Auckland has taken the top spot in Lonely Planet’s “best cities to visit” rankings for 2022.&nbsp;The development seems to have generated some amusement in New Zealand as the city is currently under lockdown. At the centre of a Covid outbreak, the city is off-limits to the whole world. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/we-may-never-know-how-covid-19-originated-say-us-intelligence-officials-425224" hreflang="en">We may never know how COVID-19 originated, say US intelligence officials</a>

The announcement seems to have brought a smile of sorts on several faces in New Zealand as netizens posted some intriguing comments on social media. &nbsp; &nbsp;

At present, anyone, who attempts to visit the locked-down city now, may get slapped with a hefty fine or prison term.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“It is kind of a lonely planet in lockdown level 3,” a user wrote on social media. While another person responded, “Probably means the rest of the world is in a really bad place.” &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/tonga-reports-its-first-ever-covid-19-case-pm-urges-people-to-prepare-for-potential-lockdown-425171" hreflang="en">Tonga reports its first-ever COVID-19 case, PM urges people to prepare for potential lockdown</a>

The Lonely Planet seems to be optimistic that at some stage next year, the city will get reopened to tourists. &nbsp;

In a press release, Auckland mayor Phil Goff said that the ranking “will give a real boost to Auckland’s tourism and hospitality sectors as they start to recover from the COVID-19 lockdowns and borders reopen”. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Auckland has taken the top spot in Lonely Planet’s “best cities to visit” rankings for 2022. The development seems to have generated some amusement in New Zealand as the city is currently under lockdown.

Auckland has taken the top spot in Lonely Planet’s “best cities to visit” rankings for 2022. The development seems to have generated some amusement in New Zealand as the city is currently under lockdown. At the centre of a Covid outbreak, the city is off-limits to the whole world. Also Read: We may never know how COVID-19 originated, say US intelligence officials The announcement seems to have brought a smile of sorts on several faces in New Zealand as netizens posted some intriguing comments on social media. At present, anyone, who attempts to visit the locked-down city now, may get slapped with a hefty fine or prison term. “It is kind of a lonely planet in lockdown level 3,” a user wrote on social media. While another person responded, “Probably means the rest of the world is in a really bad place.” Also Read: Tonga reports its first-ever COVID-19 case, PM urges people to prepare for potential lockdown The Lonely Planet seems to be optimistic that at some stage next year, the city will get reopened to tourists. In a press release, Auckland mayor Phil Goff said that the ranking “will give a real boost to Auckland’s tourism and hospitality sectors as they start to recover from the COVID-19 lockdowns and borders reopen”. (With inputs from agencies)

Closed under Covid lockdown, Auckland tops Lonely Planet’s list of cities to visit in 2022

US intelligence agencies said they may never be able to conclude whether the COVID-19 virus was developed in a Wuhan lab or transmitted from animal to human, a declassified report has stated.

In an updated assessment of how the virus originated, the Office of the US Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in its report said that a natural origin and a lab leak are both plausible hypotheses for how SARS-COV-2 first infected humans.

But it said the analysts disagree on which is more likely or whether any definitive assessment can be made at all.

The report issued on Friday is an update of a 90-day review that President Joe Biden's administration released in August.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/origin-of-wuhan-virus-needs-to-be-found-386627">Origin of Wuhan virus needs to be found</a>

The report also dismissed suggestions that the coronavirus originated as a bioweapon, saying proponents of this theory "do not have direct access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology" and have been accused of spreading disinformation.

On Friday, China responded by criticizing the report.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/virus-origin-probe-poisoned-by-politics-says-who-388122">Virus origin probe 'poisoned by politics', says WHO</a>

“The US moves of relying on its intelligence apparatus instead of scientists to trace the origins of COVID-19 is a complete political farce,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in an emailed statement.

“It will only undermine science-based origins study and hinder the global effort of finding the source of the virus,” the statement said.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/fauci-calls-on-china-to-release-medical-records-of-wuhan-lab-workers-report-389348">Also read | Fauci calls on China to release medical records of Wuhan lab workers: Report</a>

Chinese authorities had linked early COVID-19 cases to a seafood market in Wuhan, leading many scientists to theorise that the virus first passed to humans from animals.

But earlier this year, there were several US media reports suggesting growing evidence that the virus could instead have emerged from a virology lab in Wuhan.

In May, President Joe Biden ordered intelligence officials to investigate the virus's origins, including the lab leak theory, which is rejected by China.

(With inputs from agencies)

US intelligence agencies said they may never be able to conclude whether the COVID-19 virus was developed in a Wuhan lab or transmitted from animal to human, a declassified report has stated.

US intelligence agencies said they may never be able to conclude whether the COVID-19 virus was developed in a Wuhan lab or transmitted from animal to human, a declassified report has stated. In an updated assessment of how the virus originated, the Office of the US Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in its report said that a natural origin and a lab leak are both plausible hypotheses for how SARS-COV-2 first infected humans. But it said the analysts disagree on which is more likely or whether any definitive assessment can be made at all. The report issued on Friday is an update of a 90-day review that President Joe Biden's administration released in August. Also Read | Origin of Wuhan virus needs to be found The report also dismissed suggestions that the coronavirus originated as a bioweapon, saying proponents of this theory "do not have direct access to the Wuhan Institute of Virology" and have been accused of spreading disinformation. On Friday, China responded by criticizing the report. Also Read | Virus origin probe 'poisoned by politics', says WHO “The US moves of relying on its intelligence apparatus instead of scientists to trace the origins of COVID-19 is a complete political farce,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in an emailed statement. “It will only undermine science-based origins study and hinder the global effort of finding the source of the virus,” the statement said. Also read | Fauci calls on China to release medical records of Wuhan lab workers: Report Chinese authorities had linked early COVID-19 cases to a seafood market in Wuhan, leading many scientists to theorise that the virus first passed to humans from animals. But earlier this year, there were several US media reports suggesting growing evidence that the virus could instead have emerged from a virology lab in Wuhan. In May, President Joe Biden ordered intelligence officials to investigate the virus's origins, including the lab leak theory, which is rejected by China. (With inputs from agencies)

We may never know how COVID-19 originated, say US intelligence officials

COVID has wreaked havoc all over the globe. Things aren't any different for Italy. After a year, the country is hosting the mega G20 in-person meeting. How have things changed on the ground. Let's take a look.

COVID wreaks havoc all over the globe

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has steered the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is on course to serve a second five-year term as head of the World Health Organization (WHO) after being the only candidate nominated by 28 countries.

Tedros, a former health and foreign minister of Ethiopia, was the first African elected WHO director-general in May 2017.

The clean slate for the May election comes even as the European Commission suspending funding to WHO programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo over a major sexual abuse scandal, as reported exclusively by Reuters on Thursday.

Some 83 aid workers, a quarter of them employed by the WHO, were involved in sexual exploitation and abuse during Congo's 2018-2020 Ebola epidemic, an independent probe said last month.

Health ministers from the WHO's 194 member states are also due to hold an exceptional assembly in November amid mounting pressure for reform pursuant to the organisation's handling of the pandemic.

Tedros drew support from France and Germany, among other European Union members, and three African countries - Botswana, Kenya and Rwanda - the official nomination list showed. Britain, China, Russia and the United States were not among them.

"WHO can announce that a single candidate was proposed by member states by the 23 September 2021 deadline: Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is the incumbent director-general," the agency said in a statement. The nominations were kept secret to limit lengthy campaigning.

Earlier, the agency sent a letter to member states informing them of the confidential nominations contained in the sealed envelopes submitted by the deadline

Ethiopia declined to nominate Tedros for a second term due to friction over the conflict in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, making it necessary for other countries to step in and do so.

The issue is so sensitive that the African Union has not even discussed the appointment, including at its latest summit this month, African diplomats said.

Tedros has led the global response to COVID-19, the worst public health crisis in a century, which broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and has killed 5.2 million people.

The United States, under former President Donald Trump, accused him of being "China-centric", a charge he denies.

Relations have warmed since Joe Biden's administration took office in January.

But he annoyed China with public calls in July for it to share Wuhan lab audits and provide more data on early COVID-19 cases. WHO investigators have yet to regain access to the country to probe the origins of coronavirus.

"STAYING POWER"

The United States and Germany have led major donors in demanding fundamental reforms to the WHO's structure, financing and capacity to deal with outbreaks.

The European Commission informed the WHO on Oct. 7 that it was immediately suspending funding to its Congo programmes due to concerns over its handling of the sexual abuse scandal. Tedros went to Congo 14 times during the epidemic but says that he was unaware of the allegations.

"We have received the (EU) letter and we are now considering a response," WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told a briefing on Friday.

A European source, asked whether the Congo scandal could have an impact on Tedros' re-election, said: "Nope. He personally is taking the right steps and measures. As long as there is not a direct link to him. Which I don’t see."

An African ambassador in Geneva, declining to be identified, said: “Dr. Tedros has done a very good job dealing with a severe pandemic with severe repercussions. He has tried to contribute within the capacity and the resources of WHO and to realize a more equitable distribution of vaccines at the global level."

“He is a friend of Africa, he has done a lot of work and deserves a lot of support," the ambassador said.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, speaking at a news briefing with Tedros on Thursday, where the WHO launched a $23.4 billion plan to bring COVID-19 vaccines and drugs to poorer countries, told him:

"I wish you all luck in your endeavour and I salute your staying power and your ability to keep focus on this agenda, servicing your broad membership and the whole world."

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has steered the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is on course to serve a second five-year term as head of the World Health Organization (WHO) after being the only candidate nominated by 28 countries.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has steered the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is on course to serve a second five-year term as head of the World Health Organization (WHO) after being the only candidate nominated by 28 countries. Tedros, a former health and foreign minister of Ethiopia, was the first African elected WHO director-general in May 2017. The clean slate for the May election comes even as the European Commission suspending funding to WHO programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo over a major sexual abuse scandal, as reported exclusively by Reuters on Thursday. Some 83 aid workers, a quarter of them employed by the WHO, were involved in sexual exploitation and abuse during Congo's 2018-2020 Ebola epidemic, an independent probe said last month. Health ministers from the WHO's 194 member states are also due to hold an exceptional assembly in November amid mounting pressure for reform pursuant to the organisation's handling of the pandemic. Tedros drew support from France and Germany, among other European Union members, and three African countries - Botswana, Kenya and Rwanda - the official nomination list showed. Britain, China, Russia and the United States were not among them. "WHO can announce that a single candidate was proposed by member states by the 23 September 2021 deadline: Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is the incumbent director-general," the agency said in a statement. The nominations were kept secret to limit lengthy campaigning. Earlier, the agency sent a letter to member states informing them of the confidential nominations contained in the sealed envelopes submitted by the deadline Ethiopia declined to nominate Tedros for a second term due to friction over the conflict in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, making it necessary for other countries to step in and do so. The issue is so sensitive that the African Union has not even discussed the appointment, including at its latest summit this month, African diplomats said. Tedros has led the global response to COVID-19, the worst public health crisis in a century, which broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and has killed 5.2 million people. The United States, under former President Donald Trump, accused him of being "China-centric", a charge he denies. Relations have warmed since Joe Biden's administration took office in January. But he annoyed China with public calls in July for it to share Wuhan lab audits and provide more data on early COVID-19 cases. WHO investigators have yet to regain access to the country to probe the origins of coronavirus. "STAYING POWER" The United States and Germany have led major donors in demanding fundamental reforms to the WHO's structure, financing and capacity to deal with outbreaks. The European Commission informed the WHO on Oct. 7 that it was immediately suspending funding to its Congo programmes due to concerns over its handling of the sexual abuse scandal. Tedros went to Congo 14 times during the epidemic but says that he was unaware of the allegations. "We have received the (EU) letter and we are now considering a response," WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told a briefing on Friday. A European source, asked whether the Congo scandal could have an impact on Tedros' re-election, said: "Nope. He personally is taking the right steps and measures. As long as there is not a direct link to him. Which I don’t see." An African ambassador in Geneva, declining to be identified, said: “Dr. Tedros has done a very good job dealing with a severe pandemic with severe repercussions. He has tried to contribute within the capacity and the resources of WHO and to realize a more equitable distribution of vaccines at the global level." “He is a friend of Africa, he has done a lot of work and deserves a lot of support," the ambassador said. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, speaking at a news briefing with Tedros on Thursday, where the WHO launched a $23.4 billion plan to bring COVID-19 vaccines and drugs to poorer countries, told him: "I wish you all luck in your endeavour and I salute your staying power and your ability to keep focus on this agenda, servicing your broad membership and the whole world."

Tedros sole nominee as WHO chief, UN agency says

US' economy is slowing down. Commerce dept data shows US' economy has registered a growth of only 2 per cent in the third quarter.

US' economy registers growth of only 2 per cent in the third quarter

Hundreds of firefighters and city workers protested in New York against the covid-19 vaccine mandate that will come into effect from November 1 and will require all employees to show proof of covid-19 vaccination.

New York workers protest COVID-19 vaccine mandate

Taking advantage of zero human presence during the COVID-19 pandemic, several exotic animals at a zoo in Cuba decided to engage in romantic encounters that led to a sudden surge in population of animals, including from some species that otherwise faced the threat of extinction.

The newborns include leopards, bengal tigers, zebras, giraffes and antelopes as well as oxen, according to veterinarian Rachel Ortiz of the zoo.

“While the epidemic has been negative for humans, it has proved beneficial in the case of zoos,” Ortiz told Reuters&nbsp; news agency.

“In particular, our park has had more than ten births of high-value species in danger of extinction, which may at some point rehabilitate biodiversity,” he said.

