HHEADLINESEADLINES MONDAY March 1, 2021 3 Developing nations struggle to obtain sufficient vaccines UN Security Council calls for improved access Agence France-Presse Recent surveys have shown pa newspaper. vaccine confi dence remains low, “The prospects for recovery Manila/Washington with almost half of the population are diverging dangerously across The Philippines received 600,000 reportedly unwilling to be inocu- countries.” vaccine doses from China on Sun- lated against the coronavirus. To There were also reminders of day, kick-starting the country’s boost trust, several top offi cials the months ahead, with new vi- inoculation drive, despite con- — including the health minister — rus cases increasing again global- cerns about the Sinovac jab’s ef- are expected to receive the Coro- ly after a month in which they had fectiveness. naVac jab. fallen by half. Top government offi cials and President Duterte, who has de- The global death toll is now health workers will be the fi rst on fended Chinese-made vaccines, above 2.5 million out of a total of Monday to receive the Chinese- suggested he will be inoculated in some 113 million cases. made vaccine — called CoronaVac public, having previously said he In Brazil, several cities and — just days after the drug regulator would receive it in private. states imposed a new round of approved it for emergency use. The rollout came as the num- curfews and restrictions in a bid President Rodrigo Duterte, ber of daily new infections in to contain a surge of cases. whose government has been un- the Philippines hit a four-month The country, whose death toll der fi re over delays in procuring high. More than 570,000 cases passed 250,000 Thursday, has vaccines, oversaw the delivery of have been confi rmed, including had a piecemeal response to the the doses at a military air base. over 12,000 deaths. crisis, with local authorities set- Around 525,000 doses of the Aside from hospital work- ting policies as far-right Presi- AstraZeneca jab were also due to ers, the military is set to receive dent Jair Bolsonaro dismisses re- arrive Monday as part of the CO- 100,000 Sinovac doses. strictive measures and the use of VAX global inoculation program Members of the Philippines face masks. and will also be off ered to health- armed forces are required to get Estonia was forced to ban church care workers. The regulator did vaccinated and those who refuse services and to close theatres and not recommend CoronaVac for could be disciplined. museums, while the Czech gov- healthcare workers due to its The government is in talks with ernment said it would stop people comparatively low effi cacy. seven vaccine makers, including from leaving their local districts An advisory group to the Phil- Sinovac, in the hope of securing and shut all schools and shops sell- ippine government allowed it to enough doses to inoculate 70 mil- ing non-essential goods. be off ered to those willing to take lion people — about 60 percent of There was unanimous support it, but many nurses and doctors the population — this year. for a resolution at the United Na- are reluctant and have opted to But the bulk of the supply is tions Security Council calling for wait for other vaccines. not expected to start arriving un- improved access to vaccines in In the Philippine General Hos- til the summer. confl ict-hit and impoverished pital, one of the country’s main Many developing countries countries. facilities treating COVID-19 pa- have struggled to secure supplies In a rare gesture, it was cospon- tients, only 10 percent of staff were and launch inoculations, and sored by all 15 members of the willing to be inoculated with the there have been repeated warn- council, diplomats said, and re- Chinese-made vaccine, spokes- ings over the consequences. quired just a week of negotiations man Jonas Del Rosario told AFP. In Africa, Ivory Coast received to draft. It was far from the 94 percent its fi rst jabs — a consignment of “We are all facing the same who registered to take the Pfi zer- half a million doses funded by the threat, the same pandemic, and BioNTech jab, said Del Rosario, Covax initiative for poorer coun- international cooperation and who himself opted not to take the tries. And just over half of the multilateral action is needed,” CoronaVac shot. population of Israel has now had one diplomat said. The hesitancy is not new in the at least a fi rst dose. But Tedros Adhanom Ghe- Southeast Asian nation, which Russia and Austria have mean- breyesus, head of the World has struggled with vaccine pro- while agreed to talks over the de- Health Organization, reacted grams in recent years. livery and joint production of by saying richer countries must The Philippines was the fi rst Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine. waive intellectual property rights country in 2016 to deploy the The economic recovery will on vaccines so more manufactur- dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, but a be “long and uncertain”, Inter- ers can start production. botched rollout led to unfounded national Monetary Fund chief The idea is fi ercely opposed by claims that several dozen chil- Kristalina Georgieva warned in many wealthy countries and the dren had died from the jab. an interview with Italy’s La Stam- pharmaceutical industry.

