Month: January 2021

The European Space Agency previews a big 2021 starting with a new boss.  Data show last year’s temperatures tied the hottest on record, and French wines return to Earth after a year aboard the International Space Station.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space. Producer: Arash Arabasadi.  …

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) European chief says 95% of the 23.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that have been administered around the world so far have been given out in just 10 countries. At a Copenhagen news briefing Thursday, WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge voiced perhaps the health agency’s most recurring theme of the COVID-19 pandemic:  To effectively stop the virus, the world’s vaccines must be shared equitably, with low-income nations as well as poor ones. In the global effort to end the pandemic, Kluge said, “collectively, we simply cannot afford to leave any country, any community behind.” The WHO and its partners in the COVAX cooperative, he added, are making “huge efforts to get the vaccines into every country; we need every country capable of contributing, donating and supporting equitable access and deployment of the vaccines, to do so.” WHO Public Health Specialist Ihor Perehinets joined Kluge at the news conference and expressed confidence that those who need vaccines will get them. “The scope and availability of vaccines will increase at a rapid rate in all countries and we will reach the necessary level of immunity to protect not just vulnerable groups, but the whole population of the European region and the world,” he said. “The question isn’t if this will happen, but when.” Kluge said public health measures designed to fight the pandemic must be based on what he called humanity’s “core values:” solidarity, equity and social justice. “It is the only way out of these uncertain …

More than 150,000 people from 154 countries are at the U.S. Consumer Electronics Show – all online – this week. Michelle Quinn reports. Contributors: Elizabeth Lee, Julie Taboh Video editor: Matt Dibble …

The numbers for the coronavirus pandemic continue upward, with more than 93 million global infections and nearly 2 million worldwide deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.The U.S. remains at the top of the list with the most cases and deaths. Johns Hopkins reports more than 23 million COVID-19 cases in the U.S., with a death toll rapidly approaching 400,000.Some states, having vaccinated their frontline workers, have opened vaccinations to older people, but have been overrun with requests. Medical facilities are on the verge of running out of vaccines. In many instances, the technology used to take the requests has crashed.President-elect Joe Biden announced a nearly $2 trillion American Rescue Plan for the pandemic and the U.S. economic crisis Thursday, with $400 billion of the package slated for the COVID-19 outbreak.“A crisis of deep human suffering is in plain sight,” Biden said.China has reported its first COVID-19 death in eight months amid a surge in the country’s northeast as a World Health Organization team arrived in Wuhan to investigate the beginning of the pandemic.China’s death toll is more than 4,600, a relatively low number resulting from the country’s stringent containment and tracing measures.China has imposed various lockdown measures on more than 20 million people in Beijing, Hebei and other areas to contain the spread of infections before the Lunar New Year holiday in February.The relatively low number of COVID-related deaths in China has raised questions about China’s tight control of information about the outbreak.The investigative team arrived …

The European Space Agency previews a big 2021 starting with a new boss.  Data show last year’s temperatures tied the hottest on record, and French wines return to Earth after a year aboard the International Space Station.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space. Producer: Arash Arabasadi.  …

The World Health Organization’s ((WHO)) European chief says 95% of the 23.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines that have been administered around the world so far have been given out in just 10 countries. At a Copenhagen news briefing Thursday, WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge voiced perhaps the health agency’s most recurring theme of the COVID-19 pandemic:  To effectively stop the virus, the world’s vaccines must be shared equitably, with low-income nations as well as poor ones. In the global effort to end the pandemic, Kluge said, “collectively, we simply cannot afford to leave any country, any community behind.” The WHO and its partners in the COVAX cooperative, he added, are making “huge efforts to get the vaccines into every country; we need every country capable of contributing, donating and supporting equitable access and deployment of the vaccines, to do so.” WHO Public Health Specialist Ihor Perehinets joined Kluge at the news conference and expressed confidence that those who need vaccines will get them. “The scope and availability of vaccines will increase at a rapid rate in all countries and we will reach the necessary level of immunity to protect not just vulnerable groups, but the whole population of the European region and the world,” he said. “The question isn’t if this will happen, but when.” Kluge said public health measures designed to fight the pandemic must be based on what he called humanity’s “core values:” solidarity, equity and social justice. “It is the only way out of these uncertain …

