Covid-19

Bill Gates, one of the world's richest men and most powerful philanthropists, was the target of criticism from social justice campaigners on Sunday after arguing that lifting patent protections on COVID-19 vaccine technology and sharing recipes with the world to foster a massive ramp up in manufacturing and distribution — despite a growing international call to do exactly that — is a bad idea.

Directly asked during an interview with Sky News if he thought it "would be helpful" to have vaccine recipes be shared, Gates quickly answered: "No."

Full vaccination will be required for American tourists seeking to visit Europe this summer, according to a new report by The New York Times.

"American tourists who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to visit the European Union over the summer, the head of the bloc's executive body said in an interview with The New York Times on Sunday, more than a year after shutting down nonessential travel from most countries to limit the spread of the coronavirus," the newspaper reported. "The fast pace of vaccination in the United States, and advanced talks between authorities there and the European Union over how to make vaccine certificates acceptable as proof of immunity for visitors, will enable the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, to recommend a switch in policy that could see trans-Atlantic leisure travel restored."

Baylor College of Medicine Director Richina Bicette on Sunday pointed out that receiving Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine is safer than living as a Black man in America.

Bicette made the remarks to CNN's Fredricka Whitfield after she was asked if people should be worried about getting a blood clot from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

During an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) attempted to use a clip of President Joe Biden wearing a mask as the reason why some American's are balking at getting their COVID-19 vaccinations.

After viewing a clip of a masked-Biden on a Zoom call with world leaders, the Kentucky Republican mocked the president and then bizarrely said his use of a mask is one reason why some refuse the shots.

"The risks of the vaccines are less than the risk of the disease," Paul conceded before adding, "particularly if you are over 40 and overweight. When Biden goes on the computer screen on a Zoom call, and wears a mask, he is making a mockery of the science and this is dissuading people who are skeptical anyway."

"So if you want to convince people who are skeptical that the vaccine works, show them that we have protection after we have been vaccinated," he continued. " Show them, after we have had the disease naturally, that we are protected. "

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Scientists working on a vaccine for a specific virus that affects pigs may have inadvertently created a prototype for a universal coronavirus vaccine — one that protects against all coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and, theoretically, its mutations. Such a vaccine would be a boon in fighting the ever-mutating SARS-CoV-2 virus, for which some subsequent mutations have been discovered to be more resistant to the existing approved vaccines.

This article first appeared on Salon.

As campaigners worldwide continue their efforts to unleash live-saving vaccine patents and technology from the profitable control of major pharmaceutical corporations this week, new reporting by The Intercept details the "army of lobbyists" Big Pharma has aimed at U.S. lawmakers in order to kneecap the global push to lift intellectual property through a waiver at the World Trade Organization.

In a story published Friday, journalist Lee Fang cites "newly filed disclosure forms from the first quarter of 2021" to reveal that "over 100 lobbyists have been mobilized to contact lawmakers and members of the Biden administration, urging them to oppose a proposed temporary waiver" of patent protections at the WTO—a push led by India and South Africa and backed by the World Health Organization, over a hundred nations, and public health experts and justice advocates worldwide.

Each day millions of people are getting their COVID-19 vaccines. More than 40 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 25 percent of the population is fully vaccinated. Despite this progress, public officials are concerned that the country is on the precipice of a new challenge — one in which supply of the vaccine will outweigh demand for it.

This article first appeared on Salon.