Covid: Red Cross warned of “devastating” consequences as poorer countries struggle to secure vaccines.
A new coronavirus antibody survey in the Indian capital, New Delhi, estimates that more than half of the city’s 20 million residents have had Covid-19.
The House approved a budget blueprint, a key step to passing Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package without G.O.P. support.
Get the latest updates here, as well as maps and vaccines in development.

The path out of the pandemic

Countries that are moving quickly to vaccinate their populations are poised to move out of the deadliest phase of the pandemic in a matter of weeks.

At the front of the pack is Britain, which is on track to give everyone in the country the first shot of a two-dose regimen by the end of June, if supply and logistical issues don’t get in the way. The most vulnerable people in the U.K. — those over 70, health care workers, and nursing home residents and staff members — are on schedule to receive their first dose within the next two weeks. If achieved, it could considerably reduce the number of deaths, as together these groups account for 88 percent of all Covid deaths in the country.

The timeline below shows Britain’s path out of the pandemic through inoculations, and even if the pace of vaccinations slowed down by 20 percent, the country should still be able to give everyone a shot by the end of July.
The New York Times. Source: Public Health England

The country has been able to move quickly by delivering shots through the highly centralized National Health Service, which covers all Britons, and because of its quick approval process for experimental vaccines.

While the U.K. has vaccinated over 15 percent of its population, Israel leads the world in Covid inoculations, having delivered doses to more than 37 percent of the country, as of Wednesday. In comparison, the U.S. was over 8 percent, and the European Union was below 3 percent.

Israel offers a first glimpse at what happens when a country inoculates a large percentage of its population — and the results are encouraging. (However, almost all of the Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territory have yet to receive their first dose.)

A study released yesterday reported that cases of Covid-19 and hospitalizations in Israel had dropped markedly among people who have been vaccinated.

Eran Segal, a quantitative biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, a co-author of the study, tweeted: “We say with caution, the magic has started.”
Vaccination passports

Governments and the travel industry are seriously looking into developing vaccine passports, which would securely prove that a person has been inoculated, my colleague Tariro Mzezewa reports.

President Biden recently asked the government to “assess the feasibility” of producing a digital document to confirm vaccination, while the Danish government said yesterday that it would introduce a digital vaccination passport in the next few months. Some airlines are moving even more quickly. Etihad Airways and Emirates said that in a few weeks they would begin using a digital travel pass that would provide documentation that passengers had been vaccinated or tested for the coronavirus.

The challenge is creating a universal document or app that would protect users’ privacy and would be available to all, not just the wealthy or those with smartphones.

IBM has been developing its own “digital health pass,” built on blockchain technology, that can use temperature checks, test results and vaccine status to monitor people seeking access to sports stadiums, airplanes or workplaces. The World Economic Forum and a Swiss nonprofit group have been testing a digital health passport called CommonPass that would generate a QR code to show the authorities.

The concept of a vaccine passport isn’t really new. For decades, travelers to some countries have had to show proof of vaccination against yellow fever, rubella and cholera, among other diseases. And in the U.S. in the 1880s, in response to smallpox outbreaks, some public schools began requiring students and teachers to show vaccination cards.

A hidden epidemic. More than 6,000 employees of the Transportation Security Administration have contracted the coronavirus, and workers say lax safety measures have contributed to the spread.
Vaccine rollout

In the United States, with vaccinations speeding up, there is cautious hope for an improved spring. And new polling among Black Americans shows a sharp divide by age and gender over Covid vaccines. Younger Black adults are far more hesitant to get the vaccine than their elders, and Black women are more uncertain than men.
In Washington, all members of the Capitol Police will be vaccinated against Covid-19.
In China, scientists reported that a coronavirus vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech, which has already been rolled out in China and distributed to many developing countries, was shown in early-stage trials to be safe and to have stimulated an immune response in adults over 60.
North Korea is expected to receive nearly two million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine by the middle of this year.

Here’s a roundup of restrictions in all 50 states.
What else we’re following

Health care workers are plagued by trauma and exhaustion, as pandemic fatigue sets in.
Tennis officials postponed the Australian Open draw by a day after a worker in one of the hotels where players have been quarantining tested positive for the coronavirus.
After Long Beach, Calif., began requiring a $4-an-hour “hero pay” increase for grocery store workers during the pandemic, the grocery store chain Kroger closed stores rather than pay the bonus, The Washington Post reports.
After snagging vaccine appointments for themselves or their parents, some New Yorkers have joined a growing movement to assist others get inoculated.
The New York Times