By Allison Martell and Euan Rocha
TORONTO/NEW DELHI, Feb 2 (Reuters) &#8211; Verity Pharmaceuticals and Serum Institute of India (SII) have applied to distribute SII&#8217;s licensed version of AstraZeneca&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccine in Canada, potentially easing shortages as European manufacturing sites struggle to meet global demand.
AstraZeneca Canada had filed a rolling application for its vaccine with Health Canada in October, but online records show Canada&#8217;s Verity Pharmaceuticals and SII on Jan. 23 filed a separate application to sell the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University researchers.
SII, the world&#8217;s biggest vaccine maker, has capacity to produce roughly 2.4 million doses per day at its campus in Pune, western India.
&#8220;Verity Pharmaceuticals is providing important support to Serum Institute of India related to its regulatory registration, importation and distribution of the vaccine in Canada, pending Health Canada approval,&#8221; AstraZeneca Canada and Verity said in a joint statement.
A source close to the matter said discussions are ongoing between SII and Verity but it is too early to provide details on delivery timelines or volumes that SII could ship to Canada.
SII did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Indian company&#8217;s chief executive, Adar Poonawalla, told Reuters last week that SII was happy to support AstraZeneca to meet any supply needs, but he emphasised that its primary focus was India and other poorer nations in Asia and Africa.
SII has already stepped in to help AstraZeneca to fulfil some orders in South Africa, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and other nations.
Canada, with a population of about 38 million, has ordered more vaccine doses per capita than any other country and was among the first to approve the Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines, though deliveries have been sluggish.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing is a major industry in India, and several COVID-19 vaccines are being produced in the country at scale. Canada, by contrast, is entirely dependent on imports from European manufacturing sites, and both Pfizer and Moderna have cut planned deliveries in recent weeks.
Last week the European Union rolled out a new export control regime for vaccines, including a mechanism that could block certain exports. Canadian officials say they have been assured that shipments to Canada should not be affected, but Canada is not officially exempt from the regime.
Poonawalla last week told Reuters that SII had no plans to divert supplies to Europe.
SII, which had a stockpile of about 60 million doses of the vaccine last month, is adding a third production line by March. That would allow it to produce more than 3 million doses a day of COVISHIELD, the brand name under which it markets the AstraZeneca shot.
Beyond supplying India&#8217;s vaccination drive, however, SII has also committed to supply tens of millions of doses to the GAVI/WHO-backed COVAX initiative to help to accelerate vaccinations in poorer nations. (Reporting by Allison Martell in Toronto and Euan Rocha in New Delhi Editing by David Goodman)
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Verity Pharma and India’s SII apply to distribute AstraZeneca vaccine in Canada

Feb 2 (Reuters) &#8211; Indian Super League (ISL) side Odisha have sacked head coach Stuart Baxter for making &#8220;unacceptable&#8221; comments referencing rape in a post-match interview.
Baxter, who was previously South Africa&#8217;s head coach, said after his team&#8217;s 1-0 defeat by Jamshedpur on Monday that one of his players &#8220;would have to rape someone or get raped himself if he was going to get a penalty.&#8221;
Odisha issued an apology on Monday, saying they were &#8220;appalled at the comments&#8221;, which were &#8220;completely unacceptable whatever the context.&#8221;
The club announced that the 67-year-old Englishman had been sacked on Tuesday.
&#8220;The interim coach for the remainder of the season will be announced soon,&#8221; Odisha said on Twitter https://twitter.com/OdishaFC/status/1356505984693374980.
Baxter took the reins at Odisha in June, signing a two-year contract. The club are currently bottom of the 11-team ISL, with one win, eight defeats and five draws so far. (Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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Soccer-ISL’s Odisha sack coach Baxter for ‘unacceptable’ rape comment

MADRID, Feb 2 (Reuters) &#8211; The Spanish government has decided to restrict air travel with Brazil and South Africa, where new highly contagious variants of the coronavirus have been detected, from Wednesday for two weeks, Cadena Ser news website said on Tuesday.
Inbound flights will only be able to carry Spanish nationals and residents returning to Spain or transit passengers traveling to countries outside of the Schengen area with stopovers shorter than 24 hours, it said. (Reporting by Emma Pinedo and Andrei Khalip Editing by Ingrid Melander)
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Spain to restrict S.Africa, Brazil flights over COVID variants, report says

