Daily Archives: May 4, 2021

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan displays the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket trophy during a news conference at his residence in Mumbai May 30, 2012. Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders team won the 2012 IPL after defeating Chennai Super Kings on May 27. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File Photo

The Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament has been indefinitely suspended with immediate effect due to the COVID-19 crisis in the country, organisers said on Tuesday. read more

Here is some reaction to the suspension:

RAJEEV SHUKLA, BCCI VICE PRESIDENT

"@BCCI has taken a good decision by suspending IPL for now. It will be decided later on when to resume it or reschedule it keeping in mind the COVID situation. It's in the interest of players and support staff."

IPL FRANCHISE ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE

"Royal Challengers Bangalore will work in consultation with BCCI to ensure that everyone has a safe passage back home."

CRICKET SOUTH AFRICA

"CSA supports the decision to put the health and safety interests of all involved in the tournament first and foremost and has made contact with all of the relevant franchises to ensure the expedited travel of all South African players and support staff back to our shores.

"CSA and the South African Cricketers Association (SACA) are in contact with all players and are assured of their safety and comfort in their respective locations."

CRICKET AUSTRALIA

"Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers' Association understand the decision of the BCCI to indefinitely postpone the 2021 Indian Premier League for the safety and wellbeing of all participants.

"CA and the ACA respect the decision of the Australian Government to pause travel from India until at least May 15 and will not seek exemptions."

ENGLAND & WALES CRICKET BOARD

"The ECB understands the BCCI's decision to postpone the competition for the safety and wellbeing of those involved, and thanks the BCCI for its commitment to do everything in its powers to arrange for the secure and safe passage of all those taking part in the competition."

MICHAEL VAUGHAN, FORMER ENGLAND CAPTAIN

"Seems a very sensible decision to postpone the IPL .. Now cases have started to appear inside the bubble they had no other option. Hope everyone stays safe in India and all the overseas players can find a way back to there families."

DALE STEYN, SOUTH AFRICA FAST BOWLER

"Covid don't care. It has no favourites. Get well to those sick and hopefully everyone else will get home safe and in good health."

KEVIN PIETERSEN, FORMER ENGLAND BATSMAN

"India - it's heartbreaking to see a country I love so much suffering! You WILL get through this! You WILL be stronger coming out of this! Your kindness & generosity NEVER goes unnoticed even during this crisis!"

AZHAR MAHMOOD, FORMER PAKISTAN BOWLING COACH

"We are in a worldwide pandemic - faced with several challenges. It's sad to see another big tournament being affected - however it's the right decision taken at this point.

"It's important to understand nothing can be water tight and working against a pandemic is challenging itself."

HARSHA BHOGLE, CRICKET COMMENTATOR

"I guess it became inevitable in the last couple of days. Look forward to calling the action in happier times. The #IPL is a great event and I hope it returns stronger when the world is what we knew it to be."

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Factbox: Reaction to suspension of IPL due to COVID-19 crisis - Reuters India

A spring surge in Covid-19 cases is beginning to recede in Europe as the continents vaccine rollout is finally gathering pace, boosting hopes of a broad reopening of the regions economy before the summer.

Unlike the U.S., the U.K. or Israel, which brought the coronavirus somewhat under control earlier this year thanks in part to an early and rapid vaccine rollout, continental Europe faced a late-winter rebound in infections as governments there struggled to get shots to people.

This is rapidly changing as rising vaccine deliveries to European Union member states and the lifting of bureaucratic and logistical hurdles that gummed up the effort early on are rapidly expanding access to vaccines.

Meanwhile, shutdowns, curfews and other restrictions put in place in March and April are beginning to push down case numbers, raising the prospect of a return to normalcy for businesses ahead of the summer tourism season that is crucial to the regions economy.

As of May 2, EU member states had administered 33.6 vaccine doses per 100 inhabitants, according to data compiled by Oxford Universityless than half the level in the U.K. and the U.S. but a big jump compared with just a month ago and far more than in most emerging and developing economies.