More than 150,000 people from 154 countries are at the U.S. Consumer Electronics Show – all online – this week. Michelle Quinn reports. Contributors: Elizabeth Lee, Julie Taboh Video editor: Matt Dibble …

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has promised to provide Myanmar with 300,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine, according to the website of State Counselor and de facto head of state Aung San Suu Kyi.The site said Wang also pledged during a visit to Naypyitaw this week that China will maintain momentum on a number of bilateral projects.Wang’s visit Monday came as part of a Southeast Asia tour extending through Saturday that includes Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines. This was Myanmar’s first diplomatic visit since last year’s election, in which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party secured a majority of seats in the legislature.It was Wang’s fifth visit to Myanmar since the NLD first won elections in 2015.  He participated in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit here a year ago, when the two countries signed more than 30 bilateral agreements.  China, Myanmar Sign Dozens of Infrastructure DealsDeals reached as Myanmar faces global criticism for targeting minority Rohingya MuslimsA day before the latest visit, Myanmar and China signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct a feasibility study on a 650-kilometer railway project to link Mandalay — Myanmar’s second-largest city — with Kyaukphyu, a major city in Rakhine state.The project is essential to Chinese efforts to gain direct access to the Indian Ocean, including a deep-sea port and the start of a pair of 700-kilometer oil and gas pipelines running from the border with China’s Yunnan province.China Draws Myanmar Closer with Visit from President XiNew deals emphasize China’s tightening links to MyanmarPolitical analysts …

The African Union says the continent is set to receive about 270 million doses of coronavirus vaccine and wants to see them distributed equitably.For just over two months, a team at the 55-member organization of African states has worked to ensure the continent gets its fair share of the coveted COVID-19 vaccines.  Late Wednesday, the team announced they had done it.The 270 million doses are just under a fifth of the 1.5 billion that officials think they will need to vaccinate around 70% of the continent. That is the rough threshold to achieve herd immunity.“President (Cyril) Ramaphosa said that from the onset of this pandemic, our focus as a continent has been on collaboration and collective effort,” said Tyrone Seale, spokesman for the South African president and former AU chairman. “We have held steadfastly to the principle that no country should be left behind. With this in mind, we have not only campaigned vigorously for changes through all the available international forums, but we have taken the additional step to independently secure vaccines using our own limited resources as member states.”Seale did not say exactly when the first doses will become available. He said that about 50 million will arrive between April and June, which is considered a critical period. The rest of the 270 million doses will be available later this year, he said. The India-manufactured vaccines will come from Pfizer and AstraZeneca.In a separate announcement last week, officials in South Africa, the continent’s COVID-19 hot spot, announced they …

A new study indicates the kind of bacteria found in a person’s digestive tract can affect the severity of coronavirus infections and the body’s immune response.  The study, conducted by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and published Monday in the medical journal Gut, shows there is growing evidence that the health of the human gastrointestinal tract, or gut, has direct influence on the immune system and hence its response to infections like the coronavirus.The researchers examined 100 patients who had tested positive and divided them by the severity of their cases. Through blood and stool testing, the researchers compared the microbiome in their tracts with patients without coronavirus infections.Netherlands Begins Mass Testing to Isolate COVID-19 Variant Testing center set up after new strain found in 30 schoolchildren Across the board, the microbiome makeup differed significantly between patients with and without COVID-19. Dr. Siew Ng, one of the authors of the study, said they found “COVID-19 patients lack certain good bacteria known to regulate our immune system.” The presence of an abnormal assortment of gut bacteria, or dysbiosis, can persist after the virus is gone and prolong symptoms. COVID-19 is the illness caused by the coronavirus.Ng said her team developed an oral formula of “good” bacteria — known as probiotics — which they gave to the patients. The study showed that more COVID-19 patients who received the probiotics “achieved complete symptom resolution,” and developed neutralizing antibodies to the virus.Other researchers who have reviewed the research say more study …