By Megan Rowling
BARCELONA, Feb 2 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; Humans have built up their economic wealth by going hugely overdrawn with the bank of nature, which is in deep trouble and must be reassessed as a valuable and finite asset, an academic review commissioned by the British government said on Tuesday.
The Dasgupta Review on the economics of biodiversity concludes that standard monetary measures of prosperity, such as gross domestic product, have excluded vital services provided by natural systems, such as water provision and climate protection.
As a result, forests, oceans and the wildlife they sustain have become dangerously degraded to a point that seriously threatens human society, as well as plants and animals.
To rectify this, business, governments and other institutions should boost efforts to price and understand the value of what nature provides and the costs of its loss, while easing unsustainable pressure on natural resources, the report said.
Here are some reactions to the review from nature experts:
Partha Dasgupta, author of The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review, and an economics professor at the University of Cambridge &#8220;Truly sustainable economic growth and development means recognising that our long-term prosperity relies on rebalancing our demand of nature&#8217;s goods and services with its capacity to supply them.
It also means accounting fully for the impact of our interactions with nature across all levels of society. COVID-19 has shown us what can happen when we don’t do this.
Nature is our home. Good economics demands we manage it better.&#8221;
David Attenborough, British naturalist and broadcaster &#8220;The survival of the natural world depends on maintaining its complexity, its biodiversity. Putting things right requires a universal understanding of how these complex systems work. That applies to economics too.
This comprehensive and immensely important report shows us how, by bringing economics and ecology face to face, we can help to save the natural world and in doing so save ourselves.&#8221;
Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister &#8220;This year is critical in determining whether we can stop and reverse the concerning trend of fast-declining biodiversity. I welcome Professor Dasgupta&#8217;s Review, which makes clear that protecting and enhancing nature needs more than good intentions – it requires concerted, co-ordinated action.
As co-host of COP26 (the planned 2021 U.N. climate talks) and president of this year&#8217;s G7, we are going to make sure the natural world stays right at the top of the global agenda.&#8221;
Adrian Smith, president of the Royal Society &#8220;At G7 and U.N. summits this year, world leaders, policy experts and financial decision makers will be charting the global response to the linked threats of biodiversity loss and climate change, and the green recovery from COVID-19.
Too often biodiversity has been the poor relation at these talks, because the costs of exploiting our ecosystems and species have been left off the ledger.
But it is undeniable that the prosperity of present and future generations depends on these systems, which clean our water, pollinate our crops, and provide recreation and inspiration.&#8221;
Brian O’Donnell, director of the Campaign for Nature &#8220;The idea that we are part of nature and that natural capital is an asset that needs to be sustainably managed will come as no surprise to indigenous communities who have valued nature through the ages.
But, for those who have embraced economic systems based on limitless growth, it requires a fundamental re-thinking of how &#8216;progress&#8217; is valued and measured.&#8221; Christiana Figueres, former U.N. climate chief and founding partner of Global Optimism &#8220;The review makes it clear that it is less costly to conserve nature than to restore it once it’s damaged or degraded, and provides the economic rationale for expanding and improving the management of protected areas. We can translate this idea into action by protecting 30% of the planet by 2030.&#8221; Henry Paulson, CEO of the Paulson Institute and former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury &#8220;We face a biodiversity crisis that poses significant risks to our global economy and the health and well-being of humanity.
Now is the time to build a coalition of governments and financial institutions to steer public and private capital away from activities that harm our natural world to those that encourage and incentivise the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems of the planet.&#8221; Russ Feingold, former U.S. Senator and special envoy to the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and ambassador for the Campaign for Nature &#8220;The review gives new meaning to the old saying that &#8216;You get what you measure&#8217;. We need to include nature in how we measure our economic development and our wealth.
The idea that we need to measure nature will be new to many and actually doing it will be hard. But not including nature in our economic measurements has brought us to the biodiversity and climate crises we have today.&#8221; Enric Sala, explorer in residence, National Geographic &#8220;The review is clear: if we are to prevent a global humanitarian catastrophe, we need to curb our excesses, reform our failed institutions at all levels, make the economy work for us and not the reverse, protect what wild is left, and restore much of our degraded lands and ocean.&#8221;
Jo Blackman, head of forests policy and advocacy, Global Witness &#8220;This landmark report highlights that the financial sector is a key contributor to biodiversity loss, which poses a fundamental threat to the sustainability of our planet, human health and the global economy.
There need to be material consequences for companies and financial institutions which continue to destroy biodiverse ecosystems, including the world&#8217;s forests.&#8221;
Eva Zabey, executive director, Business for Nature &#8220;As well as celebrating the critical role nature plays in supporting healthy societies, resilient economies and thriving businesses, the Dasgupta Review paints a clear picture of what we stand to lose if we don’t urgently halt and reverse its destruction.
The report outlines the role business can and must play to protect and enhance biodiversity, coupled with the need for transformative global nature policies. We must work urgently, collectively and innovatively to put these recommendations and findings into action.&#8221; (Reporting by Megan Rowling @meganrowling; editing by Laurie Goering. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org/climate)
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EXPERT VIEWS-‘Nature is our home’: Economists call for green approach to valuing wealth

