[[GRETA]]
ON PLUGGED IN …
A THIRD COVID WAVE …
FORCES LOCKDOWNS …
THROUGHOUT EUROPE …
AMID A STRUGGLE …
TO ROLLOUT VACCINES.
[[RIDGWELL SOT: So at the moment, for much of Europe it's a race between vaccinations and infections. ]]
A RARE SIDE-EFFECT …
FROM TWO VACCINES …
RAISES CONCERNS …
ABOUT VACCINE HESITANCY.
[[SOT-FRIEDEN: For the people who are hesitant we need to make vaccine free. We need to make it convenient. We need to make clear that it's safe and effective. And we need to preserve that confidence by doing things like pausing with the J&J vaccine. ]]
AND IN AFRICA’S …
HARDEST HIT NATION:
COVID’S IMPACT …
ON THE DIVIDE BETWEEN …
URBAN AND RURAL LIFE …
ON PLUGGED IN:
VACCINE AND IMMUNIZATION
[[STOP]]
[[GRETA]]
HELLO AND WELCOME …
TO PLUGGED IN.
I’M GRETA VAN SUSTEREN …
REPORTING FROM WASHINGTON, DC.
IT HAS BEEN MORE THAN A YEAR ...
FIGHTING COVID.
IT HAS MEANT SOCIAL DISTANCING ...
MASKS AND HANDWASHING.
NOW THE UNITED STATES ...
IN THE PROCESS …
OF RE-OPENING.
TO FACILITATE THE REOPENING,
MORE THAN …
75 MILLION PEOPLE …
IN AMERICA …
ARE NOW FULLY VACCINATED.
THIS NUMBER EASILY REACHING …
PRESIDENT BIDEN’S GOAL …
OF 100-MILLION SHOTS …
IN HIS FIRST 100 DAYS …
AS THE NEW PRESIDENT.
EUROPE, ON THE OTHER HAND
STANDS IN SHARP CONTRAST …
ITS COUNTRIES ARE PREPARING
FOR ANOTHER LOCKDOWN …
AS A THIRD WAVE …
OF INFECTIONS …
MEETS A SLOW VACCINE ROLLOUT.
MAKING MATTERS WORSE…
SOME HAVE CONCERNS…
ABOUT A RARE SIDE-EFFECT …
FROM VACCINES.
WE BEGIN OUR COVERAGE …
IN LONDON …
WITH VOA REPORTER …
HENRY RIDGWELL.
[[STOP]]
[[RIDGWELL/COVID EUROPE THIRD WAVE PKG]]
((VIDEO: REUTERS/APTN/AFP FOOTAGE OF ITALY PROTEST))
Back in lockdown – and stretched to the breaking point. Restaurant owners gathered in Rome Monday to protest government orders to close.
((Restaurant Owner from Veneto Region (in Italian) ))
“We are tired of this, we need to return to work, we just can't do it anymore.”
Italy is one of several European countries struggling with a third wave of the virus.
((VIDEO: REUTERS/APTN FOOTAGE OF GERMANY, FRANCE, LOCKDOWNS))
France, Germany and several other states have extended lockdowns. Doctors warn more young people are being hospitalized with the virus. Germany’s chancellor has this stark warning.
((Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (in German) ))
“This third wave might turn out to be the toughest of all for us.”
The surge is driven by the so-called B.1.1.7 variant of the virus, first identified in Britain, which was hit hard in January.
((VIDEO: REUTERS/APTN FOOTAGE OF BRITISH SHOPS, PUBS REOPENING))
But now Britain is bucking the European trend. Pubs and shops reopened Monday, as hospitalizations have fallen to levels last seen in the summer. More than 60 percent of British adults have received a first dose of vaccine.
((Anthony Harnden, Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation))
“There is a huge wave - third wave - of COVID sweeping Europe at the moment, and that's in part due to the fact that not a very high proportion of their populations have been vaccinated. Vaccination programs are complicated things and they do rely on public confidence.”
((VIDEO: REUTERS/APTN FOOTAGE OF VACCINE PROGRAMS IN EUROPE))
Polls show public confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine in Britain is around 75 percent.
But a majority of people in France, Germany, Italy and Spain believe the jab to be unsafe. Confusion over trial data led to the vaccine initially being restricted to those under-65. But in a policy reversal, several countries are now restricting the vaccine to older age groups, after cases of rare blood clots emerged among younger people.
((Dr. Peter Drobac, Global Health Expert at University of Oxford))
((cf. mandatory Skype logo))
“These are very rare events. They still exist, but we need to balance that against the risk of developing COVID or developing severe disease or even dying from COVID. And in most places and for most people, that is a much, much greater risk.”
((VIDEO: AFP FOOTAGE OF CASTEX RECEIVING VACCINE, VACCINATION CLINICS))
Europe is trying to boost public confidence. France’s prime minister was given the AstraZeneca vaccine on live television.
After a slow start, inoculation programs are gaining speed, using vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen. Germany gave a record 720,000 doses in one day last week.
((VIDEO: REUTERS/APTN FOOTAGE OF ASTRAZENECA VACCINE PRODUCTION))
But Europe’s troubled rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine has implications beyond its own borders, as global public confidence in the drug appears to be falling. The AstraZeneca shot is cheaper and easier to produce than other vaccines, and can be kept at normal refrigerator temperatures.
((Dr Peter Drobac, Global Health Expert at University of Oxford))
((cf. mandatory Skype logo))
“And so for all of those reasons, I think this vaccine is of utmost importance. It's kind of the backbone of the global vaccination campaign.”
((VIDEO: REUTERS/APTN/AFP FOOTAGE OF VACCINE PROGRAMS IN AFRICA))
The African Union last week canceled plans to procure the AstraZeneca vaccine, citing a desire to diversify its options. The bloc said the decision was unrelated to concerns over blood clots.
But health experts say it could further fuel vaccine hesitancy, and they are calling for global awareness campaigns to counter misinformation.
((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, London.))
[[GRETA]]
THE EUROPEAN UNION’S GOAL …
OF VACCINATING …
70 PERCENT …
OF ITS POPULATION …
BY SUMMER …
IS THREATENED ...
BY A COMBINATION …
OF VACCINE SHORTAGES …
QUESTIONABLE DEALS …
AND SAFETY CONCERNS.
I SPOKE TO OUR …
HENRY RIDGWELL …
ABOUT THE CHALLENGES …
AHEAD FOR EUROPE.
[[STOP]]
[[SOT/RIDGWELL Q&A]]
HR: Henry Ridgwell
GVS: Greta Van Susteren
HR: The Johnson and Johnson vaccine as well has not yet been approved by the Medical Council in the U.K. It's a different scenario in Europe. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine has been approved there, although it's not a huge part of the vaccine rollout on the European mainland. The difficulty is that you have these drip drip scenario of doubts around the vaccine, of possible side effects. Initially you will remember that because of confusion over data from the trials, the AstraZeneca vaccine wasn't given to older age groups, and now with this news of possible blood clots among younger age groups, it's being restricted only to the older adults. So this confusion, this slide back and forth is really undermine confidence in Europe, certainly in the AstraZeneca vaccine. And the most recent polls show that actually a majority of people on the European mainland don't believe that the vaccine is safe. And with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine also pausing because of these blood clots, I think there is a job to do for European governments to convince publics that it is safe.
