Uniquely Nelson

Conservators at the National Library of Australia have unearthed one of the world's oldest boxes of chocolates, dating back 120 years to the time of the Boer War. Photo: Wikimedia commons The souvenir chocolate tin was discovered at the bottom of a box of personal papers from the estate of Australian bush poet Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson. Remarkably, the chocolates were not only unmolested after more than a century, but still looked - almost - good enough to eat. The chocolate bar, marked into six fingers, still had remnants of old straw packing and silver foil wrapping. The discovery astonished staff in the Library's conservation lab, who weren't expecting to find Banjo's sweets hidden amongst a career's worth of poetry, diaries and newspaper clippings. "There was quite an interesting smell when they were unwrapped," National Library of Australia (NLA) conservator Jennifer Todd said. "[It was] an old tin of chocolates, belonging to Banjo, with the chocolates still wrapped in the box." Chocolates fit for a Queen There was no explanation provided about why Banjo Paterson had the chocolates, or - critically - why he hadn't eaten them. But a little research unearthed some answers about the tin. It was commissioned by none other than Queen Victoria herself, to provide comfort to Boer War troops at the turn of a new century. The tin was adorned with the royal visage, inscribed with the phrases "South Africa, 1900" and "I wish you a happy New Year, Victoria RI". And although intended for troops, the commemorative chocolate tins became hot items of trade at the front, as Canadian soldier Private C Jackson wrote home in December 1899. "I have just received a box of chocolate, Her Majesty's present to the South African soldiers … there is such a demand for them by the officers and everybody else, as mementos," he wrote. "In fact I have been offered five pounds for mine, and at the Cape as much as 10 pounds is being paid." Banjo Paterson had shipped out to South Africa in October 1899, as a war correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, returning to Australia nearly a year later. It's speculated Paterson bought the chocolate tin from serving troops and, like many of the soldiers, sent it home to preserve it from the South African heat. Chocolate company was at loggerheads with Queen Victoria There is another twist to the tale of Banjo Paterson's chocolates - they were particularly controversial. Cadbury UK told the ABC the initial 1899 request from Buckingham Palace was for "70,000 to 80,000 pound tins of cocoa … to be paid for out of [Queen Victoria's] private purse" for the troops in South Africa. According to an internal memo from Cadbury Brothers, "the cocoa must be made into a paste and sweetened ready for use under the rough and ready conditions of camp life - the tins to be specially made and decorated." But the owners of Cadbury were pacifists, and initially wanted nothing to do with supplying their products to the Boer war. The order was subsequently amended from tins of cocoa to chocolate blocks - and Cadbury at first refused to stamp its name on either the tin or the chocolate inside. Ultimately the Palace won the diplomatic tug-of-war with Cadbury, as the Queen insisted that her troops know it was "good quality" British chocolate. Good enough, it seems, to last more than a century with only minor decay. Crowdfunded conservation The chocolate tin - and newspaper clippings from Banjo Paterson's time as a war correspondent - were held by the author himself until his death in 1941, then passed down through generations of his family before being acquired by the NLA last year. Now the Library has embarked on the ambitious task of conserving and digitising the collection to share with the world. And, befitting "The Banjo's" popular appeal, financing for the project had come through crowdfunding. NLA Director-General Marie-Louise Ayres said the library easily raised the $150,000 to catalogue and preserve the collection. "Every year we ask every member of the public if they'd like to contribute to a project," Dr Ayres said. "The Banjo Paterson papers is such an iconic collection we were sure that when we went out to the public and asked them for help they'd give it - and they did." Other treasures being conserved from the Banjo Paterson collection include an early version of "Waltzing Matilda" and a large silver gelatin portrait later reproduced on the Australian $10 note. Unfortunately, the photograph had suffered tearing and water damage hanging in the family home - and was certainly in worse shape than Banjo's chocolates. The Banjo Paterson collection will be available for viewing online once the project is completed. For now though, the chocolates will stay at the National Library of Australia, stored securely in a cool, dry place. - ABC