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Europes Troubled Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Turns the Corner - The Wall Street Journal

As has been well-documented over the past several weeks, India has experienced a significant second wave of COVID-19 infections. In light of the unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases across the country, at least 11 Indian states and union territories have imposed COVID-19 restrictions. This past weekend, the eastern state of Odisha and the northern industrial state of Haryana became the latest to announce new lockdowns, joining Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal, among others.

Although the Indian central government has been reluctant to impose a nationwide lockdown due to its potential impact on the economy, on April 29, 2021, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order and national directive (MHA Order) recommending that state governments follow the guidelines that have been issued by the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW Guidelines). The MoHFW Guidelines include the following key provisions:

Despite these restrictions, essential services and activities may continue to operate.

Specific to workplace safety recommendations, Indian state governments have been advised to follow additional practices and procedures:

Currently, the MHA Order will remain in force until May 31, 2021.

We continue to track how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting employeremployee relations in both US and non-US jurisdictions.

Excerpt from:

New Efforts to Manage Indias Second Wave of COVID-19 Infections - JD Supra

Beginning last summer and re-emerging in January, skeptics have asserted that COVID-19 testing uses too many rounds of so-called amplification cycles while searching for viruses.

They liken it to a process of scraping the barrel for signs of illness, over-scrutiny that can ultimately misidentify harmless remnant particles from previous illness or exposure as active infections.

The argument has been deployed to suggest fewer people are contracting COVID-19 than the public is told, that the official case counts are alarmist, and that the public is being given an exaggerated story about the pandemic.

The same message took on political overtones earlier this year when a World Health Organization letter concerning the need for careful adherence to PCR protocols was released, and subsequently misinterpreted in widely shared Facebook posts critical of so-called cycle threshold values.

Some postings implied the WHO letter was timed so that a new U.S. president might inherit fewer cases.

The standard lab method for determining COVID-19 infection does use up to 40 genetic amplification cycles, according to Dr. Matt Binnicker, director of Clinical Virology for Mayo Clinic Laboratories, who spoke to the media recently as part of a periodic update from Mayo Clinic Laboratories.

Binnicker was one of several experts consulted by factcheck.org earlier this year in refuting claims about PCR testing over-sensitivity.

Dr. Matthew Binnicker, Director of Clinical Virology for Mayo Clinic Laboratories. Submitted photo.

Binnicker says positive cases determined after higher numbers of cycles can indeed pick up only small amounts of virus, but that this process is needed to detect active infections regardless due to the effects of poorly collected samples and a host of other variables that degrade the virus.

"It's basically at what point during the test does it say this (specimen) is positive for the virus," Binnicker said in explaining cycle thresholds. "If the cycle threshold value is high, let's say 35 ... that would indicate there was a really low amount of virus in the sample."

"If the cycle threshold was low, like 10-15 cycles, that would mean there was a lot of virus present, and it didn't take very long before the instrument said 'there's something here.'"

Binnicker adds, however, that far from this being evidence of a false positive, a positive finding of COVID-19 following a high cycle threshold could simply reflect the timing of the collection, as opposed to weak or fragmentary levels of virus.

"For an individual who has just started to develop symptoms," he says, "... it might imply they are early in their disease course, and that if we tested them a day or two later" the sample would come back positive at a lower level of cycles.

Binnicker said other variables explaining a high cycle threshold include, whether the nurse or physician "did a really good job collecting the sample," how the sample was collected, and which among the ten tests used at Mayo was performed.

"We can't necessarily assume someone with a high cycle threshold is not infectious," echoed Dr. Bobbi Pritt, chairperson for the Division of Clinical Microbiology at Mayo Clinic.

Pritt said the cycle threshold needed to find infection could vary depending on whether a sample was collected from the throat, via a nasopharyngeal swab, as well as the transport media used, amount of specimen collected, and duration from time of collection.

Pritt described a paper she co authored last summer for the College of American Pathologists in which known amounts of identical viral specimens were sent to more than 700 different laboratories across the U.S., returning "a difference in cycle threshold values of more than 12 cycles," she said.

Dr. Bobbi Prittphoto courtesy of Mayo Clinic

"Some publications have proposed a cycle threshold should be used say, 31. But if that same specimen were sent to different labs, 31 could become 41, or it could come back 21."

