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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech firm Moderna said Friday it was seeking clearance with regulators around the world to put 50 percent more coronavirus vaccine into each of its vials as a way to quickly boost current supply levels. The company issued a statement after The New York Times first reported the US Food and Drug Administration had already cleared it to increase levels by 40 percent. “In order to better maximize resources […]
BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (AFP) — Deaths from Covid-19 in Africa surged by 40 percent over the last month, the World Health Organisation said Thursday, as the continent’s toll approaches 100,000. “Over 22,300 deaths were reported in Africa in the last 28 days, compared with nearly 16,000 deaths in the previous 28 days,” said the WHO Africa office based in the Republic of the Congo capital Brazzaville. “This comes as Africa battles new, more contagious variants […]
by Agence France Presse Bureaus WASHINGTON, Unnited States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden announced plans to vaccinate most Americans by the end of July with the help of 200 million newly acquired doses, as the country’s inoculation campaign kicked off a new phase in drugstores and supermarket pharmacies, some of which will offer shots as of Friday. Even as the Biden administration inked deals to acquire “100 million more Moderna and 100 million […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — House prosecutors wrapped up their impeachment case against Donald Trump on Thursday, urging the Senate to convict the former president of inciting the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. “We humbly, humbly ask you to convict President Trump for the crime for which he is overwhelmingly guilty,” said Representative Joe Neguse, one of the House impeachment managers. “Because if you don’t, if we pretend this didn’t happen — or […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Facing a severe vaccine shortage, Los Angeles moved to temporarily close five major inoculation centers including its giant Dodger Stadium site Thursday, even as California this week topped the nation’s pandemic death toll. “We’re vaccinating people faster than new vials are arriving here in Los Angeles, and I’m very concerned right now,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti, slamming the vaccine supply as “uneven… unpredictable and too often inequitable.” Los Angeles […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP)– Mexican regulators gave emergency approval Wednesday to the Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines CanSino Biologics and CoronaVac. The approval was announced by deputy health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell as Mexico struggles to manage the pandemic. “I have given the authorization for emergency use of both vaccines,” Lopez-Gatell, who serves as the spokesman for the government’s pandemic coordination, said during a press conference. In addition to CanSino and Sinovac’s CoronaVac, Mexico has authorized three […]
by Yemeli Ortega with Alina Dieste in Washington and Agence France Presse bureaus MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AFP) — As a second, deadly wave of Covid-19 batters Latin America, images have emerged from country after country of desperate people lining up for days to buy oxygen to ease the suffering of infected loved ones fighting for breath. As demand soars, prices have skyrocketed and families have had to scrape together their last cents to pay for […]
by Paul HANDLEY / Jerome CARTILLIER Joe Biden pressed Chinese leader Xi Jinping over human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang late Wednesday in their first call since the new US president took office on January 20, according to the White House. Setting the stage for what could extend the contentious relationship between the two superpowers, Biden offered Xi his “greetings and wellwishes” for the Chinese people on the occasion of the Lunar New Year […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced concern Wednesday over China’s incursions into Japanese territorial waters, recommitting to the ally’s defense. In a telephone call, Blinken and Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi “expressed concern over increased Chinese assertiveness around the Senkaku Islands following China’s enactment of a new coast guard law,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “Secretary Blinken reaffirmed that the Senkakus fall within the scope of Article V […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest son and heir Prince Charles, who contracted Covid-19 last year, has received a first vaccine dose, his office said on Wednesday. The 72-year-old Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, 73, both received the shot as health authorities urged those over the age of 70 to get a jab. Britain, which was the first Western nation to roll out Covid jabs in the general population, […]
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 […]
