>> ebola on this states of bogota in cali angry about police inequality. the government does not convince observers. and germany refuses to back calls to drop the waiver of intellectual property rights on covid jabs. president macron has added his voice to that of joe biden, supporting india and south africa's calls for free access

to the formula that saves lives. france is taking measures to speed up its vaccination program and loweringhe age of those eligible for covid-19 vaccines, from 55 to 50 from next monday onwards. thank you very much for being with us. thousands of demonstrators poured onto columbia's streets, the eighth straight day of protests and clashes that have just left 24 dead and hundreds wounded. the frustration was started by frustration over tax reform but now demonstrators are angry over thfr government's policies on health, on education and inequality, as well as the violent repression by security forces. according to official figures, 24 people have died, 18 awful more shot. is hundred others have been

wounded and others have been reported missing during the week. let's go to our correspondent at the scene in bogota. can you clarify for us all many people have been killed, please? reporter: this is a very complicated number to find out because there is so much violence going on all around the country, mostly at night, ithe poor neighborhoods where police basically break the barricades during the night, and that the neighborhoods and start to shoot people, so it is really hard to find out. there is an ngo that tried to verify all the information they received. they are talking now about 37 people killed during the demonstrations here in columbia. rbara: and in. mark: terms of what the protesters are asking for, clearly this victim about tax

reform. and people are angry about inequality and about education and all manner of issues. is there any sign that the protesters are protesting something that the government can look at and say, yes, we can confusedt this stage to goy too forward? simone: i think at this point you have two wars, one against the other. as you said, the protest began with the tax bill. that people won, the tax bill has been retired. also the economy minister resigned. after that, because of the violence commend the protesters are asking the defense minister to step down. also there is another complication. that covid situation increased property in an already divided

and unjust country, so a lot of people are protesting. they don't want to stop. they just want to go on. many people are already asking for the head of the president. , other side, the president seems a given of hearing the people on theviolence comes froe protesters. but people know and they think that the dialogue will not take the two partso any direction. so the government is closed down and is in the buildings, the palace. and they are planning measures to start to try to intervene wit the military and police force to take the protesters away from the streets.

and on the other side you have the protesters but are already pointing to the president himself. mark: you mentioned the president and how he seems either to not want to listen to what is happening, or he is ignoring what is happening. is he the reason why the security forces are going in in such a violent way? isn't -- is it at his request? simone: well from what we see here in colombia, there are so many videos coming in and they are very violent. they show the police not only beating people, but it some cases they beat them and execute them. they are unbelievable. unprecedented violence. you really ask yourself, is this just the police that got out of control, or is this an order

from the government, the prime minister? it is really hard to know. what is clear is that it is not stopping. every night there are a number of people injured by bullets and live emanations and a lot of people killed. mark: simone bruno in bogota, keep yourself safe. thank you for joining us. let me recount, 37 people have lost their lives, according to our correspondent in bogota. as we said in our introduction, 18 of them were shot by police bullets. this clearly is a disturbing situation. there have been calls by the u.n. and the e.u. furthest to stop. we will continue with all the developments as we get them. joe biden's call for a waiver on international property rights for covid vaccines have been called a historic move by the head of the w.h.o. the wto is trying to negotiate this on behalf of india and south africa and other nations, who say they have been abandoned

in the vaccine race, as we have seen, to a deadly effect. but drug manufacturers say the plan would not help produce any activex h -- help produce any actual vaccine. >> a turning point, or largely symbolic? this is the question for temporarily lifting agent protection for covid-19 jabs. the u.s. was the first to endorse the idea, a decision hailed as a monumental moment by the world health organization who says it will increase vaccine supply to low income countries. french president emmanuel macron followed suit, adding that the waiver must be accompanied by a transfer of production knowledge for it to work. >> what is important today is that the technological transfer and the capacity to produce. you can transfer the intellectual property to pharmaceutical manufacturers in africa, but they don't have the platforms to produce mrna