GVS: What about the actual supply? Does Europe getting the supply that it feels it should be getting or is it getting undersupplied?
HR: for the AstraZeneca vaccine, the supplies are still falling short of what was supposedly contracted under the contract signed between Europe and AstraZeneca. There have been further delays because many of these AstraZeneca vaccines were being manufactured in India at the Serum Institutes in India, they were supposed to be supplying many vaccines to Europe. That has been delayed partly because India says it needs the vaccines itself and partly for other reasons of quality and control. So certainly through February or March, there has been a big delay for Europe in trying to source the vaccines that it needs. And there have been political issues as well, because the AstraZeneca vaccine was developed partly in Britain of course, in conjunction with Oxford University, is manufactured here. Britain is not sending any of those AstraZeneca vaccines across the English Channel to Europe. However, European manufacturers are sending the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine the other way back into Britain. And so that has been a real sore point, don't forget that comes in the wake of Brexit and all the political shenanigans that went on with that as well. For the rest of Europe and for the other vaccines now, production is ramping up. We've seen huge sports stadiums converted into mass vaccination centers. Europe still lags far behind the United States and Britain in its vaccination rates. But when we get to summer, I think we'll see that actually there's probably only going to be a few weeks between all adults being vaccinated across all these Western developed countries.
[GRETA]
AS I MENTIONED EARLIER …
THE U.S. RECOMMENDS …
A PAUSE IN USING …
JOHNSON & JOHNSON’S …
COVID VACCINE …
OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE …
OF CAUTION ...
BECAUSE LIKE WITH THE …
ASTRAZENECA VACCINE …
THERE HAVE BEEN …
RARE CASES OF BLOOD CLOTS.
VOA SENIOR …
WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT …
PATSY WEE-DUH-Q-SWARA …
REPORTS ON THE IMPACT …
THIS PAUSE WILL HAVE …
ON THE U.S. VACCINE ROLLOUT.
[[STOP]]
[[PATSY/WH-J&J PKG]]
((Various of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, various of women getting vaccinated, AP 4320582))
((NARRATOR))
U.S. federal health agencies called for the suspension of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday after six women developed rare blood clots within two weeks of receiving the shot. Experts say the clots were observed in the sinuses of the brain. One woman died.
Almost 7 million Johnson & Johnson shots have been delivered in the U.S, making the risk less than one in a million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The White House said the pause has been put in place out of an abundance of caution ...
((Zients walk to podium))
((NARRATOR))
…. and will not significantly impact vaccine rollout.
((Radio track, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, Jeff Zients))
((AP 4320645))
((Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator))
“The J&J vaccine makes up less than 5% of the more than 190 million recorded shots in arms in the United States to date.”
((Various Pfizer HQ AFP V000_97E8HG and Pfizer vaccine production and shots given, AFP V000_8UW3R8))
((NARRATOR))
The Biden administration says the U.S. has secured enough Pfizer and Moderna doses for 300 million Americans and will continue to administer an average of just over 3 million shots per day.
((Various of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine administering and manufacturing, Reuters Edit No: 0570))
((NARRATOR))
Still, the Johnson & Johnson suspension is expected to scare off those already hesitant to get vaccinated. That’s about 20 percent of Americans, according to polls. It will also make it harder to reach underserved communities since
((Vaccine cold storage, AFP V000_97E8HG, J&J shots))
J&J doses do not have to be stored at ultracold temperatures and is the only single shot vaccine being used in the U.S.
((Radio track: Jeffrey Kahn is the director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of bioethics at Johns Hopkins University ))
((https://app.frame.io/player/39e94358-ff32-4ec2-b986-d77770c459f2 TC 4:37))
((Jeffrey Kahn, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics)) ((Skype))
“Think about homeless populations where it's very difficult to find those people a second time. So, even if you go out to mobile clinics to certain populations, it is very hard to get to them twice. And so, a single dose vaccine is a great tool for that kind of vaccine outreach.”
((Various of AstraZeneca vaccine administering and manufacturing, Reuters Edit No: 4164))
((NARRATOR))
Meanwhile, several countries have either suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine or stopped giving it to younger people, also due to the potential danger of rare blood clots.
((Radio track: William Schaffner is a professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine))
((https://app.frame.io/player/fd726e0c-b7fc-48bb-a6d1-edc0ef866d80 TC 4:15))
((William Schaffner, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine)) ((Skype))
“The J&J vaccine and the AstraZeneca vaccine are made in very similar ways, different from Moderna and Pfizer. And of course, one of the questions is, if this blood-clotting event is related to the vaccines, what's special about these vaccines that might induce these blood-clotting events? We don't know the answers to that yet, but that's part of the investigation.”
((AstraZeneca vial and jabs AP 4319645, AP 4319848))
((NARRATOR))
Issues with AstraZeneca and J&J are complicating vaccine rollout in Europe and other places.
((Cooke establish, AFP V000_97J7V7))
((NARRATOR))
But the executive director of the European Medicines Agency, Emer Cooke, insists that the risk of death from COVID-19 is much greater than the risk of side effects.
((AFP V000_97J7V7))
((Emer Cooke, European Medicines Agency))
"I think it's important that we give the message that vaccines will help us in the fight against COVID, and we need to continue to use these vaccines.”
((New York mass vaccination, AFP V000_97H362, ((Various mass vaccination, AFP V000_97A3UH))
((NARRATOR))
As of now, Johnson & Johnson said there’s “no clear causal relationship” between these rare blood-clot events and the vaccine.
((Patsy Widakuswara, VOA News. ))
[[GRETA]]
THIS WEEK …
MARKS THE START...
OF RAMADAN ...
OBSERVED BY MUSLIMS …
AROUND THE WORLD.
IN THE MIDWESTERN …
U.S. STATE …
OF MINNESOTA...
FAITH LEADERS AT...
ONE MOSQUE ...
ARE ENCOURAGING ...
WORSHIPPERS TO GET...
VACCINATED AGAINST COVID-19 ...
AS PART OF A BROADER EFFORT ...
TO SAVE LIVES.
VOA’S CAROL GUNSBERG
TELLS US MORE.
[[STOP]]
[[GUENSBURG PKG]]
((NARRATION))
Sharif Mohamed, the imam of Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in (the U.S. state of) Minneapolis, Minnesota, is using his sermon at a midday prayer to try to boost the Somali American community’s confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine.
In collaboration with medical professionals, the mosque is hosting a vaccination clinic.
((Sharif Mohamed, Imam)) ((MALE - ENGLISH))
“We are trying to put faith and healthcare together, and when the people and the community see their mosques as they come and pray was to hold a vaccine, they trust the vaccine more than anything else.”
((NARRATION))
It’s part of a nationwide effort in which religious leaders of all faiths have been enlisted to support vaccination – especially among people of color.
