Vatican offers vaccinations to homeless
ROME — The Vatican has begun offering Covid-19 vaccinations to homeless people and says it plans to expand the program in the coming days.
A preliminary group of 25 people who live in residences run by the pope’s chief alms-giver received the shots on Wednesday in the Vatican’s auditorium. They joined Pope Francis, emeritus Pope Benedict XVI and other Vatican employees and their families who began receiving the vaccines last week.
The Vatican, as a sovereign city-state, arranged for its own vaccine deliveries and said its first jabs were the Pfizer-BioNTech shots. Italy has its own vaccine campaign underway but to date, the national health care system is prioritizing health care workers and the elderly.
Francis has called for universal availability of the shots, especially for the poor and most vulnerable. He has also said it was ethically necessary to take the vaccine, expressing incredulousness at vaccine and virus skeptics, because “you’re playing not only with your health but the health of others.”
Canada asks Biden for help getting more Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines
TORONTO — Canada won’t be getting any Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccines next week and 50 percent fewer than expected over the next month, officials said Tuesday, prompting the leader of Canada’s most populous province to ask President-elect Joe Biden to share a million doses from Pfizer’s Michigan plant.
Maj. Gen. Dany Fortin, who is leading Canada’s logistical rollout and distribution of vaccines, called it a major reduction, but said Pfizer is still expected to meet its contractual obligation to ship four million doses to Canada by the end of March.
U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer confirmed last week it would temporarily reduce deliveries to Europe and Canada of its COVID-19 vaccine while it upgrades production capacity at its plant in Puurs, Belgium. Pfizer’s Belgian plant supplies all shots delivered outside the U.S.
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, said he’s angry. He asked Biden to help Canada out, noting there’s a Pfizer plant in Michigan.
“Our American friends, help us out,” Ford said. “You have a new president, no more excuses. Help us out.”
Beijing suburb enforces strict quarantine measures after 6 cases reported
Local authorities imposed strict new measures on 1.7 million people in a Chinese suburb south of Beijing on Wednesday after confirming six new cases of Covid-19 a day earlier.
Some areas of the district were completely sealed off with residents unable to go outside for any reason, according to a statement released by local authorities on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Across the district, schools have been closed and public places such as hotels and stores allowed to operate only at 50 percent capacity.
The district confirmed its first Covid-19 case in a local school Monday, resulting in over 1,000 pupils and faculty members placed under collective quarantine, according to China’s Global Times.
China has recorded 757 locally transmitted cases of Covid-19 in the past week and 15 million people have been vaccinated, according to government figures.
Germany mandates medical-grade masks on transport and in shops
Germany made the wearing of medical-grade masks mandatory in shops and on public transport, amid fears that more contagious variants of the coronavirus are plunging the country into a deeper health crisis, according to a government statement.
The penalty for not wearing a medical mask varies from state to sate. Offenders in Bavaria, for example, could face a fine of up to 250 euros, around $300.
Germany joins Austria in enforcing stricter guidelines on medical-grade face coverings. In Austria, FFP2 masks will be required from Jan. 25.
The news comes as German leader Angela Merkel announced that the country would extend its national lockdown until Feb. 14, in a press conference Tuesday evening. The lockdown was previously scheduled to end Jan. 31.
