EU
Europe to pay less than US for Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine
The European Union has struck a deal to initially pay less for Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate than the United States, an EU official told Reuters News Agency as the bloc announced on Wednesday it had secured an agreement for up to 300 million doses. The experimental drug, developed in conjunction with Germany’s BioNTech, is the frontrunner in a global race to produce a vaccine, with interim data released on Monday showing it was more than 90 percent effective at protecting people from COVID-19 in a large-scale clinical trial. Under the EU deal, 27 European countries could buy 200 million doses, and have an option to buy another 100 million. The bloc will pay less than $19.50 per jab, a senior EU official involved in talks with vaccine makers told Reuters, adding that partly reflected ...
VP Osinbajo: Virus vaccine distribution should be equitable
The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), has advised that the deployment of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine should be done in an equitable and affordable manner in order to effectively contain the spread of the Coronavirus disease across the globe. The Vice President stated this on Friday at the virtual 2020 EURAFRICA Forum themed “Towards a realistic Euro-African partnership during and beyond the COVID-19 era”. The summit featured presentations from notable global leaders including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Mr. Ulisses Correia Silva, among other speakers. The EurAfrican Forum aims to foster stronger collaboration between Europe and Africa, and better promote a shared green and inclusive growth, a...
Speaker Gbajabiamila: House of Reps to provide funds for fight against gender-based violence
Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila says the house will provide funds for the fight against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the 2021 budget to be presented to the National Assembly in September. Gbajabiamila said this in response to a request by Ulla Mueller, the Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja. Mueller led a delegation of United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) Spotlight Initiative on a courtesy call to the speaker, a statement issued by Mr Lanre Lasisi, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity said. Gbajabiamila said that apart from budget funds, the house would also provide all necessary support and partner with relevant stakeholders for the fight against GBV to succeed. According to the speaker...
Bauchi upgrades child birth units, renovates health centres
The Bauchi government says it has renovated and upgraded 26 existing childbirth spacing units in seven local government areas in the state, in its efforts at ensuring safe child delivery. Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, the Executive Chairman of the State Primary Healthcare Developmental Agency, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Bauchi on Wednesday. He said that the benefiting birth units were located in Bauchi, Toro, Jama’are, Ningi, Zaki, Katagum and Shira local government areas. Mohammed said that the initiative was achieved in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He said that the units would facilitate safe delivery as well as guarantee good health to both the mother and the new-born child. “We are committed to promoting the health of our people. The Gov. Bala M...
EU must focus on health, jobs now, fiscal matters later – Commission
European Union (EU) countries must now focus on investment in public health and protecting jobs and companies, and worry about fiscal sustainability later, the European Commission said on Wednesday. European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Paolo Gentiloni said that EU should coordinate its approach to economic recovery once the coronavirus pandemic subsides in its annual recommendations to the bloc’s 27 countries. Budget gaps in all EU countries except Bulgaria will widen well beyond the EU’s usual ceiling of 3 per cent of gross domestic product this year as governments use public money to prop up economies that are expected to plunge into their deepest recessions ever this year. Public debt is also going to rocket, breaching the EU’s normal requirement that it should be fa...
Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel agree €500 billion coronavirus recovery plan for Europe
France and Germany proposed Monday a 500-billion-euro ($542-billion) fund to finance the recovery of the European Union’s economy from the devastation wrought by the coronavirus crisis. Putting aside past differences and seeking to prove that the Franco-German core of Europe remains intact, President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the unprecedented package after talks by video conference. European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde told major European newspapers that “the Franco-German proposals are ambitious, targeted and welcome.” With the European economy facing its biggest challenge since World War II, Macron also acknowledged that the EU had fallen short in its initial response to the virus and needed to coordinate more closely on health. Financed by “borrowin...
EU, Britain to start third push on post-Brexit ties
Britain and Brussels embark on a fresh round of trade talks Monday that downbeat EU officials say show little promise of advancing amid the added turmoil of the coronavirus outbreak. The UK left the European Union on January 31 and both sides have until the end of the year to forge a new basis for relations, barring an optional extension that London refuses to contemplate. The new talks round will begin with a virtual head-to-head between Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, and his UK counterpart, David Frost — both of whom have recovered from a bout with the virus. That will be followed by videoconferences involving hundreds of officials throughout the week. The previous round of UK-EU talks broke up on April 24 with little or no progress. European officials accuse Britain of focus...
France using artificial intelligence to check whether people are wearing masks on public transport
France is integrating new AI tools into security cameras in the Paris metro system to check whether passengers are wearing face masks. The software, which has already been deployed elsewhere in the country, began a three-month trial in the central Chatelet-Les Halles station of Paris this week, reports Bloomberg. French startup DatakaLab, which created the program, says the goal is not to identify or punish individuals who don’t wear masks, but to generate anonymous statistical data that will help authorities anticipate future outbreaks of COVID-19. “We are just measuring this one objective,” DatakaLab CEO Xavier Fischer told The Verge. “The goal is just to publish statistics of how many people are wearing masks every day.” The pilot is one of a number of measures cities around the world a...
