DETROIT – Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pledged to continue pushing the White House for more COVID-19 vaccines as the state experiences a spike in cases.
The Democrat told CBS ‘Face The Nation’ on Sunday that she plans to work with the White House but will do anything to get additional doses of vaccine.
President Joe Biden has said Washington will give Michigan more federal funding to support vaccinations and testing, but not additional vaccines.
Michigan has the highest rate of new COVID-19 infections in the US. The state reported 6,900 cases and 74 more deaths on Saturday. Michigan will not report COVID-19 data on Sunday.
THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
– Ecuador, Peru go to polls under strict virus measures
– COVID-19 manufactures division in the European Union
– Thailand sets a new daily record with nearly 1,000 virus cases
– Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus vaccine
HERE’S WHAT ELSE HAPPENS:
TORONTO – Canada’s most populous province reported a new one-day high for new infections with nearly 4,460 cases in Ontario.
The latest figures released on Sunday also show a surge in new confirmed cases in Toronto, which have increased by nearly 400 to more than 1,350.
More than 3.1 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Ontario to date. The province has 14.5 million inhabitants.
HONOLULU – The Governor of Hawaii has issued a new emergency proclamation in response to the coronavirus pandemic that extends the statewide deportation moratorium for another two months and outlines plans for vaccinated travelers.
Democratic government David Ige signed the proclamation on Friday extending the statewide moratorium on evictions until June 8. It would end on Tuesday.
Under the moratorium, landlords are prohibited from evicting tenants for non-payment.
The emergency proclamation also revealed plans to allow vaccinated travelers to bypass mandatory quarantine and COVID-19 testing.
The facility must be approved by the Director of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran reported the highest one-day death toll from COVID-19 this year on Sunday, bringing the total number of deaths in the country during the pandemic to nearly 64,500, state television reported.
The report said 258 new deaths were recorded within 24 hours. The deadliest day of the pandemic in Iran was in mid-November, when more than 480 people were killed.
According to Sunday’s news report, health officials also confirmed more than 21,060 new COVID-19 cases since the day before, bringing Iran’s total number of confirmed cases to more than 2,070,000.
On Saturday, Iran kicked off a 10-day lockdown in the capital Tehran and other major cities amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections. According to the World Health Organization, Iran’s vaccination campaign has been slow, with about 200,000 doses being administered in the country of 84 million people.
BEIJING – In a rare acknowledgment of the weakness of China’s COVID-19 vaccines, the country’s top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering combining them to get a boost.
Chinese vaccines “do not have very high rates of protection,” director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, said at a Saturday conference in the southwestern city of Chengdu.
Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses overseas while trying to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine created using the previously experimental messenger RNA or mRNA process.
Officials at a press conference Sunday did not directly respond to questions about Gao’s comment or possible changes to official plans. But another CDC official said developers are working on mRNA-based vaccines.
Experts say mixing vaccines or sequential immunization can increase effectiveness. Researchers in the UK are studying a possible combination of Pfizer-BioNTech and the traditional AstraZeneca vaccine.
PARIS – The French Health Minister said on Sunday that people over 55 will have access to vaccinations against COVID-19 from Monday, which is earlier than expected.
Health Minister Olivier Veran said citizens aged 55 and over are eligible for the AstraZeneca vaccine or the one-time Johnson & Johnson vaccine that is expected to arrive in France a week ahead of schedule.
The shortened timeline comes as France tries to speed up its vaccination program, which has been criticized as slow, and to gain ground with the spread of the more contagious virus variant first identified in Britain.
At the same time, French officials have defended the policy of reserving the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 55 with serious health problems. Unusual spot clots have been found in a small number of younger recipients of that vaccine.
SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea says it will resume delivery of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to all eligible people between the ages of 30 and 60.
Last week, South Korea suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccines for people under 60 pending the outcome of the European Medicines Agency’s review.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Sunday that it will resume use of the AstraZeneca vaccine starting Monday, citing studies showing that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risk of side effects.
According to a statement from the agency, people under 30 will be banned because the UK authorities have recommended taking alternative vaccines.