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by Deborah COLE BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government agreed Wednesday to continue a partial lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic until at least March 7, even as Germans grow increasingly weary of the tough restrictions. Following crunch talks with the leaders of Germany’s 16 states, Merkel said that the number of new Covid-19 infections in Europe’s top economy was dropping after more than two months of shuttered schools and shops. “When we […]
by Nina LARSON GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine can be used for people aged over 65, and also where coronavirus variants of concern are circulating, WHO experts said Wednesday, soothing fears about the jab. The World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) issued interim recommendations for when and how to use the two-shot vaccine, which has yet to receive WHO emergency use authorization. The announcement came after the […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia officially surpassed four million coronavirus infections Wednesday, days after the country dramatically revised upwards its fatality rate, cementing its place as one of the world’s worst-hit nations. A government tally showed infections had reached 4,012,710, which is the fourth-highest rate globally after the United States, India and Brazil. But Russia has come under fire for its official virus statistics and the government’s stated death toll of 78,134 in particular […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Spain, one of Europe’s hardest-hit nations, has topped three million since the start of the pandemic, the health ministry said Tuesday. Spain recorded another 16,402 cases in the last 24 hours, taking its overall figure to 3,005,487. Seroprevalence studies, which test for antibodies using a blood serum sample, suggest the real figure is far higher. Over the same 24-hour period, Spain also saw […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Undocumented migrants in Britain will still be able to get Covid vaccines without being subject to status checks, the government said on Monday. Anyone in Britain can register with doctors and access free frontline medical care, regardless of their immigration status. Some data is shared with the interior ministry, which is responsible for border enforcement and investigating irregular immigration, including deporting those with no right to remain. However, […]
by Danny KEMP Agence France Presse THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — The Netherlands and parts of Germany were blanketed on Sunday by a snowstorm that disrupted planes and trains and put some coronavirus testing on hold. Britain was also bracing for heavy snow from what Dutch meteorologists have called Storm Darcy, which is packing winds of up to 90 kilometres (55 miles) an hour. People rushed outdoors to enjoy sledging and playing in the snow […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Madrid authorities on Friday confirmed the first case in the region of the Brazilian variant of coronavirus, which is feared to be particularly infectious, in the region. A 44-year-old man who arrived at Madrid’s airport on January 29 tested positive for the coronavirus and subsequent lab tests confirmed he had caught the new strain, the regional government of Madrid said in a statement. The case is the first report in […]
by Camille BAS-WOHLERT Agence France Presse Europe and pharma groups must work together to speed up Covid-19 vaccinations, the head of the European branch of the World Health Organization said Friday, expressing concern about the effectiveness of vaccines on virus variants. “We need to join up to speed up vaccinations,” WHO Europe director Hans Kluge told AFP in an interview, as Europe bids to overcome a slow start to its vaccination campaign amid tensions […]
by Deborah COLE Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — The pandemic in Germany is still out of control, the head of its disease control institute said Friday, dampening hopes of a quick easing of its partial lockdown despite declining infection numbers. Robert Koch Institute (RKI) chief Lothar Wieler told reporters that the emergence of new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus posed a real danger to tentatively successful German efforts to curb its […]
LONDON, United States (AFP) — More than 10 million people have received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine across Britain, according to government figures published on Wednesday. The health ministry said 10,021,471 people have had a jab since the start of a mass vaccination campaign in early December. A further 498,962 have had a second dose. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has set a target of vaccinating 15 million of the most vulnerable by […]
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Covax programme to ensure equitable worldwide access to Covid-19 vaccines on Wednesday published its first distribution list, with enough doses for countries to immunise more than three percent of their populations by mid-2021. The distribution plan comes with lower-income countries falling behind in the vaccination race — a problem Covax was set up to address. It broke down how the programme’s initial 337.2 million doses will be […]
by Gina DOGGETT and AFP bureaus Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Final-stage trial results published on Tuesday placed Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine on a par with its Western rivals, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced openness to its use in the European Union once it receives the regulatory nod. Sputnik V, which has already been rolled out in Russia and several other countries, was found to be 91.6 percent effective against […]