More than 40 countries have banned UK arrivals because of concerns over the spread of a new variant of coronavirus, while France has closed its border with the UK for 48 hours, with no trucks able cross from Dover. Parked-up freight trucks at the Port of Dover in Kent, south east England on Monday. Photo: AFP India, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Jordan and Hong Kong suspended travel for Britons after Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a mutated variant of the virus, up to 70 percent more transmissible, had been identified in the country. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman closed their borders completely. Several other nations have suspended travel from Britain including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Belgium, Israel and Canada - although scientists said the strain may already be circulating in countries with less advanced detection methods than the United Kingdom. France shut its border to arrivals of people and trucks from Britain for 48 hours, closing off one of the most important trade arteries with mainland Europe. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that French President Emmanuel Macron was keen resolve border issues within hours. "It was an excellent conversation with the French president: he stressed he was keen I would say to sort it out in the next few hours if we can," Johnson said. "Our teams will be working on it flat out and if we can result then that would be great, but we will do it as fast as we can." Johnson said only 20 percent of freight was affected by the border closure with France and supermarket supply chains remained "strong and robust". British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks at a media conference on Monday. Photo: AFP As families and truck drivers tried to navigate the travel bans to get back home in time for Christmas, British supermarket chain Sainsbury's said shortages would start to appear within days if transport ties were not quickly restored. "If nothing changes, we will start to see gaps over the coming days on lettuce, some salad leaves, cauliflowers, broccoli and citrus fruit, all of which are imported from the continent at this time of year," Sainsbury's said. But retailers have played down fears of immediate food shortages. France's FNTR national road haulage federation said: "No driver wants to deliver to the UK now, so the UK is going to see its freight supply dry up." Travellers at an almost deserted departures hall at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport on Monday as a string of countries around the world banned travellers arriving from the UK. Photo: AFP / Anadolu Agency EU officials met via video to discuss a co-ordinated response on travel bans for UK - but no decision is expected today. The bloc is on course to start Covid-19 vaccinations within a week after its medicines regulator approved the use of a shot from Pfizer and BioNTech on Monday. The World Health Organization expects to get more detail soon on the potential impact of the new coronavirus strain. Mike Ryan, WHO's top emergency expert, said countries were acting out of a "precautionary principle" in reaction to the variant and said that was "prudent". New York Governor Andrew Cuomo urged the US government to take steps to prevent the new strain entering the country, which has been worst hit by Covid-19 with almost 318,000 deaths. US Assistant Health Secretary Brett Giroir said nothing had yet been decided on any travel ban. Brexit The UK prime minister Johnson said there were still problems in Brexit trade talks and that Britain would thrive without a deal. Johnson said he spoke to the French president about border issues, but not about Brexit. "The position is unchanged: there are problems," Johnson told a news conference when asked if there would be a trade deal. "WTO terms would be more than satisfactory for the UK. And we can certainly cope." "Its vital that everybody understands that the UK has got to be able to control its own laws completely and also that we've got to be able to control our own fisheries," he said - Reuters / BBC

The head of Europe's aviation safety agency, EASA, has told the BBC he is "certain" Boeing's 737 Max is now safe to fly. Executive director Patrick Ky said his organisation had "left no stone unturned" in its review of the aircraft and its analysis of design changes made by the manufacturer. The model was grounded in March 2019. That was after it was involved in two catastrophic accidents, in which a total of 346 people died. It has already been cleared to resume flights in the US and Brazil. EASA expects to give permission for it to return to service in Europe in mid-January. New software The 737 Max's first accident occurred in October 2018, when a Lion Air jet came down in the sea off Indonesia. The second involved an Ethiopian Airlines version that crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa, just four months later. Both have been attributed to flawed flight control software, which became active at the wrong time and prompted the aircraft to go into a catastrophic dive. Since the Ethiopian crash, EASA has been carrying out a root-and-branch review of the 737 Max's design, independently from a similar process undertaken by the US regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The review, says Ky, went well beyond the immediate causes of the two accidents and the modifications proposed by Boeing. "We went further and reviewed all the flight controls, all the machinery of the aircraft", he said. The aim, he said, was to look at anything which could cause a critical failure. In order to return to service, existing planes will now have to be equipped with new computer software, as well as undergoing changes to their wiring and cockpit instrumentation. 'Confident' of safety Pilots will need to undergo mandatory training, and each plane will have to undergo a test flight to ensure the changes have been carried out correctly. US regulators have set out similar conditions. "We are very confident that it is now a very safe aircraft," Ky said. Most of the initial safety certification work on the 737 Max was carried out by the FAA, and simply endorsed by EASA under the terms of a long-standing international agreement. With the FAA now facing intense criticism for allowing an apparently flawed aircraft into service, Ky said in future, things would be done differently. "What is certain is that there were lessons learned from this, which will trigger new actions from our side", he said. In particular, where EASA is not the primary authority carrying out safety work, it will examine other people's decisions much more closely. "We will perform our own safety assessment, which is going to be much more comprehensive than it used to be... "I hope the public trusts in us when we say we think, we are certain, that the aircraft is safe to fly". - BBC

