The White House on Friday highlighted an effort by popular dating apps to encourage vaccinations by giving users badges to signal their inoculation status. It’s part of the Biden administration’s larger plan to have at least 70 percent of adults receiving both shots by July 4.
In Europe, hopes are high that official plans to ease travel restrictions can help spur a summer tourism rebound as new coronavirus cases in the region decline sharply. Policymakers are expected to outline further details Friday of measures to remove quarantine requirements for vaccinated travelers starting July 1.
Here are some significant developments:
Your answers to the top 9 question about traveling to Europe
As new plans roll out from the European Union and non-E.U. members to accept foreign travelers, a summer vacation on the continent is looking more promising for vaccinated Americans.
Eduardo Santander, executive director of the European Travel Commission, an association that represents the E.U.’s national tourism organizations, says while news as of late has been “absolutely amazing,” he acknowledges travelers will be confused while countries iron out reopening details.
Those in the travel industry are standing by watching for updates in real time. With news still unfolding daily, it’s been difficult to keep track of the latest requirements, says Misty Belles, spokeswoman for the luxury travel company Virtuoso.
Meanwhile, here is what we can tell you about post-vaccination-era travel to Europe.
Leaders of wealthy nations recognize a vaccine divide but offer little to help quickly close the gap
ROME — With pandemic inequities deepening, the leaders of rich nations on Friday called the divide in vaccine access unacceptable, shameful, even immoral, but offered few new commitments that would close the gap in an immediate way.
Instead, at a virtual summit in which some statements were prerecorded, leaders took turns offering sometimes-conflicting ideas for expanding vaccine access, and countries announced a drip-drip of largely unilateral and not-entirely-new moves.
Italy and Germany said they would donate doses to lower-income countries, adding to previous promises from France, New Zealand, the United States and a handful of other countries.
The European Union said it would expand its vaccine diplomacy, helping Africa build new manufacturing hubs.
Vaccination makes young people more attractive, says White House officials in latest pitch
The latest (perhaps strangest) pitch made by the White House on Friday to get young people vaccinated: It will make you more attractive.
At a briefing Friday, Biden administration officials said dating sites — including Tinder, Bumble, Match.com, Hinge, BLK, PlentyofFish, OkCupid, Chispa, Badoo — are adding features that let people show they are vaccinated.
The features will “help people meet people with that universally attractive quality: they’ve been vaccinated against covid-19,” declared Andy Slavitt, the White House senior adviser on the covid-19 response. “During the briefing, Anthony S. Fauci, the country’s leading infectious-disease expert, could be seen smiling widely and at one point rubbing his head in an apparent effort to keep it together as Slavitt made his unorthodox pitch.
“We have finally found the one thing that makes us more attractive: vaccination,” Slavitt said with a smile, as other health officials smiled and laughed in the background. The White House’s turn toward dating sites to boost vaccination is rooted in data, officials said.
According OkCupid people who display their vaccination were 14 percent more likely to get a match, Slavic noted. And the websites cater to more than 50 million people in the United States, Slavitt noted. “We believe it’s particularly important to reach young people where they are,” he said. The new features will include badges that allow users to show vaccination status, new filters that match users only with other vaccinated people and premium functions like “boosts” and “super swipes” that many users crave. The apps will also help people locate places to get vaccinated.
In conclusion, Slavitt said, “There are clear benefits to your social life.“
The move is part of a larger push by the administration to reach its goal of having 70 percent of the adult population get at least one coronavirus vaccine dose by July 4.
After the pandemic took a toll on live jazz, D.C.’s scene is tuning up
The live music schedule for March 2020 still hangs in Takoma Station’s vestibule.
“I have it there just as a reminder, you know?” said David Boyd, the co-owner of the titular neighborhood tavern. Not that anyone needs reminding.
Live jazz had returned to Takoma Station after decades of absence in September 2019. For six months it had been a solid success, generating impressive crowds and building momentum. Then came covid-19, and jazz, at Takoma Station and everywhere else, stopped.
Small countries have big hopes that vaccine tourism will give their economies a boost
Book a three-night hotel stay in the European microstate of San Marino, and your room could come with a bonus amenity: a coronavirus vaccine shot.
The landlocked republic, which has vaccinated roughly three-quarters of its population, hopes to lure tourists by offering them doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine. Although the vaccine’s two doses will cost only 50 euros (roughly $61), recipients must book a second visit to San Marino several weeks later for the second dose, and again stay at a hotel for a minimum of three nights.
The plan has “a real possibility to attract a kind of tourism that none of us would have ever before thought possible to attract,” Foreign Minister Luca Beccari said at a news conference last week.
After more than a year of separation and isolation, Americans are reuniting.
After more than a year of isolation, anxiety and mourning, many long-separated Americans are reuniting.
The Washington Post collected some of their stories.
Everything to know about Virginia’s reopening — just in time for Memorial Day
The region is entering a new phase of the pandemic as restrictions are being lifted and life is returning to Virginia. The rate of new infections is going down, and masks are no longer required in most cases for those who are fully vaccinated.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) plans to fully reopen the state on May 28, the Friday before Memorial Day, the traditional kickoff of summer when many will travel outside the region for the first time in more than a year.
More than 40 percent of state residents are fully vaccinated, according to state data, a long way from herd immunity, but enough to mark a major milestone in the coronavirus pandemic.
Here are answers to some common questions.
A trio of cruise lines are eying Alaska for their U.S. summer comeback
Three Carnival-owned cruise lines on Thursday said they are planning to resume sailing in Alaska this summer with fully vaccinated passengers, a prospect that would have seemed like an incredible long shot just months ago.