Ortiz said since the zoo was closed for the public during the pandemic, animals felt more relaxed which helped them to engage in reproductive activities.

The National Zoo, home to 1,473 animals of more than 120 species, including large mammals like elephants and rhinos, is a popular attraction for Cubans.

Cuba, a Caribbean island of white sand beaches and turquoise waters popular with tourists, closed its borders for nearly two years amid the epidemic and imposed strict quarantines to restrict the spread of the coronavirus.

Deborah Maso, a doctor who oversees the African savannah exhibits, said the zoo faced shortages of food and medicines during the epidemic, but the workers dedicated the time needed to ensure that “the animals were successful in their endeavours”.

The birth of a baby giraffe, named Rachel, was particularly moving, Maso said.

“The birth of a giraffe stood out… It was a great achievement,” Maso said.

The officials believe that the National Zoo, which was recently opened to the public, will gain more attraction as the visitors may now baby leopard and giraffe.

(With inputs from agencies)

Taking advantage of zero human presence during the COVID-19 pandemic, several exotic animals at a zoo in Cuba decided to engage in romantic encounters that led to a sudden surge in population of animals, including from some species that otherwise faced the threat of extinction.

Taking advantage of zero human presence during the COVID-19 pandemic, several exotic animals at a zoo in Cuba decided to engage in romantic encounters that led to a sudden surge in population of animals, including from some species that otherwise faced the threat of extinction. The newborns include leopards, bengal tigers, zebras, giraffes and antelopes as well as oxen, according to veterinarian Rachel Ortiz of the zoo. “While the epidemic has been negative for humans, it has proved beneficial in the case of zoos,” Ortiz told Reuters news agency. “In particular, our park has had more than ten births of high-value species in danger of extinction, which may at some point rehabilitate biodiversity,” he said. Ortiz said since the zoo was closed for the public during the pandemic, animals felt more relaxed which helped them to engage in reproductive activities. The National Zoo, home to 1,473 animals of more than 120 species, including large mammals like elephants and rhinos, is a popular attraction for Cubans. Cuba, a Caribbean island of white sand beaches and turquoise waters popular with tourists, closed its borders for nearly two years amid the epidemic and imposed strict quarantines to restrict the spread of the coronavirus. Deborah Maso, a doctor who oversees the African savannah exhibits, said the zoo faced shortages of food and medicines during the epidemic, but the workers dedicated the time needed to ensure that “the animals were successful in their endeavours”. The birth of a baby giraffe, named Rachel, was particularly moving, Maso said. “The birth of a giraffe stood out… It was a great achievement,” Maso said. The officials believe that the National Zoo, which was recently opened to the public, will gain more attraction as the visitors may now baby leopard and giraffe. (With inputs from agencies)

Lockdown baby boom: Cuban zoo welcomes newborns of several exotic, endangered animals

About 100 million&nbsp;people in India did not turn up for their second COVID-19 vaccine dose, health officials have said, indicating signs of complacency&nbsp;as the country continues to register a lower number of coronavirus cases.

“It was pointed out that many states have adequate doses to vaccinate those people who are awaiting their second dose. Government of India is in a position to provide additional vaccine doses ... so that they can complete the aforesaid task,” the health ministry said in a statement.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-might-be-entering-endemic-stage-of-covid-19-who-chief-scientist-swaminathan-408296">India might be entering endemic stage of COVID-19: WHO chief scientist Swaminathan</a>

Daily shots have averaged 5 million this month, a fifth of September’s peak, though states are sitting on record stocks of more than 100 million even as domestic production of vaccine soars.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/delayed-again-who-seeks-more-clarifications-on-made-in-india-covid-shot-covaxin-424319">Delayed again: WHO seeks more 'clarifications' on made-in-India Covid shot Covaxin</a>

Despite the low number of infections, the central government has been urging the states and union territories to focus on beneficiaries who are waiting for their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine after their interval period gets over.

On Wednesday, India’s health minister Mansukh Mandviya asked the state governments to improve the momentum of vaccination and accelerate its coverage.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-sends-covid-vaccines-to-47-countries-canada-gets-500000-368023">India sends Covid vaccines to 47 countries; Canada gets 500,000</a>

India has administered first doses to 725 million people, or to 77% of its’ 944 million adults, and second doses to 316 million, or 34%.

More than 242 million Indian adults have yet to get a shot, while vaccination has not started for those under 18.

India on Friday recorded 14,348 new COVID-19 cases, nearly 2,000 cases lower than Thursday, according to the health ministry.

The death toll also climbed to 457,191 with 805 daily fatalities.

The daily rise in new COVID-19 cases has been below 30,000 for 36 straight days and less than 50,000 new infections have been reported for the 125 consecutive days now.

(With inputs from agencies)

About 100 million people in India did not turn up for their second COVID-19 vaccine dose, health officials have said, indicating signs of complacency as the country continues to register a lower number of coronavirus cases.

About 100 million people in India did not turn up for their second COVID-19 vaccine dose, health officials have said, indicating signs of complacency as the country continues to register a lower number of coronavirus cases. “It was pointed out that many states have adequate doses to vaccinate those people who are awaiting their second dose. Government of India is in a position to provide additional vaccine doses ... so that they can complete the aforesaid task,” the health ministry said in a statement. Also read | India might be entering endemic stage of COVID-19: WHO chief scientist Swaminathan Daily shots have averaged 5 million this month, a fifth of September’s peak, though states are sitting on record stocks of more than 100 million even as domestic production of vaccine soars. Also read | Delayed again: WHO seeks more 'clarifications' on made-in-India Covid shot Covaxin Despite the low number of infections, the central government has been urging the states and union territories to focus on beneficiaries who are waiting for their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine after their interval period gets over. On Wednesday, India’s health minister Mansukh Mandviya asked the state governments to improve the momentum of vaccination and accelerate its coverage. Also read | India sends Covid vaccines to 47 countries; Canada gets 500,000 India has administered first doses to 725 million people, or to 77% of its’ 944 million adults, and second doses to 316 million, or 34%. More than 242 million Indian adults have yet to get a shot, while vaccination has not started for those under 18. India on Friday recorded 14,348 new COVID-19 cases, nearly 2,000 cases lower than Thursday, according to the health ministry. The death toll also climbed to 457,191 with 805 daily fatalities. The daily rise in new COVID-19 cases has been below 30,000 for 36 straight days and less than 50,000 new infections have been reported for the 125 consecutive days now. (With inputs from agencies)

Over 100 million Indians skipped second dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Meet, demand more data & reschedule. This has been the WHO's strategy on approving India's homegrown jab - Covaxin. Are WHO experts delaying the approval on purpose? Were all jabs subjected to the same regime? Palki Sharma tells you.

Gravitas: Is WHO delaying approval for COVAXIN?

The United States will be rolling out a 4th dose of the Wuhan virus vaccine for the immunocompromised. Is a booster shot really needed? or is it America's way of selling vaccines that are nearing expiry? Palki Sharma brings you a report.

Gravitas | COVID-19 Vaccines: Immunocompromised Americans to get a 4th shot

The trip began in Shanghai, where the couple, both former professors, joined a tour group of other retirees. They traveled through Gansu province and Inner Mongolia, staying at a bed-and-breakfast and eating three times at the same lamb chop restaurant. Flying south to Xi’an, they dropped into a 1,300-year-old temple. Their fellow tour group members checked out an art museum, strolled through parks and visited friends.

Then, on Oct. 16, the day they had planned to visit the Terracotta Warriors, the couple tested positive for the coronavirus.

Since then, China has locked down a city of 4 million, as well as several smaller cities and parts of Beijing, to contain a fresh outbreak that has infected more than 240 people in at least 11 provinces and regions. The authorities have shuttered schools and tourist sites. Government websites have detailed every movement of the unlucky couple and their sprawling web of contacts, including what time they checked into hotels and on which floors of restaurants they sat.

The no-holds-barred response is emblematic of China’s “zero COVID” policy, which has served the country remarkably well: China has reported fewer than 5,000 deaths since the pandemic began. The scale of the new outbreak, while tiny compared to many other countries, is large for China.

But the policy has also, increasingly, made China an outlier. The rest of the world is reopening, including New Zealand and Australia, which also once embraced zero tolerance. China is now the only country still chasing full eradication of the virus.

“Every locality should firmly adhere to the policy of ‘Defend externally against importation, defend internally against rebound,’ ” Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission, said at a news conference Sunday. “The current control measures cannot be relaxed.”

The government’s strict strategy is the product of a uniquely Chinese set of calculations. Its thriving exports have helped to keep the economy afloat. The ruling Communist Party’s tight grip on power enables lockdowns and testing to be carried out with astonishing efficiency. Beijing is set to host the Winter Olympics in February.

For many Chinese, the low case numbers have become a source of national pride. Xi Jinping, China’s leader, has repeatedly pointed to the country’s success in containment as proof of the superiority of its governance model.

But experts — both in China and abroad — have warned that the approach is unsustainable. China may find itself increasingly isolated, diplomatically and economically, at a time when global public opinion is hardening against it.

“The regime thinks it needs to maintain a ‘zero COVID’ policy to maintain its legitimacy,” said Lynette Ong, a political scientist at the University of Toronto. “At a huge cost, though.”

In the early phase of the pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party’s very hold on power seemed to hinge on its ability to control the virus. Its initial attempts to cover up the outbreak in Wuhan gave rise to a stunning outpouring of public anger. Images of overwhelmed hospitals and patients begging for help flooded the Chinese internet.

As the virus barreled across the rest of the world, that narrative changed. China’s strict lockdowns and mass testing campaigns, once criticized as heavy handed, became models for other countries. As deaths mounted in western democracies, Xi repeatedly emphasized how quickly China had flattened its caseload. Outrage about the initial response to Wuhan gave way to at-times strident nationalism.

Other countries that adopted “zero COVID” policies were hailed as models of competent governance that prioritized saving lives over convenience and economic growth.

As the virus has dragged into its second year, and with the onset of the far more contagious delta variant, countries are again reconsidering their strategies. Australia, which was home to the world’s longest lockdown, is scrapping quarantine requirements for vaccinated residents returning from overseas. New Zealand formally abandoned its quest for zero this month. Singapore is offering quarantine-free travel to vaccinated tourists from Germany, the United States, France and several other countries.

China has refused to change tack. When Zhang Wenhong, a prominent infectious disease expert from Shanghai, suggested this summer that China learn to live with the virus, he was attacked viciously online as a lackey of foreigners. A former Chinese health minister called such a mindset reckless.

Ong said the government was afraid of any challenge to its narrative of pandemic triumph.

“Outbreaks have become so commonplace that it’s really a nonevent,” she said. “But the Chinese authorities want to control any small potential source of instability.”

There are also more practical reasons for China’s hesitation. Medical resources are highly concentrated in big cities, and more remote areas could quickly be overwhelmed by an uptick in cases, said Zhang Jun, an urban studies scholar at the City University of Hong Kong.

In addition, though China has achieved a relatively high full inoculation rate, at 75% of its population, questions have emerged about the efficacy of its homegrown vaccines.

And, at least for now, the elimination strategy appears to enjoy public support. While residents in locked-down areas have complained about seemingly arbitrary or overly harsh restrictions on social media, travel is relatively unconstrained in areas without cases. Wealthy consumers have poured money into luxury goods and fancy cars since they’re not spending on trips abroad.

“As long as they can still feel a certain level of freedom of mobility, I think that kind of COVID-zero policy doesn’t strike the domestic audience as too severe,” Zhang said.

Other governments that have chosen to live with the virus may yet lose their nerve. After lifting many restrictions this summer, Singapore reinstated them in September amid a spike in infections. (Still, the government is moving forward with travel lanes.)

But experts agree that the costs of expecting zero cases will hit eventually. China’s economic growth is slowing, and domestic travel during a weeklong holiday earlier this month fell below last year’s levels, as a cluster of new cases spooked tourists. Retail sales have proven fitful, recovering and ebbing with waves of the virus.

The country may also suffer diplomatically. Xi has not left China or received foreign visitors since early 2020, even as other world leaders prepare to gather in Rome for a Group of 20 summit and Glasgow for climate talks.

China’s hard-nosed approach is also trickling down to Hong Kong, the semi-autonomous territory and global financial hub. In trying to align their own COVID prevention policies with the mainland’s, Hong Kong’s leaders have introduced the world’s longest quarantine, ignoring escalating warnings from business leaders about an exodus of foreign firms.

And even those supportive of the restrictions wonder whether there is an exit strategy.

“I think the current policies are still in the right direction,” said Jason Qiu, 27, who grew up in Gansu province, not far from Lanzhou, the city of 4 million now under lockdown. “But if things go on like this for a long time — for example if the pandemic is going to continue for another five or 10 years, or become endemic — maybe it would be time to consider changing some measures.”

In a potential nod to those concerns, some officials have broached the idea of loosening restrictions, though cautiously. Gao Fu, the head of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a recent interview with Chinese media that once the country reached an 85% vaccination rate, “why shouldn’t we open up?”

But he prefaced his question with a warning: “This is a very good question. But it’s also a very sensitive question.”

Until then, those stranded by the lockdowns have tried to make the best of their situations. State news outlets have reported that roughly 10,000 tourists are trapped in Ejin Banner, a region of Inner Mongolia, after the emergence of cases led to a lockdown. As consolation, the local tourism association has promised them free entry to three popular tourist attractions, redeemable within the next three years.

The trip began in Shanghai, where the couple, both former professors, joined a tour group of other retirees. They traveled through Gansu province and Inner Mongolia, staying at a bed-and-breakfast and eating three times at the same lamb chop restaurant.