* Algerian army scours Ain Delfa mountains for militants
* Attack last month shows ongoing Islamist militant threat
* Militants mostly contained in Algeria
* But some hold out in remote mostly desert border areas
* Army focus now on external threat from unstable neighbours
By Lamine Chikhi
AIN DEFLA, Algeria, Feb 2 (Reuters) &#8211; Algerian soldiers fired high-calibre rounds into a scrubby hillside of the Ain Defla mountains last week, part of an operation against the persistent threat of Islamist militants after they launched a fresh attack last month.
They stalked in the rain between pine trees along muddy tracks, rifles raised, before dropping into a crouch, many of them too young to remember the 1990s jihadist insurgency that killed 200,000 Algerians.
Two decades after that bloodshed ended, the militant threat in Algeria has mostly been contained. However, al Qaeda and other groups including an Islamic State branch still hold out in some remote areas, mostly in the vast desert border region with Sahel neighbours Mali and Niger.
The operation in Ain Defla was aimed at a small group that the army believed to be hiding in the mountains, about 180 kms (112 miles) west of the capital Algiers.
It had splintered from the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, one of Algeria&#8217;s oldest militant organisations and the forerunner of its al Qaeda franchise, the army said.
Reuters and a local news agency were escorted during the operation by the military.
&#8220;Our goal is to fix, surround and liquidate a group of terrorists in this perimeter,&#8221; said an army captain, calling it a combat mission.
His column of five vehicles crawled across the barren terrain, using jamming devices to prevent militants using cell phones to detonate explosives.
In the wet weather, it took the column nearly two hours to drive just 50 kms (30 miles) along the marshy tracks under the 2,000-metre (6,000-ft) peak of Mount Ouarsenis.
In one place, soldiers sat behind sandbags under a bivouac looking out across a mountain valley, the wind ruffling the camouflage pattern sheet above them.

JIHADIST STRUGGLE
Large-calibre gunfire rattled out across the landscape. The soldiers were shooting into an area they could not reach.
&#8220;These shots are intended to clean areas where terrorists may be hiding,&#8221; a colonel said.
Algeria’s main security focus has shifted in recent years from the internal threat that once ran rampant through rural areas and dense cities to borders with unstable neighbours.
&#8220;They are small in numbers, so you need to hunt them one by one,&#8221; a security source said of militant groups still present in Algeria.
Though some militants remain in areas like Ain Defla, the region’s traditional pastoral life continues.
Lazali Belgacem, an animal herder in a brown hooded robe and yellow turban, said he felt safer than in the past as he led a donkey across a mountainside, his cows walking ahead.
&#8220;I used to be very afraid of terrorists. They might kill or kidnap you,&#8221; he said.
In January, three soldiers and six armed men were killed in clashes in the Tipaza region, between Ain Defla and Algiers.
It was a relatively rare recent episode in a jihadist struggle that has mostly moved into the deep sahara.
Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the most potent militant group operating in North Africa, has found more room for manouevre in the insurgencies rattling Mali and Niger.
The former AQIM chief Abdelmalek Droukdel was killed in Mali last year. His successor, Algerian Abu Obaida Yusuf al-Annabi, is also thought to be based there.
AQIM, set up in 2007, seeks to replace Algeria&#8217;s government with sharia rule but has not carried out any big attacks since the 2013 assault on a desert gas plant in which 40 workers and more than 20 militants were killed.
Last year the Defence Ministry said it had killed 21 militants in Algeria. According to constitutional changes approved in a referendum last year, the military will in future be able to operate beyond Algeria’s borders in some cases. (Reporting By Lamine Chikhi, editing by Angus McDowall and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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In Algerian mountains, army operation shows persistent militant threat