RNZ Pacific staff share their Christmas memories and traditions. When I think of Christmas, I'm reminded of the Tongan dishes that my parents and siblings prepare for our big lunch feast on Christmas day. Lu wrapped up in foil, ready for the oven or umu Photo: RNZ Pacific / Sela Jane Hopgood Growing up, I would help my mum with a dish called lu sipi. Lu sipi are parcels of goodness. You start off by preparing around two to four square sheets of foil. My mum likes to place them on top of each other so that at the end it looks like a 8-pointed star. Then on top of the pile of foil, place at least eight to ten leaves layered on top of each other, lamb meat (cooked and chopped) placed in the centre and sprinkle diced onions on top of the lamb. Mum would get everything prepared into mini stations on the dining table, setting up a conveyor belt of sorts for the lu sipi. Some years I'm at the "onions station", and other years I'm pouring the coconut cream into each prepared parcel. Pouring the coconut cream into the lu sipi is not as easy as it sounds - well not if you don't do it the way mum likes it. She would have her hands underneath the foil, getting ready to gather the ingredients together to form a parcel, but before mum wraps it all up, I come in with my handy dandy ladle to pour coconut cream on top of the meat and onions. You have to make sure you put enough in to match the portion of the meat, but not too much where it leaks in between the taro leaves. I am guilty of the latter. Lu involves taro leave, onions, meat and coconut cream Photo: RNZ Pacific / Sela Jane Hopgood Mum then wraps up the foil and taro leaves towards the centre to make a ball shaped lu sipi to go in the oven to cook. Well, that's the contemporary way of cooking the lu sipi. Traditionally it would be cooked in an underground oven pit called an umu. We would use the taro leaves from my dad's garden, which he prepares ahead of Christmas. Everything else you can source from your local supermarket. You can also switch up the meat option to lu kapapulu (corned beef), lu povi masima (beef salted), lu pulu masima (another type of beef salted) or lu ika (fish). Preparing the Lu Kapapulu Photo: RNZ Pacific / Sela Jane Hopgood

At least eight Katyusha rockets landed in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone in an attack targeting the US Embassy, the Iraqi military and the embassy says. A member of the Iraqi security forces inspects the damage outside the Zawraa park in Baghdad on 18 November, 2020, after rockets slammed into the Iraqi capital. Photo: AFP / Ahmad Al-Rubaye The Iraqi military said an "outlaw group" fired eight rockets. Most of the missiles hit a residential complex and a security checkpoint inside the zone, damaging buildings and cars and wounding one Iraqi soldier, a military statement said. Sirens blared from the embassy compound inside the zone, which houses government buildings and foreign missions. An anti-rocket system diverted one of the rockets, said one security official whose office is inside the Green Zone. The US Embassy condemned the attack and urged all Iraqi political and governmental leaders to take steps to prevent such attacks and to hold accountable those responsible. "The US Embassy confirms rockets targeting the International Zone resulted in the engagement of Embassy defensive systems. There was some minor damage on the Embassy compound but no injuries or casualties," it said in a statement. In a subsequent statement, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said there had been at least one Iraqi civilian casualty and wished those hurt a speedy recovery. US officials blame Iran-backed militia for regular rocket attacks on US facilities in Iraq, including near the embassy in Baghdad. No known Iran-backed groups have claimed responsibility. Pompeo called such militias the most serious impediment to peace and prosperity in Iraq. "We call on all Iraqis to support their government's efforts to reinforce Iraq's sovereignty, to bring to justice those responsible for these reprehensible attacks and ensure that all the currently Iran-backed militias are under state control," he said. A spokesperson for the Iraqi president also condemned the attack. An array of militia groups announced in October that they had suspended rocket attacks on US forces on condition that Iraq's government present a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops. A rocket strike on the US Embassy on 18 November was a clear sign that Iranian-backed militias had decided to resume attacks on US bases, according to Iraqi security officials. Washington, which is slowly reducing its 5000 troops in Iraq, threatened to shut its embassy unless the Iraqi government reins in Iran-aligned militias. - Reuters

