源 稿 窗
在文章中双击或划词查词典
字号 +
字号 -
折叠显示
全文显示
The World Health Organization appealed to wealthy countries Friday to scrap plans to vaccinate young people with COVID-19 vaccine in favor of donating it to poorer countries.
"I understand why some countries want to vaccinate their children and adolescents, but right now I urge them to reconsider and to instead donate vaccines to #COVAX," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a virtual coronavirus meeting in Geneva.
France and Sweden started donating doses to COVAX after vaccinating their priority populations, unlike the U.S. and Canada, both of which started inoculating adolescents in recent weeks.
However, a WHO official said that negotiations are under way to get the U.S. to share doses to poorer countries to help ensure all countries are adequately protected.
Tedros also warned that "We're on track for the second year of this pandemic to be far more deadly than the first." He added, "a combination of public health measures and vaccination" is the only solution.
U.S. health officials said Thursday that people who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus can go maskless and stop maintaining social distancing in most social settings.
However, masks will still be required on all forms of public transportation, plus hospitals, prisons, and homeless shelters.
"We have all longed for this moment - when we can get back to some sense of normalcy," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control.
In Japan, a petition with more than 350,000 signatures, calling for the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics, was submitted Friday to the Olympic and Paralympic committee chiefs, as well as Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.
Japan is experiencing a surge in cases in various locations, including Tokyo where the Olympics are scheduled to start on July 23.
"Precious medical resources would need to be diverted to the Olympics if it's held," said "Stop Tokyo Olympics" campaign organizer Kenji Utsunomiya.
Japanese officials seem determined to push ahead with plans to open the games, which were canceled last year because of the COVID outbreak. "Though there is a global pandemic, it is important to hold safe and secure Tokyo 2020 Games," Koike said recently.
"We are facing invisible enemy, fighting it on war-footing mode," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday about the COVID contagion in India. On Friday, India reported 343,144 new cases in the last 24-hour period. Last week, daily cases sometimes totaled more than 400,000. India reported more than 4,000 deaths Friday for the third straight day.
Only the U.S. has more COVID-19 cases than India, but public health officials say India's coronavirus numbers are likely undercounted.
According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, India has more than 24 million COVID cases while the U.S. has nearly 32.9 million. Brazil is in third place, according to Johns Hopkins, with more than 15.4 million infections.