AUSTRALIA&#8217;S CRICKET TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC &#8211; CRICKET AUSTRALIA STATEMENT
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AUSTRALIA’S CRICKET TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC – CRICKET AUSTRALIA STATEMENT

Feb 2 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa batsman Rassie van der Dussen says his team mates must show more application at the crease if they are to beat Pakistan in the second and final test to share the series.
Van der Dussen scored a patient 64 in his side&#8217;s second innings of their seven-wicket loss in the first test in Karachi, one of the few among the tourists to get to grips with the lower bounce of the wicket and the skill of the home team&#8217;s spinners.
South Africa have passed 300 just three times in their last 25 innings on the sub-continent and Van der Dussen said they had to adjust to conditions better in the second test starting in Rawalpindi on Thursday.
&#8220;We knew we needed 350 and if we could have batted the whole day, we would have got there,&#8221; Van der Dussen told reporters of the first test, where they were dismissed for 220 in their first innings after winning the toss and electing to bat.
&#8220;It was a combination of good bowling, indecision from the new guys, and run outs that shouldn&#8217;t happen.
&#8220;In the subcontinent, all dismissals are in play all of the time. Because the ball is not bouncing over the stumps, you have to set yourself up to counter being bowled and lbw, and there are also catchers around the bat.&#8221;
There have been suggestions the Rawalpindi pitch will be more seamer friendly than Karachi, where there was prodigious turn from day one, but Van der Dussen is not so sure.
&#8220;It looks like most of the grass has been taken off and how hard they will make it is difficult to say. My first impression is that there won&#8217;t be much for the new ball,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;There was a fair amount of reverse (swing) in the first match and I think it will play the same role.&#8221;
South Africa have won 15 of their last 31 tests, losing the other 16 due mainly to their frail batting.
Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq has no qualms about tinkering with his line-up, even deciding to drop one of the spin duo of Nauman Ali and Yasir Shah despite their impressive combined figures of 14-206 in the first test.
&#8220;The weather and pitch is different from what we got in Karachi,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We are open for change if needed and it&#8217;s not compulsory to play a spinner just because he did well (in the first test).
&#8220;The conditions are likely to be different but we have to carry on with all the good things we did in the first Test and look out for the areas where we can improve.&#8221;
(Reporting by Nick Said in Cape Town; Editing by Peter Rutherford )
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PREVIEW-Cricket-SAfrica seek end to batting woes in second test v Pakistan

* Lira has outpaced most of its peers this year
* Rouble continues to lag peers
* MSCI EM stocks index rises for second session
By Ambar Warrick
Feb 2 (Reuters) &#8211; Turkey&#8217;s lira led gains across emerging market currencies on Tuesday on optimism over tight monetary policy and improving economic conditions, while stocks rose for a second day as sentiment improved ahead of U.S. stimulus talks.
The lira rose 1.1% to hit a near six-month high, and has outperformed most of its EM peers this year after the central bank vowed to maintain tight monetary conditions until inflation is brought in line.
The currency has surged more than 3% since the central bank&#8217;s vow last Thursday, although concerns over President Tayyip Erdogan&#8217;s repeated demands to cut interest rates still persist. Data on Monday also pointed to an ongoing rebound in Turkish manufacturing.
&#8220;We, too, think that the new central bank governor will do all that he can do to target inflation more fully this time around – where we differ is being more sceptical about how long the president will patiently bear with this,&#8221; Tatha Ghose, FX and EM analyst at Commerzbank, wrote in a note.
Most other currencies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa rose, with the South African rand adding 0.9%. Investors were awaiting negotiations between U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican senators on a new COVID support bill.
Risk-driven EM assets marked steep losses last week on a mix of profit taking and uncertainty over the timing of COVID vaccine programs, but investors resumed betting on an eventual return to normalcy this year as infection rates slowed and more countries sourced vaccines.
The MSCI&#8217;s index of emerging market stocks jumped 1.3% on strength in Chinese and Hong Kong stocks, while the Turkish bourse led gains across EMEA.
Optimism over an economic recovery in 2021 helped drive foreign net inflows of about $53.5 billion into emerging market stocks and bonds in January, building on the momentum from year-end 2020, data from the Institute of International Finance showed on Monday.
Russia&#8217;s rouble continued to lag its peers as political unrest brewed in the country over the arrest of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, which had sparked nationwide protests.
In central Europe, the Hungarian forint and the Czech crown both rose about 0.3% versus the euro after positive industrial price inflation and economic growth data.
The forint was at a more than one-month high to the euro, while the crown was at its strongest since March 2020.

