[[GRETA]]
On Plugged In...
One year into the …
coronavirus pandemic …
A new national strategy …
from the new American president.
[[SOT-PRESIDENT BIDEN]]
The President’s medical advisor …
on the race against time ...
to get vaccines into arms …
amid new threats …
from this deadly disease.
[[SOT-DR. ANTHONY FAUCI]]
One year in …
there are new …
and more contagious strains …
while the world waits …
for vaccines to arrive.
The challenges ahead …
on Plugged In …
the New COVID Normal.
###
[[GRETA]]
Hello and welcome …
To Plugged In.
I’m Greta Van Susteren …
reporting from Washington, DC.
Calling it …
“a wartime undertaking” …
President Joe Biden …
is making the battle against …
the coronavirus pandemic …
his administration’s top priority.
Biden’s national strategy …
for COVID-19 response …
has a baseline goal …
of vaccinating …
100-million Americans …
in his first 100 days …
as president.
January marked …
the deadliest month …
of the year-long pandemic …
that infected more than …
103-million people …
worldwide ...
leaving more than …
two million people dead.
VOA’S Steve Baragona …
takes us through ...
the turbulent year …
of COVID.
[[STEVE BARAGONA PKG]]
((INTRO))
((VIDEO: VACCINATIONS))
((NARRATOR))
The long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine rollout is off to a shaky start.
In the United States, many patients navigated overwhelmed websites and phone lines only to have their appointments canceled.
((Rosa Schneider, New York City Teacher))
"I received a call that it was canceled and that they didn't know when they were going to get more vaccines."
((VIDEO: RESEARCH / FAUCI GETTING VACCINE))
((NARRATOR))
The rocky rollout overshadows a remarkable scientific achievement -- from brand-new disease to safe and effective vaccine within one year.
((Anthony Fauci, director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ))
"What we're seeing now is the culmination of years of research which have led to a phenomenon that has truly been unprecedented."
((VIDEO: CHINA EMPTY STREETS / EMPTY SHOPS))
((NARRATOR))
Also unprecedented are the steps governments have taken to slow the virus. China was first, locking down 60 million people a year ago.
((VIDEO: DELHI EMPTY STREETS / EMPTY VENICE / UNEMPLOYED WORKERS))
As the virus spread, more cities locked down worldwide, emptying streets, shuttering businesses and spiking unemployment.
((Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labor Organization ))
"This has been the most severe crisis for the world of work since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Its impact is far greater than that of the global financial crisis of 2009."
((VIDEO: HAARLEM PROTEST / ISRAEL PROTEST / MICHIGAN PROTEST / TRUMP "LIBERATE" TWEETS))
((NARRATOR))
Lockdowns have set off protests in the Netherlands, Israel, and elsewhere. Armed demonstrators showed up at some U.S. state capitals in April demanding the lifting of lockdown measures. Former President Donald Trump cheered them on.
Many experts say Trump politicized the pandemic and hurt the U.S. government's response, undermining public health officials on basic prevention.
((Former President Donald Trump))
"Wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens. I don't know, somehow I don't see it for myself. I just don't."
((VIDEO: TRUMP))
((NARRATOR))
And he promoted unproven treatments like hydroxychloroquine.
((Former President Donald Trump))
"I get a lot of tremendously positive news on the hydroxy (hydroxychloroquine). And I say hey - you know the expression I've used, John? 'What do you have to lose?"
((VIDEO – More Trump))
((NARRATOR))
Backers note that Trump poured billions into developing vaccines in record time.
((VIDEO: POLLS))
Yet Trump's pandemic response, say pollsters, was one reason he lost the presidency to Joe Biden.
((President Joe Biden))
"To a nation waiting for action, let me be clearest on this point: Help is on the way."
((VIDEO: HOSPITALS))
((NARRATOR))
Biden takes over as several new, more contagious variants have appeared, first, in Britain.
((Anthony Fauci, director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ))
"According to the estimates of people in the U.K., about twice as transmissible and maybe even (an) increase in its virulence, or its ability to cause serious disease."
((VIDEO: WHO))
((Mandatory courtesy for World Health Organization))
((NARRATOR)
As Biden races to scale up the U.S. vaccine rollout, the World Health Organization warns that much of the world has not received a single dose.
((Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General))
"I need to be blunt. The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world's poorest countries."
((VIDEO: VACCINATIONS))
((NARRATOR))
A post-pandemic world is in sight. But it looks more unequal than before.
((STEVE BARAGONA, VOA NEWS))
[GRETA]]
President Biden is making...
The fight against covid his top priority.
His national strategy targets seven major goals...
Including expanded testing...
Accelerating vaccine distribution...
Establishing an equity task force...
And preparing for future biological threats.
In the first …
Plugged In dedicated …
to coronavirus …
Dr. Anthony Fauci …
said research for a vaccine …
was already underway …
With help from specimens collected …
from the very first …
Americans infected with COVID.
One year later …
Dr. Fauci is the
medical advisor …
for new president Biden.
He’s part of the new team …
charged with getting vaccines …
into as many arms …
as quickly as possible.
The Director of the …
National Institute …
of Allergy …
and Infectious Diseases …
talked to me …
about the great challenges …
we still face.
[[FAUCI INTERVIEW]]
###
GVS: Let me ask you about –there are four strains UK, South Africa, Brazil and China. are these different or are they are they are they very much alike?
AF: They are all SARS-COV2. They have minor differences that can lead to a functional difference, namely antibodies might not react as effectively against them. Sometimes it makes it more transmissible, and even sometimes it can make it a little bit more virulent, or maybe cause a different disease. We know that the UK variant, as well as the South African variant and very likely the Brazilian variant transmit much more readily. They get that additional functional advantage, but there's still the same SARS-COV2 virus.
GVS: Alright, the new vaccine that's out, Moderna Pfizer j&j that we're expecting, will that will that address the new variants?
AF: It can. Not completely as well as it does the wild type virus which is means the virus that has been with us right from the beginning, but it still has a considerable degree of protection, particularly against severe disease, namely hospitalization and deaths, but not as well when you're dealing with mild to moderate disease
GVS: is herd immunity realistic at this point?