The trip began in Shanghai, where the couple, both former professors, joined a tour group of other retirees. They traveled through Gansu province and Inner Mongolia, staying at a bed-and-breakfast and eating three times at the same lamb chop restaurant. Flying south to Xi’an, they dropped into a 1,300-year-old temple. Their fellow tour group members checked out an art museum, strolled through parks and visited friends. Then, on Oct. 16, the day they had planned to visit the Terracotta Warriors, the couple tested positive for the coronavirus. Since then, China has locked down a city of 4 million, as well as several smaller cities and parts of Beijing, to contain a fresh outbreak that has infected more than 240 people in at least 11 provinces and regions. The authorities have shuttered schools and tourist sites. Government websites have detailed every movement of the unlucky couple and their sprawling web of contacts, including what time they checked into hotels and on which floors of restaurants they sat. The no-holds-barred response is emblematic of China’s “zero COVID” policy, which has served the country remarkably well: China has reported fewer than 5,000 deaths since the pandemic began. The scale of the new outbreak, while tiny compared to many other countries, is large for China. But the policy has also, increasingly, made China an outlier. The rest of the world is reopening, including New Zealand and Australia, which also once embraced zero tolerance. China is now the only country still chasing full eradication of the virus. “Every locality should firmly adhere to the policy of ‘Defend externally against importation, defend internally against rebound,’ ” Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the National Health Commission, said at a news conference Sunday. “The current control measures cannot be relaxed.” The government’s strict strategy is the product of a uniquely Chinese set of calculations. Its thriving exports have helped to keep the economy afloat. The ruling Communist Party’s tight grip on power enables lockdowns and testing to be carried out with astonishing efficiency. Beijing is set to host the Winter Olympics in February. For many Chinese, the low case numbers have become a source of national pride. Xi Jinping, China’s leader, has repeatedly pointed to the country’s success in containment as proof of the superiority of its governance model. But experts — both in China and abroad — have warned that the approach is unsustainable. China may find itself increasingly isolated, diplomatically and economically, at a time when global public opinion is hardening against it. “The regime thinks it needs to maintain a ‘zero COVID’ policy to maintain its legitimacy,” said Lynette Ong, a political scientist at the University of Toronto. “At a huge cost, though.” In the early phase of the pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party’s very hold on power seemed to hinge on its ability to control the virus. Its initial attempts to cover up the outbreak in Wuhan gave rise to a stunning outpouring of public anger. Images of overwhelmed hospitals and patients begging for help flooded the Chinese internet. As the virus barreled across the rest of the world, that narrative changed. China’s strict lockdowns and mass testing campaigns, once criticized as heavy handed, became models for other countries. As deaths mounted in western democracies, Xi repeatedly emphasized how quickly China had flattened its caseload. Outrage about the initial response to Wuhan gave way to at-times strident nationalism. Other countries that adopted “zero COVID” policies were hailed as models of competent governance that prioritized saving lives over convenience and economic growth. As the virus has dragged into its second year, and with the onset of the far more contagious delta variant, countries are again reconsidering their strategies. Australia, which was home to the world’s longest lockdown, is scrapping quarantine requirements for vaccinated residents returning from overseas. New Zealand formally abandoned its quest for zero this month. Singapore is offering quarantine-free travel to vaccinated tourists from Germany, the United States, France and several other countries. China has refused to change tack. When Zhang Wenhong, a prominent infectious disease expert from Shanghai, suggested this summer that China learn to live with the virus, he was attacked viciously online as a lackey of foreigners. A former Chinese health minister called such a mindset reckless. Ong said the government was afraid of any challenge to its narrative of pandemic triumph. “Outbreaks have become so commonplace that it’s really a nonevent,” she said. “But the Chinese authorities want to control any small potential source of instability.” There are also more practical reasons for China’s hesitation. Medical resources are highly concentrated in big cities, and more remote areas could quickly be overwhelmed by an uptick in cases, said Zhang Jun, an urban studies scholar at the City University of Hong Kong. In addition, though China has achieved a relatively high full inoculation rate, at 75% of its population, questions have emerged about the efficacy of its homegrown vaccines. And, at least for now, the elimination strategy appears to enjoy public support. While residents in locked-down areas have complained about seemingly arbitrary or overly harsh restrictions on social media, travel is relatively unconstrained in areas without cases. Wealthy consumers have poured money into luxury goods and fancy cars since they’re not spending on trips abroad. “As long as they can still feel a certain level of freedom of mobility, I think that kind of COVID-zero policy doesn’t strike the domestic audience as too severe,” Zhang said. Other governments that have chosen to live with the virus may yet lose their nerve. After lifting many restrictions this summer, Singapore reinstated them in September amid a spike in infections. (Still, the government is moving forward with travel lanes.) But experts agree that the costs of expecting zero cases will hit eventually. China’s economic growth is slowing, and domestic travel during a weeklong holiday earlier this month fell below last year’s levels, as a cluster of new cases spooked tourists. Retail sales have proven fitful, recovering and ebbing with waves of the virus. The country may also suffer diplomatically. Xi has not left China or received foreign visitors since early 2020, even as other world leaders prepare to gather in Rome for a Group of 20 summit and Glasgow for climate talks. China’s hard-nosed approach is also trickling down to Hong Kong, the semi-autonomous territory and global financial hub. In trying to align their own COVID prevention policies with the mainland’s, Hong Kong’s leaders have introduced the world’s longest quarantine, ignoring escalating warnings from business leaders about an exodus of foreign firms. And even those supportive of the restrictions wonder whether there is an exit strategy. “I think the current policies are still in the right direction,” said Jason Qiu, 27, who grew up in Gansu province, not far from Lanzhou, the city of 4 million now under lockdown. “But if things go on like this for a long time — for example if the pandemic is going to continue for another five or 10 years, or become endemic — maybe it would be time to consider changing some measures.” In a potential nod to those concerns, some officials have broached the idea of loosening restrictions, though cautiously. Gao Fu, the head of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a recent interview with Chinese media that once the country reached an 85% vaccination rate, “why shouldn’t we open up?” But he prefaced his question with a warning: “This is a very good question. But it’s also a very sensitive question.” Until then, those stranded by the lockdowns have tried to make the best of their situations. State news outlets have reported that roughly 10,000 tourists are trapped in Ejin Banner, a region of Inner Mongolia, after the emergence of cases led to a lockdown. As consolation, the local tourism association has promised them free entry to three popular tourist attractions, redeemable within the next three years.

Why China is the world’s last ‘zero Covid’ holdout

A man based in Georgia, US, who received coronavirus relief aid from the government, used the majority of the money to buy a Pokemon card.

Vinath Oudomsine from Dublin was charged on October 19 for fraudulently applying for money from the Economic Injury Disaster Loans under the CARES Act, which aims to help small businesses experiencing hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic, in October, 2020.

The federal prosecutors say that he made false statements about the number of employees working in his company and the firm’s gross revenue when he applied for the relief.

They said the Small Business Administration deposited $85,000 in his bank account the following month.

Federal prosecutors say Oudomsine used $57,789 to buy a Pokemon card.

They argued that the loans, meant for small businesses impacted by the pandemic, can be used for expenses such as payroll, sick leave, production costs, debt and rent or mortgage payments, but Oudomsine “unjustly enriched himself."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-retail-giant-target-stops-selling-pokemon-cards-for-safety-of-staff-and-shoppers-384697">US retail giant Target stops selling Pokémon cards for safety of staff and shoppers</a>

Authorities, however, didn’t specify which Pokemon card Oudomsine allegedly bought with the federal funds.

Oudomsine faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines if convicted.

Also read |<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood/news-pokemon-live-action-series-in-works-at-netflix-400907">&nbsp;Pokemon live-action series in works at Netflix</a>

Rare Pokémon cards have a huge market among enthusiasts and usually sells for thousands of dollars.

&nbsp;Collectors have known to be bidding up prices&nbsp;for trading cards, video games and other mementos.

In March 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which made more small businesses eligible for the SBA’s economic-injury disaster loans.

The expansion was meant to help the owners of small businesses cover the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic by providing them with an emergency loan they could use on expenses such as payroll, production costs, and rent.

(With inputs from agencies)

A man based in Georgia, US, who received coronavirus relief aid from the government, used the majority of the money to buy a Pokemon card. Vinath Oudomsine from Dublin was charged on October 19 for fraudulently applying for money from the Economic Injury Disaster Loans under the CARES Act, which aims to help small businesses experiencing hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic, in October, 2020.

A man based in Georgia, US, who received coronavirus relief aid from the government, used the majority of the money to buy a Pokemon card. Vinath Oudomsine from Dublin was charged on October 19 for fraudulently applying for money from the Economic Injury Disaster Loans under the CARES Act, which aims to help small businesses experiencing hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic, in October, 2020. The federal prosecutors say that he made false statements about the number of employees working in his company and the firm’s gross revenue when he applied for the relief. They said the Small Business Administration deposited $85,000 in his bank account the following month. Federal prosecutors say Oudomsine used $57,789 to buy a Pokemon card. They argued that the loans, meant for small businesses impacted by the pandemic, can be used for expenses such as payroll, sick leave, production costs, debt and rent or mortgage payments, but Oudomsine “unjustly enriched himself." Also read | US retail giant Target stops selling Pokémon cards for safety of staff and shoppers Authorities, however, didn’t specify which Pokemon card Oudomsine allegedly bought with the federal funds. Oudomsine faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines if convicted. Also read | Pokemon live-action series in works at Netflix Rare Pokémon cards have a huge market among enthusiasts and usually sells for thousands of dollars. Collectors have known to be bidding up prices for trading cards, video games and other mementos. In March 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which made more small businesses eligible for the SBA’s economic-injury disaster loans. The expansion was meant to help the owners of small businesses cover the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic by providing them with an emergency loan they could use on expenses such as payroll, production costs, and rent. (With inputs from agencies)

US man spends money received from Covid relief loan on a $58,000 Pokemon card

Bats have already got a bad name in times of the pandemic. The coronavirus that rattled the world and even made major lifestyle changes for everyone allegedly originated from wet markets in China and bats were the agency.

But even after all the bad publicity, bats may win an award of a sort in New Zealand. The race is on for 'Bird of the year' and if an independent conservation organisation in the country is to be believed, bats are well in front.

“It’s winning overall, yeah,” said Forest and Bird spokesperson Laura Keown. “Actually, when you look at the number one and number two rankings, it’s not winning by a little. It’s winning by quite a lot.”

The spokesperson was quoted by The Guardian.

The competition to select bird of the year takes place annually and has been going on for 16 years. Keown said that bat had been given an entry into the fray this year to raise awareness about its status as endangered species.

The specific species of bats in the race is called pekapeka-tou-roa, or long-tailed bat. This one of New Zealand's only land-based mammals that are native to the country.

The bat has found a powerful endorsement that is likely helping it lead the race for bird of the year. New Zealand's environment ministry has recently declared that it was backing the bat's candidacy in the race.

Bats have already got a bad name in times of the pandemic. The coronavirus that rattled the world and even made major lifestyle changes for everyone allegedly originated from wet markets in China and bats were the agency.

Bats have already got a bad name in times of the pandemic. The coronavirus that rattled the world and even made major lifestyle changes for everyone allegedly originated from wet markets in China and bats were the agency. But even after all the bad publicity, bats may win an award of a sort in New Zealand. The race is on for 'Bird of the year' and if an independent conservation organisation in the country is to be believed, bats are well in front. “It’s winning overall, yeah,” said Forest and Bird spokesperson Laura Keown. “Actually, when you look at the number one and number two rankings, it’s not winning by a little. It’s winning by quite a lot.” The spokesperson was quoted by The Guardian. The competition to select bird of the year takes place annually and has been going on for 16 years. Keown said that bat had been given an entry into the fray this year to raise awareness about its status as endangered species. The specific species of bats in the race is called pekapeka-tou-roa, or long-tailed bat. This one of New Zealand's only land-based mammals that are native to the country. The bat has found a powerful endorsement that is likely helping it lead the race for bird of the year. New Zealand's environment ministry has recently declared that it was backing the bat's candidacy in the race.

Amid global pandemic, bats lead race for 'bird of the year' in New Zealand

The Covid pandemic not only changed our lifestyle, it also made a face a new era of misinformation through social media. In the initial days of the pandemic, there was confusion over many aspects of the disease and before social media platforms and governments took steps to provide channels disseminating accurate information, there were claims galore.&nbsp;

Then came the vaccines, but with them also came unscientific claims by people including prominent world leaders. The anti-vaxxers still oppose vaccination against Covid.

A new study has shown that those believing in Covid conspiracies have a greater chance of getting infected with the deadly virus.

"Even if a conspiracy theory is extremely implausible according to logic or scientific evidence, if it seems real to a perceiver, it has a genuine impact on attitudes, emotions, and behavior," say researchers in a paper published in journal Psychological medicine.

Social psychologist Jan-Willem van Prooijen from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands is first author of the study.

For the research, van Prooijen and fellow researchers surveyed 5,745 participants.&nbsp;

These participants were asked early in the pandemic (April 2020), about whether they believe in conspiracy theories like the COVID-19 virus was made by the scientists as a bioweapon and other similar claims.

The same group of participants was asked whether they had tested themselves for the virus and whether the test was positive.

It was found that those who believed in conspiracy theories, were less likely to get themselves tested. But even among those who got tested, those who believed in conspiracy theories were more likely to have been found positive for the infection. The increased likelihood was found to have been due to such participant not having been on guard as compared to those who did not believe in conspiracy theories.

The Covid pandemic not only changed our lifestyle, it also made a face a new era of misinformation through social media. In the initial days of the pandemic, there was confusion over many aspects of the disease and before social media platforms and governments took steps to provide channels disseminating accurate information, there were claims galore.