The coronavirus cluster on Sydney's northern beaches has grown to 83 cases, as record numbers of people come forward for testing in NSW. Photo: AFP More than 38,000 people were swabbed for the virus in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday (local time), and 15 new infections were recorded. While the number of new cases is significantly lower than the 30 found in the previous reporting period, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said: "Unfortunately, one day's results doesn't tell us it's a trend." She said authorities were monitoring the situation "on an hourly basis" and that they would on Wednesday morning provide an update as to what restrictions would be in place for Christmas. "I would love to be able to tell everybody today what Christmas might look like in New South Wales or the northern beaches, but we're not in a position to do that yet," she said. The cluster first emerged last week, and has already swollen to be the state's second biggest since July. It has surpassed other outbreaks at the Crossroads Hotel (57 cases) and several funeral services at Bankstown (76 cases), and is closing in on the Thai Rock restaurant (114 cases). Berejiklian said contact tracers would be adding more infected venues to Sydney's already extensive list today. The premier was cautiously optimistic that the number of new cases had decreased when compared to the previous two days. "But as we know in a pandemic, things can be volatile and can move quickly," she said. Minister of Health Brad Hazzard said contact-tracing efforts had been hampered by people who had lied when checking into venues. "What we are finding is that some of the visitors to various venues still think that it is funny to be caught putting in there that you're Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse or a false phone number. That must stop," he said. "This is a worldwide Covid pandemic and thinking it's smart to call yourself Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse is about as stupid as it gets. So that must cease." The premier also scolded people who thought they were being funny. "We do have, I believe, one of the best if not the best contact tracing team on the planet. But they can't contact trace people if they don't have the details," she said. Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said the source of the outbreak remained unknown. Among the latest venues to be visited by a confirmed case is the Salon for Hair in Turramurra on Sydney's north shore. The business has been linked to five infections. Anyone who attended the salon between 15 and 18 December was asked to be tested and self-isolate for 14 days. "We believe we have contacted the vast majority of people, but some people had incorrect or illegible contact details," she said. "Please prompt your friends and relatives to check whether they attended on those days, follow the advice and get tested immediately and self-isolate if you're one or two people who we haven't managed to track down." There has also been another case linked to the Rose of Australia hotel in Erskineville in Sydney's inner-west. Anyone at the venue on 15 December between 7pm and 9pm should get tested and isolate. Dr Chant said records at the venue were incomplete and urged people to come forward. Berejiklian said NSW's current restrictions, including the lockdown across the Northern Beaches which came into force on Saturday evening, would be continually reviewed. - ABC

People in Sydney will wake today under tougher new restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of Covid-19 cases from the Northern Beaches outbreak. People run before the Opera House and Harbour Bridge in Sydney on December 20, 2020, after authorities introduced a fresh round of restrictions. Photo: AFP or licensors It comes as NSW braces for more cases of community transmission and several other Australian states and territories have closed their borders to Greater Sydney. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian yesterday announced a raft of restrictions across Sydney, the Central Coast and Blue Mountains, which came into effect from midnight. It followed a rise in the total number of community transmissions to 68, after 30 new cases were reported in the 24 hours to 8:00pm Saturday. Of the new cases, 28 are directly linked to the Avalon cluster and, while two are still being investigated, they are from the Northern Beaches. The new restrictions will be in place until midnight on Wednesday and include a limit of 10 visitors per household. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian yesterday said there was no evidence "at this point in time" of mass seeding outside the Northern Beaches. "And that is how we want to keep it, which is why it is so important for those of us who don't live in the Northern Beaches to adhere to the new orders that will be in place," she said. All public indoor spaces have reverted to the rule of one person per four square metres and there is a cap of 300 people at hospitality venues and places of worship. Singing, chanting and dancing at indoor venues is again banned, but bridal parties of 20 or less will be able to dance at weddings. And people in Greater Sydney are strongly advised to stay away from visiting aged care homes until midnight on Wednesday, unless it is absolutely critical. While health authorities have not made mask