The Latest: Vaccine shortages hitting poor countries

In this March 9, 2021, file photo, nurse Joseph Kenga prepares to administer an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and provided through the global COVAX initiative, to a health worker at the Coast General Teaching & Referral Hospital in Mombasa, Kenya. As many as 60 countries, including some of the poorest, might be stalled at the first shots of their vaccinations because nearly all deliveries through the global program intended to help them are being delayed. (AP Photo/Gideon Maundu, File)

P.M. Browner, 88, speaks about her apprehension over receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, while waiting for a transportation bus at the Rev. S.L.A. Jones Activity Center for the Elderly to take her to receive a vaccination, Wednesday, April 7, 2021, in Clarksdale, Miss. She said she thinks vaccinations will eventually be required, and she wants to be able to continue to socialize at a local senior center. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

In this Feb. 11, 2021, file photo, Kizzmekia Corbett, an immunologist with the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) looks on as President Joe Biden visits the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory at the NIH in Bethesda, Md. Corbett played a key role in developing the Moderna vaccine. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Wilbert Marshall, 71, looks at his shot card after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at the Aaron E. Henry Community Health Service Center in Clarksdale, Miss., Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Marshall was among a group of seniors from the Rev. S.L.A. Jones Activity Center for the Elderly who received their vaccinations. More Black Americans say they are open to taking the coronavirus vaccine amid campaigns to overcome a shared historical distrust of science and government. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

A member of the medical staff draws serum from an AstraZeneca vaccine container at a vaccination center in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, April 7, 2021. British authorities recommended Wednesday that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine not be given to adults under 30 where possible because of strengthening evidence that the shot may be linked to rare blood clots, a recommendation that came as regulators both in the United Kingdom and the European Union emphasized that the benefits of receiving the vaccine continue to outweigh the risks for most people — even though the European Medicines Agency said it had found a "possible link" between the shot and the rare clots.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Police officers try to disperse a group of businessmen protesting against the pandemic lockdown in downtown Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, April 10, 2021. At least six people were detained Saturday during anti-lockdown protest that Poland's angry businessmen held near where state ceremonies were taking place to mark 2010 plane crash that killed then-president and 95 others. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

People wait to register themselves to receive the vaccine for COVID-19 at Railway hospital in Prayagraj, India, Saturday, April 10, 2021. India has a seven-day rolling average of more than 100,000 cases per day and has reported 13 million virus cases since the pandemic began, the third-highest total after the United States and Brazil. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

A medical worker wearing protective gear prepares to take a sample at a temporary screening clinic for coronavirus in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, April 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A health worker puts his signature in the vaccination pass of the patient Kurt Switil at the vaccination center 'Am Schoepfwerk' in Vienna, Austria, Saturday, April 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)

A customer, right, wears a protective face mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, buys items at a local market outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Saturday, April 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A nurse holds an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vial at "Santo Domingo" senior home Asuncion, Paraguay, Saturday, April 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

A nurse administers an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to an elderly patient at "Santo Domingo" senior home Asuncion, Paraguay, Saturday, April 10, 2021.(AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

Toronto Mayor John Tory receives a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine by pharmacist Niloo Saiy at a Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy in Toronto, Saturday, April 10, 2021. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press via AP)

In this March 24, 2021, file photo, a man gets his dose of the Sinovac vaccine at a COVID-19 vaccination point for seniors in Duque de Caxias, Brazil. April is shaping up to be Brazil’s darkest month yet in the pandemic. Hospitals are struggling to absorb a crush of patients, deaths are on track to hit record highs and there are few signs of a reprieve from problems besetting the country's vaccination program. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo, File)

In this Feb. 25, 2021, file photo, a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines distributed by the COVAX global initiative arrives in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. As many as 60 countries, including some of the poorest, might be stalled at the first shots of their coronavirus vaccinations because nearly all deliveries through the program intended to help them are being blocked until as late as June. (AP Photo/Diomande Ble Blonde, File)

Wilbert Marshall, 71, looks at his shot card after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine from Melissa Banks, right, a nurse at the Aaron E. Henry Community Health Service Center in Clarksdale, Miss., Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Marshall was among a group of seniors from the Rev. S.L.A. Jones Activity Center for the Elderly who received their vaccinations. More Black Americans say they are open to taking the coronavirus vaccine amid campaigns to overcome a shared historical distrust of science and government. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Shepherd Xavi Zia leaves the stables after milking his Latxa sheep, in the small Pyrenees town of Mezkiritz, northern Spain, Saturday, April 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

A resident, wearing a protective face mask, sits outside his home in the La Candelaria neighborhood amid a reinstated strict lockdown to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus, in Bogota, Colombia, Saturday, April 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

LONDON — As many as 60 countries might be stalled at the first shots of their coronavirus vaccinations because nearly all deliveries through the global program are blocked until as late as June.

