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LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British health officials on Wednesday warned that anyone with a history of significant allergic reactions should not have the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid jab for the time being. The warning came after two members of the state-run National Health Service who were among the first to receive the vaccine on Tuesday suffered allergic reactions and needed treatment. NHS England medical director Stephen Powis said both people, who had a history of […]
TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) — Israel received its first batch of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring the pandemic’s end was “in sight” and vowing to get the first jab. “This is a great celebration for Israel,” he said on the tarmac at Ben Gurion airport, near Tel Aviv, as a fork-lift truck started unloading the cargo from a red and yellow DHL air freighter. The shipment was the first […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday it plans to provide 500 million doses of its vaccine for poor countries once results of clinical trials are announced by the end of January. It plans to sell the vaccine at cost price and will provide the doses to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the group’s scientific director Paul Stoffels told a virtual round table in Geneva. The vaccine is currently undergoing final-stage […]
BANGLORE, India (AFP) — Traces of heavy metals such as lead and nickel have been found in samples taken from 550 people stricken by a mystery illness in a southern Indian town where some victims have collapsed in the street, officials said. The government has rushed medical experts to Eluru in Andhra Pradesh state to investigate the illness, which first appeared Saturday. One man died after showing the symptoms of seizures, nausea and chronic pain. […]
by Nina LARSON GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla said Tuesday he understands concerns around the speed at which pharmaceutical companies have produced Covid-19 vaccines, but insisted that no corners had been cut. As Britain on Tuesday became the first Western country to start a mass coronavirus vaccine campaign, using the new Pfizer-BioNTech jab, Bourla said people should feel confident that it is safe and effective. “We didn’t cut any corners,” he […]
by Kelly MACNAMARA PARIS, France (AFP) — Oxford University and AstraZeneca on Tuesday became the first Covid-19 vaccine makers to publish final-stage clinical trial data in a scientific journal, clearing a key hurdle in the global race to produce safe and effective drugs for the coronavirus. The study, published in the respected Lancet medical journal, confirmed that the vaccine works in an average of 70 percent of cases. It comes during a flurry of positive […]
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — The highest point on Earth got a bit higher Tuesday as China and Nepal finally agreed on a precise elevation for Mount Everest after decades of debate. The agreed height unveiled at a joint news conference in Kathmandu of 8,848.86 metres (29,031 feet) was 86 centimetres (2.8 feet) higher than the measurement previously recognised by Nepal, and more than four metres above China’s official figure. The discrepancy was due to the […]
BANGLORE, India (AFP) — Hundreds of people have been treated for mystery illness in a southern Indian town, with one doctor ruling out “mass hysteria” at a time nerves are already frayed because of the coronavirus. The government rushed medical experts to Eluru in Andhra Pradesh state to investigate the illness, which first appeared Saturday causing seizures, nausea and chronic pain. Officials said nearly 500 people have been treated — with most swiftly recovering — […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain on Tuesday began the biggest vaccination program in the country’s history, with a 90-year-old grandmother becoming the first person to receive the Covid vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech. The historic inoculation was given to Margaret Keenan in Coventry, central England. © Agence France-Presse
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong will ban evening dining at restaurants and close fitness centres, the city’s leader said Tuesday, as part of new measures aimed at stemming a fourth wave of coronavirus infections. Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the rules aim to reduce the “number of people on the streets”, echoing moves taken by authorities when cases spiked earlier this year. Dining out will be banned after 6 pm, beauty and massage […]
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization said Monday that persuading people on the merits of a Covid-19 vaccine would be far more effective than trying to make the jabs mandatory. The WHO said it would be down to individual countries as to how they want to conduct their vaccination campaigns against the coronavirus pandemic. But the UN health agency insisted making it mandatory to get immunized against the disease would […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Pfizer and BioNTech will deliver the first doses of their Covid-19 vaccine to Canada this month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday, with inoculations to start as early as next week. Another vaccine candidate developed by Moderna could also be shipped “as soon as December,” the American company said. At a news conference, Trudeau said a deal was signed with Pfizer and BioNTech “to begin early delivery of doses of their […]