The head of the National Institutes of Health made that point at a recent vaccination clinic at the U.S. National Cathedral in Washington.
((Francis Collins, National Institutes of Health Director))
((THIS CHYRON IS BURNED IN))
"Unfortunately, many who could most benefit because they are at highest risk of serious and even life-threatening infections are still holding back. … Houses of worship are houses of hope."
((NARRATION))
In past years, some in the local Somali American community have heeded anti-vaccination messages, including the discredited conspiracy theory that the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella caused autism.
Religious leaders say they are now trying to fight a new wave of conspiracy theories against COVID vaccine.
Sidow Abdi Sharif Mohamed just got his first vaccine shot at the mosque.
((Sidow Abdi Sharif Mohamed, Worshipper)) ((Male English))
“Oh, this virus is serious. Any Muslim, you need to take, please. This is a requirement to take this shot. Don’t listen [to] all the conspiracy people. … Islam is not against any medicine.”
((NARRATION))
Community organizations involved with this program say immigrants need to protect each other by getting vaccinations.
((Pahoua Yang Hoffman, St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation)) ((Female – ENGLISH)
“In the immigrant community in particular, we grow up in multigenerational households. And so to protect one another, we must wear our masks like we are today, and we must also get vaccinated.”
((NARRATION))
In the United States overall, more than half of all COVID cases and almost half of all the country's 550 thousand deaths have been among people of color, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For Siyad Salah in Minneapolis, Carol Guensburg, VOA News
[GRETA OC]
IN THE US…
THE RATE OF COVID-19 ...
VACCINATIONS IN THE U.S ...
IS SPEEDING UP.
ACCORDING TO THE U.S. CENTERS …
FOR DISEASE CONTROL.
ABOUT 30-PERCENT...
OF AMERICA’S …
AGE 18-AND-OVER POPULATION ...
IS NOW FULLY VACCINATED.
U.S. DECISIONS …
ABOUT OTHER VACCINES ...
COULD HAVE …
BROAD IMPLICATIONS …
FOR THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY.
DR. TOM FRIEDEN ...
SERVED AS THE CDC DIRECTOR ...
DURING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.
WE SPOKE EARLIER
ABOUT THE PACE
AND PROGRESS OF
COVID-19 VACCINATIONS.
[[STOP]]
[[FRIEDEN INTERVIEW]]
TF = Dr. Tom Frieden
GVS = Greta Van Susteren
TF: What's happening now is that younger people who are unvaccinated are getting the disease and that's who you see because older people are largely protected by vaccines, we're in the US we're just not there yet. We don't have vaccination at a high enough rate to be relaxing the restrictions as we have. Because of that we're seeing a lot of spread in many parts of the country, a lot of hospitalizations and far too many deaths. We've gotten hardened to the numbers. It's great that there are now many fewer deaths every day from COVID in the US than they were before, but they're still five hundred to a thousand deaths every single day. That's a shocking number of deaths.
GVS: Doctor, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca are both hitting sort of barriers or with with getting the vaccine out because there's been some question about what, what can you tell me about this?
TF: Well, what we know is that there appears to be a very rare adverse event and we need to learn more. We need to learn who's at risk. Can it be predicted? Can it be treated? Can it be avoided? But right now, you're seeing about a one in a million rate of a serious adverse event having to do with clotting. How the blood clots. And what's interesting is that if you look at the illness. That covered the disease causes a lot of that is from clotting, you see clotting in the lungs and elsewhere So there's something about this virus and or our immune response to it that may in rare cases with the vaccine but commonly with the virus itself, cause a serious health problem.
GVS: When you say one in a million, that's I mean I don't want to sound cold but that seems a very low likelihood I think you know even peanut butter sandwiches might create more for some children who have allergies to peanuts and go into anaphylactic shock. Is one in a million sort of an alarming number?
TF: Well we wish it were completely safe. There's an old saying from Ben Franklin that the. The only thing that's certain in this world is death and taxes, and just as no vaccine is going to be one hundred percent effective, no no treatment of any kind is going to be one hundred percent without problems. But we would rather not see any serious or life threatening reactions from a vaccine that's given to healthy people to prevent the infection in the first place. So it's something that needs to be taken quite seriously.
GVS: Do other vaccines have zero risk vaccines for other diseases?
TF: There are very rare situations in other diseases where there may be problems, those problems may be serious but rarely fatal. So it's it's somewhat rare to get an adverse effect. That can be fatal and that's something that really does give us pause now, the fact is with covid having already killed over three million people around the world, clearly if you look at the risks and the benefits, the benefits are going to outweigh the risks. And right now, we're in a terrible crunch because we have the virus increasing and not enough vaccine. So that creates all sorts of challenges over the coming months and years. We may figure out how to make the vaccines more effective, work well against the variants, and if the serious health but rare health problem is confirmed, how to predict it or avoid it or treat it. But right now, we've got limited vaccine. And too much virus.
GVS: Well, it seems to be those six women out of a million.I mean that sounds horrible to me as a layperson but I didn't know if the statistics were such that that is sort of regrettably sort of in the medical community research community and not not a not a significant number.
TF: Well, any death is significant. And so if in fact the deaths were an adverse event to the vaccine, that's something that has to be taken very seriously.
GVS: All right It seems to me there are four categories. One is those who have had the vaccine. I've heard The Moderna, those who want it and can't get it yet for some reason. Then there are those who are called have hesitancy because they're waiting to see what happens to the rest of us essentially. And then there are those who are deniers who will never take it under any circumstances. When you take a look at that that group, what's the message to them?
TF: Well I think the message has to be different. Different groups, we have to listen to what people are concerned about, address those concerns and then find the right messages and the right messengers for each community, for the people who are adamantly opposed. I would just say let them be, you know, engaging with them is only going to make them dig in more deeply. But for the people who are hesitant we need to make vaccine free. We need to make it convenient. We need to make clear that it's safe and effective. And we need to preserve that confidence by doing things like pausing with the JMJ vaccine until we learn more. And we need to tell stories real stories about the suffering that people have when they get covid about the long haul covid that can cause problems for weeks or months or we hope not but possibly years and about the freedom that vaccination is going to bring because it is with vaccines that we will conquer this pandemic but we have to do it as a world. So this is a really important point Greta. Your vaccine protects you, but if many people around you are vaccinated, you're going to be even safer. So vaccines work on an individual level but they also work on a community level. The more of us who are vaccinated, the safer all of us are. So yes you've got a chance of getting infected. And even after you've gotten vaccinated, but if everyone around you is vaccinated, that chance is vastly lower. The same is true with masks. The more of us mask up, the safer all of us are. The quicker we get vaccinated, the safer all of us are. And that's true within countries and that's true globally also And that's why it's so important that as a world we come together and scale up production of all vaccines especially mRNA vaccines, and get the world vaccinated as rapidly as possible so we can crush the curve and leave the pandemic behind.
GVS: Doctor thank you very much as always, thank you sir.
TF: Thank you. Always a pleasure speaking with you, Greta.
[[GRETA]]
PANDEMIC LOCKDOWNS …
IMPACT CITY DWELLERS …
DIFFERENTLY THAN PEOPLE …
LIVING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE.
