The Latest: Africa leaders to speak of shot inequity at UN

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi addresses the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. (Eduardo Munoz/Pool Photo via AP)

People wait to receive COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Rear Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo gives a Vaccination Task Force patch, like the one he wears on his shoulder, to a family at a vaccination center in Lisbon, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. As Portugal nears its goal of fully vaccinating 85% of the population against COVID-19 in nine months, other countries want to know how it was able to accomplish the feat. A lot of the credit is going to Gouveia e Melo. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

A hiring sign is placed at a booth for Jameson's Irish Pub during a job fair Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in the West Hollywood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Clark County Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, center, talks a man who had refused to keep his mask on during a commission meeting at the Clark County Government Center Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. (Ricardo Torres-Cortez/Las Vegas Sun via AP)

Teacher Johana Hernandez looks at a student's work in her one room home in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021. Hernandez, who lives with her husband and two children in a small home divided by curtains, opened her home to students while in-person school is on hold due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and to supplement her low teaching salary, which she says is not enough to live on. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

A view of a waste basket with syringes and gloves after residents received a dose of the third Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, at San Jeronimo nursing home, in Estella, around 38 kms from Pamplona, northern Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23. 2021. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

100 years old Jose Lezaun, a resident at San Jeronimo nursing home poses for a photo after receiving a third dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, in Estella, around 38 kms from Pamplona, northern Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23. 2021. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

A hiring sign is placed at a booth for prospective employers during a job fair Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, in the West Hollywood section of Los Angeles. The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week for a second straight week to 351,000, a sign that the delta variant of the coronavirus may be disrupting the job market’s recovery, at least temporarily.(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

A doctor fills a syringe with a vial of the Covishield COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

A woman receives Covishield COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

People wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus take pictures amid cosmos flowers at Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Visitors wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus are silhouetted near the Han River in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus are silhouetted as they ride bicycles near the Han River in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

NEW YORK — The inequity of COVID-19 vaccine distribution will come into sharper focus Thursday as many of the African countries whose populations have little to no access to the life-saving shots step to the podium to speak at the U.N.’s annual meeting of world leaders.

Already, the struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic has featured prominently in leaders’ speeches. Countries slated to give their annual speeches include Zimbabwe, Uganda and South Africa.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would double its purchase of Pfizer’s COVID-19 shots to share with the world to 1 billion doses, with the goal of vaccinating 70% of the global population within the next year.

“In Africa, fewer than 1 in 20 people are fully vaccinated. In Europe, one in two are fully vaccinated. This inequity is clearly unfair,” Norway’s Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, said in a prerecorded speech Wednesday.

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MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

— Vaccine inequity comes into stark focus during UN gathering

— FDA backs Pfizer COVID-19 boosters for older adults, people at high-risk

— Success of Portugal's vaccination drive noticed abroad

— Experts say delta variant poses more of a risk to children

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See all of AP's pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

LAGOS, Nigeria — The director of Africa CDC has criticized Britain’s decision to subject some travelers who had been fully vaccinated to quarantine upon their arrival in England.

Dr. John Nkengasong says the Africa CDC will call for a review of the policy that “doesn’t speak to solidarity and cooperation” and are “the cornerstone” to defeat the pandemic.

Britain had pledged to share 100 million vaccines with the rest of the world by June 2022, with 30 million doses to be sent to various countries in 2021, including in Nigeria where it donated 1.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in August.

But its new policy taking effect Oct. 4 means some people who got those vaccines are still not recognized as fully vaccinated. That is because the U.K. government recognizes those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 based on certain terms, including that travelers must have received a U.K.-authorized shot from an approved health body. None of the bodies in Africa made it to the list.

“If in the same token, you send us vaccines and we use those vaccines, and you say you don’t recognize people that have been immunized with those vaccines, it sends a very challenging message for us … a message that creates confusion within our own population,” Dr. Nkengasong said Thursday.

He added it is “clearly not acceptable” for Britain to put incoming travelers fully vaccinated “on the list to create stigmatization” and criticized the policy and similar positions “not backed by science or any evidence.”

