Daily Archives: January 16, 2021

2021-01-16: News Headlines

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-16). Peruvian healthcare workers strike for rights. peoplesdispatch.org In this episode of Around the World in 8 Minutes we take you to Peru, where healthcare workers have embarked on an indefinite strike. We also take you to India, where farmers continue their protest for the withdrawal of the three controversial farm laws and a segment from Brasil de Fato on the future of the COVID-19 vaccine in Brazil.

The Canary (2021-01-16). Medics call for temporary laws to protect health workers from coronavirus legal action. thecanary.co Emergency legislation is needed to protect doctors and nurses from "inappropriate" legal action over coronavirus (Covid-19) treatment decisions made amid the pressures of the pandemic, health organisations have argued.A coalition of health bodies has written to the government urging it to update the law. This would be to ensure medical workers don't feel "vulnerable to the risk of prosecution for unlawful killing" when treating coronavirus patients "in circumstances beyond their control"."Very substantial" risk of ICUs being overwhelmed: Health groups argued that there's no legal protection for coronavirus…

The Canary (2021-01-16). Public warned over coronavirus cons amid rising vaccine fraud reports. thecanary.co Doctors and police are warning the public not to fall for fraudsters trying to sell fake coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines, affirming that the jab will always be free. | Scams rising: | Reports to Action Fraud have been rising in the last two months, particularly around scam text messages, as con artists seek to gain from the pandemic. City of London Police are investigating one case in which a man knocked on the door of a 92-year-old woman and administered a fake vaccine before charging £160 and claiming it would be reimbursed by the NHS. | Suspicious text messages reported by members of the public u…

The Canary (2021-01-16). UK to face short-term delay in delivery of the Pfizer vaccine. thecanary.co The UK is set to face short-term delays in delivery of the Pfizer coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine as the pharmaceutical company upgrades its production capacity.Delays: Pfizer is upscaling production at its plant in Puurs, Belgium. This is in an to produce more doses than originally planned for 2021 — temporarily reducing deliveries to all European countries. Shipments of the vaccine, produced in partnership with Germany's BioNTech, to the UK are set to be affected during January. But the overall number of doses due to be delivered between January and March will remain the same, according to the US fir…

WSWS (2021-01-16). Tens of thousands of UK National Health Service workers fall ill with COVID-19. wsws.org Nearly 50,000 health care workers have contracted the virus and thousands more are isolating or shielding.

Transmitter (2021-01-16). Cardiologist Bob Ostfeld And Others Criticize Paleo Diet. indybay.org Paleo diets cause diseases to humans, suffering to animals, deforestation, low food yield per acre, energy waste, etc.

Article Writer (2021-01-16). Issues Involving Current And Other Vaccines. indybay.org Why does 50% of the population want to be avoid vaccination injections.

Sunshine Behavioral Health (2021-01-16). Mental Health Issues Facing the Asian American Community. indybay.org

Binoy Kampmark (2021-01-15). Julian Assange, WikiLeaks and Australia's Complicity. counterpunch.org Australia's Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, said little in the statement from her department, which was a good thing, as it might have been dangerously useful. The finding of a UK court on whether Julian Assange would be extradited to the United States was made "on the grounds of his mental health and consequent suicide risk."

teleSUR (2021-01-15). Brazil: Manaus City on Curfew Over the Sanitary Crisis. telesurenglish.net Brazilian authorities declared on Friday a curfew in the Amazonian city of Manaus after a COVID-19 health crisis that has killed 4000 people while 94,000 contagions cases are reported, many of them without oxygen tanks. | RELATED: | teleSUR correspondent in Brazil Nacho Lemus reports that over 750 people will be transferred from Manaus to other cities due to the sanitary crisis. The local media outlet reported that in…

teleSUR (2021-01-15). Venezuela Offers Oxygen to Attend COVID-19 in Manaus, Brazil. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza Thursday informed that his country will provide oxygen to Brazil so it can face Manaus city's health emergency. | RELATED: | "On instructions from President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela will support the brotherly Brazilian people. For our nation, solidarity is a duty," Arreaza tweeted. | On Thursday, Amazon State's governor Wilson Lima thanked the solidarity gesture that will end the…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-15). Venezuela sends oxygen tanks to the Brazilian Amazonas state amid COVID-19 surge. peoplesdispatch.org The sudden surge in numbers of COVID-19 cases in the state has caused a collapse in the public health system with a lack of ICU beds and oxygen…