A separate question relating to PCR cycles, Binnicker says, is whether a positive result triggered by a low number of cycles can be used to single out those who are more infectious than others. If so, that could be used to identify so-called "super-spreaders."

Binnicker says he opposes that use of the tests for the same reason high PCR cycle thresholds can't be considered determinative of over diagnosis the interference of other collection variables.

Since developing one of the first COVID-19 diagnostic tests following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention test in March of 2020, Mayo Clinic has run more than 560,000 diagnostic COVID-19 tests for patients in southeastern Minnesota, identifying over 35,000 cases in the process.

Areas of the Mayo Clinic Laboratories usually used for HIV and hepatitis testing were reassigned for COVID-19 testing during the early weeks of the pandemic, and "went from 22 to over 200 employees," virtually overnight, according to Pritt. A lab that previously ran during business hours only became one running tests on COVID-19 samples 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The clinic is currently developing an array of gene sequencing tests to determine the specific variant of COVID-19 contracted, for purposes of public health surveillance as well as patient care, although current tests can detect every variant. A testing issue that remains on the horizon is the potential for antibody tests to one day be utilized as proof of safety for travel.

Currently, proof of vaccination is the prevailing mechanism envisioned as a COVID-19 "passport." That said, serology tests can definitively show if a person is immune to the illness.

Binnicker says some serology tests can provide proof of vaccination, while other serology tests can provide proof of previous illness

"It's one layer of information some countries may require (for travel)," he says. "My own personal opinion is that the results of serology tests are sometimes difficult to interpret," he adds.

"If someone is negative for antibodies, that doesn't mean they aren't protected from COVID-19, as there are other immune responses besides antibodies that can mean someone is protected, like T cells."

That said, Binnicker believes negative PCR and molecular tests as well as vaccine status will all become more relevant as nations begin efforts to reopen travel.

Link:

Do COVID-19 tests exaggerate the number of positive cases? - Grand Forks Herald

COVID-19 infections in health care workers during the first wave of the pandemic provided an accurate sample of infection rates in the general population, according to a study published in PLOS ONE. The authors of the study said this finding suggests that data from health care workers could be used to estimate the severity of future viruses more quickly.

The researchers analyzed the infection data from health care workers and the progression of the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak using the reported daily infection numbers in Ireland. By using similar data from Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Iceland, computer models were able to show how the disease progressed in different countries relative to their approach to testing, tracing, and lockdown restrictions.

In Ireland, health care workers made up 31.6% of all test-confirmed infections while only consisting of 3% of the population. After using software to create a more accurate picture of how widespread the disease was, the researchers found that the health care worker data closely reflected the infection rate among the entire population.

As we have seen with the COVID-19 pandemic, implementing countermeasures early can save lives and reduce the spread of the disease, said Donal OShea, PhD, in a press release. However, wide-scale testing can take time to set up, delaying decisions and costing lives. While the healthcare population is no longer an accurate sample of the general population for COVID-19 due to different vaccination rates, governments could use data from their healthcare worker population to make informed decisions on what measures to implement earlier when future viruses emerge.

The study noted that very few nations were able to set up effective systems that tested the entire population, carried out contact tracing, and quarantined those infected with COVID-19.

Setting up wide-scale testing systems for healthcare workers is much easier than setting up a similar program for everyone since the infrastructure for testing for diseases is always in place in healthcare settings, said Dan Wu, PhD, in the release. A screening program that tested all healthcare workers would have the additional benefit of catching asymptomatic spread of the disease since all healthcare workers would be tested. If governments could catch highly infectious diseases and implement countermeasures early, this could possibly prevent new viruses from erupting into another epidemic/pandemic.

REFERENCE

Screening healthcare workers could serve as early warning system for future viruses [news release]. EurekAlert; May 3, 2021. Accessed May 3, 2021. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/r-shw043021.php

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Study: First Wave COVID-19 Infection Rates in Health Care Workers Reflected General Population - Pharmacy Times

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Alaska reported 271 coronavirus infections and one death linked to COVID-19 between Saturday and Monday, according to data from the Department of Health and Social Services. The state no longer updates its coronavirus dashboard over the weekend, and instead includes those numbers in Mondays report.