AF: I think it is, if we get the overwhelming majority of the population vaccinated. I would think it's still an estimate. we don't know what the precise percentage would be to get to herd immunity. but a good estimate I think would be somewhere between 70 and 85% of the population vaccinated.
GVS: In terms of transmission, does it come on boxes and on surfaces or have we moved away from that or groceries?
AF: Well, it is absolutely theoretically possible that that's the case and likely that it does occur. But overwhelmingly, it is felt that the major component of transmission is respiratory from person to person, even from an asymptomatic person which we know that 50% of all the transmissions come from a person who's either completely asymptomatic and will never get symptoms, or someone who's pre-symptomatic, namely they're not symptomatic yet, but within a period of a few days they will become symptomatic
GVS: in terms of travel, if you get the two vaccines and you're about 14 days after the second dose, would you feel safe traveling wearing one mask or two masks?
AF: I don't think you can make that quantitative difference. The CDC recommends that you wear a mask. Some people feel more comfortable because they feel that you get an extra layer there, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with mirroring two masks if you feel that it's making you more comfortable more snug, a better protection you can, but there's no CDC guideline yet that says that one mask is not as good as two masks. They will be studying that soon and hopefully we'll get some information on that.
GVS: What's your position on traveling, assuming that you have had the two vaccines and it's been a number of days since your second dose of the vaccine?
AF: Well it depends on your willingness to take risks, I mean the risk is less if you've been vaccinated no doubt. if you have a vaccine that's 94 to 95% effective, the risk of your getting infected is, certainly the risk of you getting sick are far, far lower than prior to the vaccine. But there still is a risk. So, you have to ask somebody what level of risk are they willing to take? Right now we still say, Please, unless you really have to don't travel, and that still goes.
GVS: Let me turn to COVAX that's sort of a cooperative program to help get the vaccine around the world is that right?
AF: Yes, it is.
GVS: And tell me tell me about it and tell me how will help like nations in the African continent?
AF: will clearly not every country in the world has the resources or the capability of getting vaccines for the people in their country who need it and everybody needs a vaccine throughout the world, whether you live in a rich country or in a poor country. COVAX is a consortium of countries and organizations which have agreed to put in significant resources to be able to get vaccines to those countries that can't afford or don't have the capability of either making a vaccine or getting it to their people
GVS: and and is that going to get the vaccine quickly to these places I mean is it already moving to those countries? because I know there are a lot of people in United States who claim they can't get it.
AF: Well this is not something that's going to take vaccine away from Chicago or New York or San Francisco and send it to a foreign country. Not at all. That's not what we're talking about. We've already contracted to get enough vaccine for everybody in the United States. Those contracts have already been led and over a period of months, we will get more and more and more until we get the full component that we've contracted for.
GVS: in terms, I know this is an impossible question but will there be a time when we quote get back to normal? Is there a possible way to estimate that we're, you know we're not gonna be wearing masks all the time and not talking vaccines, or is this the new Is this the new normal?
AF: I think we will ultimately get back to close to normal. I think there'll be much more attention paid to public health measures, but I think if we get the proportion of people in the country that I indicated, which is an estimate of what herd immunity would be, namely 70 to 85% of people, then I think we really would be approaching a rather significant level of what we would call normality, maybe not 100%, but certainly not the stringent restrictions that were on the now.
GVS: Is there any reason in your mind people should be afraid of the vaccines?
AF: No, I mean the vaccines have been shown to be very safe. historically vaccines are the safest and most effective prevention for infectious diseases. the vaccines that we're talking about now have a very good safety record, and the risk of COVID-19 is overwhelmingly greater than the risk of a deleterious effect from the vaccine.
GVS: Dr. Fauci thank you very much sir.
AF: Good to be with you, Greta. Thank you for having me.
[[GRETA]]
Among the first places …
to identify …
a new strain of COVID …
was Great Britain ...
where now …
100-thousand people …
have died from the virus …
the most in Europe.
VOA’s Henry Ridgwell …
reports from London.
[[RIDGWELL PKG]]
###
((NARRATOR))
86-year-old Gordon Bonner says he is lost in a ‘hinterland of despair and desolation’. It’s nine months since Muriel, his wife of 63 years, died from COVID-19. He was called to her bedside for the final moments.
((Gordon Bonner, Husband of COVID-19 Victim))
“I sat for the next hour and watched Muriel drown in her own body fluids. It was the most harrowing experience of my life. And it will haunt me and I'll tell you why. Such was her fight for oxygen that she was sucking at the air and I can still see her face now and her lips formed a perfect circle as if she was sucking through a straw.”
((NARRATOR))
A haunting account of loss and grief. Emotions that have touched families across the country.
Britain Tuesday became the first European country to report 100-thousand coronavirus deaths. 25-thousand of those have occurred in the past three weeks. It now has the highest coronavirus death rate per capita in the world.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday he shared the nation’s grief.
((Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister))
“I and the government take full responsibility for all the actions I have taken, we've taken during this pandemic to fight this disease and, yes, Mr. Speaker, there will indeed be a time when we must learn the lessons of what has happened.”
((NARRATOR))
Johnson announced an extension of school closures – and the enforced quarantine of travellers arriving from high-risk countries. Critics say he’s done too little, too late.
((Keir Starmer, Opposition Labour Party Leader))
“The prime minister was slow into the first lockdown down last March. He was slow in getting protective equipment to the front line, slow to protect our care homes, slow on testing and tracing, slow into the second lockdown down in the autumn, slow to change the Christmas mixing rules, slow again into this third lockdown.”
((NARRATOR))
Many scientists blame underinvestment in the National Health Service.
((Lawrence Young, Infectious Diseases Expert, University of Warwick))
“We suffered from not having an adequate public health infrastructure in this country; we didn’t get test, trace and isolate right and that’s still a big challenge for this country. So, keeping a lid on infections by effective testing and tracing and then encouraging people to isolate is really important. And we didn’t get border control right.”
((NARRATOR))
While Britain leads Europe in coronavirus deaths, it is way ahead in its vaccination program. Close to seven million people have received their first vaccine doses.
((Lawrence Young, Infectious Diseases Expert, University of Warwick))
“And it should mean that come March time, we’re in a much stronger position in terms of being able to review the current lockdown restrictions.”
