WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
On June 18, CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., endorsed the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation that all children 6 months through 5 years of age should receive a COVID-19 vaccine. This expands eligibility for vaccination to nearly 20 million additional children and means that all Americans ages 6 months and older are now eligible for vaccination.
Parents and caregivers can now get their children 6 months through 5 years of age vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines to better protect them from COVID-19. All children, including children who have already had COVID-19, should get vaccinated.
COVID-19 vaccines have undergone – and will continue to undergo – the most intensive safety monitoring in U.S. history. Parents and caregivers can play an active role in monitoring the safety of these vaccines by signing their children up for v-safe – personalized and confidential health check-ins via text messages and web surveys where they can easily share with CDC how a child feels after getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
Distribution of pediatric vaccinations for these younger children has started across the country, and will be available at thousands of pediatric practices, pharmacies, Federally Qualified Health Centers, local health departments, clinics, and other locations this week. Children in this younger age group can be vaccinated with whichever vaccine is available (either Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech). Parents can reach out to their doctor, nurse, local pharmacy, or health department, or visit vaccines.gov to see where vaccines for children are available.
“Together, with science leading the charge, we have taken another important step forward in our nation’s fight against COVID-19. We know millions of parents and caregivers are eager to get their young children vaccinated, and with today’s decision, they can. I encourage parents and caregivers with questions to talk to their doctor, nurse, or local pharmacist to learn more about the benefits of vaccinations and the importance of protecting their children by getting them vaccinated,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky said.
ASIA
EARTHQUAKE KILLS OVER 1,000
The UN and partners have rushed to support Afghanistan following a devastating earthquake that hit two provinces in the east of the country early on the morning of June 22.
At least 1,000 people have been killed, according to media reports, and numbers are expected to rise. UN humanitarian agency OCHA said the 5.9 magnitude quake struck the Central Region of Afghanistan around 1.30 AM, local time. Four districts in Paktika province – Gayan, Barmala, Naka and Ziruk – as well as Spera district in Khost province, have been affected.
The earthquake registered at a depth of 10 km, OCHA said, and was reportedly felt in neighboring provinces including Kabul, home to the country’s capital, as well as in Islamabad, Pakistan, and India.
Immediate needs include emergency trauma care, emergency shelter and non-food items, food assistance, and support for water and sanitation.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense is leading response efforts, OCHA said, and has dispatched five helicopters to Paktika province to facilitate medical evacuations. A medical team was also sent to Gayan district, reportedly the worst affected.
OCHA is coordinating the emergency response on behalf of UN agencies and humanitarian partners, and teams have deployed to the two provinces.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has dispatched several mobile health and nutrition teams to provide first aid to the injured.
Dr. Mohamed Ayoya, UNICEF Representative in Afghanistan, reported that staff are also distributing critical aid, including kitchen equipment; hygiene supplies such as soap, detergent, towels and sanitary pads, as well as warm clothes, shoes, blankets, tents and tarpaulins.
“The de facto authorities have requested the support of UNICEF and other UN agency teams who are joining efforts to assess the situation and respond to the needs of the affected communities,” he said.
“We stand in solidarity with the children and families affected during this difficult time.”
WORLD
NOBEL PRIZE WINNER ACTS TO HELP UKRAINE
Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov, who auctioned off his gold medal to raise money for child refugees on June 20, has told UN News that the record-breaking sale of $103.5 million proved that “sometimes humanity can come together, and show solidarity.”
The editor in chief of the independent Russian news service, Novaya Gazeta – which was shuttered by the Kremlin in March following sweeping new restrictions on journalists in the wake of the Ukraine invasion – said that he and his colleagues chose the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF as the best non-governmental organization for the job of ensuring that the funds would reach all Ukrainian children in need.
“UNICEF is absolutely non-toxic,” Mr. Muratov told the Russian service of UN News, in an exclusive interview, following the auction. “They have excellent professionals, they have programs, they report on how and what they do – this is what we need.
“We wrote them a letter, got a response from them, I have it. It was important for me, that UNICEF noted that the money would go to all countries that border Ukraine, where refugees are located – without exception.”
He said he hoped Ukrainian children who were now in Russia, would also benefit: “There are more than one and a half million refugees in Russia, maybe a little less. Therefore, (we chose) UNICEF, which has such opportunities, and which understands very well that it has not a political, but a humanitarian mission.”
Explaining the numerous reasons why his publication could not imagine allowing a Russian bidder to enter the running, or why he thought his paper should not hand the money directly to the Ukrainian Government, he said that would be a non-starter given the state of the war.
If at first (Ukrainians) had anger, now they are furious – their country is being torn apart, from the face of the earth…When you see all this every second, you constantly have an alarm sound, you live between an apartment and a bomb shelter…It’s my country’s fault.”
EUROPE
THE UK’S VERSION OF STIMULUS
Over 8 million families in the UK getting new cost of living payment from July 14, 2022. This is part of a £1,200 support package made for this year. Initial automatic instalment for means-tested benefit claimants will be £326, with the rest to follow in a second instalment from the autumn.
Tax credit claimants will also receive their first instalment of the cost of living payment from HMRC later this year. It comes as part of £37 billion government package to help families with cost of living pressures.
After ministers confirmed initial payments would begin from July 14, the Department for Work and Pensions has now revealed how many people in each part of the country will receive the new financial support. They have also revealed that the disability top-up will land in bank accounts in September 2022.
These figures show that nearly one in four families will receive the means-tested benefit cost of living payment, whilst nearly one in ten of the population will get the £150 disability top-up.
The first cost of living instalment will see millions of low-income households in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland initially £326 better off as the government delivers significant interventions to support groups who are most vulnerable to rising costs. In total, millions of households will receive at least £1,200 from the government this year to help cover rising costs.
Work and Pensions Secretary, Thérèse Coffey said, “With millions of the lowest-income households soon seeing the first of two cash instalments land into their bank accounts, we are taking action to directly help families with the cost of living.
“This one-off payment totaling £650 is part of our £37 billion cost of living support package that will put an extra £1,200 into the pockets of those most in need.”
The second instalment of £324 will be sent to qualifying low income households from the Autumn. The payments are designed to be deliberately slightly unequal to minimize fraud risks from those who may seek to exploit this system.