The COVAX initiative is designed to provide vaccines to countries lacking the clout to negotiate on their own for scarce supplies. In the past two weeks, only 2 million doses were cleared for shipment to 92 countries through the program, the same amount injected in Britain alone.

Internal World Health Organization documents obtained by The Associated Press say uncertain deliveries are causing some countries to lose faith in COVAX.

The vaccine shortage stems mostly from India’s decision to stop exporting vaccines from its Serum Institute factory because of a surge of coronavirus cases in that country. The factory produces the majority of the AstraZeneca doses that COVAX counted on to supply about a third of the global population.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus says while one in four people in rich countries had received a vaccine, only one in 500 people in poorer countries had received a dose.

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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— AP poll: More Black Americans open to taking vaccine

— Delayed vaccine shipments could stall progress against COVID-19 in some of world’s poorest countries

— U.S. government rushes resources to Michigan to control state’s worst-in-nation COVID-19 outbreak

— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

CLARKSDALE, Miss. — About 80 older adults have received a COVID-19 vaccination in the first mobile vaccination event hosted by the state of Mississippi.

Participants were picked up by bus at senior apartment complexes in Clarksdale and driven to a community health center. Department of Human Services spokesperson Danny Blanton says places like Clarksdale are especially important to reach because of the state’s focus on vaccinating minorities and older adults — two groups disproportionately affected by the virus. Clarksdale is more than 80% Black.

More than half a million people have been fully vaccinated in Mississippi, a state with a population around 3 million. At least 45% of those are people 65 and older.

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MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — More Black Americans say they are open to taking the coronavirus vaccine.

A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in late March found about 24% of Black American adults say they will probably or definitely not get vaccinated. That’s down from 41% in January.

The executive director of the American Public Health Association,Dr. Georges Benjamin, says attitudes toward the vaccine among Black Americans have taken “almost a 180-degree turnaround” as outreach campaigns have sought to combat misinformation.

Mattie Pringle had doubts about taking the coronavirus vaccine. The 57-year-old from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, feared her underlying health conditions might heighten her chances of a severe reaction to the shot. The speedy development and approval of the vaccines also fed her skepticism.

She made an appointment to get a vaccine after a member of her church, who is a local NAACP leader, shared a news story about Kizzmekia Corbett, a Black government scientist who played a key role in developing the Moderna vaccine.

The latest number shows Black Americans leaning against getting shots is now nearly the same as white Americans at 26% and Hispanic Americans at 22%.

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TEHRAN, Iran -- State TV reports that Iran has begun a 10-day lockdown amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections. Iran’s coronavirus task force ordered most shops closed and offices were restricted to one-third capacity in cities declared as “red-zones.”

The Health Ministry says there were more than 19,600 new infections on Saturday and 193 confirmed deaths. More than 85% of the country has either a red or orange infection status, authorities say.

The severe surge in infections follows a two-week public holiday for Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Millions traveled to the Caspian coast and other popular vacation spots in defiance of government health guidelines.

Only some 200,000 doses have been administered in the country of 84 million, according to the World Health Organization. The confirmed death toll has reached more than 64,200.

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BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania passed one million confirmed COVID-19 infections since its first recorded case in February last year.

The bleak milestone comes as hospital intensive care units (ICU) in the country — which has a population of more than 19 million — are struggling to cope with record numbers of ICU patients, currently just short of 1,500. Another 12,000 COVID-19 patients are receiving hospital care.

“It’s a situation we haven’t encountered until now in Romania,” Beatrice Mahler, the manager at the Marius Nasta Institute of Pneumology, told The Associated Press. “Extremely ill patients who arrive with low (oxygen) saturation levels and need an ICU bed — but the number of beds is really limited.”

Romania has administered more than 3.5 million vaccine doses. There have been more than 25,000 total confirmed coronavirus deaths.

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WARSAW, Poland — At least six people were detained Saturday during anti-lockdown protest in Warsaw by about 100 angry businessmen.

They held the protest near a downtown square where state ceremonies were taking place to mark the 2010 plane crash that killed then-president, Lech Kaczynski, and 95 others.

Participants in the protest, coming from across Poland, threw smoke grenades and chanted to vent their ire at the lockdown that they say is threatening their livelihoods.