((NARRATOR))
But there are growing concerns of a vaccine shortage. Drug firms AstraZeneca and Pfizer warned the European Union this week of delays as production systems are scaled up to meet demand. The EU has threatened to block exports of vaccines produced in Europe.
Meanwhile the British government says the public should be prepared for further bad news.
((Chris Whitty, Britain’s Chief Medical Officer))
“Unfortunately, we are going to see quite a lot more deaths over the next few weeks before the effects of the vaccines begin to be felt.”
((NARRATOR))
So – tragically - thousands more families will have to endure the grief of losing loved ones before their time.
((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, London))
[[GRETA]]
One place in the world …
where the vaccination rollout …
is succeeding …
is Israel.
About one third …
of Israel’s nine million citizens …
have been vaccinated …
And about one million …
have gotten their …
second shot …
including most people …
over 60 years old.
For more …
About what Isarel is doing …
I spoke to VOA reporter …
Linda Gradstein …
in Jerusalem.
[[SOT/GRADSTEIN INTRVIEW]]
LG: The fact that everybody has health care the records are digitized, and they already have a whole series of clinics, really made it easy to kind of roll out this vaccine, and in six weeks 3 million people have gotten the first dose of the vaccine and half of those have gotten a second dose as well I mean it's a it really is quite an impressive undertaking and the vaccine rollout has been handled very well. So Israel in some ways was kind of out ahead of it and started a very impressive vaccination campaign but at the same time. COVID is still here, and they've tried to do these lockdowns basically cut, you know, cutting off schools cutting off everybody staying home The problem is it's not quite working. There are still certain populations that are not running to get the vaccine for example 20% of Israelis are Arab citizens of Israel and the vaccination rate has been significantly lower there. So while in certain populations, the rate of vaccination is extremely high. It's still not high enough for Israel to get herd immunity.
GVS: How is it that Israel, sort of got ahead of everybody else in terms of getting this distribution of the vaccine?
LG: Israel has socialized medicine so you pay a portion of your income and everybody has automatic health coverage, I mean Israel is also a small country you can drive from one end to the other in about seven hours. So for example, my distribution site was the local sports arena. And when you walked in, you know, you got an appointment everything was online all medical records are digitized Israel also bought the vaccines very early, paying at least according to media reports double the market price for them. And in addition, Israel volunteered to kind of be a test case for Pfizer, you've got a population that's small, that was willing to be vaccinated and you've got digitized medical records so it was very easy for Israel to roll out this vaccine and for people to go and get vaccinated.
GVS: In Israel with the, with giving up the vaccine was it done in stages like in the United States or places like you know over the age of 65 or frontline health care workers Firstly, how is it actually distributed?
LG: Anybody who was above 60 is how they started, and the campaign only started six weeks ago and they're all ready, everybody is able to make an appointment. It started with over 60. In fact, I had been in the vaccine center the day before for a story, and I said my husband who just turned 60 is coming tomorrow if I come with him Can I get it as well and they said, Sure, no problem. And there was a great Facebook page, post of one of the vaccine centers had extra doses at the end of the day, and the nurses went out into the street caught the pizza guy and said hey pizza guy you want to get vaccinated. So, in within six weeks so they started over 60 over 50 over 40, and now it's everybody.
GVS: Was Israel ready for the Pfizer? Pfizer requires that it be kept frozen about 100 degrees below zero or something. And so refrigeration is a big issue with Pfizer. Was was Israel prepared for that and they start getting ready for it last summer, how did Israel accommodate that?
LG: So I don't know if they started getting ready last summer but they definitely were able to keep the vaccine at the temperature that it needed to they got whatever freezers they needed to and Israel has given everybody, the Pfizer vaccine, except for people who are homebound and they were given medical workers went to their homes and they were given the moderna vaccine specifically because of that freezer issue, but in all of the vaccination sites that people went to it was the Pfizer vaccine that was kept at the proper temperature.
GVS: And so you've had no stories about being at Pfizer vaccine being left out and have to be destroyed I guess the pizza guy getting his is one example of having a leftover, and they have to give it so they gave it to him.?
LG: There have been there were some reports that they actually found extra doses in each vial that a vial that was supposed to have five doses actually had six doses, and it was actually kind of funny because you know the Hanukkah story it happened around Hanukkah, the kind of cool story is how one little tiny bottle of oil lasted for eight days so people said it was the Pfizer hanukkah miracle, but I know they have they have wasted almost no doses and in fact because everything is digitized they sent some of the Health Maintenance Organizations HMOs sent out messages saying, anybody who wants a vaccine can come right now to this place.
GVS: What about the issue of privacy with all the information has been gathered about the people getting vaccinated, Israel and the cooperation with Pfizer and Pfizer looking at are there any objections or do you actually have to sign any waivers or is everyone agreeable to be part of essentially a big study?
LG: So first of all the data is supposed to be anonymous in other words it's supposed to be aggregate data of how many people got Corona after the first vaccine how many people got Corona after the second vaccine it's not supposed to be individualized data. It's one of the interesting things to me that privacy issues in Israel are not that big of an issue. There have been a few, you know, NGOs who deal with privacy issues who said, maybe this isn't a good idea, the Ministry of Health publicize, most of the agreement at bay with Pfizer and there hasn't really been a response from Israelis maybe I think people sort of know that that was part of the deal and they feel that it was worth it in order to get you know enough vaccines. So, there hasn't really been an outcry on privacy issues
GVS: I read that the ultra orthodox community also wasn't complying with the lockdown and keeping the schools open which is, you know, not, not a lockdown. Is that contributing to the difficulty in sort of eradicating or protecting the people in Israel from the spread?
LG: Not only are the ultra orthodox community keeping the schools open in defiance of the law. Yesterday, there were two mass funerals of two rabbis who died in their 90s of COVID. One funeral had 10,000 people, and the other funeral had several thousand and completely violating the law. The police said what do you want us to do. There's a lot of anger in the non ultra orthodox public who say this is simply not fair.
GVS: Did the Palestinians want want Israel to get them the vaccine? So that's. And what I mean by that, are Palestinians in the West Bank or in the Gaza Strip did they say the Israelis have an obligation to get them vaccinated?
