Europe

UK sends 1,000 more ventilators to India as doctors rally

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The UK said Sunday it was sending an extra 1,000 oxygen ventilators to Covid-struck India, as a group of doctors staged their own intervention by offering long-distance telemedicine from Britain. British authorities have already sent 495 oxygen concentrators and 200 ventilators to India as the country grapples with a devastating surge in coronavirus cases, and are shipping three larger production units, dubbed oxygen factories. The 1,000 additional ventilators will come […]

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BioNTech eyes Covid vaccine for 12-15 year olds from June in EU

FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — BioNTech said Thursday that it expected its Covid-19 vaccine, jointly developed with Pfizer, to be available to 12 to 15-year-olds in Europe from June. The German firm’s CEO Ugur Sahin told Der Spiegel weekly that it was “in the final stretches” of preparing its submission for European regulatory approval. The evaluation of the trial data “takes four to six weeks on average”, he added. Vaccinating children is seen as a crucial […]

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Moderna eyes three billion Covid vaccine doses in 2022

PARIS, France (AFP) — US pharmaceutical firm Moderna said Thursday it expects to increase global production of its cutting-edge Covid vaccine to up to three billion doses in 2022. The company said in a statement that it would make new funding commitments to increase supply at its manufacturing facilities in Europe and the United States. The investments will double the manufacturing of drug substance at its Swiss partner Lonza and more than double output by […]

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UK sends ‘oxygen factories’ to India

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain announced Wednesday it was sending three oxygen generation units to Covid-struck India following a first consignment of aid this week, but said it had no spare vaccines to offer. The three units, dubbed oxygen factories, are each the size of a shipping container and can produce 500 litres of oxygen per minute, the UK government said. “We stand with our Indian friends in their fight against Covid-19,” Foreign Secretary […]

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BioNTech co-founder ‘confident’ vaccine works against Indian variant

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin on Wednesday voiced confidence that the vaccine that his company jointly developed with Pfizer works against the Indian variant of the coronavirus. “We are still testing the Indian variant, but the Indian variant has mutations that we have already tested for and which our vaccine works against, so I am confident,” said Sahin. © Agence France-Presse

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Few reported Covid infections after trial Barcelona gig

by Maud Watine BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Six people out of 5,000 who attended an indoor trial concert last month in Barcelona reported testing positive for Covid-19 afterwards, organisers said on Tuesday, giving hope for the revival of the live music industry. Ahead of the show, everyone underwent mass screening and antigen tests. There were no mass tests afterwards, but 15 days later only six people reported testing positive for Covid-19 according to public medical […]

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Spain to impose quarantine on travelers from India

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain said Tuesday it will impose a 10-day quarantine on all travelers arriving from India in response to the emergence of a fast-spreading coronavirus variant in the country. The measure, which will take effect on Wednesday, will apply to people who travelled via third countries since there are no direct flights between India and Spain, government spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero said. “This is a measure which our country has already adopted […]

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One dose of Covid vaccine cuts household spread by up to 50%: UK study

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — One dose of the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines reduces the chances of someone infected with coronavirus from spreading it to other household members by up to 50 percent, according to a English study published Wednesday. The Public Health England (PHE) research found that those who became infected three weeks after receiving their first jab were between 38 and 49 percent less likely to pass the virus on to their household […]

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Indian Covid variant found in at least 17 countries: WHO

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization said Tuesday that a variant of Covid-19 feared to be contributing to a surge in coronavirus cases in India has been found in over a dozen countries. The UN health agency said the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 first found in India had as of Tuesday been detected in over 1,200 sequences uploaded to the GISAID open-access database “from at least 17 countries”. “Most sequences were uploaded from […]

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French primary schools reopen as Covid 3rd wave eases

by Romain FONSEGRIVES PARIS, France (AFP) — Millions of French children returned to the classroom on Monday as primary schools reopened after a three-week shutdown ordered to combat a severe third wave of Covid-19 infections. Kindergartens also reopened as President Emmanuel Macron’s government began easing restrictions imposed when France entered its third nationwide lockdown on April 3. Secondary schools will reopen in a week’s time and restrictions on people travelling beyond a 10-kilometre (six-mile) radius […]

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France’s Sanofi to help produce Moderna vaccines in US

PARIS, France (AFP) — French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi said Monday that it would help Moderna produce its cutting-edge Covid-19 vaccine in the United States, as it pursues development of its own jab for the virus at home. The company’s production site in Ridgefield, New Jersey, just outside New York City, will carry out “fill and finish” operations for up to 200 million doses starting in September for distribution worldwide. “We are one of the few […]

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Covid-19 situation in India ‘beyond heartbreaking’: WHO chief

  by Nina LARSON Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization chief voiced alarm Monday at India’s record-breaking wave of Covid-19 cases and deaths, saying the organisation was rushing to help address the crisis. “The situation in India is beyond heartbreaking,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. He spoke as India battles a catastrophic coronavirus wave that has overwhelmed hospitals, with crematoriums working at full capacity. A surge in recent days has […]

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