IN AFRICA ...
LARGE-SCALE LOCKDOWNS ...
HAVE SEALED OFF RESIDENTS ...
IN MAJOR CITIES ...
LIKE LAGOS …
JOHANNESBURG …
AND NAIROBI ...
FROM THEIR RURAL NEIGHBORS.
VOA’S ANITA POWELL ...
VISITED ONE SMALL ...
SOUTH AFRICA TOWN ...
TO SEE HOW …
ITS RESIDENTS ...
ARE COPING …
UNDER PANDEMIC …
RESTRICTIONS
[[STOP]]
[[POWELL PKG]]
((NARRATOR))
It’s hard to see Covid-19 here, in the village of KaMatsamo, in rural South Africa.
On a recent day, most residents weren’t diligently wearing masks outdoors, as is the law.
But the pandemic is deeply felt here, say residents -- who point not to death tolls, but to economic and social devastation.
((NAT POP of Sambo (in English) ))
“It's been a problem -- like, a really problem, a big problem -- to me.”
((NARRATOR
22-year-old Phakade Sambo wants to become a carpenter and, eventually, set up her own carpentry shop. But that dream ended when the pandemic arrived.
((Phakade Sambo, Vendor (in English) ))
“Because I can't continue with my carpentry studies. I just stopped, and I can't even start my own business because the money is too low. People are complaining they can't even buy this fruit, they are complaining They say it's too much money, I'm being expensive or something. They say that.”
((NARRATOR))
Data about COVID’s impact on Africa’s urban-rural divide is still being gathered. But one recent study from a group of Nigerian and British researchers warns that rural African communities risk being left behind in the pandemic because of the lack of amenities like good road networks and strong infrastructure like clinics and hospitals.
Big efforts such as vaccination campaigns are much more difficult in rural environments, says Freddy Nkosi, country director of an NGO in the Democratic Republic of Congo that focuses on remote, rural low-income countries. =
((Freddy Nkosi, Country Director, VillageReach (in English) ))
“You need to keep the vaccines in the cold chain environments and you need to train the people who will transport the vaccines. You need to train the people who will be using the vaccines, I mean the health workers. So getting all these different pieces of puzzles in the very short period of time, that's very, very challenging.”
((NARRATOR))
For a town like KaMatsamo, which has 23,000 residents and is less than a day’s drive from Johannesburg, that is doable. And for that reason, residents say they prefer to stay here.
((Sam Limana, Supermarket Worker (in English) ))
“It's better to stay in a small place because we have small (number of) people, than in big cities. Because in the big cities, because there’s a lot of people, some of them, they don't know about Covid, they’re stubborn, they don’t know about this, they don’t care about this.”
((Zama Changela, Security Guard (in English)))
“I think around the rural area, it's much better than the city, because there's not a lot of people. I think it's safe to be in a rural area.”
((NARRATOR))
But Nkosi says his experience in the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa is concerning -- what little of it he gets to see.
((Freddy Nkosi, Country Director, VillageReach (in English)
“I travel in over five provinces so far, where I see a disparity between what is happening in the urban area, or in Kinshasa, and what is happening in most of the rural areas, where, for example, if I have to start with the health workers and commit to health workers in the rural areas, they have limited access to personal protective equipment compared to those who are in the urban areas.”
((NARRATOR))
But rural African life has always been complex, and resilient. This town has existed in some form, for hundreds of years, through wars, epidemics and upheavals. This pandemic, in a way, is just a blip in its history.
((Anita Powell, VOA News, KaMatsamo, South Africa))
[[GRETA]]
BEFORE WE GO …
A FEW MOMENTS …
TO REMEMBER ...
PRINCE PHILLIP …
THE GREEK-BORN HUSBAND …
OF QUEEN ELIZABETH …
GREAT BRITAIN’S …
LONGEST REIGNING MONARCH.
HE DIED APRIL 9TH ...
AT AGE 99.
BEST KNOWN …
FOR HIS SENSE OF DUTY …
TO THE QUEEN …
THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH …
HAD A SENSE OF HUMOR …
AS WELL.
HERE’S VOA’S …
HENRY RIDGWELL.
[[STOP]]
[[PKG/RIDGWELL-PRINCE PHILLIP]]
((NARRATOR))
He was a man of the times, the rock behind one of the most extraordinary monarchs Britain has ever had.
Philip Mountbatten met Elizabeth while he was a naval cadet. She was a shy princess. They married in 1947.
When she became queen, he found it very difficult to give up his naval career, says Philip Eade, author of the book "Young Prince Philip."
((Philip Eade, Royal Author))
“He had been an extremely successful, extremely highly regarded naval officer in the British navy, and he was tipped from the very top. He was tipped to become head of the navy and so to have to give that all up in order to become second fiddle to his wife. He was a very overtly masculine character and not one who is going to take easily to this sort of life of walking a couple of paces behind the queen.”
((NARRATOR))
When asked in an interview what he thought of his role, Prince Philip replied, “I don’t.”
((Philip Eade, Royal Author))
“He grew up with a very strong sense of duty and he realized that his duty was first and foremost to support the queen in her work and that was really by far and away his most important, how he saw his role, that was what was at the top of his list.”
((NARRATOR))
Over seven decades, Prince Philip navigated the highs and lows of a Royal Family permanently in the public eye – including the death of Princess Diana in 1997.
((UPSOUND AT DIANA’S FUNERAL))
((SPECTATOR IN CROWD))
“Look after the boys, Ma’am.”
((PRINCE PHILIP))
“That’s what we have been doing.”
((NARRATOR))
Prince Philip was known for his wry sense of humor, which came in handy whenever he had to brush aside any suggestion of his role as a secondary figure. He once said his best speech was in 1956, when he opened the Summer Olympics with eight words: “I declare open the Olympic games of Melbourne.”
His jokes on occasion caused offence.
But he had a serious and lasting effect on the monarchy, pushing it to change with the times.
((Matthew Glencross, Historian, Kings College London))
“That is something Philip always saw for himself, is this idea that the monarchy must evolve. For example, he was very pro having the cameras in for Elizabeth the Second’s coronation in 1953. You’d think because of his reputation that he’d be one of the people who was quite conservative. Actually, no. He saw television as the future. People want to see more of their monarchy.”
((NARRATOR))
Prince Philip retired from official royal duties in 2017.
A year later, he was involved in a serious car accident while driving near the Royal Family’s country estate at Sandringham.
His last public appearance was in July 2020 at Windsor Castle.
((cf. MANDATORY ON-SCREEN CREDIT: 'BBC STUDIOS'))
Fulfilling his roles as consort and father, Prince Philip’s effect on a 12-hundred-year institution is a monarchy more visible and relevant to its people – a legacy he forged from his place two steps behind.
((HENRY RIDGWELL, FOR VOA NEWS, LONDON))
[[GRETA O/C]]
THAT’S ALL THE TIME …
WE HAVE FOR NOW.
THANKS TO MY GUEST ...
FORMER C.D.C DIRECTOR …
DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN.