LG: There's been a question about the Palestinians, and you know, should Israel be vaccinating the Palestinians, the West Bank and Gaza, there are 5 million Palestinians, there are 1000s of 10s of 1000s of Palestinians from the West Bank, that come to work in Israel. And there are sort of a debate about this with, you know, some Israeli officials saying that according to international law they are not responsible for vaccine the Palestinians. Others say they are it depends on your interpretation, whether or not Israel is responsible. It is important to say that they are vaccinating Arab citizens of Israel, which is 20% of the population, they are vaccinating Palestinians in East Jerusalem, which is about 40% of Jerusalem’s 800,000 residents. But at this point, they end they just agree to send 5000 doses, to the Palestinian Authority for health care workers. Israel's defense minister and former Chief of Staff said he believed that Israel should be vaccinating the Palestinians and Israeli officials have said that after all Israeli citizens are vaccinated. If there are extra doses they will give it to the Palestinians, you know basically Israel in the West Bank, it's very hard to separate. So, a lot of people are saying that you know whatever the moral implications are for in terms of herd immunity Israel should vaccinate the Palestinians,
GVS: Linda Thank you always nice to talk to you.
LG: You too Greta, nice to talk to you.
[[GRETA]]
The Director-General of the ...
World Health Organization …
pleaded with governments ...
to prioritize vaccines ...
to those most at-risk ...
in all countries of the world.
India is the world’s ...
largest vaccine producer ...
and is sending ...
COVID-19 vaccines ...
to neighboring countries ...
India is using vaccine diplomacy ...
To raise its global profile ...
And win back influence ...
In South Asia from China.
More from Anjana Pasricha ...
(AHN-jah-nah PAHS-ree-chuh) ...
in New Delhi.
[[PASRICHA PKG]]
((INTRO:))
((VIDEO: Boxes containing COVID-19 vaccines; being loaded in aircraft, workers moving cargo boxes – AFP; going inside aircraft – Reuters, box with vaccine sign - Reuters))
((NARRATOR))
This is the most precious medical cargo for countries waiting to launch COVID-19 immunization programs – vaccines.
((VIDEO: Man getting vaccine – AP; vaccines bottles – AFP; 1 million doses gift to Nepal sign – AP; AstraZeneca sign - Reuters, consignment to Bhutan – Reuters; refrigerator van for vaccine – AFP; vaccine bottles - Reuters))
Days after rolling out a nationwide inoculation program, India, the world’s biggest vaccine producer, donated millions of doses of the British-developed AstraZeneca vaccine to Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius and Myanmar. The affordable and easily storable vaccine being made by an Indian company in partnership with AstraZeneca is in huge demand in developing countries.
((VIDEO: Vaccines arriving in Bangladesh, Indian official handing COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh ministers - AP))
The goodwill gesture won praise from neighbors such as Bangladesh.
((Zahid Maleque, Bangladesh health minister))
"A friend in need is a friend indeed."
((VIDEO: PM Modi addressing the nation, vaccines in Bangladesh – Reuters))
((NARRATOR))
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized that neighboring countries will be prioritized in the distribution of vaccine supplies.
((VIDEO: Indian/Nepalese officials with Vaccinemaitri (friendship) sign – AP; Nepal’s minister talking - Reuters; Chinese flag - Reuters, Chinese spokeswoman addressing press briefing, Reuters))
The initiative is called “vaccine friendship.” The “vaccine diplomacy,” say analysts, is a means to push back against China, which has been expanding its influence in South Asia.
((VIDEO: Sinopharm Chinese vaccine, Chinese vaccine in boxes, woman in Turkey getting vaccine shot, vaccines in cargo shipment -- Reuters; vaccines in assembly line - AFP))
While China is also giving its vaccine to several countries, such as Turkey, South Asian countries had sought supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed in Britain.
((Sreeram Chaulia, Dean, Jindal School of International Affairs))
((mandatory cg: Skype))
“India will like to make a point here that in this area, unlike in some others where China usually overshadows India in terms of military and economic might, in this field, in pharmaceuticals, in affordable healthcare specially, India has actually a comparative edge and advantage over China. I think that will certainly be a subtle message going around that you can depend on us.”
((VIDEO: Vaccines being loaded in aircraft, aircraft with vaccine reaches
Brazil, vaccines coming out of aircraft, vaccines being loaded in India - Reuters))
((NARRATOR))
New Delhi has also begun commercial shipments of vaccines – the first consignments have reached Brazil and Morocco. More will go to countries in Africa and South America in the coming months.
((VIDEO: Crew standing in front of aircraft – Reuters; vaccine boxes moving, shots being administered – AFP; nurse with vaccine - AP))
Following New Delhi’s approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine and one developed by an Indian company, Modi said this month that India will play a frontline role in providing vaccines.
((Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister - in Hindi)) ((Reuters))
"Today India with not one, but two made-in-India vaccines, is ready to protect humanity. Being pharmacy of the world, India has supplied essential medicines to the needy across the globe in the past and is doing it today as well.”
((VIDEO: Vaccines in production, vaccine boxes being taken out – AFP; van carrying vaccines in Bangladesh - Reuters, vaccine box and man carrying box on his head - AP))
((NARRATOR))
As Indian companies ramp up production to meet the huge demand, India hopes to raise its global profile by being seen as a country that will help end the pandemic.
((Sreeram Chaulia, Dean, Jindal School of International Affairs))
((mandatory cg: Skype))
“A lot of this has to do with image. The vaccine diplomacy is not about concrete material benefits. It’s about image and soft power.”
((VIDEO: Shot being administered, ministers walking in front of aircraft in Nepal – Reuters; ministers in Bangladesh, in Nepal, Nepal and India flag in front of vaccine box – AP))
((NARRATOR))
There has been growing criticism of “vaccine inequality” -- while inoculation programs are well underway in wealthy nations, developing countries are struggling to secure supplies.
((Anjana Pasricha for VOA News, New Delhi))
[[GRETA]]
That’s all the time …
we have for now.
My thanks to …
Dr. Anthony Fauci …
and correspondent ...
Linda Gradstein.
Stay up to date …
at VOA News.com
And follow me on Twitter …
at Greta.
Thank you for being …
Plugged In.
###
On Plugged In...