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STOCKHOLM — The Nobel Prize ceremonies will be reined in for a second year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Sweden-based foundation behind the coveted prizes says the laureates will receive their medals and diplomas in their home countries. The traditional glittery ceremonies on Dec. 10 to honor the winners, will be a mixture of digital and physical events.

The Norwegian committee behind the Peace Prize is keeping open the possibility of welcoming the winner or winners to Oslo, the Norway capital. They plan to announce the format of its festivities in mid-October.

”I think everybody would like the COVID-19 pandemic to be over, but we are not there yet,” said Vidar Helgesen, the head of the foundation.

The winners of this year’s prizes in chemistry, literature, physics, medicine and economics, as well as the Nobel Peace Prize, will be announced the week of Oct. 4.

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. has moved a step closer to offering booster doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to seniors and others at high risk from the virus.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday signed off on such shots to shore up protection in people with underlying health conditions and high-risk jobs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to weigh in on who it believes should get boosters and when.

A panel of advisers to the agency will make more specific recommendations about who should get the extra shots.

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TIRANA, Albania — The Albanian Parliament decided Thursday to make the coronavirus vaccination mandatory for all lawmakers.

Taulant Balla of the governing Socialist Party said the leaders of every parliamentary group had agreed to make vaccines mandatory and also for most legislative committee hearings to be held online.

Vaccination is already mandatory for Albania’s medical personnel, teachers, professors, and students. Health officials said another surge of infections could follow the start of the school year next week.

Public health measures, including an overnight curfew, indoor mask requirements and crowd limits for sports and cultural events have been extended.

Albania saw a significant increase of daily virus cases in August. About one third of the country’s 2.8 million population has been fully vaccinated.

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she doesn’t want to use lockdowns in the future and sees vaccinations as the “golden ticket” to navigating the pandemic.

Her remarks came as Auckland remained in a sixth week of lockdown following an outbreak of the coronavirus’ delta variant.

New Zealand has taken an unusual zero-tolerance approach to the virus and is trying to completely eliminate the outbreak in its largest city through drastic measures, at least until vaccination rates improve. Fifteen more local transmissions were reported Thursday.

Ardern says she sees a hopeful path in using vaccinations coupled with public health measures to prevent widespread hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19. About 62% of New Zealanders have had at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine.

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OEIRAS, Portugal — As Portugal closes in on its goal of fully vaccinating 85% of the population against COVID-19 in nine months, other countries in Europe and beyond want to know how it was accomplished.

A lot of the credit is going to Rear Adm. Henrique Gouveia e Melo. With his team from the three branches of the armed forces, the naval officer took charge of the vaccine rollout in February — perhaps the moment of greatest tension in Portugal over the pandemic.

Now, the county could be just days away from hitting its target. As of Wednesday, 84% of the total population was fully vaccinated, the highest globally, according to Our World in Data.

Along with the rising number of shots, the COVID-19 infection rate and hospitalizations from the virus have dropped to their lowest levels in nearly 18 months.

Previously unheralded outside the military, Gouveia e Melo is now a household name in Portugal, having made a point of going on television regularly to answer public concerns about the vaccination program.

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SYDNEY — The Australian state of Victoria is reporting its biggest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began as an outbreak in the city of Melbourne continues to grow.

Police in Melbourne are preparing for more protests against the pandemic lockdown, although the situation remains relatively calm Thursday afternoon.

Victoria reported a record 766 cases as well as four deaths from COVID-19.

The city of Sydney in New South Wales state is also dealing with a large outbreak. Officials report more than 1,000 new daily cases in the state and six COVID-19 deaths.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews says the state will ease lockdown rules by the end of the month, to allow people to return from Sydney and quarantine at home if they are fully vaccinated.

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LANSING, Mich. — Michigan has recorded more than 1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic.

Officials said Wednesday that the state crossed that threshold by reporting 6,079 new cases over the last two days. There have been at least 20,781 deaths in Michigan linked to COVID-19, the disease that can be caused by the virus.

