International
Brazil green-lights Covid-19 vaccines for children age 5-11
AFP
Brazilian health authorities authorized Covid-19 vaccines for children age five to 11 on Wednesday, as South America’s most populous country faces a rapid increase in cases due to holiday gatherings and the arrival of the Omicron variant.
The final green light by Brazil’s Ministry of Health comes three weeks after the nation’s independent medicines regulator, Anvisa, declared Pfizer-BioNTech’s child-size dose to be safe and effective.
“To all those parents who want to vaccinate their children, the Ministry of Health will guarantee doses of the (Covid) vaccine,” said Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga in Brasilia.
Controversy abounded in Brazil until Wednesday’s announcement, with many alleging an improper delay by the government.
President Jair Bolsonaro, who did not get vaccinated and said he will not immunize his 11-year-old daughter Laura, asked weeks ago to publish the names of those responsible for Anvisa’s decision, unleashing a wave of threats.
The final authorization comes amid a rising rate of infections in the country and a struggle to repair the health ministry’s hacked Covid website.
Brazil’s Health Ministry recorded 18,759 new cases in 24 hours in its latest data released Tuesday, the highest level since October 5.
The seven-day average also rose to 9,876 new cases, up from 5,033 the previous Tuesday, and 3,386 the week before that.
The rapidly increasing rate of new infections follows a trend seen in other nations where Omicron has taken hold.
“We will have growth of the Omicron variant here as in all the other countries,” said Ethel Maciel, an epidemiologist with the Federal University of Espirito Santo.
“The Christmas and New Year holidays, and the Omicron variant contributed a lot,” she explained.
But she also noted that Brazil “has a backlog of data due to a problem with the tracking system,” meaning the site is currently being updated which inflates the number of cases.
The issue stems from a cyberattack last month that disabled the government’s website for tracking infections and deaths, while allowing hackers to steal personal data and delete citizens’ health passes.
Authorities in Rio de Janeiro, wary of Omicron’s increasing impact, on Tuesday announced the cancelation of next month’s carnival street celebrations.
After the United States, Brazil has the second highest number of deaths due to Covid with around 620,000 since the global pandemic began.
International
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed on Wednesday that the death toll from recent rains and floods across several central states has risen to 66, while the federal government has activated air bridges and prioritized assistance in 191 isolated communities.
“Unfortunately, 66 people have died, and 75 remain missing,” the president said during her morning press conference. She added that the official death toll will be updated later in a new report.
As of Tuesday, authorities had reported 64 fatalities. Sheinbaum also announced the creation of a public information center to centralize official data on the deceased, missing persons, damaged homes, and cut-off communities.
According to the president, the number of missing persons has decreased thanks to coordination with state authorities.
“Through calls to phone line 079, 103 people who had been reported missing have now been located,” she explained.
Priority Municipalities
The president noted that the federal government has classified 191 communities as ‘priority’, a designation based mainly on the percentage of homes affected.
International
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Ecuadorian authorities are investigating two explosions that occurred early Wednesday, one on a road in the southern part of the country and another under a bridge in Guayas province. These incidents follow the car bomb explosion in the coastal city of Guayaquil, also in Guayas, which occurred the day before and left one person dead and 30 injured.
Press reports indicate that one person was injured and several vehicles were damaged in the explosion on the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje road in the south.
“Besides yesterday’s explosion in Guayaquil, we have received reports of explosives placed on bridges along the Guayaquil-Machala and Machala-Cuenca routes to disrupt traffic,” said Roberto Luque, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT).
On his X social media account, Luque reported that authorities have been deployed to the sites to assess the damage and determine the current condition of the structures.
“What they haven’t achieved with their call for a strike, some are trying to achieve through terrorism,” he stated, referring to the 24 days of protests organized by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against rising diesel prices and other demands.
The protests, called at a national level, have Imbabura province as their epicenter. Roadblocks have also been reported in the northern part of Pichincha province, whose capital is Quito, while activities in the rest of the country continue normally.
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
Mexican government prioritizes 191 communities after deadly floods
New road and bridge explosions raise alarm amid indigenous protests in Ecuador
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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