One year into the …
coronavirus pandemic …
A new national strategy …
from the new American president.
[[SOT-PRESIDENT BIDEN]]
The President’s medical advisor …
on the race against time ...
to get vaccines into arms …
amid new threats …
from this deadly disease.
[[SOT-DR. ANTHONY FAUCI]]
One year in …
there are new …
and more contagious strains …
while the world waits …
for vaccines to arrive.
The challenges ahead …
on Plugged In …
the New COVID Normal.
###
[[GRETA]]
Hello and welcome …
To Plugged In.
I’m Greta Van Susteren …
reporting from Washington, DC.
Calling it …
“a wartime undertaking” …
President Joe Biden …
is making the battle against …
the coronavirus pandemic …
his administration’s top priority.
Biden’s national strategy …
for COVID-19 response …
has a baseline goal …
of vaccinating …
100-million Americans …
in his first 100 days …
as president.
January marked …
the deadliest month …
of the year-long pandemic …
that infected more than …
103-million people …
worldwide ...
leaving more than …
two million people dead.
VOA’S Steve Baragona …
takes us through ...
the turbulent year …
of COVID.
[[STEVE BARAGONA PKG]]
((INTRO))
((VIDEO: VACCINATIONS))
((NARRATOR))
The long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine rollout is off to a shaky start.
In the United States, many patients navigated overwhelmed websites and phone lines only to have their appointments canceled.
((Rosa Schneider, New York City Teacher))
"I received a call that it was canceled and that they didn't know when they were going to get more vaccines."
((VIDEO: RESEARCH / FAUCI GETTING VACCINE))
((NARRATOR))
The rocky rollout overshadows a remarkable scientific achievement -- from brand-new disease to safe and effective vaccine within one year.
((Anthony Fauci, director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ))
"What we're seeing now is the culmination of years of research which have led to a phenomenon that has truly been unprecedented."
((VIDEO: CHINA EMPTY STREETS / EMPTY SHOPS))
((NARRATOR))
Also unprecedented are the steps governments have taken to slow the virus. China was first, locking down 60 million people a year ago.
((VIDEO: DELHI EMPTY STREETS / EMPTY VENICE / UNEMPLOYED WORKERS))
As the virus spread, more cities locked down worldwide, emptying streets, shuttering businesses and spiking unemployment.
((Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labor Organization ))
"This has been the most severe crisis for the world of work since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Its impact is far greater than that of the global financial crisis of 2009."
((VIDEO: HAARLEM PROTEST / ISRAEL PROTEST / MICHIGAN PROTEST / TRUMP "LIBERATE" TWEETS))
((NARRATOR))
Lockdowns have set off protests in the Netherlands, Israel, and elsewhere. Armed demonstrators showed up at some U.S. state capitals in April demanding the lifting of lockdown measures. Former President Donald Trump cheered them on.
Many experts say Trump politicized the pandemic and hurt the U.S. government's response, undermining public health officials on basic prevention.
((Former President Donald Trump))
"Wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens. I don't know, somehow I don't see it for myself. I just don't."
((VIDEO: TRUMP))
((NARRATOR))
And he promoted unproven treatments like hydroxychloroquine.
((Former President Donald Trump))
"I get a lot of tremendously positive news on the hydroxy (hydroxychloroquine). And I say hey - you know the expression I've used, John? 'What do you have to lose?"
((VIDEO – More Trump))
((NARRATOR))
Backers note that Trump poured billions into developing vaccines in record time.
((VIDEO: POLLS))
Yet Trump's pandemic response, say pollsters, was one reason he lost the presidency to Joe Biden.
((President Joe Biden))
"To a nation waiting for action, let me be clearest on this point: Help is on the way."
((VIDEO: HOSPITALS))
((NARRATOR))
Biden takes over as several new, more contagious variants have appeared, first, in Britain.
((Anthony Fauci, director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ))
"According to the estimates of people in the U.K., about twice as transmissible and maybe even (an) increase in its virulence, or its ability to cause serious disease."
((VIDEO: WHO))
((Mandatory courtesy for World Health Organization))
((NARRATOR)
As Biden races to scale up the U.S. vaccine rollout, the World Health Organization warns that much of the world has not received a single dose.
((Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General))
"I need to be blunt. The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure and the price of this failure will be paid with lives and livelihoods in the world's poorest countries."
((VIDEO: VACCINATIONS))
((NARRATOR))
A post-pandemic world is in sight. But it looks more unequal than before.
((STEVE BARAGONA, VOA NEWS))
[GRETA]]
President Biden is making...
The fight against covid his top priority.
His national strategy targets seven major goals...
Including expanded testing...
Accelerating vaccine distribution...
Establishing an equity task force...
And preparing for future biological threats.
In the first …
Plugged In dedicated …
to coronavirus …
Dr. Anthony Fauci …
said research for a vaccine …
was already underway …
With help from specimens collected …
from the very first …
Americans infected with COVID.
One year later …
Dr. Fauci is the
medical advisor …
for new president Biden.
He’s part of the new team …
charged with getting vaccines …
into as many arms …
as quickly as possible.
The Director of the …
National Institute …
of Allergy …
and Infectious Diseases …
talked to me …
about the great challenges …
we still face.
[[FAUCI INTERVIEW]]
###
GVS: Let me ask you about –there are four strains UK, South Africa, Brazil and China. are these different or are they are they are they very much alike?
AF: They are all SARS-COV2. They have minor differences that can lead to a functional difference, namely antibodies might not react as effectively against them. Sometimes it makes it more transmissible, and even sometimes it can make it a little bit more virulent, or maybe cause a different disease. We know that the UK variant, as well as the South African variant and very likely the Brazilian variant transmit much more readily. They get that additional functional advantage, but there's still the same SARS-COV2 virus.
GVS: Alright, the new vaccine that's out, Moderna Pfizer j&j that we're expecting, will that will that address the new variants?
AF: It can. Not completely as well as it does the wild type virus which is means the virus that has been with us right from the beginning, but it still has a considerable degree of protection, particularly against severe disease, namely hospitalization and deaths, but not as well when you're dealing with mild to moderate disease
GVS: is herd immunity realistic at this point?