vaccines the point is to transfer the technology and the know-how so there can be some platforms producing mrna vaccines in africa. reporter: not everyone is on board, with neighboring germany rejecting the proposal, saying that it would only discourage innovation, and that the focus should be on ramping up reduction capacities. the pharmaceutical industry has also voiced opposition, arguing that such a move would do little to change the status quo of vaccine supply and that it is not a practical solution to the doses.x process of manufacturing that e.u. commission has announced it is open to the idea. >> the european union is also ready to discuss any proposal that addresses the crisis in an effective and magmatic manner. reporter: wto member states will seek to hammer out a deal in the coming weeks. however, it could be months before they reach a consensus.

in addition to that, all members will need to unanimously agree to the decision. mark: so the situation regarding the vaccine, joe biden made the initial call. he was common for intellectual property rights to be waivied on the covid vaccine and emmanuel macron has added his support. we heard him in the report there talking about that it is a question of transforming the technology to make sure that when you try to get the production roving in new places such as india and south africa, there there the right technology is there to make sure the vaccine is produced. and then germany says we are not in favor. although there is a split on that actual opinion. there is much to negotiate, it seems. let's get more on the story. gavin is a global health expert at duke university. he told us here a year ago, and i think he was the first person to mention this, about long

covid, which is only recognized as a condition by the french establishment on march 23 of this year. gavin, thank you for joining us. i know you want to talk about vaccines, that can i ask you first about long covid and the effect it is having on the world? what we are looking at is an extension of the pandemic beyond when it might end. kegavin: thank you for having me on. you are right, a long time ago i was concerned that covid-19 was not just causing death, but in a substantial number of people, having the illness was leading to long-term symptoms, long covid as it is now called, or long-haulers. the study is a little bit unclear as to how common it is, whether its 3% or% for 10% of people infected who go on to get it.

clearly since so many people have been affected, that is a very large number of people with long covid. we are getting much better data on the kinds of symptoms and problems, from heart and lung problems to bring problems that people are suffering, that clearly in addition to the recognition and research, we need better treatments and rehabilitation tailored to the kinds of problems people have since we last spoke, there have been specialized covid clinics set up around the world, including a pediatric long covid clinic. mark: indeed, france is running behind on that one i am afraid to say. let's talk about the vaccine and the vaccine waiver, in particular. tell us where you stand on that. gavin: i agree with dr. tedros of the world health organization that this is a monumental ment

in the fight against covid-19. it is not everything, obviously, and in fact my colleague at georgetown university calls it one piece of the covid-19 vaccine access puzzle. and i think he is right. the immediate need, of course, is to get shots in arms. this ip waiver is not going to do that overnight. rich nations have hoarded vaccine doses, in fact they are sitting on 1.5 billion unused doses, excess doses that they don't need. the most immediate requirement is that richard nations donate them to low income countries now, ideally through the covax pool. that is actually, in my opinion, the most urgent thing they can do.

however, that is not something that is necessarily long-term and sustainable, that is a charity model and eventually they will begin to shift from a charity model to a sustainable model where low and middle-income countries are making vaccines themselves, and that is why this intellectual property waiver is so important, because it will unleash companies in low and middle income countries to be able to do that. many of these companies stand ready. the patent has been underway. it is not the only thing in the way, of course, because along with a vip waiver, we are going to need tech transfer. in other words, the sharing of know-how, the sharing of recipes. and we will need to fund the actual manufacturi plants themselves. we know th the wld heah organizaon's nds readto do that. the sustainable part is that the related stool, the ip, the recipes and supporting the

manufacturing. all that is important. mark: let's hope that stool as you described it, can be built. gavin, we need to leave it there, but thank you as ever for joining us here on france 24. we appreciate the time and the job you are doing. global health expert at duke university. let's tell you more about vaccines in france. france is taking measures to speed up a vaccination by lowering the age of those eligible for the covid jab. president macron making the announcement as he was inaugurating a mass vaccination center in paris. so far a little over a third of the population has received a covid-19 vaccination. here at france 24, hour correspondent with this. reporter: a new covid-19 vaccine mass vaccination center and a new stregy. starting next monday, vaccination will be possible for anyone aged over 50, rather than 55 currently. and on may 15, any leftover

