• WHO announces that 60 countries have reported imported cases and/or community transmission of the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant. Source
• Dr. Francis Collins, head of the US National Institutes of Health, calls for more research on long COVID, saying that the “…prolonged symptoms are having a major impact on lives and livelihoods, both here and around the world,” and that it represents “a significant public health concern.” Source
• The EU Commission issues vaccination targets for its Member States, calling for 80 percent of health and social care workers and people over age 80 years to be vaccinated by the end of March, and 70 percent of the adult population to be vaccinated by summer. Source
• A pre-print paper reports that coronavirus variants B.1.1.7, 501Y.V2 and B1.1.28/501.V3, which were first identified in the UK, South Africa and Brazil, respectively and carry common mutations (K417N, E494K and N501Y) may have an effect on the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, but the mixture of antibodies that vaccines elicit “…can take care of the variants,” although vaccines may need to be updated. Sources 1,2
• Japan signs a contract to purchase 144 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, which will cover over half of its population. Source
• Ontario’s Prime Minister, Doug Ford, pleads with US President Biden to provide the country with a million coronavirus vaccines after Pfizer temporarily cuts off its supply. Source
• In Italy, Domenico Arcuri, the country’s extraordinary coronavirus commissioner, announces that it is taking legal action against Pfizer for delaying vaccine deliveries, saying “The protection of the health of Italy’s citizens is non-negotiable.” Source
• Brazil’s solicitor general reports that local and federal health officials were warned almost a week in advance about a looming oxygen shortage in Manaus, which needed three times more than the amount it could produce locally. Oxygen prices surged and hospitals were forced to unhook people with COVID-19 from ventilators and witness them dying from lack of oxygen; celebrities, social media influencers and neighboring Venezuela donated oxygen. Sources 1,2,3
• China widens its lockdowns to include 1.7 million residents in Daxing, a district in Southern Beijing, where 23 cases have been reported. Source
• China reports 103 new symptomatic coronavirus cases (since the country does not include asymptomatic cases in its count); in Beijing, two subway stations have been closed and everyone who has arrived in the country since 10 December is being investigated. Source
• China is rushing to complete quarantine housing on the outskirts of Beijing for close contacts of people with COVID-19; it will hold over 4,000 people. Source
• The US CDC increases its estimate of the number of people who will die from COVID-19 by mid-February, from 477,000 to as many as 508,000. Source
• The Netherlands announces that it is taking measures to prevent a third wave of coronavirus from more infectious variants; it is banning flights from South Africa, the UK and all South American countries (with exceptions for medical travelers, repatriation, journalists, and elite athletes) as of Saturday; travelers from other countries will be required to provide a negative PCR test within 72 hours and undergo rapid testing upon arrival. It is also imposing a national curfew until 9 February. Source
• Spain reports the country’s highest death rate of 2021,with more than 14 percent of its 2.2 million cases occurring over the two weeks. Source
• Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, enters a 15-day lockdown after increasing coronavirus infections and deaths. Source
• In Germany, where coronavirus cases have exceeded two million, the lockdown is extended until mid-February, and FFP2 or N95 mask use becomes mandatory in shops and on public transportation nationwide. Source
• Portugal, which is home to Europe’s second-worst coronavirus epidemic, announces a record-breaking daily death total and that that three cabinet members have tested positive for coronavirus within a week (Labor Minister Ana Mendes on 14 January; Finance Minister João Leão on 16 January, and Minister of the Economy Pedro Siza Vieira on 19 January). Source
• In Zimbabwe, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Sibusiso Moyo dies from COVID-19. Source
• Colombia’s Defense Minister, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, has entered the ICU, where he is on a ventilator, due to viral pneumonia from coronavirus. Source
