Japan on Sunday formally approved its first COVID-19 vaccine and said it would start nationwide inoculations within days, but months behind the U.S. and many other countries. Japan’s health ministry said it had approved the vaccine co-developed and supplied by Pfizer Inc. The announcement comes after a government panel on Friday confirmed that final results of clinical testing done in Japan showed that the vaccine had an efficacy similar to what overseas tests showed. Many countries began vaccinating their citizens late last year, and Pfizer’s vaccine has been used elsewhere since December. Under the current plan, about 20,000 front-line medical workers at hospitals in Japan will get their first shots beginning around Wednesday.

A special vaccination drive took place in the Chareidi community in London on Motzei Shabbos, coordinated by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), the Hatzalah organization of London, and The Interlink Foundation. The vaccination drive was advertised in frum neighborhoods, with everyone over age 65 urged to come be vaccinated. Local non-Jews, including Muslims, also showed up and were warmly greeted and vaccinated by frum health professionals. There were male nurses available to vaccinate men and female nurses for the women. Health authorities in the UK are trying to reach every sector in the country and the drive in the Chareidi community on Motzei Shabbos was the first cooperative effort between the government and a local community.

What if COVID-19 never goes away? Experts say it’s likely that some version of the disease will linger for years. But what it will look like in the future is less clear. Will the coronavirus, which has already killed more than 2 million people worldwide, eventually be eliminated by a global vaccination campaign, like smallpox? Will dangerous new variants evade vaccines? Or will the virus stick around for a long time, transforming into a mild annoyance, like the common cold? Eventually, the virus known as SARS-CoV-2 will become yet “another animal in the zoo,” joining the many other infectious diseases that humanity has learned to live with, predicted Dr. T. Jacob John, who studies viruses and was at the helm of India’s efforts to tackle polio and HIV/AIDS. But no one knows for sure.

Los Angeles County officials say that the Northridge Hospital Medical Center violated county rules when it provided coronavirus vaccines to teachers and staff at the Wesley School in North Hollywood. Teachers and school employees are not currently authorized to receive doses for the vaccine. The Wesley School’s interim head, Julie Galles, says the school did not seek out the vaccines but did not clarify how the inoculations occurred. The Los Angeles Times reported the incident raised concerns about how equitable vaccine distribution is in the county, especially with shortages and other logistical issues hampering distribution. Parents at the school include the Northridge Hospital Medical Center’s chief financial officer, Douglas Brown. (AP)

The Vizhnitzer Rebbe fiercely condemned anti-vaxxer leaders on Shabbos while saying Divrei Torah at the Shalosh Seudos tisch. “They are irresponsible people, they think they know better than doctors,” the Rebbe said. The Rebbe mentioned polio which broke out 70 years ago, emphasizing: “People are still suffering from it until this very day.” The Rebbe also encouraged his chassidim to increase their tefillos for the pandemic to end “so it will possible like in the past to live a full Torah life and simcha without any disturbances.” On Sunday, a special vaccination drive will be held in Kiryat Vihznitz for everyone who hasn’t yet been vaccinated. Last week, the Rebbe instructed that all bochurim over age 16 should be vaccinated. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland will go into a three-day lockdown beginning just before midnight Sunday following the discovery of three unexplained coronavirus cases in the community. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the move after an urgent meeting with other top lawmakers in the Cabinet. She said they decided to take a cautious approach until they find out more about the outbreak, including whether the infections are of the more contagious variants. The lockdown is the first in New Zealand in six months and represents a significant setback in the nation’s largely successful efforts to control the virus. It will also force a delay in the America’s Cup sailing regatta.

The number of hospitalized coronavirus patients in Israel under the age of 60 has surpassed the number of patients over 60, as the vaccination campaign begins to take effect. The data is similar for the number of seriously ill patients and the number of fatalities in that age group. About 86% of Israelis over 60 have been vaccinated. Hospitalization in the over 60 age group have sharply decreased since mid-January and the infection rate began decreasing already at the beginning of January. הצעירים מתחת ל-60 עקפו את ה- 60+ בקבלות בבתי חולים. לכו להתחסן!

As part of its efforts to encourage its residents to vaccinate, the Bnei Brak municipality last week advertised that its vaccination center will be open to midnight on Thursday and anyone who comes to be inoculated will receive a bag with a portion of cholent, a roll and a bottle of Coke. It’s questionable whether anyone who doesn’t wish to be vaccinated would agree to do for a bag of food they could buy themselves but one organization didn’t remain apathetic to the offer. The ZAKA organization, one that has been unfortunately overloaded with work during the pandemic, with its director recently losing three immediate relatives to COVID-19, couldn’t resist the opportunity for a bit of black humor.

The number of suicidal children in San Francisco has hit a record high and health experts say it is clear that keeping public schools closed “is catalyzing a mental health crisis among school-aged children,” according to a lawsuit the city filed Thursday to push its school district to reopen classrooms. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera announced last week he was taking the dramatic step of suing the city’s own school district, which has kept its classrooms closed nearly a year. In the motion filed Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court, Herrera included alarming testimony from hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area, doctors and parents on the emotional and mental harms of extended distance learning.

Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, will begin its third lockdown on Friday due to a rapidly spreading COVID-19 cluster centered on hotel quarantine. The five-day lockdown will be enforced across Victoria state to prevent the virus spreading from the state capital, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said. The Australian Open tennis tournament will be allowed to continue but without spectators, he said. Only international flights that were already in the air when the lockdown was announced will be allowed to land at Melbourne Airport. Schools and many businesses will be closed. Residents are ordered to stay at home except to exercise and for essential purposes. A population of 6.5 million will be locked down from 11:59 p.m.