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is set to unveil Thursday a coronavirus response plan that includes boosting the rate of vaccinations and helping counter the economic effects of the pandemic. Biden is scheduled to detail the program in an evening address. He has already set a goal of administering 100 million vaccine shots in the first 100 days after he takes office on January 20, and his plan is expected to include funding to expand the vaccination campaign. FILE – Florida Department of Health medical workers prepare to administer a COVID-19 vaccine to seniors in the parking lot of the Gulf View Square Mall in New Port Richey near Tampa, Florida, Dec. 31, 2020.The U.S. government has approved two different vaccines for emergency use.  Both require a two-shot regimen, and so far, more than 10 million people have received the first dose of vaccine. Biden’s plan is also expected to include a new round of direct payments to U.S. households.  A previous coronavirus relief bill was delayed last month amid disagreements about how big the stimulus payment should be. FILE – A stimulus check issued by the Internal Revenue Service to help combat the adverse economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic is seen in San Antonio, Texas, April 23, 2020.Biden’s incoming White House economic adviser, Brian Deese, said at a Reuters event Wednesday the proposal would feature aid for small businesses as well. Deese said Biden would ask Congress to focus first on passing the economic stimulus measures and then work on longer-term economic recovery areas such as healthcare and infrastructure. Senate Democratic …

After months of negotiations and accusations that China was obstructing an independent investigation, a team of World Health Organization experts has landed in Wuhan, China, where they will try to uncover the origin of the coronavirus that has killed nearly 2 million people globally.Chinese state media on Thursday reported the arrival of the WHO team, composed of researchers from top universities around the world, including experts in animal science and epidemiology. The 15-member team will spend about a month in China. At the insistence of Chinese authorities, the scientists will spend their first two weeks in quarantine.A bus carrying members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team tasked with investigating the origins of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic leaves Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Jan. 14, 2021.Its goals are to discover how the virus emerged, how it transferred to humans, and how such outbreaks can be prevented in the future. Those tasks won’t be easy; it has been more than a year since COVID-19 was first detected, with the initial outbreak linked to a Wuhan market selling wild animals for food.FILE – The Wuhan Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, where a number of people fell ill with a virus, sits closed in Wuhan, China, Jan. 21, 2020.Their task will also be tricky from a diplomatic and political perspective. Though China has promised to give WHO officials adequate access, Beijing has often become defensive and sought to deflect blame for the devastation brought by the global pandemic.There have …

A team of experts from the World Health Organization arrived in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Thursday to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.The 10-member international team flew into Wuhan after a direct flight from Singapore and immediately entered a 14-day quarantine period. Two other members of the WHO team remained in Singapore after testing positive for COVID-19 antibodies, according to a series of tweets from the agency.They were tested again in #Singapore and were all negative for PCR. But two members tested positive for IgM antibodies. They are being retested for both IgM and IgG antibodies.https://t.co/3Yg9UoZ1mx— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 14, 2021The virus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019, and eventually spread to nearly every corner of the globe, leading to more than 1.9 million fatalities out of more than 92.3 million total infections, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus openly expressed “disappointment” with China last week after Beijing failed to grant final permission to the delegation to enter the country, although the plans had been jointly arranged between the two sides. Beijing defended the delay as a “misunderstanding.”The team’s arrival comes as China reports its first new COVID-19 death since last May, part of a surge of new coronavirus infections in the northern provinces of Hebei and Heilongjiang. The National Health Commission reported 138 new cases on Thursday, up from the 115 new cases posted just the day before, with Hebei province recording  81 new …

