As 2021 began, the Covid pandemic continued. About 2 million people had died, but 70 million had recovered. 20 million were known to be infected; 100000 of those were seriously ill. The 2020 battle against Covid was dominated by lockdowns and other social restrictions, but by 2021, the world was embarked on a second phase of battle, in which vaccines began to be deployed.
In the east, Chinese and Indian companies (Sinopharm, Sinovac, Bharat Biotech) produced traditional vaccines containing inactive coronavirus. China (CanSino), Russia (Ministry of Health), and Britain (AstraZeneca) produced vaccines in which coronavirus genes are introduced to the immune system via adenovirus; and in the west, the American companies Pfizer and Moderna pioneered RNA vaccines in which a single coronavirus gene is introduced, protected by a layer of "lipid" molecules.
The pandemic fared differently in different world regions. In Europe, numbers were rising in a third wave, partly due to the more infectious UK strain; in India, national numbers had been falling away from September's peak, as the first wave died away.
Vaccine demand exceeded supply. Poor countries criticized rich countries for buying up most of the supply; rich countries criticized the vaccine companies for not delivering as many as promised. Nonetheless, vaccination was underway, with China and America leading in absolute numbers vaccinated (around 20 million each), and Israel and the Emirates leading with percentage of national population vaccinated (around 20%).
World powers readied themselves for a new era. Europe's World Economic Forum held a virtual summit to discuss the "great reset" and similar post-pandemic plans, to be followed up with a physical summit in Singapore in May. In the USA, the Trump era ended with a brief occupation of the national legislature by election protesters, and the suspension of the president from social media; and the Biden era began with promises of mass vaccination, economic relief, racial justice, and climate progress. The Gulf Arab states reconciled at Al-Ula, with Saudi Arabia ending its blockade of Qatar; while Iran boosted its nuclear enrichment, in anticipation of renewed negotiations with the west.
In 2020, the global economy shrank almost everywhere outside of China, though foreign investment went up in India. Carmakers worldwide faced a shortage of computer chips, as sedentary populations under lockdown purchased computers and media devices. Elon Musk became the richest man in the world, as Tesla shares soared in value, on expectations of colossal future demand for electric cars, as Biden's USA rejoined the Paris climate accord. 2020 itself was another hot year, with record fires and storms in many places.
South Korea jailed the chairman of Samsung for bribery, and upheld the 20-year sentence of former president Park Geun-hye for corruption. A bitcoin-like digital version of the yuan, China's national currency, was to be tried out in Beijing and Shanghai and on popular websites like Bilibili. Germany deplored Russia's crackdown on Navalny supporters and welcomed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would bring Russian gas.
Uganda shut down the Internet during an election, after Facebook started closing pro-government accounts (the government won the election). During celebrations of Republic Day in the Indian capital, a militant group of farm-bill protesters invaded the Red Fort, a historic national monument, and flew a Sikh flag, but were quickly disowned by the protest movement. Japan confirmed that the Tokyo Olympics would be held this year, but wasn't sure if spectators would be allowed to attend.
No comments:
Post a Comment