The individual who died was a Wasilla man in his 50s, health officials said.

Alaskas average daily case counts have begun to decline again statewide. However, most regions in the state are still in the highest alert category based on their current per capita rate of infection, and health officials continue to encourage Alaskans to wear face coverings in public, avoid large gatherings, wash their hands frequently and get vaccinated against COVID-19 to prevent further spread.

Alaska in March became the first state in the country to open vaccine eligibility to anyone 16 and older who lives or works in the state. You can visit covidvax.alaska.gov or call 907-646-3322 to sign up for a vaccine appointment; new appointments are added regularly. The phone line is staffed 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekends.

By Monday, 308,957 people about 50% of Alaskans eligible for a shot had received at least their first dose. At 263,324 about 43.8% of Alaskans 16 and older were considered fully vaccinated, according to the states vaccine monitoring dashboard.

Alaska in January led the country in per capita vaccinations, but has now fallen to 23rd place among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of the 264 cases reported among Alaska residents over the last three days, there were 70 in Anchorage, six in Eagle River and two in Chugiak; 64 in Fairbanks; 29 in Wasilla; 21 in North Pole; 11 in Palmer; eight in Ketchikan; five in Kenai; four in Kodiak; two in Anchor Point; two in Big Lake; two in Delta Junction; two in Sutton-Alpine; two in Willow; and one case each in Homer, Houston, Kotzebue, Seward, Sitka, Yakutat, Soldotna, Sterling, Valdez and Wrangell.

Among communities smaller than 1,000 people that arent named to protect residents privacy, there were three in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough; three in the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area; two in the Northwest Arctic Borough; and one case each in the Copper River Census Area, the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area and the Hoonah-Angoon Census Area.

There were also seven new cases among nonresidents: two in Anchorage; one in Fairbanks; one in Kodiak; one in the North Slope Borough; one in Prudhoe Bay; and one in a location under investigation.

By Monday, there were 66 people with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in hospitals throughout the state.

While people might get tested more than once, each case reported by the state health department represents only one person.

The states data doesnt specify whether people testing positive for COVID-19 have symptoms. More than half of the nations infections are transmitted from asymptomatic people, according to CDC estimates.

Of all the tests conducted over the past week, 2.19% came back positive.

More here:

Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 1 death and 271 new cases reported over weekend - Anchorage Daily News

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) More than 220 new total COVID-19 cases and three additional deaths were announced by theSouth Dakota Department of Healthon Tuesday.

According to the latest update, there are 103 current hospitalizations, compared to Monday (105). Total hospitalizations are at 7,403.

Active cases are now at 1,445, down from Monday (1,512).

With an additional 229 cases reported, the states total case count is now at 122,974, up from Monday (122,745).

Total recovered cases are now at 119,556 compared to 119,263 on Monday.

Three new deaths were reported by the Department of Health on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 1,973. The new deaths were three men in the following age ranges: 50-59 (1); 60-69 (2) in Kingsbury, Minnehaha and Moody Counties.

As of Tuesday, there have been 72 cases of B.1.1.7 variant found in South Dakota. There are two cases of the B.1.351 variant and 10 cases of B.1.429. One of each of B.1.427 and P.1 have been reported.

Total persons who tested negative is now at 345,347, up from Monday (344,208).

There were 1,368 new persons tested in the data reported Tuesday for a new persons-tested positivity rate of 16.7%.

The latest seven-day PCR test positivity rate reported by the DOH is 6.6%. The latest one-day PCR test positivity rate is 8.6%.

According to the DOH, 317,859 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been administered with 17,283 doses of the Janssen vaccine and 266,884 of the Moderna vaccine given out to a total number of 331,038 persons.

There have been 122,367 persons who have completed two doses of Moderna and 148,600 who have received two doses of Pfizer, according to the DOH.

As of Tuesday, 55.1% of the population eligible for the vaccine in South Dakota has received at least one dose while 47.6% have completed the vaccination series.

