• Coronavirus cases in the US surpass 35 million. Source
• As coronavirus cases continue to soar in Sydney despite a lockdown, Gladys Berejiklian, Premier of New South Wales (NSW), urges people to get vaccinated in August, noting ““To get to the 70 per cent target we need 9.2 million jabs. To get the 80 per cent target we need 10 million jabs… Pleasingly, in the last 24 hours we had over 82,000 people get vaccinated in one day alone in NSW. At that rate we are vaccinating 500,000 people per week. We want to do more …the more people get vaccinated the closer we are to living life as normally as we can with the Delta strain.” Source
• Bloomberg reports on the conflict between Apple, Google and Unjected, an app for unvaccinated people. Google Play flagged posts with misinformation, which were removed, but the app’s co-founder, Shelby Thomson she will restore the social feed, including flagged posts, and hopes to “stay under the radar.” After being contacted by Bloomberg News, Apple removed Unjected from its App Store, saying it “inappropriately refers to the Covid-19 pandemic in its concept or theme.” Source
• Bureaucratic requirements are complicating access to coronavirus vaccination in Indonesia, where a coalition of 15 marginalized communities, led by the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), published an open letter to President Joko Widodo. The letter demanded equal access to the vaccines, particularly for those who do not possess citizenship registration numbers. Source
• Britain’s leading midwife association is calling for pregnant people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the Delta variant has increased the proportion of pregnant people hospitalized with moderate-to-severe illness. Since May, one of three hospitalized pregnant people needed respiratory support, over a third developed pneumonia and one in seven was admitted to intensive care. Edward Morris, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said “Every day our members are seeing very sick pregnant women with covid-19 in hospital and the majority are unvaccinated …covid-19 vaccines are the safest and best way to protect you and your baby from severe illness and premature birth.” Source
• The Financial Times reports that Moderna and Pfizer have raised prices for their coronavirus vaccines in the EU. Pfizer hiked the price by over 25 percent, from €15.50 ($18.36) to €19.50 ($23.10), while Moderna increased its vaccine price from $22.60 to $25.50 per dose – less than the price of $28.50 that was previously agreed upon, because the EU increased the size of its order. Sales of mRNA vaccines are projected to increase in 2022; Pfizer’s will reach $56 billion and Moderna’s will hit $30 billion, while sales of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine are predicted to reach $15 billion. Source
• In Florida, where 49 percent of residents are fully vaccinated, daily coronavirus cases have reached 21,683, an all-time high, as hospitals fill up. Ron DeSantis, the state’s Republican governor, insists that the surge in cases is a “seasonal wave” caused by high heat that has sent people indoors – with air-conditioning systems circulating the virus. He has already made mask-wearing optional in schools despite CDC guidance, although Florida has reported 21,0000 cases of COVID-19 among children. Source