doses that risk expiring in 24 hours will be administered to anyone who registered regardless of their age. >> [speaking in french] reporter: the leftover doses, several thousand eight today, will only be enough to vaccinate a small fraction of the population, but health officials say it is important to start protecting younger people ahead of the easing of senatorial restrictions. on the streets, though, not everyone is keen to get the jab yet. >> [speaking in french] reporter: so far in france,

nearly 13 million people have received at least one dose. mark: you are watching france 24. for more news, stay with us. ♪ l > hello and welcome to all of you watching. i am julia and this is text 24. we cross over to the head of a medical facility near mumbai. he will tell us how his hospital is now ao using oxygen concentrators as an alternative to liquid medical oxygen, this is the country battles a deadly second wave of the covid-19 pandemic and will talk about nfc

or near field communication. you probably already use it to pay for things or take public transport but it has other few uses, from fighting fires in china, to waking up in the morning. amid crippling shortages in oxygen in india, the government has set up a train to help deliver the life-saving gas. it is traveling through the most hard-hit areas, carrying 10 tankers of liquefied -- oxygen. let's cross over to a radiologist and the head of a hospital in mumbai. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for joining us. julia: your hospital has the capacity of 110 beds, 50% of which are for covid cases. . you. are now using oxygen concentrators what are they exactly, and tell us more about your plans. >> we have 20 oxygen concentrators which are good enough for the ordinary type of

patients, those who are losing thr oxygen saturation, it is too in 85 to 90. so those types of patients, we e e oxygen concentrator. it converts air directly into oxygen and it is just dependent on electricity. it filters out nitrogen from the air and isolates the oxygen. so this is a very good stopgap when the oxygen supply is low from the main center location, and also the patient can take away this oxygen concentrator to their home and they can get oxygen. the flow rate in the oxygen comforter is five liters a minute to tend it is a minute -- 10 litres a minute.

theris something called the psa, an absorption technology, where oxygen from the air is directly converted into their oxygen within the plant. julia: tell us about the so-called oxygen chain, how doctors are using liquid medical oxygen, meaning the oxygen has to be liquefied t travel. transporting oxygen.ges in dr. raje: a major source of oxygen creation in india is liquefied cryogenic technology. big companies, they have very large networks. they have 1200 tankers at 800 nitrogen tankers. this is a plan which produces a

very large amount of oxygen in a liquefied way. they just make oxygen from the air, you could date it along with other gases and then separate oxygen from it in a liquefied form and put it into the tanker at -23 degrees celsius which is cryogenic technology. these tankers can travel through airplanes or trains, we have express trains, 5 to 10 tankers in each train. and the oxygen is converted from liquid into air at various hospitals into cylinders. they put the oxygen into the cylinders and they sent it to the various hospitals. julia: dr. shrikant raje , thank you very much indeed for that. time to welcome our tech editor, peter. we will stay in india and keep talking about this ethical situation that the country and

the entire continent is actually facing -- this difficult situation. many people are coming up with ideas to help mitigate the crisis. peter: india is exceptional at low-cost innovation and battling the pandemic is no different for instance, two students have led a team which in 90 days delivered a low-cost ventilator. very days, its components are solely made in india, so it costs just 800 euros rather than several thousand. in the southern state, local authorities have been using drones by a startup -- you can see it here. what it does is it patrols the streets, allows them to see if any crowds are forming and if they are, they will use a loudspeaker attached to the drone to say, split up, you are getting so close. and over in chennai, a

