https://youtu.be/S-mFKnFQ_0w
Indonesia: President Gets Covid-19 Jab To Kick Off Vaccination Drive
Indonesian President Joko Widodo received his first dose of the China-made CoronaVac vaccine, starting a mass vaccination drive against the coronavirus. It is hoped that the vaccine will help curb surging infections and deaths in Indonesia, which is the worst hit among all countries in Southeast Asia. The president’s vaccination was broadcast1 live on the presidential secretariat’s YouTube channel, and the president also shared his experience on Facebook. It is hoped that his actions will give Indonesians confidence that the vaccine is not only safe and effective, but that it is halal2 as well. The country’s top Islamic body has also ruled3 that the vaccine is “pure and halal”. Indonesia requires 426 million doses of vaccine, but has so far secured 68 million doses. The government hopes to inoculate 70% of the population by March 2022, but some health experts feel that it could take as long as three and a half years.
1broadcast – transmit
2halal – acceptable according to Muslim law
3ruled – pronounce legally to be the case
Think about it: Should each countries’ leaders be the first to take the vaccine? After all, if it is really so important for people to be protected, and the vaccines have been certified to be safe and effective, this would be a good step towards instilling confidence in people.
Japan: State Of Emergency In Seven More Prefectures
Japan’s state of emergency now covers the major cities of Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe and Fukuoka, in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus. In addition, Japan also enacted4 an entry ban on all non-resident foreign nationals until Feb 7. This includes countries with which Japan has business track arrangements such as China and Singapore. The Prime Minister hopes that people will change their behavior as they may be asymptomatic5 and spreading the virus without realizing it. Japan has recorded its highest single-day death toll of 97. The president of the Japan Medical Association has said that the government should consider a national emergency as hospitals have very nearly reached their limit. It took the country 50 days to go from 100,000 infections to 200,000, but just another 23 days to cross the 300,000 mark. With the latest measures, 11 of Japan’s 47 prefectures, covering just over half of its total population, are now under a state of emergency.
4enacted – put into practice
5asymptomatic – showing no symptoms
Think about it: What are some drawbacks of declaring a state of emergency in just some prefectures? What are some benefits?
China: Public Likely To Receive Vaccines In February
Vaccinations for the general public against Covid-19 are expected to start around the Lunar New Year period which begins on Feb 12. China has already administered 9 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to people who are at high risk of contracting the disease. This includes customs officials, healthcare and medicine workers, those in public transportation and produce and seafood markets. No severe abnormal reactions have been observed. As China increases its production capabilities for the vaccine, more demographics6 will be covered including the general public. The vaccine will be provided free of charge to members of the public. China began mass vaccinations on Dec 15 with an inactivated7 vaccine developed by State-owned Sinopharm Group. The inactivated vaccine technique is a mature method and guarantees a high level of safety and efficacy, said a representative from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. China also has protocols8 for monitoring and handling side effects from vaccination.
6demographics – a particular part of a population
7inactivated – make inoperative
8protocols – the official procedure
Think about it: Would you prefer a slightly less effective vaccine that is made using a tried-and-true method, or a more effective vaccine using a new method?
United States: Government Increases Pace Of Covid-19 Vaccination
The Trump administration has released the rest of the vaccine doses that it has been keeping in reserve and recommending that states open inoculations to those aged 65 and above. Previously, doses of the vaccines were kept in reserve to ensure that all those who had already taken the first jab would be able to receive the second jab on schedule. However, the Trump administration is now confident that supply will be able to keep pace with demand to release the stockpiles9. The pace of vaccination has now risen to 700,000 shots a day and is expected to hit one million per day within the next few days. A spokesman for President-elect Joe Biden said Mr Biden would release more reserve doses. Public health experts have stated that no US state is close to using up its allotments10 of vaccine doses. The US has reported a total of 22.5 million infections and 376,188 deaths.
9stockpiles – a large accumulated stock of materials, especially one held in reserve for use during an emergency
10allotments – the amount or share of something that is given
Think about it: Do you feel it is better to give as many people as possible the first dose, or to make sure that everyone who has taken the first dose complete the full treatment of two doses?
Technology: Programmer Can Be US$220 Million Richer
Mr Stefan Thomas, a German-born programmer living in San Francisco, has two guesses left to figure out the password to his IronKey. The IronKey contains the private keys to a digital wallet that holds 7,002 Bitcoins, each worth more than US$30,000 at the time of writing. Thomas has long lost the piece of paper where he wrote down his password for the IronKey. After 10 incorrect guesses, the tiny hard drive will seize up and encrypt11 its contents forever. It is estimated that around 20% of the Bitcoins currently in existence are in lost or stranded digital wallets. In traditional bank accounts and online wallets, the financial company can provide people the passwords to their accounts or reset lost passwords. Bitcoin has no company to provide or store passwords, and anyone can create a Bitcoin wallet without having to register with a financial institution or perform any sort of identity check.
11encrypt – conceal data by converting it into a code
Think about it: How would you deal with losing the password to your fortune?
At the end of our news segment, we like to take a bit of time to provide our own inputs on one of the day’s discussion topics. Today, we’re going to look at whether to choose a less effective traditionally manufactured vaccine, or a more effective one that was created using new methods.
Personally, I am not a risk taker, and if given the choice, I would definitely prefer to take the vaccine that was made using traditional methods. Let’s not forget that vaccines in the past were developed and monitored over a number of years, and no one can predict the long term side effects of the newer vaccines. However, the effectiveness of the traditional vaccine cannot be lower than thresholds set by health experts. Alas, in these dire circumstances, we are not given the luxury of choice that would be provided in a perfect world. Anyway, we wouldn’t be having this pandemic in a perfect world.