Some 1,200 tennis players and officials from around the world will face strict COVID-19 controls as they start to arrive in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open. They must spend 14 days in hotel quarantine, like any other international traveler arriving in Australia, but will be allowed to train. Australia’s had 28,650 coronavirus cases been reported since the pandemic began, and more than 900 people have died.All players taking part in next month’s delayed Australian Open must be tested for COVID-19 before they travel. They will arrive in Melbourne on 15 charter flights and will stay in three dedicated quarantine hotels.Players and their support staff will be allowed to leave their rooms for a few hours to train at secure venues. Fines up to $15,000 could apply to anyone who breaks strict biosecurity orders. Tennis officials have said the grand slam would help the “economic and psychological … rejuvenation of Melbourne,” a city that endured Australia’s longest coronavirus lockdown.Emma Cassar, Victoria state’s interim commissioner of COVID-19 quarantine, said she believes the event can be held safely.“If we focus on the testing regime for a moment,” she said, “so, all players and their plus-ones will be tested daily. So, that is six nose-throat swabs and eight saliva swabs. That is in addition to our staff, who also are tested daily when they are on shift. For people who are not playing and coming out of their hotel rooms it is the same as mandatory quarantine, which is testing on Day 3 …

Racing against a surging COVID-19 death toll, the United States is releasing all available doses of the coronavirus vaccine and has instructed states to immediately begin vaccinating Americans 65 and older and adults with medical conditions. Patsy Widakuswara has this story.  …

Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was charged Wednesday with willful neglect of duty after an investigation of ruinous decisions that left the city of Flint with lead-contaminated water and a deadly regional outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease.The charges, revealed in an online court record, are misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.The charges are groundbreaking: No governor or former governor in the state of Michigan’s 184-year history had been charged with crimes related to their time in that office, according to the state archivist.“We believe there is no evidence to support any criminal charges against Gov. Snyder,” defense attorney Brian Lennon said Wednesday night, adding that state prosecutors still hadn’t provided him with any details.FILE – Michigan Gov. Rick SnyderLennon said Tuesday that a criminal case would be “outrageous.” Snyder and others were scheduled to appear in court Thursday, followed by a news conference by Attorney General Dana Nessel and prosecutors.Besides Snyder, a Republican who was governor from 2011 through 2018, charges are expected against former officials who served as his state health director and as a senior adviser.The date of the alleged offense is April 25, 2014, when a Snyder-appointed emergency manager who was running the struggling, majority Black city carried out a money-saving decision to use the Flint River for water while a regional pipeline from Lake Huron was under construction.The corrosive water, however, was not treated properly and released lead from old plumbing into homes.Despite desperate pleas from residents holding jugs of …

The Trump administration said Wednesday that it would slash millions of acres of protected habitat designated for the imperiled northern spotted owl in Oregon, Washington state and Northern California, much of it in prime timber locations in Oregon’s coastal ranges. Environmentalists immediately decried the move and accused the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under President Donald Trump of taking a parting shot at protections designed to help restore the species in favor of the timber industry.  The tiny owl is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and was rejected for an upgrade to endangered status last year by the federal agency, despite losing nearly 4% of its population annually. “This revision guts protected habitat for the northern spotted owl by more than a third. It’s Trump’s latest parting gift to the timber industry and another blow to a species that needs all the protections it can get to fully recover,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director for the Center for Biological Diversity. FILE – A large fir tree heads to the forest floor after it is cut by a logger in the Umpqua National Forest near Oakridge, Ore., in this undated file photo.Timber groups applauded the decision, which will not take effect for 60 days. More thinning and management of protected forests is necessary to prevent wildfires, which devastated about 121 hectares (300 acres) of spotted owl habitat last fall, said Travis Joseph, president of the American Forest Resources Council. Loss of the ability to log in areas protected for the spotted …