AF: I think it is, if we get the overwhelming majority of the population vaccinated. I would think it's still an estimate. we don't know what the precise percentage would be to get to herd immunity. but a good estimate I think would be somewhere between 70 and 85% of the population vaccinated.
GVS: In terms of transmission, does it come on boxes and on surfaces or have we moved away from that or groceries?
AF: Well, it is absolutely theoretically possible that that's the case and likely that it does occur. But overwhelmingly, it is felt that the major component of transmission is respiratory from person to person, even from an asymptomatic person which we know that 50% of all the transmissions come from a person who's either completely asymptomatic and will never get symptoms, or someone who's pre-symptomatic, namely they're not symptomatic yet, but within a period of a few days they will become symptomatic
GVS: in terms of travel, if you get the two vaccines and you're about 14 days after the second dose, would you feel safe traveling wearing one mask or two masks?
AF: I don't think you can make that quantitative difference. The CDC recommends that you wear a mask. Some people feel more comfortable because they feel that you get an extra layer there, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with mirroring two masks if you feel that it's making you more comfortable more snug, a better protection you can, but there's no CDC guideline yet that says that one mask is not as good as two masks. They will be studying that soon and hopefully we'll get some information on that.
GVS: What's your position on traveling, assuming that you have had the two vaccines and it's been a number of days since your second dose of the vaccine?
AF: Well it depends on your willingness to take risks, I mean the risk is less if you've been vaccinated no doubt. if you have a vaccine that's 94 to 95% effective, the risk of your getting infected is, certainly the risk of you getting sick are far, far lower than prior to the vaccine. But there still is a risk. So, you have to ask somebody what level of risk are they willing to take? Right now we still say, Please, unless you really have to don't travel, and that still goes.
GVS: Let me turn to COVAX that's sort of a cooperative program to help get the vaccine around the world is that right?
AF: Yes, it is.
GVS: And tell me tell me about it and tell me how will help like nations in the African continent?
AF: will clearly not every country in the world has the resources or the capability of getting vaccines for the people in their country who need it and everybody needs a vaccine throughout the world, whether you live in a rich country or in a poor country. COVAX is a consortium of countries and organizations which have agreed to put in significant resources to be able to get vaccines to those countries that can't afford or don't have the capability of either making a vaccine or getting it to their people
GVS: and and is that going to get the vaccine quickly to these places I mean is it already moving to those countries? because I know there are a lot of people in United States who claim they can't get it.
AF: Well this is not something that's going to take vaccine away from Chicago or New York or San Francisco and send it to a foreign country. Not at all. That's not what we're talking about. We've already contracted to get enough vaccine for everybody in the United States. Those contracts have already been led and over a period of months, we will get more and more and more until we get the full component that we've contracted for.
GVS: in terms, I know this is an impossible question but will there be a time when we quote get back to normal? Is there a possible way to estimate that we're, you know we're not gonna be wearing masks all the time and not talking vaccines, or is this the new Is this the new normal?
AF: I think we will ultimately get back to close to normal. I think there'll be much more attention paid to public health measures, but I think if we get the proportion of people in the country that I indicated, which is an estimate of what herd immunity would be, namely 70 to 85% of people, then I think we really would be approaching a rather significant level of what we would call normality, maybe not 100%, but certainly not the stringent restrictions that were on the now.
GVS: Is there any reason in your mind people should be afraid of the vaccines?
AF: No, I mean the vaccines have been shown to be very safe. historically vaccines are the safest and most effective prevention for infectious diseases. the vaccines that we're talking about now have a very good safety record, and the risk of COVID-19 is overwhelmingly greater than the risk of a deleterious effect from the vaccine.
GVS: Dr. Fauci thank you very much sir.
AF: Good to be with you, Greta. Thank you for having me.
[[GRETA]]
Among the first places …
to identify …
a new strain of COVID …
was Great Britain ...
where now …
100-thousand people …
have died from the virus …
the most in Europe.
VOA’s Henry Ridgwell …
reports from London.
[[RIDGWELL PKG]]
###
((NARRATOR))
86-year-old Gordon Bonner says he is lost in a ‘hinterland of despair and desolation’. It’s nine months since Muriel, his wife of 63 years, died from COVID-19. He was called to her bedside for the final moments.
((Gordon Bonner, Husband of COVID-19 Victim))
“I sat for the next hour and watched Muriel drown in her own body fluids. It was the most harrowing experience of my life. And it will haunt me and I'll tell you why. Such was her fight for oxygen that she was sucking at the air and I can still see her face now and her lips formed a perfect circle as if she was sucking through a straw.”
((NARRATOR))
A haunting account of loss and grief. Emotions that have touched families across the country.
Britain Tuesday became the first European country to report 100-thousand coronavirus deaths. 25-thousand of those have occurred in the past three weeks. It now has the highest coronavirus death rate per capita in the world.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday he shared the nation’s grief.
((Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister))
“I and the government take full responsibility for all the actions I have taken, we've taken during this pandemic to fight this disease and, yes, Mr. Speaker, there will indeed be a time when we must learn the lessons of what has happened.”
((NARRATOR))
Johnson announced an extension of school closures – and the enforced quarantine of travellers arriving from high-risk countries. Critics say he’s done too little, too late.
((Keir Starmer, Opposition Labour Party Leader))
“The prime minister was slow into the first lockdown down last March. He was slow in getting protective equipment to the front line, slow to protect our care homes, slow on testing and tracing, slow into the second lockdown down in the autumn, slow to change the Christmas mixing rules, slow again into this third lockdown.”
((NARRATOR))
Many scientists blame underinvestment in the National Health Service.
((Lawrence Young, Infectious Diseases Expert, University of Warwick))
“We suffered from not having an adequate public health infrastructure in this country; we didn’t get test, trace and isolate right and that’s still a big challenge for this country. So, keeping a lid on infections by effective testing and tracing and then encouraging people to isolate is really important. And we didn’t get border control right.”
((NARRATOR))
While Britain leads Europe in coronavirus deaths, it is way ahead in its vaccination program. Close to seven million people have received their first vaccine doses.
((Lawrence Young, Infectious Diseases Expert, University of Warwick))
“And it should mean that come March time, we’re in a much stronger position in terms of being able to review the current lockdown restrictions.”