Vaccines are currently being given to anyone 16-year-old and above in South Dakota.

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COVID-19 in South Dakota: 229 total new cases; Death toll at 1,973; Active cases at 1,445 - KELOLAND.com

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A multi-unit complex owned by Mirage Properties in the Shawnee neighborhood. May 3, 2021(Photo: Alton Strupp/Courier Journal)

The coronavirus pandemic has underscored housing disparities between Black and white peoplein Louisville, with Black residents more likely to face financial hardships that put them behind on rent,according to a reportfrom theMetropolitan Housing Coalition.

The nonprofit agency, made up of more than 300members, released its latest State of Metropolitan Housing Reporton Tuesday, breaking down the struggles residents faced as they attempted to stay "healthy at home" over the last year.

According to the report, Black residentswere more likely than white residents to experience layoffs, job losses and pay cuts through the pandemic, leading them to more often miss rent and utility payments.

Behind on rent?: How to get emergency assistance in Kentucky

People in predominantly Black areas were most likely to be evicted from their homes,despite moratoriums. And foreclosure sales in 2020 were concentrated in areas with larger populations of Black homeowners and renters, the report stated.

Government response to the pandemic and the ensuing economic downturn was "uneven, confusing and insufficient across the board," the report added. And as the city continues to recover, officials must intentionally direct resources to people who need them most, the coalition says.

"We know we had extreme disparities in our community in terms of access to safe and affordable housing, and this pandemic has just magnified that," said Cathy Kuhn, executive director of the coalition.

"So I think one of the takeaways from this report is that it's going to be very, very critical that we are strategic in utilizing the unprecedented funding that has been coming into the city to address those disparities and make sure we're targeting those resources to those who are most vulnerable, those who have the greatest level of need as it relates to housing."

Since the start of the pandemic, Louisville has directed about $31 million in local and federal funds toward rent and utility assistance.

The city got a big boost in eviction prevention funding in February when it received $22.9 million through the COVID-19 Relief Act. And it stands to receive millions more through theAmerican Rescue Plan Act funding that will be used to provide emergency rental assistance, utility assistance and housing vouchers.

Related: How Kentucky is pushing out more than $300M in rent assistance

Black residents made up nearly 72% of those who received rent assistance through the end of March, according to city data.

Census estimates show 64% of Black households rent their homes, compared to 31% of white households.

Kuhn, who joined the coalition in October, said emergency rent assistance is critical for keeping families housed in the short-term. But government officials also need to invest in the construction of affordable housing to increase options for low-income residents and improve their chances for resiliency in the face of future crisis, she said.

"I do think Louisville has done a lot to try to begin to address these issues, but obviously much more needs to be done," she said. "The recent budget put out by the mayor put a $10 million investment in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. That's basically level funding. That's just not going to do it.

"We need to re-prioritize and make more significant investments in affordable housing."

More: Want to build a tiny home or community garden? These zoning changes could make it easier

The coalition's state of housing report offers a range of recommendations on how the city can increase affordable housing and reduce disparities, including:

Legal representation for tenantsEstablishing a "right to counsel" program would help balance power dynamics that inherently favor the landlord in eviction proceedings, the report states. After the report was already drafted, Metro Council members approved a pilot program that will offer free legal representation to low-income families facing eviction.

Strengthen the rental registry City officials should create, maintain and enforcea rental registry that can ensure compliance with housing codes as well as prevent unlawful evictions.

Just cause eviction protections City officials should enact "just cause" eviction policies that wouldprovide greater protections for renters by limiting the grounds upon which a landlord may evict a tenant.

Eviction expungement State and local officials should enact laws that allow courts to order expungement of an eviction record. Many landlords will not rent to people who have an eviction filed against them, the report states.

Require affordable housing in new developments Louisville's Land Development Code should require the development of affordable housing as a condition to the development of market-rate housing. City officials are working to revise the code in three phases that are expected to take up to two years.