They were confronted by police on foot and on horseback and at least six persons were detained, according to Warsaw police spokesman Sylwester Marczak.

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NEW DELHI — Multiple Indian states are warning the federal government of COVID-19 vaccine shortages as another spike in cases threatens to overrun the country and its already-feeble medical infrastructure.

Authorities in New Delhi and in Punjab and Rajasthan states said Saturday that they would not be able to continue vaccinations in the coming days unless stocks were replenished. Earlier this week, western Maharashtra state, the epicenter of the country’s outbreak, closed some vaccination centers and turned people away due to inadequate vaccine supplies.

Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said the country has enough doses and urged state governments to put an end to “fearmongering.”

India, a major vaccine manufacturer, has so far administered 97 million shots but is facing major supply snags as it works to inoculate a huge population of nearly 1.4 billion people. Vaccine shots are currently limited to people over age 45 and frontline workers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s opponents have blamed his government for exporting tens of millions of vaccine doses instead of focusing on immunizations at home. India has exported 64.5 million vaccine doses of vaccines to other nations. It stopped exports last week to prioritize domestic needs.

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BEIJING — China reported 14 new confirmed coronavirus cases and no deaths on Saturday.

All the new infections were believed to have been acquired abroad, the National Health Commission said.

The country’s death toll stood at 4,636 out of 90,400 confirmed cases.

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WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The Navajo Nation has issued a stay-at-home order for the weekend after reporting 26 more confirmed COVID-19 cases.

The latest figures bring the total number of cases on the tribe’s reservation, which includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, to 30,239.

No additional deaths were reported. The current death toll is 1,260.

The weekend stay-at-home order follows an increase of infections and the announcement this week of the first confirmed case of the COVID-19 B.1.429 variant on the Navajo Nation. The variant was first identified in the state of California and has since been detected across the southwest U.S.

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NEW YORK — Pfizer wants to allow more adolescents to receive the vaccine.

New York-based Pfizer and BioNTech SE of Germany have asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expand the emergency use authorization for their vaccine to include adolescents ages 12 through 15. Back in mid-December, the two-dose shot received emergency clearance for vaccinating people ages 16 and up.

Pfizer and BioNTech said they are working closely with the FDA and regulators in other countries to get emergency or conditional authorization as quickly as possible for kids ages 12 through 15.

The companies noted in a statement that preliminary results through March 31 from late-stage testing in that age group found the vaccine safe and 100% effective in blocking infections. They said side effects were consistent with those from testing of volunteers ages 16 through 25: pain and swelling at the injection site, fatigue, headaches, fever and nausea.

All participants in the study of 12- through 15-year-old volunteers will be monitored for two years, starting after they received their second dose, to watch for any safety issues and determine how long the vaccine protects recipients.

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GENEVA — European regulators are reviewing Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine for unusual blood clots similar to the possible risk from another vaccine, the one made by AstraZeneca.

Earlier this week, the European Medicines Agency cited a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a rare clotting disorder. The J&J vaccine is made with a similar technology, prompting questions about the possibility of similar side effects.

The European group said Friday that it is investigating four reports of unusual clots, one in a J&J study and the others during the U.S. rollout of the one-dose vaccine.

Before clearing the J&J shot for U.S. use, the Food and Drug Administration investigated the clot that occurred during testing. At the time, the FDA said it would monitor for any red flags as the vaccine was used more widely.

Earlier this week, the European regulators said there have been three additional U.S. reports of clots with “some similarities,” out of almost 5 million vaccine recipients.

The EMA on Friday reiterated that it’s not clear if the small number of J&J reports are linked to the vaccine, which is expected to roll out in Europe in a few weeks.

In a statement Friday, J&J said “no clear causal relationship has been established between these rare events” and the vaccine, but that it continued to work closely with regulators to assess the data.

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SANTA FE, N.M. — Health officials say New Mexico is moving faster than any state in the U.S. toward herd immunity, with one-third of adult residents now fully vaccinated.

Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins says milestones such as this show that the state’s vaccination campaign is working.

Overall, state data shows more than half of residents 16 and older have received at least a first shot. That puts the state in the lead when it comes to vaccine distribution nationwide.

New Mexico has seen a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases in recent days that has pushed the seven-day rolling average up. But health officials say vaccinations by far are outpacing the number of new confirmed cases and that has helped the state to meet nearly all of its benchmarks.

Still, officials say they have concerns about emerging variants and will be monitoring developments in neighboring states.

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