The Covid pandemic not only changed our lifestyle, it also made a face a new era of misinformation through social media. In the initial days of the pandemic, there was confusion over many aspects of the disease and before social media platforms and governments took steps to provide channels disseminating accurate information, there were claims galore. Then came the vaccines, but with them also came unscientific claims by people including prominent world leaders. The anti-vaxxers still oppose vaccination against Covid. A new study has shown that those believing in Covid conspiracies have a greater chance of getting infected with the deadly virus. "Even if a conspiracy theory is extremely implausible according to logic or scientific evidence, if it seems real to a perceiver, it has a genuine impact on attitudes, emotions, and behavior," say researchers in a paper published in journal Psychological medicine. Social psychologist Jan-Willem van Prooijen from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands is first author of the study. For the research, van Prooijen and fellow researchers surveyed 5,745 participants. These participants were asked early in the pandemic (April 2020), about whether they believe in conspiracy theories like the COVID-19 virus was made by the scientists as a bioweapon and other similar claims. The same group of participants was asked whether they had tested themselves for the virus and whether the test was positive. It was found that those who believed in conspiracy theories, were less likely to get themselves tested. But even among those who got tested, those who believed in conspiracy theories were more likely to have been found positive for the infection. The increased likelihood was found to have been due to such participant not having been on guard as compared to those who did not believe in conspiracy theories.

Those believing in Covid conspiracy more likely to be infected: Study

With the rising Covid infections on the mind, organisers have postponed the weekend’s Beijing marathon in China. The country also seeks to return to zero cases ahead of the Winter Olympics. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-will-uphold-world-peace-says-xi-on-anniversary-of-return-to-un-423776" hreflang="en">China will uphold world peace, says Xi on anniversary of return to UN</a>

On Monday, China reported 39 new domestic infections. The cases are rising after an outbreak spread by a travelling group of tourists in the latest test of the country’s zero-tolerance approach with just over 100 days until the start of the Games. &nbsp;

Until further notice, Beijing marathon’s organisers have postponed the run “to prevent the risk of the epidemic spreading (and) effectively protect the health and safety of the majority of runners, staff and residents.” On October 31, some 30,000 people were expected to take part in the race.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pandemic-will-end-when-world-chooses-to-end-it-says-who-chief-423790" hreflang="en">Pandemic will end when world chooses to end it, says WHO chief</a> &nbsp;

Meanwhile, the Wuhan Marathon, which was due to take place on Sunday, has been postponed due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, just ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. &nbsp;

Authorities have been making attempts to contain virus infections using mass testing of residents and targeted lockdowns. However, with a rise in cases, organisers of the Wuhan Marathon said in a statement released that they would postpone Sunday's event in the central Chinese city "to prevent the risk of epidemic spread". &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies) &nbsp;

With the rising Covid infections on the mind, organisers have postponed the weekend’s Beijing marathon in China. The country also seeks to return to zero cases ahead of the Winter Olympics.

With the rising Covid infections on the mind, organisers have postponed the weekend’s Beijing marathon in China. The country also seeks to return to zero cases ahead of the Winter Olympics. Also Read: China will uphold world peace, says Xi on anniversary of return to UN On Monday, China reported 39 new domestic infections. The cases are rising after an outbreak spread by a travelling group of tourists in the latest test of the country’s zero-tolerance approach with just over 100 days until the start of the Games. Until further notice, Beijing marathon’s organisers have postponed the run “to prevent the risk of the epidemic spreading (and) effectively protect the health and safety of the majority of runners, staff and residents.” On October 31, some 30,000 people were expected to take part in the race. Also Read: Pandemic will end when world chooses to end it, says WHO chief Meanwhile, the Wuhan Marathon, which was due to take place on Sunday, has been postponed due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, just ahead of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Authorities have been making attempts to contain virus infections using mass testing of residents and targeted lockdowns. However, with a rise in cases, organisers of the Wuhan Marathon said in a statement released that they would postpone Sunday's event in the central Chinese city "to prevent the risk of epidemic spread". (With inputs from agencies)

With Covid outbreak on mind, organisers postpone Beijing marathon in China

The COVID-19 pandemic has hammered the hospitality industry. In Bangkok an order banning alcohol at pubs, bars and restaurants has resulted in revenue dropping to less than 50% of what it was before. So how are the bars in Bangkok surviving this economic downturn? Our next report gets you all the details.

COVID-19 pandemic hammers hospitality industry

German Health Minister has said that restrictions like mask-wearing and limited indoor activities for unvaccinated people will stay until next spring. However, he also said that Germany will be able to cope with the crisis better due to the vaccination drive being carried out in the country.

Germany: Highest Covid cases on Saturday since mid-May

Across the developing world, hundreds of millions of people are unable to get a vaccine to protect themselves from the ravages of COVID-19, and millions of them have already become infected and died.

Depending on wealthy nations to donate billions of doses is not working, public health experts say. The solution, many now believe, is for the countries to do something that the big U.S. mRNA vaccine makers say is not feasible: manufacture the gold-standard mRNA shots themselves.

Despite mounting pressure, the CEOs of Moderna and Pfizer have declined to license their mRNA technology in developing countries, arguing it makes no sense to do so. They say that the process is too complex, that it would be too time- and labor-intensive to establish centers that could do it, and that they cannot spare the staff because of the urgent need to maximize production at their own network of facilities.

“You cannot go hire people who know how to make mRNA; those people don’t exist,” the CEO of Moderna, Stéphane Bancel, told analysts.

But public health experts in both rich and poor countries argue that expanding production to the regions most in need is not only possible but essential for safeguarding the world against dangerous variants of the virus and ending the pandemic.

Setting up mRNA manufacturing operations in other countries should start immediately, said Tom Frieden, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, adding, “They are our insurance policy against variants and production failure” and “absolutely can be produced in a variety of settings.”

The vaccine needs of poorer countries were supposed to be met through COVAX, a multinational body meant to facilitate global vaccine distribution — but donations have been slow and limited. Wealthier countries have locked up supply. Just 4% of people in low-income countries are fully vaccinated.

Experts in both the development and production of vaccines say the mRNA vaccines involve fewer steps, fewer ingredients and less physical capacity than traditional vaccines. Companies in Africa, South America and parts of Asia already have much of what they would need to make them, they say; the technology specific to the mRNA production process can be delivered as a ready-to-use modular kit.

Most estimates put the cost of setting up production at $100 million to $200 million. A few large pharmaceutical producers in developing countries have these funds at hand; others would need loans or investors. The U.S. International Development Finance Corp. and the International Finance Corp. both have billions of dollars in funding available for this kind of project, as low-interest loans or a share of equity.

The New York Times interviewed dozens of executives and scientists at vaccine, drug and biotechnology companies across the developing world and from those conversations found 10 strong candidates to produce mRNA COVID vaccines in six countries on three continents. The key criteria include existing facilities, human capital, the regulatory system for medicines and the political and economic climate.

The candidates include companies that are already making other COVID vaccines, such as the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker; public institutions that are already testing their own mRNA vaccines for the coronavirus; and firms tapped by the World Health Organization to be regional centers for mRNA development.

Two companies in Asia are already making their own mRNA vaccines against COVID.

Gennova Biopharmaceuticals in Pune, India, has one in phase 2 and 3 clinical trials. Gennova says that unlike the mRNA shots currently in use, its vaccine can be stored at the temperature of a standard medical refrigerator.

Gennova is headed by Sanjay Singh, a biochemist who worked on malaria vaccines at the National Institutes of Health in the United States for six years before returning to India. The company is negotiating with contract manufacturers to make its vaccine while also working to expand its existing production capacity from 100 million to 1 billion doses a year, and it could be in production with its COVID shot within months, Singh said.

BioNet-Asia, a Thai drugmaker, is producing test batches of a COVID mRNA vaccine developed at Chula Vaccine Research Center in Bangkok that is in phase 2 trials.

If results continue to be positive, the vaccine could go to Thailand’s drug regulator by March, and BioNet would be ready for commercial production on approval, said Kiat Ruxrungtham, who heads the research team making the ChulaCov19 vaccine.

“Having this capability and capacity of this technology platform within the country — the goal is, when you have a new variant spreading or you have the next pandemic, you can start things very quickly instead of waiting to buy vaccines like we have been doing so far,” Ruxrungtham said.

Other drug companies would like to license one of the existing mRNA vaccines — pay a fee to receive the formulation and instructions, then share a royalty on each dose they sell — and start making it as quickly as possible. Stephen Saad, CEO of Aspen Pharmacare in Durban, South Africa, said that with an investment he estimated at $100 million, his firm could be producing 1 billion doses of mRNA vaccine within a year — more than enough to supply all of Africa, across which Aspen already has a distribution network.

Bio-Manguinhos, the immunobiology arm of a venerated Brazilian public health research organization, will soon start clinical trials of an RNA-based COVID vaccine, said Sotiris Missailidis, deputy director of technology development for the research center.

This year, Bio-Manguinhos nearly doubled its production capacity — to 215 million doses — of other vaccines, including AstraZeneca’s COVID shot, which it produces under contract. Brazil has a medical regulatory agency that maintains the same standards as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency.

A range of factors has restricted access to vaccines in developing countries, including supply chain and shipping bottlenecks, and politics. The Serum Institute was supposed to supply COVAX, but India’s government banned exports at the height of that country’s second wave. Aspen in South Africa won a contract to bottle the Johnson &amp;amp; Johnson vaccine, but it had to export many of the shots right back to Europe and to Canada until activists created a public outcry.

“What we’ve learned through this pandemic is that it really does matter where the doses are coming off the production line,” said Andrea Taylor, who tracks vaccine production for the Duke Global Health Innovation Center.

Making mRNA vaccine shots differs in significant ways from traditional vaccine production. It is an enzymatic process, not a biological one that involves live cells, and in many ways is closer to the work of making drugs, said Zoltan Kis, a chemical engineer who analyzed mRNA production capacity for the Future Vaccine Manufacturing Research Hub at Imperial College in London.

In fact, when BioNTech was ready to start production of its vaccine, it went not to a vaccine maker but to a cancer drug plant in Germany. Moderna’s contract manufacturer in Switzerland employed former food scientists from Nestle, enlisted to transfer their chemistry skills.

“It’s a game changer because you don’t have to deal with the same stakeholders anymore,” said Alain Alsalhani, a vaccines expert with Doctors Without Borders’ access-to-medicines campaign.

Moderna’s contract manufacturers use a modular production kit that can make 100 million doses; some in the business compare the concept to an Ikea kitchen.

The COVID mRNA vaccines have already earned more in a single year than any previous product in pharmaceutical history and are on track to bring in more than $53 billion in revenue this year alone. The longer Pfizer and Moderna have a proprietary lock on the technology to make them, the greater the edge they will have on any future vaccine for cancer or other diseases, said Zain Rizvi, an expert on access to medicines with the advocacy organization Public Citizen. When a company has a functioning production line, it is a straightforward process to swap the mRNA content and make vaccines for a different pathogen, such as malaria or HIV.

This argument over manufacturing COVID mRNA vaccines echoes one that was made two decades ago about treatments for HIV. Hundreds of thousands of people died of AIDS in Africa long after antiretroviral drugs were widely available in wealthy nations because the patented medications were being sold at a price far too high for governments in the worst-affected countries to purchase.

Treatment access advocates staged a global campaign demanding that the drugmakers license low-cost producers or release the rights to their intellectual property to allow someone to fill the gap.

Although major Western pharmaceutical companies insisted there was no way to make the drugs more cheaply, Indian, Brazilian, Thai and South African drugmakers said they could do it. Indian generic companies reverse-engineered many of the formulas, and today, the bulk of the world’s AIDS drugs are made in these countries.

Now the WHO has taken on a similar challenge.

Because efforts to win licensing deals or other cooperation from Pfizer and Moderna have been unsuccessful to date, the organization is backing an effort to reverse-engineer Moderna’s vaccine at a technology transfer hub in South Africa, said Martin Friede, who runs the Initiative for Vaccine Research at the WHO. Biotechnology company Afrigen Biologics will make the mRNA, and the Biovac Institute will manufacture the vaccines.

Patrick Tippoo, head scientist at Biovac, which has a contract to bottle the Pfizer COVID vaccine, said the institute would prefer to own the technology to make an mRNA vaccine. But the fastest route to production would be a partnership with the maker of one of the existing mRNA vaccines. If Biovac had access to the “recipe,” instruction from people who have made the vaccine, and were to purchase modular production suites, the company could make the vaccines in 12-18 months, he said.

Instead of sharing its recipe, Moderna announced this month that it would spend up to $500 million to build its own vaccine plant in Africa. (The company did not specify which of the 54 countries it planned to build in or how long it would take.) And BioNTech, the inventor of Pfizer’s mRNA process, has announced plans to build plants in Africa in the next four years.

The Western pharmaceutical industry and some supply chain and health experts say the fastest route to closing the COVID vaccine gap is to focus on a more equitable distribution of vaccines made by the existing players.

“No enforced technology transfer would do more to address equity than what’s already lined up,” said Thomas Cueni, director of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, an industry lobby group in Geneva.

Intent on spreading production across the developing world, the WHO is also working on a second track that will seek partnerships with institutions such as Ruxrungtham’s research center in Bangkok, with their own mRNA vaccines. These vaccines would potentially be cheaper to produce and, critically, could be heat-stable — not requiring ultracold storage — and thus far more appropriate for use in low-resource settings, Friede said.

Some of the efforts are producing innovations that could benefit their regions far beyond the current pandemic.