((NARRATOR))
But there are growing concerns of a vaccine shortage. Drug firms AstraZeneca and Pfizer warned the European Union this week of delays as production systems are scaled up to meet demand. The EU has threatened to block exports of vaccines produced in Europe.
Meanwhile the British government says the public should be prepared for further bad news.
((Chris Whitty, Britain’s Chief Medical Officer))
“Unfortunately, we are going to see quite a lot more deaths over the next few weeks before the effects of the vaccines begin to be felt.”
((NARRATOR))
So – tragically - thousands more families will have to endure the grief of losing loved ones before their time.
((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, London))
[[GRETA]]
One place in the world …
where the vaccination rollout …
is succeeding …
is Israel.
About one third …
of Israel’s nine million citizens …
have been vaccinated …
And about one million …
have gotten their …
second shot …
including most people …
over 60 years old.
For more …
About what Isarel is doing …
I spoke to VOA reporter …
Linda Gradstein …
in Jerusalem.
[[SOT/GRADSTEIN INTRVIEW]]
LG: The fact that everybody has health care the records are digitized, and they already have a whole series of clinics, really made it easy to kind of roll out this vaccine, and in six weeks 3 million people have gotten the first dose of the vaccine and half of those have gotten a second dose as well I mean it's a it really is quite an impressive undertaking and the vaccine rollout has been handled very well. So Israel in some ways was kind of out ahead of it and started a very impressive vaccination campaign but at the same time. COVID is still here, and they've tried to do these lockdowns basically cut, you know, cutting off schools cutting off everybody staying home The problem is it's not quite working. There are still certain populations that are not running to get the vaccine for example 20% of Israelis are Arab citizens of Israel and the vaccination rate has been significantly lower there. So while in certain populations, the rate of vaccination is extremely high. It's still not high enough for Israel to get herd immunity.
GVS: How is it that Israel, sort of got ahead of everybody else in terms of getting this distribution of the vaccine?
LG: Israel has socialized medicine so you pay a portion of your income and everybody has automatic health coverage, I mean Israel is also a small country you can drive from one end to the other in about seven hours. So for example, my distribution site was the local sports arena. And when you walked in, you know, you got an appointment everything was online all medical records are digitized Israel also bought the vaccines very early, paying at least according to media reports double the market price for them. And in addition, Israel volunteered to kind of be a test case for Pfizer, you've got a population that's small, that was willing to be vaccinated and you've got digitized medical records so it was very easy for Israel to roll out this vaccine and for people to go and get vaccinated.
GVS: In Israel with the, with giving up the vaccine was it done in stages like in the United States or places like you know over the age of 65 or frontline health care workers Firstly, how is it actually distributed?
LG: Anybody who was above 60 is how they started, and the campaign only started six weeks ago and they're all ready, everybody is able to make an appointment. It started with over 60. In fact, I had been in the vaccine center the day before for a story, and I said my husband who just turned 60 is coming tomorrow if I come with him Can I get it as well and they said, Sure, no problem. And there was a great Facebook page, post of one of the vaccine centers had extra doses at the end of the day, and the nurses went out into the street caught the pizza guy and said hey pizza guy you want to get vaccinated. So, in within six weeks so they started over 60 over 50 over 40, and now it's everybody.
GVS: Was Israel ready for the Pfizer? Pfizer requires that it be kept frozen about 100 degrees below zero or something. And so refrigeration is a big issue with Pfizer. Was was Israel prepared for that and they start getting ready for it last summer, how did Israel accommodate that?
LG: So I don't know if they started getting ready last summer but they definitely were able to keep the vaccine at the temperature that it needed to they got whatever freezers they needed to and Israel has given everybody, the Pfizer vaccine, except for people who are homebound and they were given medical workers went to their homes and they were given the moderna vaccine specifically because of that freezer issue, but in all of the vaccination sites that people went to it was the Pfizer vaccine that was kept at the proper temperature.
GVS: And so you've had no stories about being at Pfizer vaccine being left out and have to be destroyed I guess the pizza guy getting his is one example of having a leftover, and they have to give it so they gave it to him.?
LG: There have been there were some reports that they actually found extra doses in each vial that a vial that was supposed to have five doses actually had six doses, and it was actually kind of funny because you know the Hanukkah story it happened around Hanukkah, the kind of cool story is how one little tiny bottle of oil lasted for eight days so people said it was the Pfizer hanukkah miracle, but I know they have they have wasted almost no doses and in fact because everything is digitized they sent some of the Health Maintenance Organizations HMOs sent out messages saying, anybody who wants a vaccine can come right now to this place.
GVS: What about the issue of privacy with all the information has been gathered about the people getting vaccinated, Israel and the cooperation with Pfizer and Pfizer looking at are there any objections or do you actually have to sign any waivers or is everyone agreeable to be part of essentially a big study?
LG: So first of all the data is supposed to be anonymous in other words it's supposed to be aggregate data of how many people got Corona after the first vaccine how many people got Corona after the second vaccine it's not supposed to be individualized data. It's one of the interesting things to me that privacy issues in Israel are not that big of an issue. There have been a few, you know, NGOs who deal with privacy issues who said, maybe this isn't a good idea, the Ministry of Health publicize, most of the agreement at bay with Pfizer and there hasn't really been a response from Israelis maybe I think people sort of know that that was part of the deal and they feel that it was worth it in order to get you know enough vaccines. So, there hasn't really been an outcry on privacy issues
GVS: I read that the ultra orthodox community also wasn't complying with the lockdown and keeping the schools open which is, you know, not, not a lockdown. Is that contributing to the difficulty in sort of eradicating or protecting the people in Israel from the spread?
LG: Not only are the ultra orthodox community keeping the schools open in defiance of the law. Yesterday, there were two mass funerals of two rabbis who died in their 90s of COVID. One funeral had 10,000 people, and the other funeral had several thousand and completely violating the law. The police said what do you want us to do. There's a lot of anger in the non ultra orthodox public who say this is simply not fair.
GVS: Did the Palestinians want want Israel to get them the vaccine? So that's. And what I mean by that, are Palestinians in the West Bank or in the Gaza Strip did they say the Israelis have an obligation to get them vaccinated?