Charles Pierson (2021-01-15). A Yemeni Famine Made in Washington and Riyadh. counterpunch.org Ending months of speculation, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on January 10 that the Trump Administration would designate Yemen's Houthi rebels (Ansar Allah) as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" (FTO). Branding the Houthis as terrorists will make it vastly more difficult for humanitarian groups to deliver desperately needed food, fuel, and medicine to 24 million

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-15). Citing famine, UN urges reversal of terrorist designation for Yemen's Houthis; US refuses. peoplesdispatch.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 US would likely trigger a "famine on a scale we have not seen in 40 years…

Staff (2021-01-15). Would You Patent the Sun? Polio Vaccine Inventor Jonas Salk's Son Urges More Access to COVID Vaccine. democracynow.org The total number of deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. is set to top 400,000 before Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, but rollout of coronavirus vaccines has been slow, with many describing a vexing amount of red tape standing between them and the shot. We look at the development and distribution of another vaccine during the polio epidemic in the 1950s with Dr. Peter Salk, a physician and professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh, whose father, Dr. Jonas Salk, developed the first polio vaccine and famously declined to patent his invention. "The rest of the world and th…

Staff (2021-01-15). Would You Patent the Sun? Polio Vaccine Inventor Jonas Salk's Son Urges More Access to COVD Vaccine. democracynow.org The total number of deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. is set to top 400,000 before Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, but rollout of coronavirus vaccines has been slow, with many describing a vexing amount of red tape standing between them and the shot. We look at the development and distribution of another vaccine during the polio epidemic in the 1950s with Dr. Peter Salk, a physician and professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh, whose father, Dr. Jonas Salk, developed the first polio vaccine and famously declined to patent his invention. "The rest of the world and th…

RT (2021-01-15). Microsoft, Oracle & Co full speed ahead on Covid-19 vaccine passports, citing incipient government demand. rt.com US tech and health behemoths have joined forces to roll out yet another Covid-19 vaccination passport, dangling a return to international travel but raising more questions about the future of privacy. | Along with healthcare nonprofit Mayo Clinic, health and tech companies including Microsoft, Salesforce, and Oracle have united to form the Vaccination Credential Initiative, aimed at devising a secure "health passport" that tracks the bearer's vaccination status across borders. | In a press release on Thursday, the CEO of VCI member the Commons Project Foundation argued such passports were necessary to "safely…

news.un (2021-01-15). COVID-19 committee stresses need for equitable vaccine access, more data sharing. news.un.org As COVID-19 cases spike in parts of Europe, Africa and the Americas, and new variants of the virus emerge in some countries, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday called for greater global collaboration in ending the pandemic.

MEE staff (2021-01-15). Covid-19: Israeli man arrested for tricking ex into quarantine four times. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Israeli man arrested for tricking ex into quarantine four times | Police said the suspect, a health ministry employee, sent messages on four separate occasions to his ex-girlfriend telling her she needed to isolate | Fri, 01/15/2021 – 13: 48 | An Israeli woman wearing a protective mask due to the Covid-19 pandemic sits on a park bench by feeding pigeons in Jerusalem on 16 April 2020 (2020) | An Israe…

Dr. Ari Joffe (2021-01-15). COVID-19: Rethinking the Lockdown Groupthink. globalresearch.ca Abstract | The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide pandemic in 2020. In response, most countries in the world implemented lockdowns, restricting their population's movements, work, education, gatherings, and general activities in …

RT (2021-01-15). EC president von der Leyen dares European nations to call her bluff with announcement of (mandatory?) vaccine certificates. rt.com Europeans must carry certificates proving they've been vaccinated against Covid-19 to travel, EC president Ursula von der Leyen told Portuguese media – likely shocking Europeans who'd never heard of such a rule. | Von der Leyen sprung the idea of a "mutually recognized vaccination certificate" as a "medical requirement" for travel on Thursday in the course of praising a similar plan outlined to her in a letter from Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis. | "It is a medical requirement to have a certificate proving that you have been vaccinated," von der Leyen told Portuguese reporters. | While Mitsotakis' plan was not m…