wearing compulsory, it is encouraged in public indoor spaces. Coles yesterday moved to make the wearing of masks mandatory for staff in its stores across Greater Sydney and the Central Coast. It "strongly" encouraged customers to wear face coverings in store. The latest case numbers and restrictions sparked other states and territories to tighten their borders with Greater Sydney. It prompted crowds at Sydney Airport, with people keen to travel before the border changes came into effect. Victoria increased its "red zone" to include Greater Sydney and the Central Coast, in addition to the Northern Beaches, whose residents it already banned on Saturday. Queensland followed suit, with a similar closure from early Monday morning. Both states gave returning residents more time to get home. The ACT, Tasmania, Northern Territory and South Australia now require anyone from Sydney to quarantine for 14 days on arrival, while WA reinstated a hard border for all of NSW. Northern Beaches residents continue to line up for hours at pop-up testing clinics and the entire state is being urged to get tested if they develop even the mildest symptoms. And NSW is so far heeding the warning, with 28,210 tests conducted across the state in the 24 hours to 8:00pm Saturday night. While NSW Health hopes the latest restrictions will prevent the mass seeding of Covid-19 outside the Northern Beaches, it has released is a growing list of affected venues. - ABC

Tropical cyclone Yasa has dropped to a category 1, but four people are confirmed dead, and an aid worker says it has left some islands looking like a warzone. Photo: AFP/Fiji Red Cross While the cyclone had weakened to a category 1 during Saturday afternoon, the disaster management office confirmed the death toll had risen to four. And it had caused widespread damage since hitting Fiji on Friday, particularly in the northern areas and the island of Vanua Levu. Save the Children Fiji chief executive Shairana Ali said Kia Island, north of Vanua Levu had "basically been completely devastated". "Judging by the pictures it looks like it's a warzone. We don't know yet if there are injuries," she said. "The majority of the people are reporting that they have lost their livelihood, their source of livelihood." Many of the northern islands, like Vanua Levu, were home to farming communities whose economy relied heavily on the land. Ali said plants had been stripped away by the storm, "crops have been destroyed, and they've also lost their livestock." People living on surrounding islands, in areas like Suva on the island of Viti Levu, were already starting to mobilise to help the people affected. "There is a sense of care from those on Viti Levu," she said. "Majority of people on this island, they're banding together now, there is a lot of appeals going up, people are organising relief items to be sent across immediately." A building on Vanua Levu that was flattened by Cyclone Yasa. Photo: AFP/Red Cross Neighbours on the worst affected islands were also supporting their neighbours, trying to provide shelter wherever they could. Photo: Fiji government Authorities in Fiji hope to start distributing food aid and shelter to the cyclone-devastated northern division tomorrow. The head of the national disaster management office, Vasiti Soko, said 16,000 people are in evacuation centres across the country. She told a media briefing in Suva that assessment teams are out working today, but communication is proving difficult. A New Zealand Air Force Orion has helped with today's assessments, and an Australian plane is due tomorrow. The United Nations is ready to deploy staff to the area and airlift supplies from Brisbane. The New Zealand government's initial relief package will focus on making sure people have food, shelter and sanitation. In Bua province on Vanua Levu the roof was blown off a school that was sheltering about 100 people, the Bua Youth Network said. Filimoni Tuvanualevu, the president of the group, lives in Suva but is helping organise efforts to send relief supplies back to Bua. Donations were already coming in, including, food and sanitary items and chainsaws, that would be send to the province on the first available flight. "We've received a lot of support from our social media pages, from people who are wanting to give donations and such, and money and items, and we are letting them know what items we are aiming to provide and what services, just so we don't overlap with what's already been taken care of. " Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said the evacuation centres will remain open as long as necessary. "These storms may be getting stronger, but they will never be stronger than we are. Resilience is in our bones, we will recover, we will rebuild, we will prove ourselves stronger than Yasa. Stay strong Fiji." Ali said Save the Children were also developing a response plan, and hoped to have teams on boats tomorrow headed for places like Vanua Levu. MetService expects cyclone Yasa to weaken as it moves over Fiji today. Photo: MetService Yasa was assessed as a category 4 tropical cyclone this morning, when it was about 250km east of Suva, MetService said. It tracked south over the Lau group of islands during the day. And by mid-afternoon the Fiji Meteorological Service said it fell to a category 1. It was still expected to remain to the west of Tonga later today and tomorrow. During Sunday, Yasa is likely to move south away from any Pacific islands, while losing intensity.