university has set up a hospital unit that can be set up by four people in just under two hours. it has a electric's, a doctor's office, a award, and even an i see you but best and even an icu, that has negative pressure to stop there from flowing outside. julia: amazing. and big tech is also coming forward to help india. peter: google has pledged 12 million euros in ad grants from public health campaigns. this means local authorities can use ads for free to inform the public about covid-19. others have pledged breathing machines to be sent over from singapore to hospitals in india. the chinese electronics giant show me has also -- xiaomi has also pledged oxygen concentrators. julia: i.t. companies have had to create warm rooms. what are those about -- war

rooms? peter: many workers are taking time off to care for their relatives or getting sick, and that means many companies have had to set up war rooms. these are people manning the phones and computers to make sure that their sick staff of hospital beds or oxygen or medicine where available, but also to figure out how to maintain their services for their clients who includes many of the world's biggest financial firms. so with the shortage of staff that is going on, it is no wonder that teams are having to work 13-14 hours a day, a lot of them working from home. julia: thank you very much, peter. now to another story in china. big data is helping firefighters in a southern city predict risks and prevent fire hazards. the communication chips were installed in hundreds of facilities across town, such as public hospitals and call centers, making it possible to monitor temperature, electricity

current, and voltage in real-time. here is the report. reporter: chinese researchers they that it is technology that can save lives. in system of sensors monitoring systems and cameras spread throughout the city, to enable firefighters to pinpoint their response to a blaze and other emergencies. >> there are some areas with hidden risks that our fire department should pay attention to. reporter: that includes water and electricity gas. >> we have set up sensors and corresponding electronic devices which are able to do a 24 hour monitoring. reporter: devices called near field communication chips were installed in hundreds of facilities to monitor temperature, electricity current and voltage in real-time, along with hundreds of cameras

installed throughout the city. officials say in april, they were able to prevent a fire when they detected high temperatures in an electrical system inside hospital. but the widespread monitoring comes with privacy concerns and is part of a larger plan by china's ruling communist party to harvest the internet of things. in network of software and information. those behind it defend its expansion. >> we try to make it different companies and to exchange their ideas and their business and also to change -- exchange their obligations. reporter: china is not the only country using the technology but the government is taking steps beyond any other nation, investing billions of euros into a five-year effort to make the country a self-reliant technology power.

julia: moving on to test 2 4. ♪ as we have seen, near field communication has a variety of uses for professionals, but for consumers, it is mainly used for contact max payments and transport -- contactless payments and transport but peter has another use to show us. peter: people thought it might become the new way to interact with the world when it first came about but, companies are still trying to flog various gizmos. and i have one here. what this is is essentially a digital business card so you can stick it on the back of your phone and someone else can come along with their phone, tap to scan it and it comes up with all of your various contact details and social media information. my kind of reasoning is, if you both have your phones there, why can't you just send a text maybe

i am old-fashioned. julia: or use bluetooth. or maybe a convenient way would be to be able to put it elsewhere. peter: you could put it in your wallet or even your forehead, if you want to. [laughter] that is what is clever about these nfc chips, they are basicasmall computer chips and they only begin to turn on and start working when they are in the field of an msc transmitter say a smart phone, and nearly all smartphones have nfc transmitters on them now. when it comes close to those, it will power on and blurt out the data saved onto it. julia: what can you do with the data? >> you can do a lot. you can get one for very cheap online, you can do all sorts of things with them, you can program them how you want to. you can use them in your car if you have a holster to put your phone in, you can have an nfc sticker and when you put your phone down, it will launch of

the map apps or bluetooth, or you can set one on the side of your bed, and when you put your phone down, it can set an alarm, turn your phone screen off our pritchards island. that uses are endless -- or put it on silent. the uses are endless. julia: thank you very much for that, peter. that brings us to this week's edition of test 24. we hope you enjoyed it we will see you soon. ♪

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05/06/21 05/06/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> are you going to back the waiver? pres. biden: yes. amy: "a monumental moment." that's how the world health organization is describing president biden's decision to support temporarily waiving the intellectual property rights for covid vaccines.