RT (2021-01-15). 'Unacceptable': 6 EU countries urge bloc to address Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine delays, as Canada also flags supply issues. rt.com Six EU governments have written to the bloc's executive to call for action as deliveries of Covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer/BioNTech are being delayed, while supply issues have also been reported in Canada. | The health ministers of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia called on the EU Commission to ensure the "stability and transparency of timely deliveries" of the Pfizer jab in a letter on Friday. | "This situation is unacceptable. Not only does it impact the planned vaccination schedules, it also decreases the credibility of the vaccination process," the letter reads, according to Reute…

_____ (2021-01-15). Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium Will Administer Vaccines. popularresistance.org Philadelphia's Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium will be playing a much more hands-on role in the city's vaccine distribution efforts. | Consortium founder Dr. Ala Stanford shared on Instagram that the group — which has provided COVID-19 testing to more than 20,000 people — will be administering the vaccine to Philly's Black communities. | People can sign up through a contact form or can reach out via email at info@blackdoctorsconsortium.com. Vaccinations will be offered on a first come, first served basis. | The consortium will begin administering the vaccines when Philadelphia enters Phase 1B of its…

Eve Ottenberg (2021-01-15). Here We Go Again: Botching the Vaccine Rollout. counterpunch.org At the rate we're vaccinating against covid in the U.S., it will take 10 years for the entire population to receive shots. To counter this, on January 12, the Trump regime announced that it would expand vaccination, regardless of whether second doses are available. Biden had earlier said he would do this too. The reasons

Makia Freeman (2021-01-15). The mRNA COVID Vaccine Is Not a Vaccine. globalresearch.ca It's NOT a vaccine. The mRNA COVID vaccine now being militarily deployed in many nations around the world, is NOT a vaccine. I repeat: it is not a vaccine. It is many things indeed, but a vaccine is not one …

Staff (2021-01-15). Polio Vaccine Inventor Jonas Salk's Son Urges More Access to COVID Vaccination. truthout.org The total number of deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. is set to top 400,000 before Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, but rollout of coronavirus vaccines has been slow, with many describing a vexing amount of red tape standing between them and the shot. We look at the development and distribution of another vaccine during the polio epidemic in the 1950s with Dr. Peter Salk, a physician and professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh, whose father, Dr. J…

teleSUR (2021-01-15). Argentina Detects Dengue Fever Cases Amid COVID-19 Surge. telesurenglish.net Misiones Province's Health Secretary Oscar Alarcon Thursday confirmed the first cases of dengue fever amid the COVID-19-related health emergency in Argentina. | RELATED: | "We are in an inter-breeding phase where the notifications of new cases are minimal. We are working hard on patients who tested positive," Alarcon said. | Argentina's Health Ministry announced a comprehensive prevention plan that includes training to local governments to reduce dengue's impa…

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (2021-01-15). Keri Leigh Merritt on the New Lost Cause, Elisabeth Rosenthal on Troubled Vaccine Rollout. fair.org Historians are shaking their heads as media talk about January 6 as "unprecedented"; while shocking and dispiriting, it has layers and layers of precedent that need to be learned and engaged, if we are ever to actually have the racial reckoning that corporate media are forever insisting we've already had.

commondreams (2021-01-15). To Protect Democratic Rule of Law, Privacy, and Public Health, the Biden Administration Should Immediately Move to Block Google Takeover of Fitbit. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2021-01-15). Promised Vaccine Stockpile Doesn't Even Exist? Governors Demand Trump 'Answer Immediately for This Deception'. commondreams.org States "thought they were getting more doses and they planned for more doses and opened up to 65 and up, thinking they were getting more." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files…