Gennova in India has worked with a Seattle startup called HDT Bio to develop a new method to deliver mRNA with a lipid nanoparticle, one that does not require extreme cold storage. “We wanted to solve the problem of the scalability issue and the temperature issue,” Singh, CEO of Gennova, said. “If we can solve these problems, we are building a solution not just for India but also a global solution.”

Gennova received seed funding from the government of India, and it plans to use internal resources — and a potential partnership it is negotiating with a large multilateral agency — to take its vaccine forward, Singh said.

While Gennova has the technology, other producers such as the Brazilian and Argentine vaccine makers would need infrastructure — such as the kits Moderna used to set up production with its contractor in Switzerland.

For the producers not yet working with mRNA, the fastest way to start making COVID shots would be a partnership with Pfizer or Moderna, but the technology transfer process would involve hundreds of steps, said Prashant Yadav, a supply chain expert with the Center for Global Development.

“Can you do it for mRNA just by sending the transfer document blueprints and having a few Zoom calls, or a team to visit for a few days? In most cases, probably not,” he said. An experienced team that stayed on site for a period of time would be crucial.

Yadav estimated it would take one of the producers in South Africa or Brazil up to 18 months to have an mRNA vaccine ready to go in arms, with a recipe-share. There would also need to be a parallel process of boosting the capacity of national regulatory agencies, which will be critical to maintaining quality.

Kis said that any manufacturer that had a site at the standard set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-governed system of best practice for pharmaceutical manufacturing could switch to mRNA production in six months, using the pop-up production kits.

“We will build facilities in these regions to enable them to respond to this current pandemic — or maybe the pandemic will be over — but this time, the world has seen what the cost of not being prepared is, so hopefully this time, we’ve got the political will,” Friede of the WHO said. “Richer countries are going to have to put their hands in their pockets and contribute to the construction and maintenance of these facilities. Because in a pandemic, you’re not safe until your neighbor is safe.”

Across the developing world, hundreds of millions of people are unable to get a vaccine to protect themselves from the ravages of COVID-19, and millions of them have already become infected and died.

Across the developing world, hundreds of millions of people are unable to get a vaccine to protect themselves from the ravages of COVID-19, and millions of them have already become infected and died. Depending on wealthy nations to donate billions of doses is not working, public health experts say. The solution, many now believe, is for the countries to do something that the big U.S. mRNA vaccine makers say is not feasible: manufacture the gold-standard mRNA shots themselves. Despite mounting pressure, the CEOs of Moderna and Pfizer have declined to license their mRNA technology in developing countries, arguing it makes no sense to do so. They say that the process is too complex, that it would be too time- and labor-intensive to establish centers that could do it, and that they cannot spare the staff because of the urgent need to maximize production at their own network of facilities. “You cannot go hire people who know how to make mRNA; those people don’t exist,” the CEO of Moderna, Stéphane Bancel, told analysts. But public health experts in both rich and poor countries argue that expanding production to the regions most in need is not only possible but essential for safeguarding the world against dangerous variants of the virus and ending the pandemic. Setting up mRNA manufacturing operations in other countries should start immediately, said Tom Frieden, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, adding, “They are our insurance policy against variants and production failure” and “absolutely can be produced in a variety of settings.” The vaccine needs of poorer countries were supposed to be met through COVAX, a multinational body meant to facilitate global vaccine distribution — but donations have been slow and limited. Wealthier countries have locked up supply. Just 4% of people in low-income countries are fully vaccinated. Experts in both the development and production of vaccines say the mRNA vaccines involve fewer steps, fewer ingredients and less physical capacity than traditional vaccines. Companies in Africa, South America and parts of Asia already have much of what they would need to make them, they say; the technology specific to the mRNA production process can be delivered as a ready-to-use modular kit. Most estimates put the cost of setting up production at $100 million to $200 million. A few large pharmaceutical producers in developing countries have these funds at hand; others would need loans or investors. The U.S. International Development Finance Corp. and the International Finance Corp. both have billions of dollars in funding available for this kind of project, as low-interest loans or a share of equity. The New York Times interviewed dozens of executives and scientists at vaccine, drug and biotechnology companies across the developing world and from those conversations found 10 strong candidates to produce mRNA COVID vaccines in six countries on three continents. The key criteria include existing facilities, human capital, the regulatory system for medicines and the political and economic climate. The candidates include companies that are already making other COVID vaccines, such as the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker; public institutions that are already testing their own mRNA vaccines for the coronavirus; and firms tapped by the World Health Organization to be regional centers for mRNA development. Two companies in Asia are already making their own mRNA vaccines against COVID. Gennova Biopharmaceuticals in Pune, India, has one in phase 2 and 3 clinical trials. Gennova says that unlike the mRNA shots currently in use, its vaccine can be stored at the temperature of a standard medical refrigerator. Gennova is headed by Sanjay Singh, a biochemist who worked on malaria vaccines at the National Institutes of Health in the United States for six years before returning to India. The company is negotiating with contract manufacturers to make its vaccine while also working to expand its existing production capacity from 100 million to 1 billion doses a year, and it could be in production with its COVID shot within months, Singh said. BioNet-Asia, a Thai drugmaker, is producing test batches of a COVID mRNA vaccine developed at Chula Vaccine Research Center in Bangkok that is in phase 2 trials. If results continue to be positive, the vaccine could go to Thailand’s drug regulator by March, and BioNet would be ready for commercial production on approval, said Kiat Ruxrungtham, who heads the research team making the ChulaCov19 vaccine. “Having this capability and capacity of this technology platform within the country — the goal is, when you have a new variant spreading or you have the next pandemic, you can start things very quickly instead of waiting to buy vaccines like we have been doing so far,” Ruxrungtham said. Other drug companies would like to license one of the existing mRNA vaccines — pay a fee to receive the formulation and instructions, then share a royalty on each dose they sell — and start making it as quickly as possible. Stephen Saad, CEO of Aspen Pharmacare in Durban, South Africa, said that with an investment he estimated at $100 million, his firm could be producing 1 billion doses of mRNA vaccine within a year — more than enough to supply all of Africa, across which Aspen already has a distribution network. Bio-Manguinhos, the immunobiology arm of a venerated Brazilian public health research organization, will soon start clinical trials of an RNA-based COVID vaccine, said Sotiris Missailidis, deputy director of technology development for the research center. This year, Bio-Manguinhos nearly doubled its production capacity — to 215 million doses — of other vaccines, including AstraZeneca’s COVID shot, which it produces under contract. Brazil has a medical regulatory agency that maintains the same standards as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency. A range of factors has restricted access to vaccines in developing countries, including supply chain and shipping bottlenecks, and politics. The Serum Institute was supposed to supply COVAX, but India’s government banned exports at the height of that country’s second wave. Aspen in South Africa won a contract to bottle the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine, but it had to export many of the shots right back to Europe and to Canada until activists created a public outcry. “What we’ve learned through this pandemic is that it really does matter where the doses are coming off the production line,” said Andrea Taylor, who tracks vaccine production for the Duke Global Health Innovation Center. Making mRNA vaccine shots differs in significant ways from traditional vaccine production. It is an enzymatic process, not a biological one that involves live cells, and in many ways is closer to the work of making drugs, said Zoltan Kis, a chemical engineer who analyzed mRNA production capacity for the Future Vaccine Manufacturing Research Hub at Imperial College in London. In fact, when BioNTech was ready to start production of its vaccine, it went not to a vaccine maker but to a cancer drug plant in Germany. Moderna’s contract manufacturer in Switzerland employed former food scientists from Nestle, enlisted to transfer their chemistry skills. “It’s a game changer because you don’t have to deal with the same stakeholders anymore,” said Alain Alsalhani, a vaccines expert with Doctors Without Borders’ access-to-medicines campaign. Moderna’s contract manufacturers use a modular production kit that can make 100 million doses; some in the business compare the concept to an Ikea kitchen. The COVID mRNA vaccines have already earned more in a single year than any previous product in pharmaceutical history and are on track to bring in more than $53 billion in revenue this year alone. The longer Pfizer and Moderna have a proprietary lock on the technology to make them, the greater the edge they will have on any future vaccine for cancer or other diseases, said Zain Rizvi, an expert on access to medicines with the advocacy organization Public Citizen. When a company has a functioning production line, it is a straightforward process to swap the mRNA content and make vaccines for a different pathogen, such as malaria or HIV. This argument over manufacturing COVID mRNA vaccines echoes one that was made two decades ago about treatments for HIV. Hundreds of thousands of people died of AIDS in Africa long after antiretroviral drugs were widely available in wealthy nations because the patented medications were being sold at a price far too high for governments in the worst-affected countries to purchase. Treatment access advocates staged a global campaign demanding that the drugmakers license low-cost producers or release the rights to their intellectual property to allow someone to fill the gap. Although major Western pharmaceutical companies insisted there was no way to make the drugs more cheaply, Indian, Brazilian, Thai and South African drugmakers said they could do it. Indian generic companies reverse-engineered many of the formulas, and today, the bulk of the world’s AIDS drugs are made in these countries. Now the WHO has taken on a similar challenge. Because efforts to win licensing deals or other cooperation from Pfizer and Moderna have been unsuccessful to date, the organization is backing an effort to reverse-engineer Moderna’s vaccine at a technology transfer hub in South Africa, said Martin Friede, who runs the Initiative for Vaccine Research at the WHO. Biotechnology company Afrigen Biologics will make the mRNA, and the Biovac Institute will manufacture the vaccines. Patrick Tippoo, head scientist at Biovac, which has a contract to bottle the Pfizer COVID vaccine, said the institute would prefer to own the technology to make an mRNA vaccine. But the fastest route to production would be a partnership with the maker of one of the existing mRNA vaccines. If Biovac had access to the “recipe,” instruction from people who have made the vaccine, and were to purchase modular production suites, the company could make the vaccines in 12-18 months, he said. Instead of sharing its recipe, Moderna announced this month that it would spend up to $500 million to build its own vaccine plant in Africa. (The company did not specify which of the 54 countries it planned to build in or how long it would take.) And BioNTech, the inventor of Pfizer’s mRNA process, has announced plans to build plants in Africa in the next four years. The Western pharmaceutical industry and some supply chain and health experts say the fastest route to closing the COVID vaccine gap is to focus on a more equitable distribution of vaccines made by the existing players. “No enforced technology transfer would do more to address equity than what’s already lined up,” said Thomas Cueni, director of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, an industry lobby group in Geneva. Intent on spreading production across the developing world, the WHO is also working on a second track that will seek partnerships with institutions such as Ruxrungtham’s research center in Bangkok, with their own mRNA vaccines. These vaccines would potentially be cheaper to produce and, critically, could be heat-stable — not requiring ultracold storage — and thus far more appropriate for use in low-resource settings, Friede said. Some of the efforts are producing innovations that could benefit their regions far beyond the current pandemic. Gennova in India has worked with a Seattle startup called HDT Bio to develop a new method to deliver mRNA with a lipid nanoparticle, one that does not require extreme cold storage. “We wanted to solve the problem of the scalability issue and the temperature issue,” Singh, CEO of Gennova, said. “If we can solve these problems, we are building a solution not just for India but also a global solution.” Gennova received seed funding from the government of India, and it plans to use internal resources — and a potential partnership it is negotiating with a large multilateral agency — to take its vaccine forward, Singh said. While Gennova has the technology, other producers such as the Brazilian and Argentine vaccine makers would need infrastructure — such as the kits Moderna used to set up production with its contractor in Switzerland. For the producers not yet working with mRNA, the fastest way to start making COVID shots would be a partnership with Pfizer or Moderna, but the technology transfer process would involve hundreds of steps, said Prashant Yadav, a supply chain expert with the Center for Global Development. “Can you do it for mRNA just by sending the transfer document blueprints and having a few Zoom calls, or a team to visit for a few days? In most cases, probably not,” he said. An experienced team that stayed on site for a period of time would be crucial. Yadav estimated it would take one of the producers in South Africa or Brazil up to 18 months to have an mRNA vaccine ready to go in arms, with a recipe-share. There would also need to be a parallel process of boosting the capacity of national regulatory agencies, which will be critical to maintaining quality. Kis said that any manufacturer that had a site at the standard set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-governed system of best practice for pharmaceutical manufacturing could switch to mRNA production in six months, using the pop-up production kits. “We will build facilities in these regions to enable them to respond to this current pandemic — or maybe the pandemic will be over — but this time, the world has seen what the cost of not being prepared is, so hopefully this time, we’ve got the political will,” Friede of the WHO said. “Richer countries are going to have to put their hands in their pockets and contribute to the construction and maintenance of these facilities. Because in a pandemic, you’re not safe until your neighbor is safe.”

Here’s why developing countries can make Covid mRNA vaccines

When Florida gave restaurants the green light to reopen indoor dining earlier this year, restaurateurs like Carlos Gazitua were euphoric. They hoped it would resuscitate their businesses, many of which were on life-support after the shutdown. But they quickly learned it was tough to coax workers back.

“It was a crisis,"&nbsp;said Gazitua, owner and CEO of the Sergio’s Restaurant chain in Florida. “We couldn’t find anyone.” Even a major job fair, drawing dozens of restaurant and hotel owners offering more than 1,000 jobs in May, was disastrous.

“We had 40 employers and only four people showed up!” he said. “It was bizarre — all the employers thought we were on ‘Candid Camera’.”

So, Gazitua turned to robotics, bringing in the Servi robot in July at one of his restaurants. Servi uses cameras and laser sensors to carry plates of food from the kitchen to tables in the dining room, where the waiter then transfers the plates to the customer’s table. The robot costs $999 a month, including installation and support.