Build public and affordable housing Local, state and federal governments should commit to making meaningful investments in the production of housing dedicated to people with the lowest incomes. At the state level, officials should establish a state affordable housing tax credit, and at the city level, officials should increase funding for existing programs and agencies, such as the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Background: Housing disparities run deep for Black Louisville residents

Make home ownership more affordable Private and public entities should support programs that help low-income families overcome wealth barriers and keep monthly mortgage payments low.

Support community land trusts Community land trusts provide meaningful opportunities for low-income people to build equity through homeownership, while also allowing communities to retain control of the properties. Louisville announced plans to establish a community land trust in two predominantly Black neighborhoods earlier this year.

Focus interventions through a racial equity framework Public and private entities should intentionally focus their housing intervention efforts around reducing racial and ethnic disparities.

To read the full report, visitmetropolitanhousing.org/annual-reports.

Reach reporter Bailey Loosemore atbloosemore@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4646 or on Twitter @bloosemore.Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: https://www.courier-journal.com/baileyl.

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How COVID-19 magnified the 'extreme disparities' in housing between Black, white residents - Courier Journal

An ongoing second wave of COVID-19 infections in India could hurt its near-term economic recovery and possibly diminish growth for the full year, S&P Global Ratings said on Tuesday.

"India's COVID wave will inevitably hit the recovery and could push growth below 10%," said Shaun Roache, chief economist, Asia Pacific at S&P.

"The longer it takes to regain control, the greater the permanent damage, especially as policy space is limited."

With 3.45 million active cases, India recorded 357,229 new infections over the last 24 hours, while deaths rose 3,449 for a toll of 222,408, health ministry data showed. Experts say actual numbers could be five to 10 times higher. read more

S&P currently has a "BBB-" rating on India with a stable outlook, the lowest investment grade and expects India's economy to grow 11% in the year that started April 1 following a projected record contraction of 8% in the previous year.

"The shock of the first quarter is likely to carry on through the rest of the year and the impact on the GDP could be around one to three percentage points," Roche said.

The rating agency said India had been showing strong recovery momentum since September last year and until March/April of 2021 before the massive surge in cases prompted localised lockdowns and mobility restrictions.

"There will be some near-term ramifications at least...from the severe second wave of COVID-19 that we are observing. But India still has good recovery prospects over the next 3-4 years but that may be slower," Andrew Wood, director, sovereign & international public finance ratings.

He said that the agency expects India to see the best growth prospects over the medium to longer-term, relative to other regional peers at similar development levels.

"We still believe that India's fiscal settings are going to be weak... deficits are going to be high for a long time," Woods said.

India's general government fiscal deficit is seen at around 11% of GDP this year against 14% last year, Wood said.

"A continuation of its recovery once the current epidemic wave eases will be critical to stabilizing the government's fiscal and debt metrics," he added.

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India's recovery to be hit by COVID-19 surge; fiscal metrics to remain weak-S&P - Reuters India

North Korea's state media warned on Tuesday of the prospect of a lengthy battle against the coronavirus, saying vaccines developed by global drugmakers were proving to be "no universal panacea".

The country has not officially confirmed any infections, although South Korean officials have said an outbreak there cannot be ruled out, as the North had trade and people-to-people links with China before shutting its border early last year.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party, said the pandemic was only worsening, despite the development of vaccines.

"Novel coronavirus vaccines introduced competitively by various countries were once regarded as a glimmer of hope for humanity that could end the fight against this frightening disease," it added.

"But the situations in many countries are clearly proving that the vaccines are never a universal panacea," it said, citing news reports of rising numbers of new cases overseas and safety concerns.

It urged people to brace for a protracted pandemic, describing it as an "inevitable reality" that called for efforts to toughen anti-virus measures and foster loyalty to leader Kim Jong Un and his party.

North Korea was expected to receive nearly two million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine by the first half of this year, via the COVAX sharing programme. read more

But last month Edwin Salvador, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative for the North, said the shipment was delayed over supply shortages, citing the GAVI alliance, according to South Korean media.

In a comment to Reuters, Salvador said North Korea was completing technical requirements required to receive the vaccines, but did not elaborate.

The GAVI alliance, which co-leads COVAX with the WHO, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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N.Korea says COVID-19 vaccines are 'no panacea,' warns of lengthy battle - Reuters