For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2021, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2021, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets
For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see
For TURKISH market report, see
For RUSSIAN market report, see (Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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EMERGING MARKETS-Lira leads gains on central bank hawkishness, while stocks rise

By Tanisha Heiberg and Helen Reid
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 2 &#8211; Travel restrictions, supply chain disruptions and risk aversion since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic have slammed the brakes on mining exploration in Africa, jeopardising the minerals supply pipeline.
Inward investment will be a key focus at the annual Investing in African Mining Indaba virtual conference to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, with companies looking to capitalise on higher metals prices and the transition to green energy.
Without exploration, the continent&#8217;s rich mineral resources are at risk of being unutilised as older mines become unviable.
Mining companies&#8217; exploration budgets for Africa fell 10% to a four-year low in 2020, according to S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence.
&#8220;COVID-19 has had an impact on all aspects of the mining value chain, and exploration is no exception,&#8221; said Alex Khumalo, head of social performance at the Minerals Council, South Africa, an industry trade group.
While Africa did not fare as badly as Latin America, where budgets fell by 21%, the sharp decline was in marked contrast to the 1.5% dip in the United States and Canada.
In many cases companies have been turning more towards their home jurisdictions and what they see as their safe-haven investments, said Chris Galbraith, senior metals and mining analyst at S&amp;P Global.
&#8220;With many of these companies based in Canada, the U.S. and Australia, more of their exploration has been focused on domestic exploration &#8230; and oftentimes that has come at the expense of African development,&#8221; he said.
For junior explorers and miners, raising capital on public markets has been a challenge while the pandemic has made it even more difficult to access private equity capital.

SOUTH AFRICAN GLOOM
South Africa &#8211; a leading producer of platinum, palladium, chrome and gold &#8211; was the worst-hit African nation, with overall mining exploration budgets at a 17-year low. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso and Ghana also had sharp falls.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve seen 20 or 30 projects that have probably collectively cut 200 million to 300 million rand (about $13 million to $20 million) worth of exploration spending this year,&#8221; said Errol Smart, CEO of Orion Minerals.
Investors have been unable to visit projects during the pandemic while restrictions on borders have delayed equipment deliveries.
&#8220;Nobody invests in something unless they can go there and see it, touch it, kick the tyres. They want to visit the site,&#8221; said Smart.
Orion, which last month said it had discovered further significant copper, zinc and nickel deposits around its flagship Prieska Project in South Africa&#8217;s Northern Cape province, has been waiting for equipment from Australia to conduct geophysical surveys.
&#8220;We still have uncertainty over when they can get to site to be used,&#8221; said Smart.
With less exploration activity, African mineral resources might not be developed fast enough to replace older mines as they become depleted.
There is hope, however, that COVID-19 vaccination programmes will speed the world&#8217;s recovery from the pandemic and boost the mining sector. Post-pandemic economic recovery could drive higher metals demand and prices, potentially encouraging increased exploration spending this year, particularly in gold.
Exploration budget increases in Ivory Coast, Guinea and Senegal have indicated continued interest in gold-rich West African countries despite the pandemic.
(Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg and Helen Reid Editing by David Goodman)
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Africa’s pandemic-hit mining sector faces exploration challenge