Servi saved wait staff and bussers from having to run back and forth to the kitchen and gave overworked servers more time to schmooze with customers and serve more tables, which led to higher tips.

“In the first two hours, the servers were amazed!” he said, adding that Servis have now been added to the company’s five other full-service restaurants.

Gazitua is among a growing number of restaurant and hotel owners who are turning to robotics during this labour shortage. Robots don’t call in sick, don’t request raises and do jobs, like frying and cleaning, that workers don’t like.

Indeed, many robotics companies, like Miso Robotics, Bear Robotics, Peanut Robotics, Knightscope, SoftBank Robotics and Makr Shakr, say they have seen huge spikes in inquiries for their robots since the pandemic hit.

Miso is getting 150 inquiries a week for its Flippy robot, said Mike Bell, CEO of Miso. Flippy uses artificial intelligence, sensors, computer vision and robotic arms to fry fast food, like French fries and chicken wings. The robot, which costs about $3,000 per month, including maintenance, identifies the food, senses the oil temperature, and monitors the cook time.

The CDC estimates 48 million people get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year from foodborne illnesses. Using robots like Flippy improves a kitchen’s cooking accuracy and consistency, reducing human error that could lead to food contamination issues, Bell said.

White Castle started testing Flippy at its Merrillville, Indiana, restaurant in late 2020.

“This is the toughest labour market we’ve encountered since World War II,” said Jamie Richardson, vice president of marketing at White Castle, founded in 1921. The test went so well that it plans to add Flippy to 10 more locations. Michael J. Hicks, professor of economics and director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, echoed Richardson’s view of the job situation.

“The leisure and hospitality industry saw a 50% drop in employment in 2020, a dip of 8.3 million workers,” he said. “That is far and away the worst shock to the industry on record, dating back to the Great Depression.”

Bear Robotics, which makes the Servi robot, has seen demand skyrocket, said Juan Higueros, co-founder and chief operating officer. Aside from Sergio’s restaurants, he has fielded inquiries from casinos, restaurant chains, arenas and even senior living residences, desperate to assist overworked staff.

“Burnout is becoming a very big problem for restaurant staff,” he said.

Peanut Robotics, a startup, makes a robot that cleans and sanitizes restrooms, and SoftBank Robotics makes Whiz, which vacuums floors.

Although Peanut is still in the prototype phase, this hasn’t stopped hotel chains, offices and restaurants from requesting the robot. “We’re not actively marketing, but people keep finding us,” said Joe Augenbraun, the company’s CEO. “I have demand for hundreds of them right now.”

Knightscope makes robots that use artificial intelligence, video and two-way audio to patrol outdoor or indoor areas. It uses thermal imaging, license plate recognition and other software. There is also an alert button on the robot that allows the caller to speak directly to someone. Demand has been particularly high lately from casinos and office buildings, said Stacy Stephens, co-founder and chief client officer at Knightscope.

Makr Shakr, based in Italy, makes robotic bartenders, whose arms can measure, mix, shake, pour and even garnish cocktails. Over the past three months, inquiries have jumped 50% from pre-pandemic levels, said Carlo Ratti, a founding partner and a professor the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Tipsy Robot, a bar that opened in Las Vegas in 2017, uses Makr Shakr’s robotic arms. Its general manager, Victor Reza Valanejad, said the robot was a godsend when COVID hit. “I was getting about 120 applications a day in 2019 for bartenders,” he said. But in April 2021, the same ad took three weeks to get only 14 applications. “And of those 14, no one showed up for the interviews,” he said.

While robots don’t call in sick or ask for raises, they can break down. As a result, a restaurant is at the mercy of the robotics company to respond quickly. Sometimes, a software glitch can be fixed remotely, but a hardware issue usually requires an on-site repair. Most of the companies said they could make repairs within 24 hours, but not always.

Robots have had some highly publicized missteps.

In 2019, a Knightscope 5 robot made headlines when a fight broke out in Huntington Park, California, where the robot was patrolling. When a woman ran to the robot for assistance and pushed its emergency alert button, the robot repeatedly barked “Get out of the way” and proceeded to roll past her — and the ongoing fight — while playing a little tune. A bystander ended up calling 911.

Stephens blamed the mishap on a robot that had been deployed before its software had been fully installed and its line to 911 had been hooked up. Since then, he said, the city has credited the robot for lowering crime and has extended its contract for two more years.

SoftBank Robotics’s Pepper, which is touted as a robot that can read people’s emotions, remember faces and interact with people, has probably received the most negative publicity.

A Scottish grocery store, Margiotta, hired the robot to give directions to customers looking for items in the store, but fired Pepper when it kept giving vague answers, like “It’s in the alcohol section” when asked where to find beer.

Then there was Pepper’s stint at a Japanese nursing home, where it was hired to lead singalongs and hold exercise classes for seniors. But it kept malfunctioning.

Its biggest blemish came when a 2018 Swedish university research report said Pepper’s technology had serious security flaws. It said a breach would allow a hacker to spy on people through Pepper’s cameras and microphones and even take control of Pepper’s arms. SoftBank said the security flaw has since been patched.

“Most Peppers have now been fired,” said Dina Marie Zemke, associate professor at Ball State University and author of a 2020 report on robotics. “Either you loved them or you were completely creeped out by them.”

Pepper wasn’t cheap, retailing for $20,000 to $25,000.

SoftBank recently stopped production of Pepper, sold off its majority stake in Boston Dynamics, and laid off about half of its 330-member team in France. But Kass Dawson, SoftBank Robotics’ vice president of brand strategy, insists Pepper’s production is only temporarily halted and that its robotics division remains a company priority.

Industry experts believe the labour shortages stemming from the pandemic accelerated the acceptance of robots in the workplace.

“We’ve all gotten more comfortable with dealing with robots — that’s one of the legacies of the pandemic,” said Craig Le Clair, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester. “We’re able to trade off the creepiness of robots with the improved help characteristics.”

When Florida gave restaurants the green light to reopen indoor dining earlier this year, restaurateurs like Carlos Gazitua were euphoric. They hoped it would resuscitate their businesses, many of which were on life-support after the shutdown.

When Florida gave restaurants the green light to reopen indoor dining earlier this year, restaurateurs like Carlos Gazitua were euphoric. They hoped it would resuscitate their businesses, many of which were on life-support after the shutdown. But they quickly learned it was tough to coax workers back. “It was a crisis," said Gazitua, owner and CEO of the Sergio’s Restaurant chain in Florida. “We couldn’t find anyone.” Even a major job fair, drawing dozens of restaurant and hotel owners offering more than 1,000 jobs in May, was disastrous. “We had 40 employers and only four people showed up!” he said. “It was bizarre — all the employers thought we were on ‘Candid Camera’.” So, Gazitua turned to robotics, bringing in the Servi robot in July at one of his restaurants. Servi uses cameras and laser sensors to carry plates of food from the kitchen to tables in the dining room, where the waiter then transfers the plates to the customer’s table. The robot costs $999 a month, including installation and support. Servi saved wait staff and bussers from having to run back and forth to the kitchen and gave overworked servers more time to schmooze with customers and serve more tables, which led to higher tips. “In the first two hours, the servers were amazed!” he said, adding that Servis have now been added to the company’s five other full-service restaurants. Gazitua is among a growing number of restaurant and hotel owners who are turning to robotics during this labour shortage. Robots don’t call in sick, don’t request raises and do jobs, like frying and cleaning, that workers don’t like. Indeed, many robotics companies, like Miso Robotics, Bear Robotics, Peanut Robotics, Knightscope, SoftBank Robotics and Makr Shakr, say they have seen huge spikes in inquiries for their robots since the pandemic hit. Miso is getting 150 inquiries a week for its Flippy robot, said Mike Bell, CEO of Miso. Flippy uses artificial intelligence, sensors, computer vision and robotic arms to fry fast food, like French fries and chicken wings. The robot, which costs about $3,000 per month, including maintenance, identifies the food, senses the oil temperature, and monitors the cook time. The CDC estimates 48 million people get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die each year from foodborne illnesses. Using robots like Flippy improves a kitchen’s cooking accuracy and consistency, reducing human error that could lead to food contamination issues, Bell said. White Castle started testing Flippy at its Merrillville, Indiana, restaurant in late 2020. “This is the toughest labour market we’ve encountered since World War II,” said Jamie Richardson, vice president of marketing at White Castle, founded in 1921. The test went so well that it plans to add Flippy to 10 more locations. Michael J. Hicks, professor of economics and director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, echoed Richardson’s view of the job situation. “The leisure and hospitality industry saw a 50% drop in employment in 2020, a dip of 8.3 million workers,” he said. “That is far and away the worst shock to the industry on record, dating back to the Great Depression.” Bear Robotics, which makes the Servi robot, has seen demand skyrocket, said Juan Higueros, co-founder and chief operating officer. Aside from Sergio’s restaurants, he has fielded inquiries from casinos, restaurant chains, arenas and even senior living residences, desperate to assist overworked staff. “Burnout is becoming a very big problem for restaurant staff,” he said. Peanut Robotics, a startup, makes a robot that cleans and sanitizes restrooms, and SoftBank Robotics makes Whiz, which vacuums floors. Although Peanut is still in the prototype phase, this hasn’t stopped hotel chains, offices and restaurants from requesting the robot. “We’re not actively marketing, but people keep finding us,” said Joe Augenbraun, the company’s CEO. “I have demand for hundreds of them right now.” Knightscope makes robots that use artificial intelligence, video and two-way audio to patrol outdoor or indoor areas. It uses thermal imaging, license plate recognition and other software. There is also an alert button on the robot that allows the caller to speak directly to someone. Demand has been particularly high lately from casinos and office buildings, said Stacy Stephens, co-founder and chief client officer at Knightscope. Makr Shakr, based in Italy, makes robotic bartenders, whose arms can measure, mix, shake, pour and even garnish cocktails. Over the past three months, inquiries have jumped 50% from pre-pandemic levels, said Carlo Ratti, a founding partner and a professor the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Tipsy Robot, a bar that opened in Las Vegas in 2017, uses Makr Shakr’s robotic arms. Its general manager, Victor Reza Valanejad, said the robot was a godsend when COVID hit. “I was getting about 120 applications a day in 2019 for bartenders,” he said. But in April 2021, the same ad took three weeks to get only 14 applications. “And of those 14, no one showed up for the interviews,” he said. While robots don’t call in sick or ask for raises, they can break down. As a result, a restaurant is at the mercy of the robotics company to respond quickly. Sometimes, a software glitch can be fixed remotely, but a hardware issue usually requires an on-site repair. Most of the companies said they could make repairs within 24 hours, but not always. Robots have had some highly publicized missteps. In 2019, a Knightscope 5 robot made headlines when a fight broke out in Huntington Park, California, where the robot was patrolling. When a woman ran to the robot for assistance and pushed its emergency alert button, the robot repeatedly barked “Get out of the way” and proceeded to roll past her — and the ongoing fight — while playing a little tune. A bystander ended up calling 911. Stephens blamed the mishap on a robot that had been deployed before its software had been fully installed and its line to 911 had been hooked up. Since then, he said, the city has credited the robot for lowering crime and has extended its contract for two more years. SoftBank Robotics’s Pepper, which is touted as a robot that can read people’s emotions, remember faces and interact with people, has probably received the most negative publicity. A Scottish grocery store, Margiotta, hired the robot to give directions to customers looking for items in the store, but fired Pepper when it kept giving vague answers, like “It’s in the alcohol section” when asked where to find beer. Then there was Pepper’s stint at a Japanese nursing home, where it was hired to lead singalongs and hold exercise classes for seniors. But it kept malfunctioning. Its biggest blemish came when a 2018 Swedish university research report said Pepper’s technology had serious security flaws. It said a breach would allow a hacker to spy on people through Pepper’s cameras and microphones and even take control of Pepper’s arms. SoftBank said the security flaw has since been patched. “Most Peppers have now been fired,” said Dina Marie Zemke, associate professor at Ball State University and author of a 2020 report on robotics. “Either you loved them or you were completely creeped out by them.” Pepper wasn’t cheap, retailing for $20,000 to $25,000. SoftBank recently stopped production of Pepper, sold off its majority stake in Boston Dynamics, and laid off about half of its 330-member team in France. But Kass Dawson, SoftBank Robotics’ vice president of brand strategy, insists Pepper’s production is only temporarily halted and that its robotics division remains a company priority. Industry experts believe the labour shortages stemming from the pandemic accelerated the acceptance of robots in the workplace. “We’ve all gotten more comfortable with dealing with robots — that’s one of the legacies of the pandemic,” said Craig Le Clair, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester. “We’re able to trade off the creepiness of robots with the improved help characteristics.”

Desperate for workers, restaurants turn to robots

To reopen travel industry and revive economy, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday ordered frontline workers and tourism staff to be given a third booster shot of Covid vaccine next month. &nbsp;

In a statement, the president's office said, more than one million people will be given third shots of the Pfizer vaccine from November 1. These people include security personnel, healthcare staff and tourism industry workers. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/covid-19-vaccination-in-india-crosses-1-billion-what-about-its-neighbours-422545" hreflang="en">COVID-19 vaccination in India crosses 1 billion. What about its neighbours?</a>

Till now, Sri Lanka has fully vaccinated over 60% of its 22 million people. &nbsp;&nbsp;

The country, which depends on international tourism, partially rolled back Covid restrictions late last month by allowing fully vaccinated travellers with a negative test to enter without quarantine. &nbsp;

From $4.3 billion in 2018 to just $33 million in first eight months of year, the country’s earnings from tourism plummeted. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/lanka-seeks-usd-500-million-loan-from-india-for-fuel-purchase-421459" hreflang="en">Lanka seeks USD 500 million loan from India for fuel purchase</a>

Reviving the industry is crucial for restoring reserves, which is around $2.6 billion at the end of September. &nbsp;

Strong interest has been shown by travellers belonging to countries, such as Russia, Britain, France and Germany, and international flights will also be increased from next month, said Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga. &nbsp;

"The target is to have a strong winter season from November to March or April of next year,” Ranatunga told Reuters. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

To reopen travel industry and revive economy, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday ordered frontline workers and tourism staff to be given a third booster shot of Covid vaccine next month.