The announcement from Carnival Corp. comes as the cruise industry attempts a restart in the United States after shutting down in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.
The Alaska plans still need approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the company is betting that will happen. Carnival is also working to lock in plans to sail ships from Miami and Galveston, Tex., in July.
Fearing backlash, and lawsuits, most employers plan to avoid mandating coronavirus vaccines
The email set out an ambitious — and uncompromising — goal: Get vaccinated or get ready to find another job.
“We must lead by example and get vaccinated ourselves,” Houston Methodist CEO Marc Boom wrote to his managers on March 31.
Boom’s vaccine mandate is among only a handful issued by health-care institutions in the United States. While more than 380 colleges and universities, generally in blue states, and a few travel companies have imposed vaccine mandates, most other employers have held back, worried about the difficult politics surrounding the coronavirus vaccines and the untested legal issues involving vaccines cleared under the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency authority.
Theme parks aim to keep visitors safe — and screaming
As theme park season approaches, roller-coaster enthusiasts living through the pandemic most likely have questions, starting with: Is it still possible to scream with abandon while hurtling through the air at whiplash speeds if you’re wearing a mask? After a recent day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia, I can assure them that a piece of fabric does not muffle shrieks. I heard aahs on Griffon’s 205-foot drop and whoas on Alpengeist’s multiple inversions and even released a few oh jeezes of my own while free-falling on Verbolten.
After months of keeping quiet and still, we have a lot of pent-up energy and suppressed howls to unleash. We aren’t alone: Theme park operators have had a rough time, too, with many venues repeatedly opening and closing or remaining shuttered for more than a year. According to a study by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, the 360 theme parks in the United States lost $18 billion last year, with revenue down 40 percent from 2019. However, the majority of parks survived the global health crisis and are preparing for a summer that we can all scream about.
“This year, everyone in the United States will be open, and people will have options,” said Robert Niles, editor of Theme Park Insider. “I think we will see the pre-pandemic experience return later in the summer.”
White House enlists major dating apps in vaccine push, so users can identify themselves as vaccinated
The White House has enlisted major dating apps to encourage single Americans — who may be hitting up the dating scene again this summer after a year of social isolation — to get vaccinated.
The move is part of a larger push by the administration to reach its goal of having 70 percent of the adult population get at least one coronavirus vaccine dose by July 4.
Apps such as Tinder, Hinge, Match and OkCupid will allow users to add stickers or badges to their profiles to let potential matches know they’ve been vaccinated. In some cases, vaccinated users can limit their searches to other vaccinated singles. Some apps are adding incentives to be vaccinated by giving those users free access to premium content.
While dating apps are used by people of all ages, their prime audience are young adults, who also happen to be the cohort least likely to prioritize getting vaccinated.
No goalies, no problem: Covid-ravaged South American club earns improbable win
Imagine a scenario in which the Green Bay Packers were so ravaged by injury that Aaron Rodgers — who, in this hypothetical, also was hurt — had to play safety. Or that an ailing Alex Ovechkin was forced into goal because his Washington Capitals teammates were so improbably shorthanded.
Now imagine those teams winning.
This unlikely scenario played out Wednesday night in South America during a game between Argentine titan River Plate and Independiente Santa Fe of Colombia in the Copa Libertadores, the continent’s version of the Champions League. Down 20 players because of a coronavirus outbreak, among them all four goalkeepers, River Plate was forced to use 35-year-old midfielder Enzo Pérez in goal and played the entire game without any substitutes.
Not even Singapore’s rules could keep the coronavirus at bay
Singapore did almost everything right.
The island nation imposed some of the strictest controls to ward off the coronavirus. It tightened borders, quarantined travelers, implemented a Bluetooth contact tracing system and deployed an army of social distance enforcers. Robots roamed the streets ensuring that people remained six feet apart and masks became mandatory, inside and outside.
For a while, it worked. After weathering a surge last spring, Singapore was virtually virus-free for much of the past year. Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, has killed 32 people in this country of 6 million. As hospitals in Brazil, Britain and the United States ran out of beds and oxygen, Singaporeans were free to visit movie theaters, food courts and malls. Last month, Bloomberg News crowned the city-state the best place to be during the pandemic.
But Singapore’s rules have proved to be no match for a new variant of the virus rippling through Southeast Asia. Scientists say the variant, known as B 1.617, which arose in pandemic-ravaged India, is 50 percent more contagious than the original strain.
Rio police were ordered to limit favela raids during the pandemic. They’re still killing hundreds of people.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Locked behind an aluminum door, clutching her 2-year-old son, Lorrane Sequeira was listening. All that day, she had heard the throb of helicopters circling overhead. The cackle of gunshots. The wails of the dying. The shrieks of a mother, yelling, “My God, my son! My son!”
There was a pounding at a neighbor’s door.
Around 250 heavily armed police had invaded Jacarezinho, a dense labyrinth of tight alleys and concrete dwellings in Rio de Janeiro controlled by the powerful gang Red Command. Early on the morning of May 6, a cop had been killed around 100 yards from Sequeira’s house. Now police were waging what appeared to be a campaign of retribution. Sequeira had spent hours watching the toll rise in what would become the bloodiest police raid in Rio history: Twenty-eight dead.
"start" - Google News
May 23, 2021 at 05:00AM
https://ift.tt/3fFFRwe
U.S. continues to push vaccine incentives; Europe looks to jump-start summer travel - The Washington Post
"start" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2yVRai7
https://ift.tt/2WhNuz0
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "U.S. continues to push vaccine incentives; Europe looks to jump-start summer travel - The Washington Post"
Post a Comment