By Alexis Akwagyiram
LAGOS, Feb 1 (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria expects to receive 41 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from the African Union, the head of the country&#8217;s primary healthcare agency said on Monday, while the health minister said vaccines from Russia and India were being considered.
Authorities in Africa&#8217;s most populous country, which has 200 million people, plan to inoculate 40% of the population this year and another 30% in 2022.
The African Union initially secured 270 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from manufacturers for member states. Last week it was announced that the bloc would receive another 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Faisal Shuaib, who heads the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, said Nigeria&#8217;s previous request for 10 million doses through the AU had been increased four-fold.
&#8220;We have applied for 41 million doses of a combination of Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson &amp; Johnson COVID-19 vaccines,&#8221; Shuaib said in a text message response to written questions.
Shuaib said the request was for 7.6 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, 15.3 million of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 18.4 million of the Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccine.
He said the doses were expected to arrive by the end of April, adding that Nigeria was &#8220;exploring multiple payment options&#8221; for the doses including through the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) financing plan to make repayments in installments over five to seven years.
Nigerian authorities have previously said the country is working with the COVAX programme backed by the World Health Organization, that aims to secure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines for poor countries, and expects to receive its first doses in February.
Shuaib, speaking in a news conference in the capital Abuja, said 16 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were expected to be delivered under the COVAX programme. &#8220;This will replace the earlier communicated 100,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines which we all agreed was grossly inadequate,&#8221; he said.
Health Minister Osagie Ehanire told reporters that dossiers for two vaccines, one from India and another from Russia, were being studied by the country&#8217;s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) drugs regulator.
Nigeria has had 131,242 confirmed COVID-19 cases, resulting in 1,586 deaths. (Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; Additional reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja; Editing by Paul Simao)
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Nigeria expects 41 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from African Union

RAMAPHOSA SAYS TO MAKE VACCINES AVAILABLE TO ALL IN SOUTH AFRICA REGARLESS OF RESIDENCE STATUS
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RAMAPHOSA SAYS TO MAKE VACCINES AVAILABLE TO ALL IN SOUTH AFRICA REGARLESS OF RESIDENCE STATUS

COVID: PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND&#8217;S HOPKINS SAYS WE DO NOT HAVE EVIDENCE THAT SOUTH AFRICA VARIANT IS CAUSING MORE SEVERE DISEASE
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COVID: PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND’S HOPKINS SAYS WE DO NOT HAVE EVIDENCE THAT SOUTH AFRICA VARIANT IS CAUSING MORE SEVERE DISEASE

COVID: UK&#8217;S HANCOCK SAYS &#8220;ABSOLUTELY VITAL&#8221; THAT PEOPLE IN AREAS AFFECTED BY SOUTH AFRICA VARIANT MINIMISE ALL SOCIAL CONTACT
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COVID: UK’S HANCOCK SAYS “ABSOLUTELY VITAL” THAT PEOPLE IN AREAS AFFECTED BY SOUTH AFRICA VARIANT MINIMISE ALL SOCIAL CONTACT

By Kim Harrisberg
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; South African nurses called on the government on Monday to ensure overstretched workers in rural clinics and hospitals get access to COVID-19 vaccines as the hard-hit country received its first batch of doses.
Rural nurses have reported shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks during the pandemic and &#8211; with few detailed announcements about inoculation plans for remote areas &#8211; many fear they could be last in line.
&#8220;Healthcare workers&#8217; hands are full as we speak, we are very concerned about overstretching them to breaking point,&#8221; said Sibongiseni Delihlazo, spokesman for the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA), a union.
&#8220;It is important to not forget them,&#8221; Delihlazo told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
South Africa has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases on the continent with more than 1.4 million cases and over 43,000 deaths to date.
One million shots of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine will be given to healthcare workers in the coming months, with an extra 500,000 set to arrive in February.
A recent health ministry presentation showed there were about 1.25 million health workers to be vaccinated and unions are already calling for more vaccines as each healthcare worker will need two doses.
In places so remote that they cannot be reached by car, healthcare employees fear limited access to vaccines could exacerbate difficult working conditions.
&#8220;Ordinarily those clinics don&#8217;t have resources or even water, ablutions are not in good conditions,&#8221; said Kedibone Mdolo, the north west acting provincial secretary of DENOSA.
&#8220;Those nurses out there are forgotten so it will be a test for the (health) department to see how best they will reach them,&#8221; she said, adding that officials had given only &#8220;general answers&#8221; on rural roll-out plans.
The Department of Health did not respond to requests for comment, but Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said recently the &#8220;entire country&#8221; was being contemplated in the inoculation programme.
&#8220;In some of those areas we will go to a rural hospital and use it as a base to go to various clinics to make sure people can be accessed in nearby areas,&#8221; Mkhize said in a local television interview.
The North West province, where health workers have spoken out about PPE shortages, said vaccination sites will administer 500 doses per day and although more work had to be done, they were working on informing all citizens of the roll-out plan.
Healthcare workers will be first in line for vaccination under the programme, followed by essential workers, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions.
&#8220;The biggest risk would be not reaching herd immunity, and the healthcare workers become the patients. Who will look after them?&#8221; Delihlazo said. (Reporting by Kim Harrisberg @KimHarrisberg; Editing by Helen Popper. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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Rural S. African nurses fear being forgotten in vaccine roll-out

