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As rapid Covid-19 vaccine campaigns in the U.S. and some other rich countries hold the promise of a return to more normal life for their citizens, some countries, particularly poor ones, face a starkly different reality: soaring coronavirus cases, including new highs, more than a year into the pandemic. Public health experts have for months warned that uneven vaccine distribution would leave swaths of the world exposed to fresh waves of infection, economically devastating lockdowns and potentially new virus strains. That divide—between rapidly vaccinating nations poised for an economic revival and those still trapped in the throes of the pandemic—is beginning to emerge. (Emont, 3/29)

Brutal surges in coronavirus cases are hitting much of the world all at once, from Europe to Brazil to India. Cases are rising just about everywhere, in a swift reversal from early February, when they were falling on every continent. They're also now ticking up in the U.S., which is in the midst of a race between vaccines and variants. (Lawler, 3/29)

Twice in recent months, a small Canadian company has approached two large drug makers to obtain licenses to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines so the shot could be distributed in low and middle-income countries where supplies are scarce. But a request made to AstraZeneca (AZN) was ignored, while Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) denied the overture, according to executives at Biolyse. So now, the privately held company is asking the Canadian government to sidestep the vaccine patents in what could be a test of the willingness of a wealthy country to help ensure Covid-19 vaccine supplies reach impoverished corners of the globe. (Silverman, 3/29)

The double mutation of a Covid-19 variant discovered in India is of grave concern — and could spread to other countries, according to Dr. Kavita Patel, a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution. “It is something to watch very closely, and something that will not be limited to India. It is something we will likely see around the world as we have with other variants,” she told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday. (Ng, 3/30)

The Tokyo Olympics open in under four months, and the torch relay has begun to crisscross Japan with 10,000 runners. Organizers say they are mitigating the risks, but some medical experts aren’t convinced. “It is best to not hold the Olympics given the considerable risks,” Dr. Norio Sugaya, an infectious diseases expert at Keiyu Hospital in Yokohama, told The Associated Press. “The risks are high in Japan. Japan is dangerous, not a safe place at all.” Sugaya believes vaccinating 50-70% of the general public should be “a prerequisite” to safely hold the Olympics, a highly unlikely scenario given the slow vaccine rollout in Japan. (Kageyama and Wade, 3/30)

Across Germany and France, shops are closing, travel is being restricted, and the authorities are ordering people back into their homes. But in Britain, the government moved on Monday to relax its strict national lockdown, allowing people to gather outdoors in groups of up to six people. The latest cautious steps, announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, widened the gulf between how Britain and much of Europe have handled the latest phase of the pandemic. From the rate of vaccinations to new cases of the virus and hospital admissions, the two seem to be moving in opposite directions. (Landler and Castle, 3/29)

Britain will focus on vaccinating the whole of its adult population before it can to provide any surplus shots to other countries such as its close neighbour Ireland, British business minister Kwasi Kwarteng said on Tuesday. More than 30 million Britons have received their first COVID-19 shots in the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, with the aim of offering shots to all adults by the end of July. However, Britain has found itself involved in a public spat with the European Union, where the vaccination programme has been much slower, over the supply of doses. (3/30)

Turkey is reinstating weekend lockdowns in most of Turkey’s provinces and will also impose restrictions over the Muslim holy month of Ramadan following a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases. Virus infections in Turkey have soared less than a month after the country divided its 81 provinces into four color-coded categories and relaxed restrictions in some provinces under a “controlled normalization” effort. The number of confirmed daily infections have since almost tripled to around 30,000, matching the record numbers that were reported in December. The country is also reporting around 150 deaths per day, up from around 65 at the start of the month. (Fraser, 3/30)