LG: There's been a question about the Palestinians, and you know, should Israel be vaccinating the Palestinians, the West Bank and Gaza, there are 5 million Palestinians, there are 1000s of 10s of 1000s of Palestinians from the West Bank, that come to work in Israel. And there are sort of a debate about this with, you know, some Israeli officials saying that according to international law they are not responsible for vaccine the Palestinians. Others say they are it depends on your interpretation, whether or not Israel is responsible. It is important to say that they are vaccinating Arab citizens of Israel, which is 20% of the population, they are vaccinating Palestinians in East Jerusalem, which is about 40% of Jerusalem’s 800,000 residents. But at this point, they end they just agree to send 5000 doses, to the Palestinian Authority for health care workers. Israel's defense minister and former Chief of Staff said he believed that Israel should be vaccinating the Palestinians and Israeli officials have said that after all Israeli citizens are vaccinated. If there are extra doses they will give it to the Palestinians, you know basically Israel in the West Bank, it's very hard to separate. So, a lot of people are saying that you know whatever the moral implications are for in terms of herd immunity Israel should vaccinate the Palestinians,
GVS: Linda Thank you always nice to talk to you.
LG: You too Greta, nice to talk to you.
[[GRETA]]
The Director-General of the ...
World Health Organization …
pleaded with governments ...
to prioritize vaccines ...
to those most at-risk ...
in all countries of the world.
India is the world’s ...
largest vaccine producer ...
and is sending ...
COVID-19 vaccines ...
to neighboring countries ...
India is using vaccine diplomacy ...
To raise its global profile ...
And win back influence ...
In South Asia from China.
More from Anjana Pasricha ...
(AHN-jah-nah PAHS-ree-chuh) ...
in New Delhi.
[[PASRICHA PKG]]
((INTRO:))
((VIDEO: Boxes containing COVID-19 vaccines; being loaded in aircraft, workers moving cargo boxes – AFP; going inside aircraft – Reuters, box with vaccine sign - Reuters))
((NARRATOR))
This is the most precious medical cargo for countries waiting to launch COVID-19 immunization programs – vaccines.
((VIDEO: Man getting vaccine – AP; vaccines bottles – AFP; 1 million doses gift to Nepal sign – AP; AstraZeneca sign - Reuters, consignment to Bhutan – Reuters; refrigerator van for vaccine – AFP; vaccine bottles - Reuters))
Days after rolling out a nationwide inoculation program, India, the world’s biggest vaccine producer, donated millions of doses of the British-developed AstraZeneca vaccine to Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius and Myanmar. The affordable and easily storable vaccine being made by an Indian company in partnership with AstraZeneca is in huge demand in developing countries.
((VIDEO: Vaccines arriving in Bangladesh, Indian official handing COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh ministers - AP))
The goodwill gesture won praise from neighbors such as Bangladesh.
((Zahid Maleque, Bangladesh health minister))
"A friend in need is a friend indeed."
((VIDEO: PM Modi addressing the nation, vaccines in Bangladesh – Reuters))
((NARRATOR))
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized that neighboring countries will be prioritized in the distribution of vaccine supplies.
((VIDEO: Indian/Nepalese officials with Vaccinemaitri (friendship) sign – AP; Nepal’s minister talking - Reuters; Chinese flag - Reuters, Chinese spokeswoman addressing press briefing, Reuters))
The initiative is called “vaccine friendship.” The “vaccine diplomacy,” say analysts, is a means to push back against China, which has been expanding its influence in South Asia.
((VIDEO: Sinopharm Chinese vaccine, Chinese vaccine in boxes, woman in Turkey getting vaccine shot, vaccines in cargo shipment -- Reuters; vaccines in assembly line - AFP))
While China is also giving its vaccine to several countries, such as Turkey, South Asian countries had sought supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed in Britain.
((Sreeram Chaulia, Dean, Jindal School of International Affairs))
((mandatory cg: Skype))
“India will like to make a point here that in this area, unlike in some others where China usually overshadows India in terms of military and economic might, in this field, in pharmaceuticals, in affordable healthcare specially, India has actually a comparative edge and advantage over China. I think that will certainly be a subtle message going around that you can depend on us.”
((VIDEO: Vaccines being loaded in aircraft, aircraft with vaccine reaches
Brazil, vaccines coming out of aircraft, vaccines being loaded in India - Reuters))
((NARRATOR))
New Delhi has also begun commercial shipments of vaccines – the first consignments have reached Brazil and Morocco. More will go to countries in Africa and South America in the coming months.
((VIDEO: Crew standing in front of aircraft – Reuters; vaccine boxes moving, shots being administered – AFP; nurse with vaccine - AP))
Following New Delhi’s approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine and one developed by an Indian company, Modi said this month that India will play a frontline role in providing vaccines.
((Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister - in Hindi)) ((Reuters))
"Today India with not one, but two made-in-India vaccines, is ready to protect humanity. Being pharmacy of the world, India has supplied essential medicines to the needy across the globe in the past and is doing it today as well.”
((VIDEO: Vaccines in production, vaccine boxes being taken out – AFP; van carrying vaccines in Bangladesh - Reuters, vaccine box and man carrying box on his head - AP))
((NARRATOR))
As Indian companies ramp up production to meet the huge demand, India hopes to raise its global profile by being seen as a country that will help end the pandemic.
((Sreeram Chaulia, Dean, Jindal School of International Affairs))
((mandatory cg: Skype))
“A lot of this has to do with image. The vaccine diplomacy is not about concrete material benefits. It’s about image and soft power.”
((VIDEO: Shot being administered, ministers walking in front of aircraft in Nepal – Reuters; ministers in Bangladesh, in Nepal, Nepal and India flag in front of vaccine box – AP))
((NARRATOR))
There has been growing criticism of “vaccine inequality” -- while inoculation programs are well underway in wealthy nations, developing countries are struggling to secure supplies.
((Anjana Pasricha for VOA News, New Delhi))
[[GRETA]]
That’s all the time …
we have for now.
My thanks to …
Dr. Anthony Fauci …
and correspondent ...
Linda Gradstein.
Stay up to date …
at VOA News.com
And follow me on Twitter …
at Greta.
Thank you for being …
Plugged In.
###