By Emma Batha
LONDON, Feb 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; Countries must put more women into leadership roles to build a stronger post-pandemic world, a top U.N. official said on Monday as data showed women could be waiting more than a century to see equality at the highest political echelons.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who made history as South Africa&#8217;s first female deputy president in 2005, said gender-balanced cabinets made better decisions not just for women, but for society as a whole.
Global progress on getting more women into top roles is frustratingly slow, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
But she believes Kamala Harris&#8217;s appointment as the first female U.S. vice president will make other countries take note and spur more women to consider running for office.
&#8220;It does help if a big country breaks the mould. It pushes other countries forward,&#8221; she said.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican heritage, was a particularly important role model for young women of colour.
&#8220;They now have someone who looks like them, who they can identify with,&#8221; she said, adding that she had witnessed how her own appointment in 2005 had encouraged the ambitions of a younger generation.
&#8220;It was such a fulfilling feeling to hear young women (saying) &#8216;Wow, this is on the table. I can also go for this&#8217;,&#8221; Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
Only 22 countries have an elected woman head of state or government, while 119 nations have never had a woman leader, according to U.N. Women, which said gender parity would not be achieved for another 130 years at the current rate of progress.
The analysis also showed parity would not be reached in national parliaments before 2063, and in ministerial positions before 2077.
In early 2020, only 14 countries had cabinets where women held at least half of posts. They included Rwanda, Finland, Canada, Colombia and Peru.
The United States is set to join the club after President Joe Biden pledged to pick a cabinet that &#8220;looks like America&#8221;.

&#8216;WALK IN THEIR SHOES&#8217;
Mlambo-Ngcuka said women seeking office faced multiple hurdles, including a lack of support from political parties, which made it very important that countries introduce quotas for female representation.
She also urged governments to criminalise violence against women in politics and called on social media platforms to tackle rising cyber-abuse, much of it involving sexual innuendo and body-shaming, which deterred women from taking public roles.
Four in five women parliamentarians have experienced psychological violence linked to their job, one in four physical violence and one in five sexual violence, U.N. Women said, citing a 2016 study.
&#8220;This is a way of intimidating women out of leadership even before they start,&#8221; Mlambo-Ngcuka said.
&#8220;Governments and criminal justice systems have got to pay attention to (this), and make sure the perpetrators are actually brought to book.&#8221;
Mlambo-Ngcuka said gender-balanced governments made better decisions because they were more representative of the people they served, and women brought fresh perspectives.
&#8220;You reduce the likelihood of missing out on the needs of some people because you just have never walked in their shoes,&#8221; she added.
She said female leaders &#8211; from New Zealand&#8217;s Jacinda Ardern to Germany&#8217;s Angela Merkel &#8211; had rightly won praise for their handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
&#8220;Women tended not to focus on the politics, but just on finding solutions, so they would work with everybody,&#8221; she added.
Getting more women into local government also makes a difference, Mlambo-Ngcuka said. In India, for example, women-led councils have pushed for better access to clean water &#8211; critical for preventing the spread of the virus.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said it was crucial that women play a leading role in building more inclusive post-COVID-19 economies, particularly as so many women had been pushed into poverty.
&#8220;If women do not recover from the poverty they&#8217;ve been thrown in because of COVID, many families and communities are going to be in a very difficult situation for a very long time. And that is going to be a problem for everybody,&#8221; she said. (Reporting by Emma Batha @emmabatha; Editing by Helen Popper. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, which covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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INTERVIEW-Want a stronger world after COVID-19? Choose more women leaders

COVID: UK HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS ADDITIONAL TESTING IS BEING MADE AVAILABLE IN LOCATIONS WHERE THE COVID- 19  VARIANT FIRST IDENTIFIED IN SOUTH AFRICA HAS BEEN FOUND
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COVID: UK HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS  ADDITIONAL TESTING IS BEING MADE AVAILABLE IN LOCATIONS WHERE THE COVID- 19  VARIANT FIRST IDENTIFIED IN SOUTH AFRICA HAS BEEN FOUND

AIRPLANE CARRYING SOUTH AFRICA&#8217;S FIRST 1 MILLION COVID-19 VACCINE DOSES LANDS IN JOHANNESBURG &#8211; BROADCASTER SABC
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