Health & Science

• Saturday, January 23rd 2021 - 09:47 UTC

  Uruguay acquired Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines; details will be announced Saturday

  

  Uruguayan president Luis Lacalle Pou announced on Friday that a deal for the purchase of Pfizer/BioNTech and China's Sinovac anti Covid-19 vaccines has been reached. No further details were advanced, only that the president will announce details of the operation Saturday midday.

• Saturday, January 23rd 2021 - 08:57 UTC

  COVAX will supply 190 million vaccines for poor countries in first quarter of 2021

  

  World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the COVAX scheme had reached a deal with vaccine maker Pfizer-BioNTech for 40 million doses for poorer countries.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:43 UTC

  Argentina rejoiced with Germany's position on the Falklands/Malvinas dispute

  

  Argentina is rejoicing because Germany's flag carrier Lufthansa formally requested the Civil Aviation National Administration and the Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands provincial government over flight and landing authorization for two charter flights to the Malvinas Islands from Hamburg.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:39 UTC

  Covid-19 positive cases in some vessels expected in Falklands for the Loligo season

  

  The Falkland Islands government and local industry have given reassurances following cases of Covid-19 identified on Loligo fishing ships due to the Falklands from Galicia. Penguin News investigated reports of positive cases on vessels bound for the Islands and asked for comment from FIG, who responded in writing:

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:34 UTC

  Biden signs executive orders increasing production of special syringes and joining the COVAX initiative

  

  United States president Joe Biden spent his first full day in office on Thursday signing a number of executive orders addressing the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected more people in the United States than anyplace else in the world. The U.S. has 24.6 million of the world’s more than 97 million infections.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:31 UTC

  Fitch forecasts Latin American economies will rebound but with downside risks

  

  Fitch Ratings forecasts Latin American economies will rebound this year from the 2020 recession but risks remain in particular because of the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:30 UTC

  WHO chief thanks Biden and Fauci for keeping the US a member of the organization

  

  At the meeting of the 148th session of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros welcomed the pledge that the United States will remain a member of WHO.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:30 UTC

  Covid-19: Peruvians doctors on hunger strike to protest government non action

  

  A group of Peruvian doctors launched a hunger strike this week to protest the government’s lack of preparation for a second wave of COVID-19 cases.

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:29 UTC

  Biden pledges to vaccinate 100 million Americans in the next 100 days

  

  Total deaths from the coronavirus pandemic in the United States “will likely top 500,000 next month,” President Joe Biden warned on Thursday, as he explained his government's plan to curb the toll the disease has been taking on Americans.  

• Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:08 UTC

  Brazilian meatpacker announces China has lifted bans on two processing plants

  

  Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA announced that China has lifted bans on two meat plants imposed in 2020 over coronavirus concerns.