Asia’s chicken farmers are confronting the region’s worst bird flu outbreak in years, with the deadly virus affecting farms stretching from Japan to India, roiling some poultry prices and showing no signs of easing.More than 20 million chickens have been destroyed in South Korea and Japan since November. The highly pathogenic H5N8 virus last week reached India, the world’s No. 6 producer, and has already been reported in 10 states.While bird flu is common in Asia at this time of year due to migratory bird flight patterns, new strains of the virus have evolved to become more lethal in wild birds, making countries on flight pathways particularly vulnerable, say experts.”This is one of the worst outbreaks ever in India,” said Mohinder Oberoi, an Indian animal health expert and former advisor to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).”There’s a lot of disease in crows and ducks. People are scared of the disease in crows. They know they fly far and think they’ll infect their poultry or even people.”The Asian outbreak comes as Europe suffers its worst bird flu outbreak in years, and follows on the heels of COVID-19, which hurt poultry sales early on in some places amid false disease concerns but is now driving up demand due to more home cooking. Chicken prices in India fell almost a third last week as wary consumers, increasingly nervous about disease since the pandemic, steered clear of the meat.Bird flu cannot infect people through poultry consumption, and the H5N8 virus is not …

The U.S. state of California announced Wednesday that all residents over age 65 would be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine.“There is no higher priority than efficiently and equitably distributing these vaccines as quickly as possible to those who face the gravest consequences,” Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.The move prioritizes the elderly over emergency workers and teachers.Meanwhile Wednesday, governors in Ohio and Arizona urged teachers to be vaccinated to facilitate reopening schools.“We will not be funding empty seats or allowing schools to remain in a perpetual state of closure,” Arizona Governor Doug Ducey said Wednesday. The state has already begun vaccinating some teachers.The U.S. set another single-day record in COVID-19 deaths Tuesday with 4,327, increasing the nation’s overall death toll to a world-leading 384,000 people as of Wednesday evening. The U.S. also leads in the overall number of coronavirus infections with 23 million out of the world’s 92 million total cases, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.Lockdown in PortugalAcross the Atlantic, Portugal enacted a nationwide lockdown Wednesday amid surging coronavirus cases after easing restrictions over the holidays. Portugal has confirmed just over half a million cases.Elsewhere, China recorded its highest daily increase of new coronavirus infections since July after a recent cluster of cases in northern Hebei province.The National Health Commission reported 115 new cases Tuesday, with 90 cases in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing. The commission also said 107 of the new cases were local transmissions, the highest daily jump since July 30.Officials in Hebei …

Aid workers this week confirmed several cases of COVID-19 in Sudan’s camps for refugees who fled the fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region. The United Nations refugee agency and aid group Mercy Corps say an urgent intervention is needed to avoid a humanitarian disaster.Aid organizations reported four confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Sudan’s Um Rakouba camp for Ethiopian refugees this week.  The camp houses 25,000 people who have arrived since November, living in very basic, overcrowded conditions that present an opportunity for the coronavirus to easily spread.FILE – Tigray refugees who fled the conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, wait to receive aid at Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Qadarif, eastern Sudan, Nov. 24, 2020.Mercy Corps is running a health clinic in the Um Rakouba camp and has treated nearly 5,000 refugees. The group’s regional director Sean Granville-Ross called for swift and decisive action to prevent further spread of the virus.“It’s a matter of great concern for all of us — the conditions of the camp, the vulnerability of the people, the population density which make social distancing very difficult,” said Granville-Ross. “And the lack of materials, PPE and equipment to enable us to really mange this outbreak and take care of people.”The four people confirmed to have COVID-19 have been quarantined, says UNHCR officer Guilia Raffaelli.“The confirmed positive cases undergo isolation and have contact tracing primary contacts pending their test results. Other activities are being stopped, like communications with communities and office relations centers, and more funding is needed in order to …

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) emergencies chief warned Wednesday the second year of the coronavirus pandemic may be tougher than the first, at least in the first few months.During an online discussion with other WHO officials, Mike Ryan said given the transmission dynamics and other issues they have seen so far, 2021 is looking tougher, especially in the Northern Hemisphere.At least two variants of the virus, identified in Britain and South Africa, have shown to be more transmissible, if not more dangerous and raised concern in European countries.Patients are seen lying on hospital beds inside a temporary ward for possible COVID-19 coronavirus patients at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, Jan. 11, 2021.Ryan said it is important to learn from what has worked and not worked in every country to fight the virus in all aspects — science, public communication, governance and find the best combinations of all that learning. Ryan said at the end of last year, during the holiday period, there was a deceptive drop in reporting on the infection, creating an appearance of a lull in the pandemic. He said in the last week it picked up again, with 5 million cases added globally and 85,000 deaths.He said except for Southeast Asia, all regions of the world have shown increases in infections over the past week, with the Americas leading away, accounting for half of all cases globally and 45% of all deaths. Europe still accounts for one-third of new cases but showed a 10% drop …