To reopen travel industry and revive economy, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday ordered frontline workers and tourism staff to be given a third booster shot of Covid vaccine next month. In a statement, the president's office said, more than one million people will be given third shots of the Pfizer vaccine from November 1. These people include security personnel, healthcare staff and tourism industry workers. Also Read: COVID-19 vaccination in India crosses 1 billion. What about its neighbours? Till now, Sri Lanka has fully vaccinated over 60% of its 22 million people. The country, which depends on international tourism, partially rolled back Covid restrictions late last month by allowing fully vaccinated travellers with a negative test to enter without quarantine. From $4.3 billion in 2018 to just $33 million in first eight months of year, the country’s earnings from tourism plummeted. Also Read: Lanka seeks USD 500 million loan from India for fuel purchase Reviving the industry is crucial for restoring reserves, which is around $2.6 billion at the end of September. Strong interest has been shown by travellers belonging to countries, such as Russia, Britain, France and Germany, and international flights will also be increased from next month, said Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga. "The target is to have a strong winter season from November to March or April of next year,” Ranatunga told Reuters. (With inputs from agencies)

Frontline workers, tourism industry to get Covid booster shots in Sri Lanka  

It is a well-known fact that memes, once an obscure term during the pre-internet era, have emerged as one of the primary methods of communication in the 21st century.

Memes are primarily composed of weird pictures that seek to bring a smile to peoples' faces, or are used as a satire to comment upon political and social affairs. They are part of everyday social media interaction, used and shared and consumed every minute.

Almost anything can become a meme—even people.

The rise of meme culture coincides with the increased presence of the internet and social media. As more and more time is spent online, memes have become the perfect vehicle for facilitating information, humour, and opinion.

But are they helpful in coping up with a stressful event? A latest study by US researchers seems to suggest so.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/disappointed-fan-viral-meme-of-pakistani-cricket-fan-gets-a-place-in-hong-kong-museum-of-memes-watch-402203">'Disappointed Fan': Viral meme of Pakistani cricket fan gets a place in Hong Kong museum of memes</a>

Researchers from Pennsylvania State University and the University of California Santa Barbara have found that memes helped people cope with life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The research, published this week in the Psychology of Popular Media journal, found that those who viewed memes reported “higher levels of humour” and more positive feelings.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/jennifer-aniston-priyanka-chopra-celebs-share-their-version-of-bernie-sanders-memes-358601">Jennifer Aniston, Priyanka Chopra: Celebs share their version of Bernie Sanders' memes</a>

They surveyed 748 people online last December: 72% of those who responded were white, 54% identified as women, 63% didn't hold a college degree, and their ages ranged from 18 to 88, the release states.

They were shown a variety of meme types, with different kinds of photos and captions, and asked to rate the cuteness, humour and emotional responses prompted by the materials, as well as how much the memes in question made them think about COVID-19.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/disaster-girl-sells-original-meme-worthy-photo-for-half-a-million-382064">'Disaster Girl' sells original meme-worthy photo for half a million</a>

Those who viewed memes that specifically referenced the pandemic felt less stress than those who viewed non-pandemic-related memes.

They also felt more capable of coping with the COVID-19 crisis and were better at processing information, according to the study.

The type of meme matters, too: People who viewed memes featuring cute babies or baby animals were overall less likely to think about the pandemic or the effects it has had on them, regardless of the type of caption, according to this week's release.

The researchers also found that those who were surveyed found memes with animals in them cuter than those featuring humans.

“While the World Health Organization recommended that people avoid too much Covid-related media for the benefit of their mental health, our research reveals that memes about COVID-19 could help people feel more confident in their ability to deal with the pandemic,” Jessica Gall Myrick, a lead author of the study and a professor at Pennsylvania State University, said in a statement.

“This suggests that not all media are uniformly bad for mental health and people should stop and take stock of what type of media they are consuming. If we are all more conscious of how our behaviours, including time spent scrolling, affect our emotional states, then we will better be able to use social media to help us when we need it and to take a break from it when we need that instead,” she said.

(With inputs from agencies)

It is a well-known fact that memes, once an obscure term during the pre-internet era, have emerged as one of the primary methods of communication in the 21st century.

It is a well-known fact that memes, once an obscure term during the pre-internet era, have emerged as one of the primary methods of communication in the 21st century. Memes are primarily composed of weird pictures that seek to bring a smile to peoples' faces, or are used as a satire to comment upon political and social affairs. They are part of everyday social media interaction, used and shared and consumed every minute. Almost anything can become a meme—even people. The rise of meme culture coincides with the increased presence of the internet and social media. As more and more time is spent online, memes have become the perfect vehicle for facilitating information, humour, and opinion. But are they helpful in coping up with a stressful event? A latest study by US researchers seems to suggest so. Also read | 'Disappointed Fan': Viral meme of Pakistani cricket fan gets a place in Hong Kong museum of memes Researchers from Pennsylvania State University and the University of California Santa Barbara have found that memes helped people cope with life during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research, published this week in the Psychology of Popular Media journal, found that those who viewed memes reported “higher levels of humour” and more positive feelings. Also read | Jennifer Aniston, Priyanka Chopra: Celebs share their version of Bernie Sanders' memes They surveyed 748 people online last December: 72% of those who responded were white, 54% identified as women, 63% didn't hold a college degree, and their ages ranged from 18 to 88, the release states. They were shown a variety of meme types, with different kinds of photos and captions, and asked to rate the cuteness, humour and emotional responses prompted by the materials, as well as how much the memes in question made them think about COVID-19. Also read | 'Disaster Girl' sells original meme-worthy photo for half a million Those who viewed memes that specifically referenced the pandemic felt less stress than those who viewed non-pandemic-related memes. They also felt more capable of coping with the COVID-19 crisis and were better at processing information, according to the study. The type of meme matters, too: People who viewed memes featuring cute babies or baby animals were overall less likely to think about the pandemic or the effects it has had on them, regardless of the type of caption, according to this week's release. The researchers also found that those who were surveyed found memes with animals in them cuter than those featuring humans. “While the World Health Organization recommended that people avoid too much Covid-related media for the benefit of their mental health, our research reveals that memes about COVID-19 could help people feel more confident in their ability to deal with the pandemic,” Jessica Gall Myrick, a lead author of the study and a professor at Pennsylvania State University, said in a statement. “This suggests that not all media are uniformly bad for mental health and people should stop and take stock of what type of media they are consuming. If we are all more conscious of how our behaviours, including time spent scrolling, affect our emotional states, then we will better be able to use social media to help us when we need it and to take a break from it when we need that instead,” she said. (With inputs from agencies)

Memes helped people cope up with Covid pandemic-related stress, says US study

Ukraine on Friday closed schools in Coronavirus hotspots and announced the need for vaccine certificates or negative tests to access public transport in the capital as COVID-19 deaths hit a record high.

Ukraine: COVID-19 cases and deaths reach all-time high for 2nd consecutive day

Millions in Melbourne are readying to come out of the world's longest COVID-19 lockdown, people are now visiting pubs, restaurants and hair salons. The city ahs endured 9-ling months of Covid restrictions.

Melbourne reopens after long lockdown, 70% of Australian adults fully vaccinated

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation a day after India achieved the major milestone after delivering 100 crore vaccine doses across India, at least 31% are fully vaccinated with two doses.

PM Narendra Modi addresses nation after India achieves milestone of 1 billion Covid vaccines doses

In a stunning admission, USA's National Institute of Health has accepted&nbsp;that US-funded money was used for bat coronavirus gain-of-function research in a lab in Wuhan.

Gain of function refers to a genetically altering animal viruses to make them more transmissible in humans.

A top NIH official has admitted to US funding in a letter written to Congressman James Comer. Lawrence A. Tabak, principal deputy director of the NIH however, has insisted that bat viruses studied under NIH grant could not have become Covid-19.

The admission of funding to gain-of-function research from the NIH is contradictory to stand taken by Dr Anthony Fauci, USA's top disease expert,&nbsp;who has firmly denied such a thing.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/democrats-spending-plan-is-bigger-than-obamacare-says-biden-423022">Democrats' spending plan is 'bigger' than Obamacare, says Biden</a>

Tabak, in his letter, has blamed EcoHealth Alliance — the New York City-based nonprofit which funneled US money to Wuhan lab. Tabak says that the nonprofit was not transparent about what it was doing.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/new-outbreak-of-bacteria-infection-reported-in-wet-markets-of-hong-kong-423002">New outbreak of bacteria infection reported in wet markets of Hong Kong</a>

Dr Anthony Fauci's denials about gain-of-function research has often put him at odds with American politicians. Republican senator Rand Paul is one of them.

Paul took to Twitter when the NIH letter surfaced.&nbsp;

“I told you so” doesn’t even begin to cover it here" he tweeted

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“I told you so” doesn’t even begin to cover it here: <a href="https://t.co/9JFn85I24i">https://t.co/9JFn85I24i</a>
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) <a href="https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/1450996489862459394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 21, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">×</a></div>

Lawrence Tabak, NIH principal deputy director, said in his letter that EcoHelath Alliance did not comply with the terms of the grant that was given to it. 
&nbsp;

In a stunning admission, USA's National Institute of Health has accepted that US-funded money was used for bat coronavirus gain-of-function research in a lab in Wuhan.

In a stunning admission, USA's National Institute of Health has accepted that US-funded money was used for bat coronavirus gain-of-function research in a lab in Wuhan. Gain of function refers to a genetically altering animal viruses to make them more transmissible in humans. A top NIH official has admitted to US funding in a letter written to Congressman James Comer. Lawrence A. Tabak, principal deputy director of the NIH however, has insisted that bat viruses studied under NIH grant could not have become Covid-19. The admission of funding to gain-of-function research from the NIH is contradictory to stand taken by Dr Anthony Fauci, USA's top disease expert, who has firmly denied such a thing. Also Read | Democrats' spending plan is 'bigger' than Obamacare, says Biden Tabak, in his letter, has blamed EcoHealth Alliance — the New York City-based nonprofit which funneled US money to Wuhan lab. Tabak says that the nonprofit was not transparent about what it was doing. Also Read | New outbreak of bacteria infection reported in wet markets of Hong Kong Dr Anthony Fauci's denials about gain-of-function research has often put him at odds with American politicians. Republican senator Rand Paul is one of them. Paul took to Twitter when the NIH letter surfaced. “I told you so” doesn’t even begin to cover it here" he tweeted “I told you so” doesn’t even begin to cover it here: https://t.co/9JFn85I24i — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 21, 2021 × Lawrence Tabak, NIH principal deputy director, said in his letter that EcoHelath Alliance did not comply with the terms of the grant that was given to it.

Coronavirus: NIH admits to US funding of gain-of-function research in Wuhan lab

A day after India scripted history by administering one billion COVID-19 doses in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that it was a “beginning of a new chapter of a new India.”

In a televised address, Prime Minister Modi said that economic growth was getting a boost from rising vaccinations across the country and urged citizens to purchase locally manufactured products over the upcoming festive season.

“There was a time when we would hear ‘Made in this nation’, ‘Made in that country’, but now all Indians understand the significance of ‘Made in India’,” Modi said.

“Urge all Indians to support Indian producers by purchasing ‘Made in India’ items and to advocate for ‘Vocal for Local’.”

Modi also called for vigilance against COVID-19 and recommended wearing masks during festivals.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/one-billion-doses-india-showed-faith-in-science-innovations-pm-modi-422824">One billion doses:&nbsp;India showed faith in science, innovations, says&nbsp;PM Modi</a>

The Prime Minister said that India’s vaccination programme was “science-born, science-driven and science-based”.

“Yesterday, Oct 21, India achieved the difficult but extraordinary target of one billion, COVID-19 vaccine doses. This success is the success of India, success of every citizen,” he said.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-crosses-historic-one-billion-covid-19-vaccine-milestone-422530">India crosses historic one billion COVID-19 vaccine milestone</a>

“It is a matter of pride for us that India’s vaccination programme has been science-born, science-driven and science-based," Modi said.

The country, he said, had only one mantra —that if the disease does not discriminate, then there cannot be any discrimination in the vaccination.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/covid-19-vaccination-in-india-crosses-1-billion-what-about-its-neighbours-422545">COVID-19 vaccination in India crosses 1 billion. What about its neighbours?</a>

"That's why it was ensured that VIP culture was not allowed," he said.

He pointed towards apprehensions from several quarters that it would be very difficult to fight this epidemic in a democracy like India.

“It was also being said for India, for the people of India that how will so much restraint, how so much discipline work here? But for us, democracy means everyone`s cooperation,” he said

Modi said leaders from across the world congratulated India on crossing the milestone of 100 crore vaccinations, terming it a huge and extraordinary accomplishment.

“Today many people are comparing India’s vaccination programme with other countries of the world,” he said.

He further said that the speed with which India crossed the 100-crore mark is also being appreciated but we often forget that from where we have started this.

Meanwhile, more than 1.59 billion vaccine doses have been administered so far to the eligible beneficiaries, according to India’s health ministry.