STAY UP TO DATE …
ON THE LATEST NEWS …
AT VOANEWS.COM.
AND FOLLOW ME …
ON TWITTER …
AT GRETA.
THANK YOU FOR BEING …
PLUGGED IN.
[[END]]
ON PLUGGED IN …
A THIRD COVID WAVE …
FORCES LOCKDOWNS …
THROUGHOUT EUROPE …
AMID A STRUGGLE …
TO ROLLOUT VACCINES.
[[RIDGWELL SOT: So at the moment, for much of Europe it's a race between vaccinations and infections. ]]
A RARE SIDE-EFFECT …
FROM TWO VACCINES …
RAISES CONCERNS …
ABOUT VACCINE HESITANCY.
[[SOT-FRIEDEN: For the people who are hesitant we need to make vaccine free. We need to make it convenient. We need to make clear that it's safe and effective. And we need to preserve that confidence by doing things like pausing with the J&J vaccine. ]]
AND IN AFRICA’S …
HARDEST HIT NATION:
COVID’S IMPACT …
ON THE DIVIDE BETWEEN …
URBAN AND RURAL LIFE …
ON PLUGGED IN:
VACCINE AND IMMUNIZATION
[[STOP]]
[[GRETA]]
HELLO AND WELCOME …
TO PLUGGED IN.
I’M GRETA VAN SUSTEREN …
REPORTING FROM WASHINGTON, DC.
IT HAS BEEN MORE THAN A YEAR ...
FIGHTING COVID.
IT HAS MEANT SOCIAL DISTANCING ...
MASKS AND HANDWASHING.
NOW THE UNITED STATES ...
IN THE PROCESS …
OF RE-OPENING.
TO FACILITATE THE REOPENING,
MORE THAN …
75 MILLION PEOPLE …
IN AMERICA …
ARE NOW FULLY VACCINATED.
THIS NUMBER EASILY REACHING …
PRESIDENT BIDEN’S GOAL …
OF 100-MILLION SHOTS …
IN HIS FIRST 100 DAYS …
AS THE NEW PRESIDENT.
EUROPE, ON THE OTHER HAND
STANDS IN SHARP CONTRAST …
ITS COUNTRIES ARE PREPARING
FOR ANOTHER LOCKDOWN …
AS A THIRD WAVE …
OF INFECTIONS …
MEETS A SLOW VACCINE ROLLOUT.
MAKING MATTERS WORSE…
SOME HAVE CONCERNS…
ABOUT A RARE SIDE-EFFECT …
FROM VACCINES.
WE BEGIN OUR COVERAGE …
IN LONDON …
WITH VOA REPORTER …
HENRY RIDGWELL.
[[STOP]]
[[RIDGWELL/COVID EUROPE THIRD WAVE PKG]]
((VIDEO: REUTERS/APTN/AFP FOOTAGE OF ITALY PROTEST))
Back in lockdown – and stretched to the breaking point. Restaurant owners gathered in Rome Monday to protest government orders to close.
((Restaurant Owner from Veneto Region (in Italian) ))
“We are tired of this, we need to return to work, we just can't do it anymore.”
Italy is one of several European countries struggling with a third wave of the virus.
((VIDEO: REUTERS/APTN FOOTAGE OF GERMANY, FRANCE, LOCKDOWNS))
France, Germany and several other states have extended lockdowns. Doctors warn more young people are being hospitalized with the virus. Germany’s chancellor has this stark warning.
((Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (in German) ))
“This third wave might turn out to be the toughest of all for us.”
The surge is driven by the so-called B.1.1.7 variant of the virus, first identified in Britain, which was hit hard in January.
((VIDEO: REUTERS/APTN FOOTAGE OF BRITISH SHOPS, PUBS REOPENING))
But now Britain is bucking the European trend. Pubs and shops reopened Monday, as hospitalizations have fallen to levels last seen in the summer. More than 60 percent of British adults have received a first dose of vaccine.
((Anthony Harnden, Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation))
“There is a huge wave - third wave - of COVID sweeping Europe at the moment, and that's in part due to the fact that not a very high proportion of their populations have been vaccinated. Vaccination programs are complicated things and they do rely on public confidence.”
((VIDEO: REUTERS/APTN FOOTAGE OF VACCINE PROGRAMS IN EUROPE))
Polls show public confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine in Britain is around 75 percent.
But a majority of people in France, Germany, Italy and Spain believe the jab to be unsafe. Confusion over trial data led to the vaccine initially being restricted to those under-65. But in a policy reversal, several countries are now restricting the vaccine to older age groups, after cases of rare blood clots emerged among younger people.
((Dr. Peter Drobac, Global Health Expert at University of Oxford))
((cf. mandatory Skype logo))
“These are very rare events. They still exist, but we need to balance that against the risk of developing COVID or developing severe disease or even dying from COVID. And in most places and for most people, that is a much, much greater risk.”
((VIDEO: AFP FOOTAGE OF CASTEX RECEIVING VACCINE, VACCINATION CLINICS))
Europe is trying to boost public confidence. France’s prime minister was given the AstraZeneca vaccine on live television.
After a slow start, inoculation programs are gaining speed, using vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen. Germany gave a record 720,000 doses in one day last week.
((VIDEO: REUTERS/APTN FOOTAGE OF ASTRAZENECA VACCINE PRODUCTION))
But Europe’s troubled rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine has implications beyond its own borders, as global public confidence in the drug appears to be falling. The AstraZeneca shot is cheaper and easier to produce than other vaccines, and can be kept at normal refrigerator temperatures.
((Dr Peter Drobac, Global Health Expert at University of Oxford))
((cf. mandatory Skype logo))
“And so for all of those reasons, I think this vaccine is of utmost importance. It's kind of the backbone of the global vaccination campaign.”
((VIDEO: REUTERS/APTN/AFP FOOTAGE OF VACCINE PROGRAMS IN AFRICA))
The African Union last week canceled plans to procure the AstraZeneca vaccine, citing a desire to diversify its options. The bloc said the decision was unrelated to concerns over blood clots.
But health experts say it could further fuel vaccine hesitancy, and they are calling for global awareness campaigns to counter misinformation.
((Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, London.))
[[GRETA]]
THE EUROPEAN UNION’S GOAL …
OF VACCINATING …
70 PERCENT …
OF ITS POPULATION …
BY SUMMER …
IS THREATENED ...
BY A COMBINATION …
OF VACCINE SHORTAGES …
QUESTIONABLE DEALS …
AND SAFETY CONCERNS.
I SPOKE TO OUR …
HENRY RIDGWELL …
ABOUT THE CHALLENGES …
AHEAD FOR EUROPE.
