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WHO warns against 'vaccine nationalism'

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The European Union on Friday backtracked on a threat to restrict exports of coronavirus shots to Northern Ireland in its growing row with Britain, as the WHO warned against "vaccine nationalism".


Outbreaks are raging around the globe with Covid-19 deaths nearing 2.2 million, and while wealthy countries fight over limited vaccine supplies, there are fears the less privileged will not get access for a long time.


World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned Friday against "vaccine nationalism", saying there was a "real danger that the very tools that could help to end the pandemic -– vaccines –- may exacerbate" global inequality.


Parts of Africa and Asia have only just started securing and rolling out vaccinations.


The global scramble for shots comes as more troubling data emerges on new variants of the coronavirus, which is known to have infected more than 101 million people worldwide.


Variants first detected in Britain, Brazil and South Africa are believed to be more contagious.


Scientists are concerned that the South African variant may elude some vaccines, a potential stumbling block in the global effort to defeat Covid-19 through mass inoculation.


New data on Thursday and Friday showed average effectiveness of 89 and 66 percent for shots from Novavax and Johnson & Johnson.


But while Novavax's jab was highly effective against the British variant, both were less effective against the South African strain.


Pfizer and Moderna have said their vaccines are effective against the variants.


WHO experts continued their closely watched scientific mission Saturday in Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus first emerged in late 2019, hoping to uncover more clues about the origins of the pandemic.


They visited Jinyintan hospital, which received the first patients officially diagnosed with Covid-19.


 


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