teleSUR (2021-01-15). Argentina Awaits Its Second Batch of Sputnik V Vaccines. telesurenglish.net Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez Thursday sent a second plane to Russia to transport the second batch of Sputnik V vaccines which will be used in a nationwide vaccination campaign. | RELATED: | The flight AR-1060 departed from Ezeiza International airport at 21.14 local time in a direct route to Moscow where it will load 300,000 doses of the vaccine. | The plane is expected to land on Argentine soil on Saturday morni…

teleSUR (2021-01-15). Paraguay Approves Emergency Use of Russian Vaccine. telesurenglish.net The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced on Friday that Paraguay's Ministry of Health authorized the Sputnik V vaccine's emergency use. | RELATED: | "Registration of Sputnik V vaccine in Paraguay proves the increasing interest of Latin American countries in a safe and effective Russian vaccine against coronavirus," said the CEO of Russia's sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev. | El anuncio de esta mañana del Fondo S…

Richard Gale (2021-01-15). The New America of Terror and Discontent. globalresearch.ca For the vast majority of Americans, the past year has been the most challenging in their lives — certainly for young adults. However, not everyone has been suffering equally. The nation's health or illness is not uniform. Much of our …

Dr. Ari Joffe (2021-01-15). Canadian Expert's Research Finds Lockdown Harms Are 10 Times Greater than Benefits. globalresearch.ca Below in an excerpt of an important interview published by the Toronto Sun | Dr. Ari Joffe is a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases at the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton and …

Ramzy Baroud (2021-01-14). Covid-19 under Apartheid: How Israel Manipulates Suffering of Palestinians. counterpunch.org Israel's decision to exclude Palestinians from its COVID-19 vaccination campaign may have surprised many. Even by Israel's poor humanitarian standards, denying Palestinians access to life-saving medication seems extremely callous. Amnesty International, among many organizations, condemned the Israeli government's decision to bar Palestinians from receiving the vaccine. The rights group described the Israeli action as evidence

Izabel Santos (2021-01-14). Brazilian state of Amazonas enters the most serious phase of COVID-19. peoplesworld.org Manaus, Amazonas (January 4, 2021) — Amazonas State went into the purple phase of the new coronavirus pandemic, signifying the highest risk. The information was publicized by the director-president of the Health Vigilance Foundation (FVS) of Amazonas, Rosemary Costa Pinto, during a meeting between state representatives and officials of the Federal Ministry of Health. "Our …

_____ (2021-01-14). Tennessee Capital: Group Demands Racial Equality And Medicare For All. popularresistance.org Nashville, TN – A social justice group out of Knoxville, Tennessee made the trek to the State Capitol building on Tuesday, demanding that lawmakers take immediate action on issues like Medicare for all, and the fight for racial equality. This comes on the first day of the legislative session. | Earlier Tuesday afternoon when the demonstration was still happening, the rally organizers said their groups wasn't as big as they had hoped it would be, partly because of what happened at the U.S. Capitol last week. But despite their small numbers, they say their message carried big importance. | "What's that spell? Black…

commondreams (2021-01-14). GAO: Medicare Part D Pays Twice as Much for Same Drugs as VA. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Staff (2021-01-14). Dr. Ali Khan: U.S. Needs to Quickly Ramp Up Vaccinations as COVID Kills Over 4,000 in Single Day. democracynow.org 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 supply. In Los Angeles County, an epicenter of the outbreak, a staggering one in three residents has gotten the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, according to new data. For more on the pandemic, we speak with epidemiologist Dr. Ali Khan, dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's College of Publi…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-14). Peruvian health workers embark on an indefinite strike. peoplesdispatch.org The Peruvian Medical Federation (FMP) and ten other health workers unions began an indefinite national strike on January 13. The measure was taken in the absence of an agreement with President Francisco Sagasti's administration on improving the working conditions of healthcare personnel in the face of COVID-19 pandemic. | On the first day of the strike, in the capital city Lima, hundreds of doctors, nurses and health workers held a massive demonstration in front of the health ministry to draw attention towards their legitimate claims and demand their immediate compliance. | The healthcare professionals are demand…

news.un (2021-01-14). Israel: Ensure equal COVID-19 vaccine access to Palestinians — UN Independent experts. news.un.org Israel's "impressive" vaccination programme against the COVID-19 pandemic must include Palestinians under occupation, UN independent human rights experts stressed on Wednesday.

