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Americans offered free taxis to vaccine centres; airlines plead for reopening – as it happened

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Belgium
Customers enjoy a beer as Belgium reopens outdoor space, including the terraces of the bars and restaurants. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters
Customers enjoy a beer as Belgium reopens outdoor space, including the terraces of the bars and restaurants. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

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Key events

Thanks for reading the blog. We’ll be back in a few hours with more rolling coverage of the pandemic but in the meantime you can catch up on all the latest Covid-19 stories here.

Summary

Here’s a roundup of the key events from the last few hours:

  • The Netherlands expects to further relax coronavirus restrictions next week, giving the green light to sex workers and zoos so long as cases keep falling, prime minister Mark Rutte said Tuesday.
  • Major US airlines have weighed in alongside UK carriers to urge the reopening of transatlantic travel, calling on governments in Washington and London to arrange a summit as soon as possible.
  • Burger chain McDonald’s has announced it is partnering with the White House to promote vaccination information on its coffee cups. Separately, Joe Biden announced on Tuesday a new program with Lyft and Uber which will offer free rides to anyone going to a vaccination site to get vaccinated.
  • Pfizer has asked the UK medical regulator for permission to use its Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds in Britain, the Telegraph has reported.
  • Teachers in Buenos Aires are demanding a return to virtual learning due to the increase in cases of coronavirus since the return of students.
  • Brazil recorded 72,715 additional confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, along with 2,311 deaths from Covid-19, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
  • The Canadian provinces of Alberta and Ontario said on Tuesday they would stop offering first doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, with Ontario citing evidence that the risk of rare blood clots is somewhat higher than previously estimated.
  • Brazil’s federal government on Tuesday nationally suspended the vaccination of pregnant women with the AstraZeneca shot, after an expectant mother in Rio de Janeiro died from a stroke possibly related to the inoculation.

I’m handing this blog to my colleagues in Australia now. Thanks so much for joining me.

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Brazil’s federal government on Tuesday nationally suspended the vaccination of pregnant women with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 shot, after an expectant mother in Rio de Janeiro died from a stroke possibly related to the inoculation.

Franciele Francinato, coordinator of the health ministry’s vaccination program, told reporters the suspension was enacted as a precautionary measure after health regulator Anvisa issued a warning about the vaccine’s use in pregnant women earlier in the day, Reuters reports.

Authorities are investigating the incident. The suspension applies only to AstraZeneca’s shot and not to vaccines developed by Sinovac and Pfizer Inc that are also being used in the country.

The pregnant woman in Rio de Janeiro died after receiving the AstraZeneca shot, according to state Health Secretary Alexandre Chieppe.

Anvisa said the 35-year-old woman, who was 23 weeks pregnant, died of a hemorrhagic stroke on Monday after checking into a hospital five days earlier.

Anvisa said in a statement:

The serious adverse event of a hemorrhagic stroke was assessed as possibly related to the use of the vaccine given to the pregnant woman.

AstraZeneca said in a statement that pregnant women and those breastfeeding were excluded from clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine. Studies in animals did not produce direct or indirect evidence of harm regarding pregnancy or fetal development, the statement added.

Anvisa said it had not been informed of any other adverse events in pregnant women receiving the vaccine.

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The Canadian provinces of Alberta and Ontario said on Tuesday they would stop offering first doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, with Ontario citing evidence that the risk of rare blood clots is somewhat higher than previously estimated.

Alberta said it took the same step only because it was unclear when more shipments of the vaccine might arrive, and not due to concern about side effects, Reuters reports.

Officials in Ontario said roughly one in 60,000 people who received the vaccine in the province, eight in total, developed the complication, which involves blood clots accompanied by a low level of platelets, cells in the blood that help it to clot.

Regulators and expert groups in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Europe had previously estimated that the risk was between one in 95,000 and one in 130,000.

Ontario’s chief medical officer David Williams said:

We maintain that those who received their first dose with the AstraZeneca vaccine did absolutely the right thing to prevent illness and protect their families, loved ones and communities.

Three deaths in Canada have been linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Officials said the vaccine is effective, and noted that alternative vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are increasingly available. Canada has distributed just over 20 million doses of various COVID vaccines, and 11.6% were AstraZeneca’s vaccine.

Experts have said it is likely fine to mix COVID-19 vaccines, and a trial underway in the UK is looking at the question directly.

Brazil recorded 72,715 additional confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, along with 2,311 deaths from Covid-19, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

Brazil has registered nearly 15.3 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 425,540, according to ministry data.

Teachers in Buenos Aires are demanding a return to virtual learning rather than in person schooling due to the increase in cases of Coronavirus since the return of students, the low percentage of vaccinated teachers and teachers who have died in recent days in Argentina.

Teachers protest for the return to virtual learning, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photograph: Roberto Tuero/REX/Shutterstock
Teachers in Buenos Aires demand a return to virtual learning. Photograph: Roberto Tuero/REX/Shutterstock
There has been an increase in cases of Coronavirus since the return of students in Argentina, which teachers are concerned about. Photograph: Roberto Tuero/REX/Shutterstock
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Pfizer Inc has formally asked the UK medical regulator for permission to use its Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds in Britain, the Telegraph has reported.