The state health department says nearly 58% of eligible Michigan residents 12 and older are fully vaccinated.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, meanwhile, tells The Detroit News that he worries another “major wave” of cases is coming this fall. He adds that because of staff shortages at hospitals, “I think we’re going to have a major problem in Michigan in the next couple of months.”

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A day after assuming his job, Florida’s newly appointed surgeon general has signed new rules allowing parents to decide whether their children should quarantine or stay in school after being exposed to someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The guidelines signed Wednesday by Dr. Joseph Ladapo eliminate previous rules requiring students to quarantine for at least four days off campus if they have been exposed. Under the new rules, students who have been exposed can continue going to campus, “without restrictions or disparate treatment,” provided they are asymptomatic. They can also quarantine, but no longer than seven days, provided they do not get sick.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said said that “quarantining healthy students is incredibly damaging for their educational advancement.”

The CDC says people who get infected can spread the virus starting from two days before they have any symptoms. The CDC recommends a student should quarantine for 14 days if they are unvaccinated.

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced that masks will be required inside temples to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Church leaders said Wednesday that masks will be required temporarily in an effort to keep temples open. The message was the latest in a series of statements from church leaders encouraging masking and vaccination efforts against COVID-19.

In Utah, where the church is based, a summer surge of the virus among unvaccinated residents has continued to grow while vaccination rates have slightly increased. About 64% of Utah residents ages 12 and older were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday.

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SAN FRANCISCO — Schools have welcomed students back to classrooms but face a new challenge: A shortage of teachers and staff the likes of which some district officials say they’ve never seen.

Public schools have struggled for years with teacher shortages, but the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the problem. One school official in California calls it “the most acute shortage of labor” he’s ever seen.

Similar scenarios are playing out across the country as schools cope with a spike in retirements and a need to hire more teachers, counselors, tutors and aides to help children make up for learning losses.

The lack of teachers is “really a nationwide issue and definitely a statewide issue,” said Linda Darling-Hammond, president of California’s State Board of Education.

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BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana reported its 16th child death from COVID-19 on Wednesday.

The state health department says the victim was between the ages of 12 and 17. No other details were released. It was the seventh pediatric death from the disease since July. Another child’s death was reported five days ago.

The state reported a total of 99 new COVID-19-related deaths Wednesday.

The latest hospitalization figure was 1,221, much higher than the spring and early summer, but down from a peak of more than 3,000 in August.

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CHICAGO — The Rev. Jesse Jackson is headed home a month after he was hospitalized for a breakthrough COVID-19 infection and following intensive physical therapy for Parkinson’s disease.

A spokeswoman for Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition confirmed Wednesday the civil rights leader left a downtown Chicago facility.

He and his wife, Jacqueline, were first hospitalized a month ago for COVID-19. While Jesse Jackson was vaccinated, his wife was not because of what he described as a pre-existing condition. She required oxygen and was briefly in the intensive care unit before being released earlier this month.

After about a one-week hospital stay, 79-year-old Jesse Jackson was transferred to a physical therapy hospital. He disclosed a Parkinson’s diagnosis in 2017.

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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden says the U.S. is doubling its purchase of Pfizer’s COVID-19 shots to share with the world. The U.S. purchase of another 500 million shots brings the total U.S. vaccination commitment to more than 1.1 billion doses through 2022.

At a virtual “vaccine summit” on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Biden also embraced a goal of vaccinating 70% of the global population within the next year. Biden encouraged well-off nations to do more to get the coronavirus under control around the world.

“We need other high-income countries to deliver on their own ambitious vaccine donations and pledges,” Biden said, adding wealthy countries should commit to donating, rather than selling the shots to poorer nations “with no political strings attached.”

World leaders, aid groups and global health organizations are growing increasingly vocal about the slow pace of global vaccinations and the inequity of access to shots.

About 160 million shots supplied by the U.S. have already been distributed to more than 100 countries, representing more donations than the rest of the world combined. The remaining American doses will be distributed over the coming year.

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