WORLD

Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has written a letter to her India counterpart Ram Nath Kovid, seeking Covid vaccine doses from the neighbouring country.

The special request has been made at the President`s level to ensure the supply of Covid vaccines from India, sources in the Nepal President`s office told a news agency, adding that around one million people are waiting for their second shot of Covishied vaccine and their inoculation time is approaching fast.

Earlier, one million doses of Covishield were gifted by India, while Nepal purchased another two million doses at discounted rates. Out of these two million doses, the Serum Institute of India, which produces Covishiled, released one million doses to Nepal, but it has not sent the remaining one million doses which Nepal had procured from the institute at discounted rates.

External affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar kicked off his five-day tour of the US with a stop-over in New York, where he first held consultations with his own team in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN, along with officials who handle the various aspects of engagements with the world body.

"A productive strategy session with @ambtstirumurti and our UN team in New York @IndiaUNNewYork. Confident that India will continue to shape the big debates of our times," he said in a tweet.

External affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar kicked off his five-day tour of the US with a stop-over in New York, where he first held consultations with his own team in the Permanent Mission of India to the UN, along with officials who handle the various aspects of engagements with the world body.

Brazil's health minister said the government is concerned about the coronavirus variant first identified in India after the first cases of it were confirmed in the South American country. Marcelo Queiroga denied, however, that there was community transmission of the variant, which was first identified in Brazil in the northeastern state of Maranhao, where 100 people are being monitored.

British health officials expressed optimism Sunday that the coronavirus restrictions remaining in England can be lifted in June after an official study found that the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines offer effective protection against the variant first identified in India.

Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said officials in England are on track to proceed with the final stage of unlocking the country from June 21 if the public remains cautious.

Its looking good if people are continuing to observe all of the safety signals, she told the BBC. However, she warned that the Indian variant is starting to become the dominant strain in parts of northwestern England, and people there need to be vigilant.

The IMF on Friday proposed $50 billion plan to end the Covid-19 pandemic, with a target of vaccinating at least 40 percent of the world’s population by the end of 2021.

“Our proposal sets targets, estimates financing requirements, and lays out pragmatic action,” said Kristalina Georgieva, head of the International Monetary Fund, at the Global Health Summit held in Rome as part of the G20.

Looking ahead to a long-term sustainable global economic recovery, the plan then aims to have at least 60 percent of the world’s population vaccinated by the end of 2022.