In Indian financial magazine Economic Times, with the image below, “South Africa asks Serum to collect 1 million vaccines,” which the country received two weeks ago. This is the laboratory that produces the British AstraZeneca / Oxford in India.
In short, “a test from the universities of the Witwatersrand and Oxford found that [a vacina] it offered only “minimal protection”, 21.9%, against mild and moderate cases of the “dominant variant in South Africa.”
Meanwhile, on the British Financial Times homepage, “AstraZeneca gives CEO £ 15.4million compensation”, around R $ 115million for 2020, and “plans larger payouts to the to come up”.
ARRIVING VARIATORS
In an interview with Reuters, the new director general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, spoke out against the vaccine reserve of rich countries.
“No one is safe until everyone is safe,” he said, anticipating other variations “if other countries are not vaccinated.” According to her, “vaccine nationalism just doesn’t pay off, because variants are coming.”
SOVEREIGN 02
Business Insider reports that a first Cuban vaccine against Covid, called Soberana 02, will enter final phase 3 of testing in the coming weeks. The country “has a history of fighting the disease without Western help” and plans to manufacture 100 million doses.
“Several countries have expressed interest in acquiring Sovereign 02, including Jamaica, Vietnam, Pakistan and India,” the site informs.
USA & EUROPE
German financier Handelsblatt reported and the Wall Street Journal confirmed that “the Biden government has opened negotiations with Berlin” over Nord Stream 2, which is in the final stages of construction to bring Russian gas to Germany – threatened by US sanctions.
Handelsblatt says there is a “willingness to agree on both sides of the Atlantic”, citing the possible adoption of a “stop mechanism” by Berlin in case of a Russian strategic threat, as well as an offer $ 1 billion in US gas purchases.
The WSJ notes that Joe Biden is “eager to improve relations” with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
RUSSIA & ASIA
Russian financier Kommersant reported in the headline that Russian gas ships bound for Asia will begin to use the Arctic route from April, not July, “approaching year-round shipping” . Pictured is a ship that tested the route in January carrying gas to Jiangsu, China.
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