveren, Ewout W Steyerberg, Yoshinobu Onuma, Patrick W Serruys (2021-02-27). [Correspondence] Concerns with the new SYNTAX score — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We welcome the comments by Nick Freemantle and Domenico Pagano in response to our publication on the redevelopment and external valida ≠tion of the SYNTAX score II 2020 (SS II 2020) for individualised decision making in patients with de-novo three-vessel or left main coronary artery disease, or both.1…

Jeyaraj D Pandian, Yogeshwar Kalkonde, Ivy Anne Sebastian, Jackie Bosch (2021-02-27). [Correspondence] Recognising HIV infection in systems of care for stroke — Authors' reply. thelancet.com Laura Benjamin and colleagues raise an important consideration. There are several risk factors for stroke which are locally prevalent in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Endemic infections such as HIV, rheumatic heart disease, malaria, tuberculosis, syphilis, schistosomiasis, gnathostomiasis, sickle cell disease, snake bite, scorpion stings, Chagas disease, and Takayasu's arteritis1 can trigger intracranial vessel disease and thromboembolic complications.. However, the prevalence of these risk factors is declining in most LMICs, including those in Africa,2 as a result of gradual improvement in awar…

Stewart W Mercer, John Patterson, John P Robson, Susan M Smith, Elizabeth Walton, Graham Watt (2021-02-27). [Comment] The inverse care law and the potential of primary care in deprived areas. thelancet.com The inverse care law, whereby health care favours more assertive interests and in doing so compounds the disadvantage of patients and communities with the poorest health,1 exists in most health systems. 50 years after Julian Tudor Hart's landmark paper in which he first described the inverse care law in England and Wales,1 it is still going strong.2,3 In The Lancet, Richard Cookson and colleagues4 provide a global re-examination of the inverse care law.

Michelle S Hsiang, Davis Mumbengegwi, John Chimumbwa (2021-02-27). [Comment] Mini-outbreak response for malaria using indoor residual spraying. thelancet.com In malaria-endemic settings, vector control is a key public health intervention and accounts for the majority of global spending on malaria.1 Indoor residual spraying (IRS) of insecticide before peak malaria seasons is one widely used and effective approach.2 In southern Africa, IRS reduced clinical cases by 74—95% between 2000 and 2005, bringing the region to near elimination.3,4 In other parts of Africa, similarly dramatic effects have been observed in previously high-transmission settings.5 However, as transmission declines, the difficulty of widescale application for this resource-intensive intervention…

Staff (2021-02-26). Sanders Blasts Parliamentarian's Ruling Dropping Wage Hike From COVID Bill. truthout.org Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and several other Democratic lawmakers are lambasting a decision by the Senate parliamentarian, a nonpartisan referee in that legislative body, who determined on Thursday that a provision to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in the COVID economic relief package does not align with the rules for the reconciliation process. | But while Democrats appear upset over the decision, the party may be disunited on what path they should take next to raise the minimum wag…