[[STOP]]
[[SOT/RIDGWELL Q&A]]
HR: Henry Ridgwell
GVS: Greta Van Susteren
HR: The Johnson and Johnson vaccine as well has not yet been approved by the Medical Council in the U.K. It's a different scenario in Europe. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine has been approved there, although it's not a huge part of the vaccine rollout on the European mainland. The difficulty is that you have these drip drip scenario of doubts around the vaccine, of possible side effects. Initially you will remember that because of confusion over data from the trials, the AstraZeneca vaccine wasn't given to older age groups, and now with this news of possible blood clots among younger age groups, it's being restricted only to the older adults. So this confusion, this slide back and forth is really undermine confidence in Europe, certainly in the AstraZeneca vaccine. And the most recent polls show that actually a majority of people on the European mainland don't believe that the vaccine is safe. And with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine also pausing because of these blood clots, I think there is a job to do for European governments to convince publics that it is safe.
GVS: What about the actual supply? Does Europe getting the supply that it feels it should be getting or is it getting undersupplied?
HR: for the AstraZeneca vaccine, the supplies are still falling short of what was supposedly contracted under the contract signed between Europe and AstraZeneca. There have been further delays because many of these AstraZeneca vaccines were being manufactured in India at the Serum Institutes in India, they were supposed to be supplying many vaccines to Europe. That has been delayed partly because India says it needs the vaccines itself and partly for other reasons of quality and control. So certainly through February or March, there has been a big delay for Europe in trying to source the vaccines that it needs. And there have been political issues as well, because the AstraZeneca vaccine was developed partly in Britain of course, in conjunction with Oxford University, is manufactured here. Britain is not sending any of those AstraZeneca vaccines across the English Channel to Europe. However, European manufacturers are sending the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine the other way back into Britain. And so that has been a real sore point, don't forget that comes in the wake of Brexit and all the political shenanigans that went on with that as well. For the rest of Europe and for the other vaccines now, production is ramping up. We've seen huge sports stadiums converted into mass vaccination centers. Europe still lags far behind the United States and Britain in its vaccination rates. But when we get to summer, I think we'll see that actually there's probably only going to be a few weeks between all adults being vaccinated across all these Western developed countries.
[GRETA]
AS I MENTIONED EARLIER …
THE U.S. RECOMMENDS …
A PAUSE IN USING …
JOHNSON & JOHNSON’S …
COVID VACCINE …
OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE …
OF CAUTION ...
BECAUSE LIKE WITH THE …
ASTRAZENECA VACCINE …
THERE HAVE BEEN …
RARE CASES OF BLOOD CLOTS.
VOA SENIOR …
WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT …
PATSY WEE-DUH-Q-SWARA …
REPORTS ON THE IMPACT …
THIS PAUSE WILL HAVE …
ON THE U.S. VACCINE ROLLOUT.
[[STOP]]
[[PATSY/WH-J&J PKG]]
((Various of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, various of women getting vaccinated, AP 4320582))
((NARRATOR))
U.S. federal health agencies called for the suspension of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday after six women developed rare blood clots within two weeks of receiving the shot. Experts say the clots were observed in the sinuses of the brain. One woman died.
Almost 7 million Johnson & Johnson shots have been delivered in the U.S, making the risk less than one in a million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The White House said the pause has been put in place out of an abundance of caution ...
((Zients walk to podium))
((NARRATOR))
…. and will not significantly impact vaccine rollout.
((Radio track, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, Jeff Zients))
((AP 4320645))
((Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator))
“The J&J vaccine makes up less than 5% of the more than 190 million recorded shots in arms in the United States to date.”
((Various Pfizer HQ AFP V000_97E8HG and Pfizer vaccine production and shots given, AFP V000_8UW3R8))
((NARRATOR))
The Biden administration says the U.S. has secured enough Pfizer and Moderna doses for 300 million Americans and will continue to administer an average of just over 3 million shots per day.
((Various of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine administering and manufacturing, Reuters Edit No: 0570))
((NARRATOR))
Still, the Johnson & Johnson suspension is expected to scare off those already hesitant to get vaccinated. That’s about 20 percent of Americans, according to polls. It will also make it harder to reach underserved communities since
((Vaccine cold storage, AFP V000_97E8HG, J&J shots))
J&J doses do not have to be stored at ultracold temperatures and is the only single shot vaccine being used in the U.S.
((Radio track: Jeffrey Kahn is the director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of bioethics at Johns Hopkins University ))
((https://app.frame.io/player/39e94358-ff32-4ec2-b986-d77770c459f2 TC 4:37))
((Jeffrey Kahn, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics)) ((Skype))
“Think about homeless populations where it's very difficult to find those people a second time. So, even if you go out to mobile clinics to certain populations, it is very hard to get to them twice. And so, a single dose vaccine is a great tool for that kind of vaccine outreach.”
((Various of AstraZeneca vaccine administering and manufacturing, Reuters Edit No: 4164))
((NARRATOR))
Meanwhile, several countries have either suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine or stopped giving it to younger people, also due to the potential danger of rare blood clots.
((Radio track: William Schaffner is a professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine))
((https://app.frame.io/player/fd726e0c-b7fc-48bb-a6d1-edc0ef866d80 TC 4:15))
((William Schaffner, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine)) ((Skype))
“The J&J vaccine and the AstraZeneca vaccine are made in very similar ways, different from Moderna and Pfizer. And of course, one of the questions is, if this blood-clotting event is related to the vaccines, what's special about these vaccines that might induce these blood-clotting events? We don't know the answers to that yet, but that's part of the investigation.”
((AstraZeneca vial and jabs AP 4319645, AP 4319848))
((NARRATOR))
Issues with AstraZeneca and J&J are complicating vaccine rollout in Europe and other places.
((Cooke establish, AFP V000_97J7V7))
((NARRATOR))
But the executive director of the European Medicines Agency, Emer Cooke, insists that the risk of death from COVID-19 is much greater than the risk of side effects.
((AFP V000_97J7V7))
((Emer Cooke, European Medicines Agency))
"I think it's important that we give the message that vaccines will help us in the fight against COVID, and we need to continue to use these vaccines.”
((New York mass vaccination, AFP V000_97H362, ((Various mass vaccination, AFP V000_97A3UH))
((NARRATOR))
As of now, Johnson & Johnson said there’s “no clear causal relationship” between these rare blood-clot events and the vaccine.
((Patsy Widakuswara, VOA News. ))
[[GRETA]]
THIS WEEK …
MARKS THE START...
OF RAMADAN ...
OBSERVED BY MUSLIMS …
AROUND THE WORLD.
IN THE MIDWESTERN …
U.S. STATE …
OF MINNESOTA...
FAITH LEADERS AT...
ONE MOSQUE ...
ARE ENCOURAGING ...
WORSHIPPERS TO GET...
VACCINATED AGAINST COVID-19 ...
AS PART OF A BROADER EFFORT ...
TO SAVE LIVES.
VOA’S CAROL GUNSBERG
TELLS US MORE.
[[STOP]]
[[GUENSBURG PKG]]
((NARRATION))
Sharif Mohamed, the imam of Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in (the U.S. state of) Minneapolis, Minnesota, is using his sermon at a midday prayer to try to boost the Somali American community’s confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine.
In collaboration with medical professionals, the mosque is hosting a vaccination clinic.
((Sharif Mohamed, Imam)) ((MALE - ENGLISH))
“We are trying to put faith and healthcare together, and when the people and the community see their mosques as they come and pray was to hold a vaccine, they trust the vaccine more than anything else.”