Indonesian athletes eye tournaments aft er receiving COVID-19 vaccine Ramadani Saputra

The Jakarta Post/Jakarta A Friday gathering at Istora Senayan in Central Jakarta was the fi rst time in a year the sports arena hosted athletes after a frus- trating hiatus due to the COV- ID-19 pandemic. But those hundreds of athletes, representing various sports, were not there to compete. They were lined up to receive their fi rst jab of a COVID-19 vaccine as part of the second phase of the government’s vaccination program. Swimmer I Gede Siman Sud- artawa, who specializes in back- stroke, said he planned to go Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra straight to the gym after receiving Immunity booster: Indonesian national soccer player Miftahul the jab, saying he was not feeling Hamdi (left) receives his fi rst shot of the COVID-19 vaccine during any side eff ects. a national inoculation session held at Istora Senayan in the Gelora “I asked [the health workers] Bung Karno sports complex, Central Jakarta, on Friday. if I could exercise after this, and they said yes as long as I don’t still haven’t been able to compete.” received their fi rst jab at Friday’s experience any side eff ects. But In his last test, the 20-year-old event at Istora Senayan. if, for example, I get a headache, recorded one of his personal bests So far, only the national bad- they suggested that I get some by clocking in at 6.40 seconds for minton and tennis teams are set rest,” he said on Friday. 60 meters of an 100 m race. De- to send their athletes to interna- Echoing Siman, sprinter Lalu spite the achievement, he said he tional tournaments soon. Muhammad Zohri cheerfully said still had to improve his skills, espe- After taking part in the Asian he only felt a little sore on the spot cially in the last 40 m, as he felt that leg, consisting of three consecu- where he had received the shot nerves would likely get the best of tive tournaments in Thailand in in his arm. him in the last part of the race. January, the badminton team will For Zohri, the vaccine could Zohri will compete in the men’s head to Europe in March to par- mean a boost in confi dence as the 100 m at the Olympics, and he ticipate in the Swiss Open and young gun has already secured aims to fi nish the race in under prestigious All England badmin- a spot to compete at the upcom- 10 seconds. His personal best is ton tournaments. ing Tokyo Olympics. However, 10.03, which secured him a bronze Meanwhile, Indonesia’s top tryouts before the big event have medal in the 2019 Seiko Golden tennis players, Aldila Sutjiadi, Be- yet to be held, and he has not re- Grand Prix in Osaka, Japan. atrice Gumulya and Jessy Romp- ceived any information about Athletes are part of the gov- ies, are currently in the United competing in tournaments in the ernment’s second-phase vaccine States to compete at several low- near future. recipients, along with the elderly level tournaments. “Right now, I’m just focusing and public workers. The local soccer and basketball on training, especially sharpen- Some observers, however, have leagues have been granted per- ing the technical aspects,” he said. questioned the urgency of in- mission to resume competition, “We can’t [compete] because of oculating athletes. Epidemiolo- which will commence in March. the coronavirus. I just treat every gist Dicky Budiman from Griffi th In the meantime, athletes par- practice like a real competition; University in Australia, for exam- ticipating in the Tokyo Olympics that’s what keeps me going.” ple, has reiterated the urgency of in July and August have been al- An entire year without the focusing the vaccine drive on the lowed to visit Japan to train for competitive pressure of a tourna- elderly, people with comorbidi- the upcoming Games, Reuters re- ment has taken a toll on Indone- ties and essential workers. ported. Japan’s emergency decla- sia’s athletes. Zohri conceded that Nevertheless, the Health Min- ration is set to be lifted on March sometimes laziness had crept in, istry placed athletes in the same 7, with the travel ban on foreign but thanks to a program designed group, noting that they traveled athletes removed shortly after. by his coach, Eni Nuraeni, the frequently. Despite no requirements for Lombok-born sprinter from West According to the Youth and athletes to be vaccinated to com- Nusa Tenggara had been able to Sports Ministry, the fi rst phase pete in Tokyo, the International maintain his fi ghting spirit. of the vaccination program for Olympic Committee (IOC) en- “Ibu [Eni] hosts a [perfor- the country’s sports community courages each country’s team mance] test every two or three is to cover around 5,000 athletes, to get inoculated ahead of the months. That motivates me as I coaches and offi cials. Some 820 Games.