Good morning,
Vaccine Nationalism
Before you take some satisfaction in the idea your country has more doses of vaccine than another, note that the main threat to the vaccination programs will be mutations of Covid19 that defeat the vaccines. Those mutations into new so called variants are likely to occur anywhere, but especially in places where the virus is allowed to run hot and without restriction. So look to the 130 countries The UN says have no vaccines, while big nations like The U.S. has stockpiled vaccines to the point that even after vaccinated all of its population it will have 453 million excess doses. Just 10 countries have dispensed three quarters of the vaccines to date. The U.S. is expected to address the problem through the Covax program, at the World Health Program, which is designed to help poorer countries get vaccines at affordable pricing. We are all in this together!
Notable - the U.S. will inject 2 billion into Covax, a program the previous President ignored and Biden has rejoined the W.H.O. which the previous President had pulled America out of. Sensible Biden leadership.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/02/18/5-percent-vaccine-donations-france/
On Back Story with Dana Lewis I am working on a podcast for this weekend, which will guide you through how these variants are developing, and how it will effect schools and kids, and social distancing and business, and if we reopen society too quickly my guest will tell you “…the virus will come raging back, raging back”.
Sign up for free to Back Story if you like. Here’s a link;
Experts warn in Europe and America there is not enough discussion of zero covid and there should be, which means an aim for elimination instead of this yo yo approach to suppression, that translates into more and more disruptions and lockdowns.
And, schools need to be reopened carefully, with mitigation, because kids are getting and transmitting covid more than you know,
On this Back Story Dana Lewis talks to Deepti Gurdasani, a senior lecturer on epidemiology and statistical genetics at Queen Mary Univ. of London.
And Dr. Eric Feigal-Ding a Washington epidemiologist and one of the early whistle blowers on the pandemic spread from China.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/7945540
Mars
I have aways loved the NASA site to look at their videos and photos from space exploration. The touch down of the Perseverance Rover on Mars is a scientific feat that will bring us amazing discoveries from Mars. It’s about the size of a car. And it will bring actual geological samples back to earth.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/touchdown-nasas-mars-perseverance-rover-safely-lands-on-red-planet
Texas
The winter storm that cut the power Texas will be talked about for years in terms of climate change and how America was/is completely unprepared for climate change. There is more to come on that front with rising sea levels and flooding, and hot weather producing more forest fires. But snow in Texas? What a week and now most of the power has been switched back on. The problem now is burst water pipes and getting fresh clean water.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/us/texas-water-crisis-winter-storm.html
Canada Spending
This story is about Canada but it could be about most nations, just insert country name and read on. Massive debt’s being wracked up because of Covid19, and huge Gov’t spending to keep the economy from collapse will be a hangover for a generation. The Conference Board of Canada report speaks of “inescapable” ramifications of record-high debts amassed during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly as a slow economic recovery threatens to crimp government revenues for years.
And the Int. Monetary Fund said the federal government under Prime Minster Justin Trudeau “needs further justification” for its sizeable spending plans.
https://nationalpost.com/news/plunging-revenues-and-sky-high-deficits-could-turn-catastrophic-for-canadian-governments-report-warns
But this is not just Canada’s problem as I wrote in the first graph. Many Gov’ts are amassing huge debts. Currently this debt clock shows Canada’s debt and the fact each Canadian’s share would be close to 28 thousand dollars each! I will leave it tot he economists to say what printing money means to the value of the dollar over time and inflation, but it’s not a good thing.
https://www.debtclock.ca
Iran
As expected the Biden admin is now pursuing talks with Iran to get it to rein in it’s nuclear program and for now, The U.S. will not place new sanctions on Iran while those discussions are underway and supported by Europe.
https://www.france24.com/en/diplomacy/20210218-us-says-it-is-ready-to-join-talks-with-iran-europe-to-restore-nuclear-deal
In this Back Story Host Dana Lewis interviews Sir. Mark Lyall Grant, who was the former National Security Advisor for Britain and negotiated with The Iranians.
And we also speak to The Soufan Centre's analyst on Iran, Colin Clarke.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1016881/6653866
That’s all for now. Please if you are a paying subscriber and can leave comments, tell me how you feel about the length of the news letter, and what you would like to hear more or less about! And share it please.
Have a good weekend.
Dana