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Wednesday he is hoping the nation’s current situation is the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, as infection rates and hospitalizations are at or near record levels. In televised interviews. Hancock said Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) is facing intense pressure due to the high number of COVID-19 cases, treating 55 percent more people than during the first pandemic peak in April, with more than 30,000 patients across the country. He said the government is considering many options to ease the strain on the NHS. Authorities have reopened temporary field facilities – known as “Nightingale Hospitals” in London and elsewhere and are even considering using hotels for patient overflow.   The health secretary said if hotels were used it would only be “for step-down patients… who no longer need full hospital care.” Britain on Monday launched an ambitious program to vaccinate 14 million people by the middle of next month. Hancock said that program is still on track to meet that goal, but as of now, it difficult to determine when enough people will be vaccinated to lift some of the COVID lockdown restrictions that are in place. He said they would remain “long as they are necessary.” The government opened seven mass vaccination centers Monday as it moved into the most perilous moment of the COVID-19 pandemic, with exhausted medical staff reeling under the pressure of packed hospitals and increasing admissions. Hancock said the single most important thing people can do to ensure the …

China has recorded its highest daily increase of new coronavirus infections since last July after a recent cluster of cases in northern Hebei province. The National Health Commission reported 115 new cases on Tuesday, with 90 cases located in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing.  The commission also said 107 of the new cases were local transmissions — the highest daily jump since July 30.   Officials in Hebei province have ordered a lockdown of several cities, while authorities in northeastern Heilongjiang province, which posted 16 new cases, have declared an “emergency state” for the entire province and its 37 million residents.   Meanwhile, Brazilian researchers say a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech was shown to be just over 50% overall effective after large-scale human trials in that country, far below the 78% efficacy rate against mild-to-severe cases announced just last week.   Researchers said the most recent data included results from a group of participants who reported “very mild” cases of infection, which explains the huge discrepancy between the two figures.   FILE – A worker performs a quality check in the packaging facility of Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac Biotech, developing an experimental COVID-19 vaccine, during a government-organized media tour in Beijing, China, Sept. 24, 2020.The Sinovac vaccine has been approved for emergency use by Indonesia, where President Joko Widodo received the very first inoculation Wednesday.  The shot launched the Southeast Asian nation’s drive to vaccinate its 181 million citizens, who are spread out across the vast archipelago.  Indonesia has one of the region’s …

The United States is changing vaccine strategies, releasing millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses it was holding back for use as second shots to inoculate Americans older than 65, as well as those with underlying health conditions. Appearing on a morning news show, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said, “The administration (of vaccines) in the states has been too narrowly focused.” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar speaks during a news conference on Operation Warp Speed and COVID-19 vaccine distribution, January 12, 2021, in Washington.”We now believe that our manufacturing is predictable enough that we can ensure second doses are available for people from ongoing production,” Azar told ABC’s Good Morning America. “So, everything is now available to our states and our health care providers.” He said the new strategy would not interfere with Americans waiting for a first dose. While COVID-19 cases continue to spike across the United States, many state leaders are showing reluctance to order further lockdowns.  Most notable is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “We simply cannot stay closed until the vaccine hits critical mass. The cost is too high. We will have nothing left to open,” Cuomo said this week.  Governors in other states were expressing similar concerns, The Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is warning that mass vaccinations against the novel coronavirus will not produce herd immunity this year.FILE – WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan attends a press conference organized by the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents in Geneva, July 3, 2020. WHO chief scientist …