((NARRATION))
It’s part of a nationwide effort in which religious leaders of all faiths have been enlisted to support vaccination – especially among people of color.
The head of the National Institutes of Health made that point at a recent vaccination clinic at the U.S. National Cathedral in Washington.
((Francis Collins, National Institutes of Health Director))
((THIS CHYRON IS BURNED IN))
"Unfortunately, many who could most benefit because they are at highest risk of serious and even life-threatening infections are still holding back. … Houses of worship are houses of hope."
((NARRATION))
In past years, some in the local Somali American community have heeded anti-vaccination messages, including the discredited conspiracy theory that the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella caused autism.
Religious leaders say they are now trying to fight a new wave of conspiracy theories against COVID vaccine.
Sidow Abdi Sharif Mohamed just got his first vaccine shot at the mosque.
((Sidow Abdi Sharif Mohamed, Worshipper)) ((Male English))
“Oh, this virus is serious. Any Muslim, you need to take, please. This is a requirement to take this shot. Don’t listen [to] all the conspiracy people. … Islam is not against any medicine.”
((NARRATION))
Community organizations involved with this program say immigrants need to protect each other by getting vaccinations.
((Pahoua Yang Hoffman, St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation)) ((Female – ENGLISH)
“In the immigrant community in particular, we grow up in multigenerational households. And so to protect one another, we must wear our masks like we are today, and we must also get vaccinated.”
((NARRATION))
In the United States overall, more than half of all COVID cases and almost half of all the country's 550 thousand deaths have been among people of color, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For Siyad Salah in Minneapolis, Carol Guensburg, VOA News
[GRETA OC]
IN THE US…
THE RATE OF COVID-19 ...
VACCINATIONS IN THE U.S ...
IS SPEEDING UP.
ACCORDING TO THE U.S. CENTERS …
FOR DISEASE CONTROL.
ABOUT 30-PERCENT...
OF AMERICA’S …
AGE 18-AND-OVER POPULATION ...
IS NOW FULLY VACCINATED.
U.S. DECISIONS …
ABOUT OTHER VACCINES ...
COULD HAVE …
BROAD IMPLICATIONS …
FOR THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY.
DR. TOM FRIEDEN ...
SERVED AS THE CDC DIRECTOR ...
DURING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.
WE SPOKE EARLIER
ABOUT THE PACE
AND PROGRESS OF
COVID-19 VACCINATIONS.
[[STOP]]
[[FRIEDEN INTERVIEW]]
TF = Dr. Tom Frieden
GVS = Greta Van Susteren
TF: What's happening now is that younger people who are unvaccinated are getting the disease and that's who you see because older people are largely protected by vaccines, we're in the US we're just not there yet. We don't have vaccination at a high enough rate to be relaxing the restrictions as we have. Because of that we're seeing a lot of spread in many parts of the country, a lot of hospitalizations and far too many deaths. We've gotten hardened to the numbers. It's great that there are now many fewer deaths every day from COVID in the US than they were before, but they're still five hundred to a thousand deaths every single day. That's a shocking number of deaths.
GVS: Doctor, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca are both hitting sort of barriers or with with getting the vaccine out because there's been some question about what, what can you tell me about this?
TF: Well, what we know is that there appears to be a very rare adverse event and we need to learn more. We need to learn who's at risk. Can it be predicted? Can it be treated? Can it be avoided? But right now, you're seeing about a one in a million rate of a serious adverse event having to do with clotting. How the blood clots. And what's interesting is that if you look at the illness. That covered the disease causes a lot of that is from clotting, you see clotting in the lungs and elsewhere So there's something about this virus and or our immune response to it that may in rare cases with the vaccine but commonly with the virus itself, cause a serious health problem.
GVS: When you say one in a million, that's I mean I don't want to sound cold but that seems a very low likelihood I think you know even peanut butter sandwiches might create more for some children who have allergies to peanuts and go into anaphylactic shock. Is one in a million sort of an alarming number?
TF: Well we wish it were completely safe. There's an old saying from Ben Franklin that the. The only thing that's certain in this world is death and taxes, and just as no vaccine is going to be one hundred percent effective, no no treatment of any kind is going to be one hundred percent without problems. But we would rather not see any serious or life threatening reactions from a vaccine that's given to healthy people to prevent the infection in the first place. So it's something that needs to be taken quite seriously.
GVS: Do other vaccines have zero risk vaccines for other diseases?
TF: There are very rare situations in other diseases where there may be problems, those problems may be serious but rarely fatal. So it's it's somewhat rare to get an adverse effect. That can be fatal and that's something that really does give us pause now, the fact is with covid having already killed over three million people around the world, clearly if you look at the risks and the benefits, the benefits are going to outweigh the risks. And right now, we're in a terrible crunch because we have the virus increasing and not enough vaccine. So that creates all sorts of challenges over the coming months and years. We may figure out how to make the vaccines more effective, work well against the variants, and if the serious health but rare health problem is confirmed, how to predict it or avoid it or treat it. But right now, we've got limited vaccine. And too much virus.
GVS: Well, it seems to be those six women out of a million.I mean that sounds horrible to me as a layperson but I didn't know if the statistics were such that that is sort of regrettably sort of in the medical community research community and not not a not a significant number.
TF: Well, any death is significant. And so if in fact the deaths were an adverse event to the vaccine, that's something that has to be taken very seriously.
GVS: All right It seems to me there are four categories. One is those who have had the vaccine. I've heard The Moderna, those who want it and can't get it yet for some reason. Then there are those who are called have hesitancy because they're waiting to see what happens to the rest of us essentially. And then there are those who are deniers who will never take it under any circumstances. When you take a look at that that group, what's the message to them?
TF: Well I think the message has to be different. Different groups, we have to listen to what people are concerned about, address those concerns and then find the right messages and the right messengers for each community, for the people who are adamantly opposed. I would just say let them be, you know, engaging with them is only going to make them dig in more deeply. But for the people who are hesitant we need to make vaccine free. We need to make it convenient. We need to make clear that it's safe and effective. And we need to preserve that confidence by doing things like pausing with the JMJ vaccine until we learn more. And we need to tell stories real stories about the suffering that people have when they get covid about the long haul covid that can cause problems for weeks or months or we hope not but possibly years and about the freedom that vaccination is going to bring because it is with vaccines that we will conquer this pandemic but we have to do it as a world. So this is a really important point Greta. Your vaccine protects you, but if many people around you are vaccinated, you're going to be even safer. So vaccines work on an individual level but they also work on a community level. The more of us who are vaccinated, the safer all of us are. So yes you've got a chance of getting infected. And even after you've gotten vaccinated, but if everyone around you is vaccinated, that chance is vastly lower. The same is true with masks. The more of us mask up, the safer all of us are. The quicker we get vaccinated, the safer all of us are. And that's true within countries and that's true globally also And that's why it's so important that as a world we come together and scale up production of all vaccines especially mRNA vaccines, and get the world vaccinated as rapidly as possible so we can crush the curve and leave the pandemic behind.