A number of European countries have banned, or are planning to ban, travel from the UK to prevent the spread of a more infectious Covid-19 variant. Shoppers walk along Oxford Street after new coronavirus restrictions were announced by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Photo: AFP / WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto The Netherlands and Belgium have halted flights, with Italy to follow suit. Trains to Belgium are also suspended. Ireland is expected to restrict flights and ferries from midnight (23:00 GMT) on Sunday. France and Germany are among others considering similar action. The new variant has spread quickly in London and south-east England. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday introduced a new tier four level of restrictions, scrapping a planned relaxation of rules over the Christmas period for millions of people. Top health officials said that there was no evidence the new variant was more deadly, or would react differently to vaccines, but it was proving to be up to 70 percent more transmissible. Which countries have acted and how? Within hours of the UK announcement on Saturday, the Netherlands said it would ban all passenger flights from the UK from 06:00 (05:00 GMT) on Sunday until 1 January. Pending "greater clarity" on the situation in the UK, the Dutch government said that further "risk of the new virus strain being introduced to the Netherlands should be minimised as much as possible". The country on Sunday reported a daily increase of more than 13,000 cases - a new record, despite tough lockdown measures being applied on 14 December. Belgium is suspending flights and train arrivals from the UK from midnight on Sunday. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told Belgian television channel VRT the ban would be in place for at least 24 hours as a "precautionary measure", adding "we will see later if we need additional measures". Italy's Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on his Facebook page that the government was about to sign a measure to suspend flights from the UK. In Ireland, urgent government talks were held and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said he expected a decision later on Sunday on a new advisory for travel from Britain. Flights and ferries will reportedly be restricted from midnight on Sunday, although details are still being finalised. The measures are expected to remain in place for an initial 48 hours before being reviewed. In Germany, a health ministry official told AFP news agency that the government was also considering banning flights from the UK, and South Africa, where a variant has also been detected. The official said the German government was monitoring developments in the UK and working at "high pressure" to evaluate the new information and data regarding the new variant there. In France, news channel BFMTV reported that the government was "seriously" considering suspending flights and trains from the UK, and the government was "looking for European co-ordination". "A decision will be announced during the day," the channel said. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González said Spain also wanted a co-ordinated EU decision on the matter. Austria is also planning a ban on flights from the UK, with details currently being worked out, Austrian media reported. What is the new variant? In the UK, it was first identified in the middle of October from a sample taken in September. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the same mutation has also been detected in the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia. Dr Catherine Smallwood, of WHO Europe, said that as of 20 December, the numbers in those countries were small, nine in Denmark and one each in the other two nations. But she said other countries had notified WHO of other variants "that also carry some of the genetic changes seen in the UK variant" The new UK variant has been shown to spread faster than the original virus - up to 70 percent more transmissible based on modelling figures - but scientific details on the genetic changes, and how they could affect the behaviour of Covid-19, remain unclear. Although there is no indication the variant will be more resistant to already-developed vaccines, the mutation does involve the spike protein of the virus. This is the part that helps it infect cells - and also the part the vaccines have been designed to target. So although scientific experts have warned against an alarmist response, they also say it is essential to track the variant and try to stay ahead of the virus. - BBC

By Stephanie Hegarty, BBC World Service Analysis - Pictures of the first people being vaccinated against Covid-19 haven't filled everyone around the world with joy. In some places - in countries such as Zimbabwe, Mexico and Pakistan - the battle to get hold of the vaccine is likely to be long and tortuous. A doctor works in a Covid-19 laboratory at Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Photo: AFP Watching the vaccine roll out in the UK, Lois Chingandu wasn't excited - she was worried. Like most of us, she's looking forward to getting vaccinated and getting life back to normal. But unlike many people right now, she doesn't see light at the end of the tunnel. It's not clear when her country, Zimbabwe, will get a vaccine. "It's now just an issue of sitting and hoping if we will get it in my lifetime," she says. "I live in fear that I will contract Covid and die because of where I am