Covid-19 global updates: Pandemic worsens across Latin America amid ‘unacceptable’ gap in vaccine access, health officials say

Here are some significant developments:

  • Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fired a senior health official after a newspaper alleged that he participated in a graft scheme linked to coronavirus vaccines amid significant suffering for Brazil’s poor.
  • New Delhi may not recognize European Union vaccination certificates for travel, Indian media reported, citing unnamed sources. The E.U.’s vaccine passport initiative does not include two major vaccines produced in India because they have not been approved by European regulators.
  • Thailand on Thursday launched its “sandbox” program allowing fully vaccinated travelers quarantine-free entry to Phuket island, even as it logged a record 57 deaths. Officials expect many of the initial travelers will be Israeli vacationers.
  • Indonesia will tighten distancing curbs as the delta variant wreaks havoc across the Southeast Asian country, where only about 5 percent of the population is fully inoculated. There could be a ban on dining in restaurants, while malls and many offices may be closed, Reuters reported.
  • 1,991 infections in Scotland have been linked to the 2020 UEFA European men’s soccer championship, though it is difficult to pinpoint where exactly people got infected, health authorities said. Scotland reported a record 3,887 cases on Wednesday, but there were comparatively few people with serious symptoms.
Source: WP