GVS: Doctor thank you very much as always, thank you sir.
TF: Thank you. Always a pleasure speaking with you, Greta.
[[GRETA]]
PANDEMIC LOCKDOWNS …
IMPACT CITY DWELLERS …
DIFFERENTLY THAN PEOPLE …
LIVING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE.
IN AFRICA ...
LARGE-SCALE LOCKDOWNS ...
HAVE SEALED OFF RESIDENTS ...
IN MAJOR CITIES ...
LIKE LAGOS …
JOHANNESBURG …
AND NAIROBI ...
FROM THEIR RURAL NEIGHBORS.
VOA’S ANITA POWELL ...
VISITED ONE SMALL ...
SOUTH AFRICA TOWN ...
TO SEE HOW …
ITS RESIDENTS ...
ARE COPING …
UNDER PANDEMIC …
RESTRICTIONS
[[STOP]]
[[POWELL PKG]]
((NARRATOR))
It’s hard to see Covid-19 here, in the village of KaMatsamo, in rural South Africa.
On a recent day, most residents weren’t diligently wearing masks outdoors, as is the law.
But the pandemic is deeply felt here, say residents -- who point not to death tolls, but to economic and social devastation.
((NAT POP of Sambo (in English) ))
“It's been a problem -- like, a really problem, a big problem -- to me.”
((NARRATOR
22-year-old Phakade Sambo wants to become a carpenter and, eventually, set up her own carpentry shop. But that dream ended when the pandemic arrived.
((Phakade Sambo, Vendor (in English) ))
“Because I can't continue with my carpentry studies. I just stopped, and I can't even start my own business because the money is too low. People are complaining they can't even buy this fruit, they are complaining They say it's too much money, I'm being expensive or something. They say that.”
((NARRATOR))
Data about COVID’s impact on Africa’s urban-rural divide is still being gathered. But one recent study from a group of Nigerian and British researchers warns that rural African communities risk being left behind in the pandemic because of the lack of amenities like good road networks and strong infrastructure like clinics and hospitals.
Big efforts such as vaccination campaigns are much more difficult in rural environments, says Freddy Nkosi, country director of an NGO in the Democratic Republic of Congo that focuses on remote, rural low-income countries. =
((Freddy Nkosi, Country Director, VillageReach (in English) ))
“You need to keep the vaccines in the cold chain environments and you need to train the people who will transport the vaccines. You need to train the people who will be using the vaccines, I mean the health workers. So getting all these different pieces of puzzles in the very short period of time, that's very, very challenging.”
((NARRATOR))
For a town like KaMatsamo, which has 23,000 residents and is less than a day’s drive from Johannesburg, that is doable. And for that reason, residents say they prefer to stay here.
((Sam Limana, Supermarket Worker (in English) ))
“It's better to stay in a small place because we have small (number of) people, than in big cities. Because in the big cities, because there’s a lot of people, some of them, they don't know about Covid, they’re stubborn, they don’t know about this, they don’t care about this.”
((Zama Changela, Security Guard (in English)))
“I think around the rural area, it's much better than the city, because there's not a lot of people. I think it's safe to be in a rural area.”
((NARRATOR))
But Nkosi says his experience in the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa is concerning -- what little of it he gets to see.
((Freddy Nkosi, Country Director, VillageReach (in English)
“I travel in over five provinces so far, where I see a disparity between what is happening in the urban area, or in Kinshasa, and what is happening in most of the rural areas, where, for example, if I have to start with the health workers and commit to health workers in the rural areas, they have limited access to personal protective equipment compared to those who are in the urban areas.”
((NARRATOR))
But rural African life has always been complex, and resilient. This town has existed in some form, for hundreds of years, through wars, epidemics and upheavals. This pandemic, in a way, is just a blip in its history.
((Anita Powell, VOA News, KaMatsamo, South Africa))
[[GRETA]]
BEFORE WE GO …
A FEW MOMENTS …
TO REMEMBER ...
PRINCE PHILLIP …
THE GREEK-BORN HUSBAND …
OF QUEEN ELIZABETH …
GREAT BRITAIN’S …
LONGEST REIGNING MONARCH.
HE DIED APRIL 9TH ...
AT AGE 99.
BEST KNOWN …
FOR HIS SENSE OF DUTY …
TO THE QUEEN …
THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH …
HAD A SENSE OF HUMOR …
AS WELL.
HERE’S VOA’S …
HENRY RIDGWELL.
[[STOP]]
[[PKG/RIDGWELL-PRINCE PHILLIP]]
((NARRATOR))
He was a man of the times, the rock behind one of the most extraordinary monarchs Britain has ever had.
Philip Mountbatten met Elizabeth while he was a naval cadet. She was a shy princess. They married in 1947.
When she became queen, he found it very difficult to give up his naval career, says Philip Eade, author of the book "Young Prince Philip."
((Philip Eade, Royal Author))
“He had been an extremely successful, extremely highly regarded naval officer in the British navy, and he was tipped from the very top. He was tipped to become head of the navy and so to have to give that all up in order to become second fiddle to his wife. He was a very overtly masculine character and not one who is going to take easily to this sort of life of walking a couple of paces behind the queen.”
((NARRATOR))
When asked in an interview what he thought of his role, Prince Philip replied, “I don’t.”
((Philip Eade, Royal Author))
“He grew up with a very strong sense of duty and he realized that his duty was first and foremost to support the queen in her work and that was really by far and away his most important, how he saw his role, that was what was at the top of his list.”
((NARRATOR))
Over seven decades, Prince Philip navigated the highs and lows of a Royal Family permanently in the public eye – including the death of Princess Diana in 1997.
((UPSOUND AT DIANA’S FUNERAL))
((SPECTATOR IN CROWD))
“Look after the boys, Ma’am.”
((PRINCE PHILIP))
“That’s what we have been doing.”
((NARRATOR))
Prince Philip was known for his wry sense of humor, which came in handy whenever he had to brush aside any suggestion of his role as a secondary figure. He once said his best speech was in 1956, when he opened the Summer Olympics with eight words: “I declare open the Olympic games of Melbourne.”
His jokes on occasion caused offence.
But he had a serious and lasting effect on the monarchy, pushing it to change with the times.
((Matthew Glencross, Historian, Kings College London))
“That is something Philip always saw for himself, is this idea that the monarchy must evolve. For example, he was very pro having the cameras in for Elizabeth the Second’s coronation in 1953. You’d think because of his reputation that he’d be one of the people who was quite conservative. Actually, no. He saw television as the future. People want to see more of their monarchy.”
((NARRATOR))
Prince Philip retired from official royal duties in 2017.
A year later, he was involved in a serious car accident while driving near the Royal Family’s country estate at Sandringham.
His last public appearance was in July 2020 at Windsor Castle.
((cf. MANDATORY ON-SCREEN CREDIT: 'BBC STUDIOS'))
Fulfilling his roles as consort and father, Prince Philip’s effect on a 12-hundred-year institution is a monarchy more visible and relevant to its people – a legacy he forged from his place two steps behind.
((HENRY RIDGWELL, FOR VOA NEWS, LONDON))
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