sitting." It may sound like an exaggeration, but she has seen something very similar happen before. Chingandu works in HIV prevention and in the late 1990s in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital city, she watched thousands of people die from AIDS each day. Medicine was available to stop it - but only to those who could afford it. "Eventually when the privileged decide that it's time to save the poor people, then we will get the vaccine," she says. Chingandu is a member of a campaign called the People's Vaccine Alliance, which has admonished rich countries - particularly the US, UK, EU countries and Canada - for hoarding vaccines. According to researchers at Duke University, which is keeping track of deals between governments and vaccine companies, a handful of countries have secured more supply than their populations actually need. Canada has secured enough vaccines to vaccinate its entire population five times. These countries took a risk in buying vaccines before they proved to be effective and in turn helped to finance their development. Chingandu and the People's Vaccine campaign believe this process is unfair. They say excess vaccines should be redistributed to country's that need them. So far, 189 countries have signed up to the Covax initiative, which is supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and a group of international vaccine advocacy groups. Its aim is to unite countries into one bloc so they have more power to negotiate with drug companies. Of those countries, 92 - all low or middle-income countries - they will have their vaccines paid for by a fund sponsored by donors. The UK has donated half a billion dollars to this fund. The US and Russia are among the few countries that are not contributing. The remaining countries will buy vaccines through Covax but they may get better deals than if they had negotiated on their own. So far, Covax has secured deals for three promising Covid-19 vaccines. But, for now, the scheme will only cover the doses needed to cover 20 percent of a country's population. Critical months Mexico is a big supporter of the scheme and is one of the countries that will buy vaccines through it. But the country's chief vaccine negotiator, Martha Delgado, knows 20 percent won't be enough to stop Mexico's soaring rates of Covid-19. She's working hard to also secure vaccines by other means. Any delay is the difference between life and death. "These months are crucial," she says. On the 13 October, in what she describes as an iconic moment, her team secured deals directly with three vaccine companies. The team managed to secure a small number of doses of the much-coveted Pfizer vaccine - the first to be administered outside of trials. On Friday, Mexico's regulator approved the vaccine for emergency use and it will roll out this month. "At least in Mexico we have the money to buy vaccines," Delgado says. "I have seen other countries in the Latin-American region that don't have enough money to buy vaccines right now and they are not really guaranteed access." For many countries Covax is the only current solution. Photo: AFP The vaccine that is in development by Oxford University and the drug company AstraZeneca has said it will not profit from sales to developing countries. It's an important part of the Covax portfolio, but it hasn't been authorised for use in any country yet. And one vaccine company will not be able to produce enough doses get vaccines to 7.8 billion people in a matter of months. Like Mexico, Pakistan has been in talks with every vaccine manufacturer. "We definitely are competing with richer countries. And that was a given," says Faisal Sultan, the special assistant to Pakistan's prime minister on health, who has been central to those negotiations. "Everybody is going for a finite pie. The pie is fixed for now and everybody wants a slice of it. And there's obviously going to be some jostling and pushing." So far, he says negotiations are going well but they have yet to secure any doses. Pakistan can't afford to pay for a vaccine before they know that it will work. "That's a luxury," says Dr Sultan. "I think there's only a handful of countries who may do this. If we can get the right stuff, the right combination, we should be okay. But we cannot do blind bets." Leading universities in Pakistan have helped to run clinical trials on behalf of Chinese firm, CanSinoBIO and that may help secure a supply but it's not a quid quo pro. And negotiations are not purely about money either. Delgado admits that Mexico's good diplomatic relations were an important part in her successful deals. "Companies do exist within countries," Dr Sultan agrees. "And when you're talking countries, obviously politics and alliances and all these things do come into play. But at present, what we are trying to do is work above any geopolitical fray, it may or may not be truly possible." Lois Chingandu and the People's Vaccine are calling for something more radical than diplomacy or even Covax. They want vaccine companies to share the intellectual property, so that generic forms of the vaccine can be made. The WTO has delayed its decision on whether it will waive intellectual property rules for Covid vaccines. The proposal has won support from some countries at the WTO but is opposed by many Western countries. So for most countries, getting a Covid vaccine is still a waiting game. "People are going to continue to die of Covid," says Chingandu, "while people in other countries are living a normal life." - BBC