(With inputs from agencies)

A day after India scripted history by administering one billion COVID-19 doses in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that it was a “beginning of a new chapter of a new India.

A day after India scripted history by administering one billion COVID-19 doses in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that it was a “beginning of a new chapter of a new India.” In a televised address, Prime Minister Modi said that economic growth was getting a boost from rising vaccinations across the country and urged citizens to purchase locally manufactured products over the upcoming festive season. “There was a time when we would hear ‘Made in this nation’, ‘Made in that country’, but now all Indians understand the significance of ‘Made in India’,” Modi said. “Urge all Indians to support Indian producers by purchasing ‘Made in India’ items and to advocate for ‘Vocal for Local’.” Modi also called for vigilance against COVID-19 and recommended wearing masks during festivals. Also read | One billion doses: India showed faith in science, innovations, says PM Modi The Prime Minister said that India’s vaccination programme was “science-born, science-driven and science-based”. “Yesterday, Oct 21, India achieved the difficult but extraordinary target of one billion, COVID-19 vaccine doses. This success is the success of India, success of every citizen,” he said. Also read | India crosses historic one billion COVID-19 vaccine milestone “It is a matter of pride for us that India’s vaccination programme has been science-born, science-driven and science-based," Modi said. The country, he said, had only one mantra —that if the disease does not discriminate, then there cannot be any discrimination in the vaccination. Also read | COVID-19 vaccination in India crosses 1 billion. What about its neighbours? "That's why it was ensured that VIP culture was not allowed," he said. He pointed towards apprehensions from several quarters that it would be very difficult to fight this epidemic in a democracy like India. “It was also being said for India, for the people of India that how will so much restraint, how so much discipline work here? But for us, democracy means everyone`s cooperation,” he said Modi said leaders from across the world congratulated India on crossing the milestone of 100 crore vaccinations, terming it a huge and extraordinary accomplishment. “Today many people are comparing India’s vaccination programme with other countries of the world,” he said. He further said that the speed with which India crossed the 100-crore mark is also being appreciated but we often forget that from where we have started this. Meanwhile, more than 1.59 billion vaccine doses have been administered so far to the eligible beneficiaries, according to India’s health ministry. (With inputs from agencies)

‘Vocal for local’: PM Modi urges people to buy ‘Made in India’ products on Diwali

The selection process for pilgrims for Haj 2022 will be based on several Covid-appropriate criteria, including complete inoculation with all required doses, and in accordance with the guidelines set by the governments of India and Saudi Arabia, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Friday.

After chairing a Haj review meeting here, Naqvi, who is the Union Minister for Minority Affairs, said the official announcement of Haj 2022 will be made in the first week of November and along with that the process of online application for Haj will also be started.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/grand-mosque-in-mecca-drops-social-distancing-421492">Grand Mosque in Mecca drops social distancing</a>

He said the Digital Health Card, "E-MASIHA" health facility and "E-luggage pre-tagging", providing all information regarding accommodation/transportation in Mecca-Madina, will be provided to all the Haj pilgrims.

Preparations for Haj 2022 have been started keeping in mind the health and Covid protocols of the Saudi Arabian government and the Government of India, he said.

The entire Haj 2022 process in India will be 100 per cent digital, Naqvi stressed, underlining that India sends the second largest number of Haj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia after Indonesia.

Naqvi said that arrangements for special training for Haj 2022 regarding Covid protocols and health and hygiene are being made in India and Saudi Arabia for the Haj pilgrims.

National and international protocol guidelines due to pandemic position will be implemented and followed strictly during Haj 2022, he said.

Naqvi said the entire Haj 2022 process will be held according to the necessary guidelines to be issued by the governments of India and Saudi Arabia in view of the coronavirus pandemic to ensure health and well-being of the people of the two countries.

Haj 2022 process is being chalked out after deliberations between the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Haj Committee of India, Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia and India's Consul General in Jeddah and other agencies keeping in view all aspects of challenges posed by the pandemic, a statement said.

The arrangements for Haj 2022 are being made under special circumstances with special norms, rules and regulations, eligibility criteria, age restrictions, health and fitness requirements and other relevant conditions of the Saudi Arabia government amid the pandemic.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/no-excessive-make-up-restricted-dressing-saudi-arabias-dress-code-for-formula-1-sparks-controversy-422060">No excessive make-up, restricted dressing: Saudi Arabia's dress code for Formula 1 sparks controversy</a>

Naqvi said the entire travel process for Haj 2022 is being planned with significant and important changes in view of the pandemic and its effect.

These include accommodation, period of stay of pilgrims, transportation, health and other facilities both in India and Saudi Arabia.

Naqvi said more than 3,000 women had applied for Haj 2020 and 2021 under without "Mehram" (male companion) category and their applications will be eligible for Haj 2022 also if they want to go to the pilgrimage next year.

Other women can also apply for Haj 2022 under without "Mehram" category, he added 
All the women under without "Mehram" category will be exempted from the lottery system, Naqvi said.

The Haj Review Meeting was attended by senior officials including Minority Affairs Ministry Secretary Renuka Kumar, Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ausaf Sayeed, Joint Secretary of Minority Affairs Ministry Nigar Fatima, External Affairs Joint Secretary (Gulf) Vipul, Civil Aviation Ministry Joint Secretary S K Sharma, Health Ministry Deputy DG Shri P K Sen, Haj Committee of India CEO Mohd Yakoob Shekha; India's Consul General in Jeddah Shahid Alam and Air India Executive Director Melwin D'Silva.

Expected Haj quota for 2022, Haj Air Charter, Corona protocols, vaccination, medical facilities, health card, transport in Saudi Arabia, Haj deputation of officials, Khadim Ul Hujjaj, Haj training, Embarkation Points and other issues were discussed in the Haj review meeting, the statement said.&nbsp;

The selection process for pilgrims for Haj 2022 will be based on several Covid-appropriate criteria, including complete inoculation with all required doses, and in accordance with the guidelines set by the governments of India and Saudi Arabia, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Friday.

The selection process for pilgrims for Haj 2022 will be based on several Covid-appropriate criteria, including complete inoculation with all required doses, and in accordance with the guidelines set by the governments of India and Saudi Arabia, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Friday. After chairing a Haj review meeting here, Naqvi, who is the Union Minister for Minority Affairs, said the official announcement of Haj 2022 will be made in the first week of November and along with that the process of online application for Haj will also be started. Also Read | Grand Mosque in Mecca drops social distancing He said the Digital Health Card, "E-MASIHA" health facility and "E-luggage pre-tagging", providing all information regarding accommodation/transportation in Mecca-Madina, will be provided to all the Haj pilgrims. Preparations for Haj 2022 have been started keeping in mind the health and Covid protocols of the Saudi Arabian government and the Government of India, he said. The entire Haj 2022 process in India will be 100 per cent digital, Naqvi stressed, underlining that India sends the second largest number of Haj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia after Indonesia. Naqvi said that arrangements for special training for Haj 2022 regarding Covid protocols and health and hygiene are being made in India and Saudi Arabia for the Haj pilgrims. National and international protocol guidelines due to pandemic position will be implemented and followed strictly during Haj 2022, he said. Naqvi said the entire Haj 2022 process will be held according to the necessary guidelines to be issued by the governments of India and Saudi Arabia in view of the coronavirus pandemic to ensure health and well-being of the people of the two countries. Haj 2022 process is being chalked out after deliberations between the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Haj Committee of India, Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia and India's Consul General in Jeddah and other agencies keeping in view all aspects of challenges posed by the pandemic, a statement said. The arrangements for Haj 2022 are being made under special circumstances with special norms, rules and regulations, eligibility criteria, age restrictions, health and fitness requirements and other relevant conditions of the Saudi Arabia government amid the pandemic. Also Read | No excessive make-up, restricted dressing: Saudi Arabia's dress code for Formula 1 sparks controversy Naqvi said the entire travel process for Haj 2022 is being planned with significant and important changes in view of the pandemic and its effect. These include accommodation, period of stay of pilgrims, transportation, health and other facilities both in India and Saudi Arabia. Naqvi said more than 3,000 women had applied for Haj 2020 and 2021 under without "Mehram" (male companion) category and their applications will be eligible for Haj 2022 also if they want to go to the pilgrimage next year. Other women can also apply for Haj 2022 under without "Mehram" category, he added All the women under without "Mehram" category will be exempted from the lottery system, Naqvi said. The Haj Review Meeting was attended by senior officials including Minority Affairs Ministry Secretary Renuka Kumar, Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ausaf Sayeed, Joint Secretary of Minority Affairs Ministry Nigar Fatima, External Affairs Joint Secretary (Gulf) Vipul, Civil Aviation Ministry Joint Secretary S K Sharma, Health Ministry Deputy DG Shri P K Sen, Haj Committee of India CEO Mohd Yakoob Shekha; India's Consul General in Jeddah Shahid Alam and Air India Executive Director Melwin D'Silva. Expected Haj quota for 2022, Haj Air Charter, Corona protocols, vaccination, medical facilities, health card, transport in Saudi Arabia, Haj deputation of officials, Khadim Ul Hujjaj, Haj training, Embarkation Points and other issues were discussed in the Haj review meeting, the statement said.

Selection of Haj pilgrims to be based on Covid-appropriate criteria

China is witnessing a sudden surge in covid-19 cases, the country has logged a fifth straight day of new infections. This comes just days after country contained two separate Delta outbreaks in its north eastern and coastal provinces.

China fights new Covid crisis, outbreaks linked to Shanghai tourists

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the Covid pandemic will “easily drag on deep into 2022” because poorer countries are not getting the required vaccines.

Less than 5 per cent of Africa’s population have been vaccinated, compared to 40% on most other continents.

Aylward asked the developed countries to give up their places in the queue for vaccines so that pharmaceutical companies can prioritise the lowest-income countries instead.

He said wealthy countries needed to “stocktake” where they were with their donation commitments made at summits such as the G7 meeting in St Ives this summer.

"I can tell you we're not on track. We really need to speed it up or you know what? This pandemic is going to go on for a year longer than it needs to,” BBC quoted Aylward as saying.

Also read |<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-crosses-historic-one-billion-covid-19-vaccine-milestone-422530">&nbsp;India crosses historic one billion COVID-19 vaccine milestone</a>

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 4.6 million people and infected over 228 million people globally, has exposed glaring inequalities among nations over vaccine access and affordability.

Watch

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/covid-update-uk-43000-people-were-issued-false-negative-covid-19-results-421364/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

According to WHO research, enough vaccines will be produced in 2021 to cover 70 per cent of the global population of 7.8 billion. However, most vaccines are being reserved for wealthy countries, while other vaccine-producing countries are restricting the export of doses so they can ensure that their own citizens get vaccinated first, an approach which has been dubbed “vaccine nationalism”.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/fda-approves-mix-and-match-strategy-for-all-covid-19-vaccines-approved-in-us-422505">FDA approves 'mix and match' strategy for all COVID-19 vaccines approved in US</a>

The decision by some nations to give already inoculated citizens a booster vaccine, rather than prioritizing doses for unvaccinated people in poorer countries has been highlighted as one example of this trend.

According to the Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity (established by UNDP, WHO and Oxford University) as of October 20, only 4.51 per cent of people in low-income countries have been vaccinated with at least one dose, compared to 62.79 per cent in high-income countries.

(With inputs from agencies)

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the Covid pandemic will “easily drag on deep into 2022” because poorer countries are not getting the required vaccines.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the Covid pandemic will “easily drag on deep into 2022” because poorer countries are not getting the required vaccines. Less than 5 per cent of Africa’s population have been vaccinated, compared to 40% on most other continents. Aylward asked the developed countries to give up their places in the queue for vaccines so that pharmaceutical companies can prioritise the lowest-income countries instead. He said wealthy countries needed to “stocktake” where they were with their donation commitments made at summits such as the G7 meeting in St Ives this summer. "I can tell you we're not on track. We really need to speed it up or you know what? This pandemic is going to go on for a year longer than it needs to,” BBC quoted Aylward as saying. Also read | India crosses historic one billion COVID-19 vaccine milestone The COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 4.6 million people and infected over 228 million people globally, has exposed glaring inequalities among nations over vaccine access and affordability. Watch According to WHO research, enough vaccines will be produced in 2021 to cover 70 per cent of the global population of 7.8 billion. However, most vaccines are being reserved for wealthy countries, while other vaccine-producing countries are restricting the export of doses so they can ensure that their own citizens get vaccinated first, an approach which has been dubbed “vaccine nationalism”. Also read | FDA approves 'mix and match' strategy for all COVID-19 vaccines approved in US The decision by some nations to give already inoculated citizens a booster vaccine, rather than prioritizing doses for unvaccinated people in poorer countries has been highlighted as one example of this trend. According to the Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity (established by UNDP, WHO and Oxford University) as of October 20, only 4.51 per cent of people in low-income countries have been vaccinated with at least one dose, compared to 62.79 per cent in high-income countries. (With inputs from agencies)

Covid pandemic will easily drag on deep into 2022, warns WHO

It is a big day for India as today it achieved the historic milestone of completing 1 billion (100 crores) doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, nine months after it launched “the world’s biggest vaccination drive”. WION's principal correspondent Siddhant Sibal brings all the latest developments.

'India scripted history,' PM Narendra Modi hails India's COVID-19 vaccine drive

It is a big day for India as today it achieved the historic milestone of completing 1 billion (100 crores) doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, nine months after it launched “the world’s biggest vaccination drive”.

India celebrates historic milestone, hits 1 billion Covid-19 vaccine milestone

covid

Covid, News on Covid, stories on Covid, articles on Covid, Covid stories at Wion, Covid news, Covid latest news