The report, citing a Pfizer spokesman, said:

We can confirm that the companies have submitted a request to the MHRA to expand the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine in the UK to adolescents.

Edward Helmore

Burger chain McDonald’s has announced it is partnering with the White House to promote vaccination information on its coffee cups.

Separately, Joe Biden announced on Tuesday a new program with Lyft and Uber which will offer free rides to anyone going to a vaccination site to get vaccinated.

Starting in July, US customers will see redesigned McCafé cups and delivery-box seal stickers featuring an upbeat message of “We Can Do This”, a slogan created by the US health department.

McDonald’s also said it will unveil a billboard in New York’s Times Square this month displaying vaccine information.

Xavier Becerra, the health secretary, said in a statement the public-private partnership “will help more people make informed decisions about their health and learn about steps they can take to protect themselves and their communities”.

As part of Biden’s goal to get 70% of the US adult population vaccinated with at least one shot by 4 July, the ride-share giants Uber and Lyft will promote rides to and from tens of thousands of vaccination sites through their apps, the White House said.

People will be able to simply select a vaccination site near them, follow simple directions to redeem their ride, and then get a ride to take them to and from a nearby vaccination site free of charge.

The vaccine promotion scheme is expected to start in about two weeks and last until the Fourth of July holiday.

Read the full story here:

Gwyn Topham
Gwyn Topham

Major US airlines have weighed in alongside UK carriers to urge the reopening of transatlantic travel, calling on governments in Washington and London to arrange a summit as soon as possible.

The airlines said that safely reopening borders was essential for economic recovery and asked the nations’ leaders to meet before the G7, and take a decision with sufficient time for airlines to plan and restart services.

In a letter to transport secretaries of state in the US and UK, the chief executives of American, Delta, United and Jet Blue, along with those of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, said that the levels of vaccination in each country meant that the lucrative routes, flown by 22 million passengers in 2019, could be safely reopened.

They said: “We are confident that the aviation industry possesses the right tools, based on data and science, to enable a safe and meaningful restart to transatlantic travel. US and UK citizens would benefit from the significant testing capability and the successful trials of digital applications to verify health credentials.”

Here’s the full article:

The Netherlands expects to further relax coronavirus restrictions next week, giving the green light to sex workers and zoos so long as cases keep falling, prime minister Mark Rutte said Tuesday.

Dutch gyms, swimming pools and amusement parks will also be allowed to reopen on May 19, while cafes and restaurants with outdoor terraces that restarted last week will be permitted longer opening hours, AFP reports.

Rutte said there was “one condition” which was that intensive care and hospital admissions must have fallen further by May 17, otherwise the “pause button is pressed”.

He said:

We don’t think it will come to that, but we have to take it into account.

We want nothing more than to give space to society, but we also do not want to make mistakes, just before the finish.

The lifting of the ban on sex work will be a major boost to Amsterdam’s famed Red Light district, which has been effectively shuttered since October.

Sex workers are the last of the so-called “contact professions” including hairdressers that have been allowed to reopen in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands, with a population of 17 million, has administered six million vaccinations and the government said it “expects that the number of new hospital admissions will now continue to decline rapidly.”

Dutch health authorities have recorded 17,383 deaths from coronavirus and 1.57 million infections since the start of the pandemic. It reported 47,108 infections last week, down 10 percent on the previous week.

Summary of today's developments

Here’s a quick look at the major lines from today:

  • Belgium will relax almost all its restrictions from 9 June, the government has said, provided the vaccination campaign continues at speed and intensive care patients remain below 500.
  • People in the US will be able to get a free ride to vaccination centres in Uber and Lyft vehicles after the companies partnered with the government as part of a new effort to boost vaccination figures.
  • Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed that most of Scotland will move to level 2 of Covid-19 restrictions on 17 May. This means that six people from three households will be able meet indoors and eight people from eight houses can meet outdoors. Moray is being kept in level 3 due to an outbreak while most islands will move to more relaxed measures at level 1.
  • Scotland will move to a traffic light system for international travel from 17 May, with the same 12 countries on its green list as England.
  • Greece has said it will fully vaccinate all residents on its islands by the end of June in a bid to boost tourism. The announcement comes as Greece’s cases spike, with 3,197 new infections recorded on Tuesday – more than double the figure recorded a week ago.
  • Police have arrested at least two activists outside AstraZeneca’s Cambridge headquarters at a protest calling on the company to waive its vaccine patent.
  • The Philippines has discovered its first two cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in India, its health ministry has announced as new cases fall to a near eight-week low.
  • Inheritance tax should become a larger slice of government tax revenue following the pandemic, according to a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that warns wealth inequality will rise over the next decade unless death duties also increase.

That’s all from me for today – my colleague Nicola Slawson will be here to bring you the latest shortly. Thanks for reading along.

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Boris Johnson has promised to set up a public inquiry into the government’s handling of the Covid pandemic during this parliamentary session.

It is the first time the prime minister has set out a loose timeframe for such an inquiry.

“I do believe it’s essential we have a full, proper public inquiry into the Covid pandemic,” the prime minister said, in response to a question from the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey. “I can certainly say that we will do that within this session.”

Boris Johnson promises public inquiry into government handling of pandemic – video

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