teleSUR (2021-01-14). The African Union Reserves 270 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses. telesurenglish.net The Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Africa (Africa CDC) Director John Nkengasong on Thursday announced that the African Union (AU) has reserved 270 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, 50 million of which will be provided by Pfizer and AstraZeneca and will be available between April and June | RELATED: | "Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have focused as a continent on collaboration and collective…

news.un (2021-01-14). Health experts arrive in Wuhan to investigate COVID-19 origins. news.un.org Members of an international team studying the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19 arrived in Wuhan, China, on Thursday, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced during an expert meeting on the disease.

RT (2021-01-14). Far-Eastern Russian island Sakhalin to introduce mask exemption for those inoculated against Covid-19, regional head reveals. rt.com People inoculated against Covid-19 in the Far East's Sakhalin Region will be given a badge to show they are exempt from wearing a face mask. That's according to Valery Limarenko, acting governor of the island, located near Japan. | Sakhalin, one of Russia's wealthiest places per capita, is home to a substantial oil and gas industry. On Thursday, Limarenko revealed that the island will soon receive 9,000 doses of Russia's domestically produced Sputnik V vaccine and will get over 10,000 every month after that. | "Everyone who gets vaccinated will receive a special badge," he said. "[The badge] will give the wear…

RT (2021-01-14). 12hr Covid curfews announced for all of France for at least 15 days, PM says pressure on hospitals is 'high'. rt.com The entirety of France will be placed under a 6pm-6am curfew for at least 15 days from Saturday in a bid to ease the pressure of Covid-19 on the country's health system, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday. | The 12-hour curfews are currently already in place for 25 of mainland France's 95 administrative areas — known as departements — but they will now be extended to the rest of the country, which is currently under an 8pm curfew. | "While the resumption of the epidemic was concentrated at the end of December in certain departments, viral circulation now concerns the entire country," th…

MEE and agencies (2021-01-14). Covid-19: Turkey announces more than 250,000 health workers vaccinated so far. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Turkey announces more than 250,000 health workers vaccinated so far | President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives first dose of the Sinovac jab as Turkey begins vaccinating health workers | Thu, 01/14/2021 – 16: 58 | Turkish President Erdogan receives a shot of Sinovac's CoronaVac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Ankara (Reuters) | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan anno…

MEE and agencies (2021-01-14). Covid-19: Israel to vaccinate Palestinian prisoners from next week. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Israel to vaccinate Palestinian prisoners from next week | Israel's health minister made the announcement after President Reuven Rivlin criticised plans to exclude prisoners from vaccination programme | Thu, 01/14/2021 – 16: 02 | Israel has been criticised for shirking its responsibilities as an occupying power by failing to deliver vaccines to millions of Palestinians living in…

MEE and agencies (2021-01-14). Covid-19: Turkey says more than 250,000 health workers vaccinated so far. middleeasteye.net Covid-19: Turkey says more than 250,000 health workers vaccinated so far | President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives first dose of Sinovac as Turkey begins vaccinating health workers | Thu, 01/14/2021 – 16: 58 | Turkish President Erdogan receives shot of Sinovac's CoronaVac coronavirus vaccine in Ankara (Reuters) | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced more than 250,000 health wor…

Kester Kenn Klomegah (2021-01-14). Review: As Coronavirus Rises Past Three Million, Africa Still Lacks Its Own Vaccine. globalresearch.ca With its large population and fragile health systems, Africa has recorded more than three million Covid-19 cases, still less deadly as compared to other regions in the world, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). …

teleSUR (2021-01-14). Nicaragua To Allocate Over $115 Million for COVID-19 Vaccines. telesurenglish.net Nicaragua's Vice President Rosario Murillo on Wednesday announced her government's effort to secure COVID-19 vaccines to immunize 55 percent of the country's population. | RELATED: | Highligithg the approval of a high budget to ensure vaccines' conservation, Murillo pointed out that over 7 million doses would be applied at a cost of almost US$90 million. | "We propose the purchase of the Russian Federation's Sputnik V vaccine, the Modern vacc…