by Glenda Kwek, with Abhaya Srivastava and Nishant Saxena Agence France Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — With its 1.3 billion population, India has the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus infections — more than 10.8 million — but new cases and deaths have fallen sharply in recent weeks. This week, new daily infections were the lowest in eight months, while deaths fell below 100 — the smallest single-day total since May. AFP looks at how […]
Tag: covid
DOST says sites for clinical trial of Janssen vaccine in PHL already being prepared
Number of participants can’t be disclosed yet as part of agreement https://youtu.be/mCzpknTBj-w (Eagle News) — The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said that clinical trials for the COVID-19 vaccine formulated by Johnson and Johnsons’ Janssen Pharmaceuticals are set to start in the coming weeks. DOST Secretary Fortunato dela Peña said that the local government units and hospitals where the clinical trials will be done have already been informed about this. Initially, the areas where […]
LIST: Priority groups for PHL COVID-19 vaccination program
(Eagle News) — The Palace on Friday, Feb. 5, released its list of groups to be prioritized in the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program. According to the list, the following are the priorities in the program that is slated to start this year: A1: Frontline workers in health facilities both national and local, private and public, health professionals and non-professionals like students, nursing aides, janitors, barangay health workers, etc. A2: Senior citizens aged 60 years old […]
Brazil aims to buy 30 million Sputnik V, Covaxin shots
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — The Brazilian government announced Wednesday it was negotiating the purchase of 30 million coronavirus vaccine doses from Russia and India, after regulators made it easier for the treatments to win emergency-use authorizations. Until now, only the AstraZeneca/Oxford shot and China’s CoronaVac have been permitted in Brazil, the second-hardest-hit country after the US, with more than 226,000 deaths from Covid-19. Brazil’s health surveillance agency said it would no longer require final […]
WHO chief warns against “vaccine nationalism” as EU tries to stop vaccine exports
WHO says countries must work together as COVAX readies vaccine rollout (Eagle News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) Director General called on the world to seize the “window of opportunity” to defeat the pandemic through timely vaccine intervention, and thus prevent widespread transmission of the COVID-19 virus that had so far claimed more than 2 million lives. WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that life-saving vaccines are a very limited resource right now, […]
China to offer 10 million vaccine doses to Covax
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China plans to provide 10 million doses of Covid-19 jabs to the WHO-backed international vaccine distribution programme Covax, Beijing said Wednesday as it seeks to reframe perceptions of its role in the pandemic. The Covax programme, which aims to provide two billion doses of vaccine, pools funding from richer countries with the intention of ensuring poorer nations can inoculate their health workers and most vulnerable citizens, on the basis that […]
WHO’s Covax Facility sets out vaccination plans in first distribution list
by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Covax programme for Covid-19 vaccines published its first distribution list Wednesday, planning enough doses for dozens of countries to immunise more than three percent of their populations by mid-year. The list comes with concerns over whether lower-income countries will be left out of the immunisation race dominated by rich nations, a problem Covax was set up to resolve. It broke down for the […]
PHL health workers to be given 1st shots of COVID vaccines; masterlist completed by Feb 15
Unified COVID-19 vaccine registry to include those at risk, vulnerable to virus (Eagle News) — Philippine health care workers will be the first to be immunized against COVID-19 in the country, with the vaccinators also prioritized to be given the vaccine doses so they will be protected while they give the shots to other vulnerable sectors of the community. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the Department of Health is now in the […]
Saudi bars entry from 20 countries as Covid-19 surges
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia on Tuesday suspended entry from 20 countries, ranging from some neighbouring states to the United States, in a bid to curb a jump in coronavirus infections. The interior ministry announced the “temporary suspension” would be effective from 9.00 pm (1800 GMT) on Wednesday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The ban applies to neighbouring Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and in the wider region, to […]
Europe warms to Russian jab after positive trial results
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 […]
WHO team visits Chinese virus lab in Wuhan
WUHAN, China (AFP) — World Health Organization inspectors visited a laboratory in China’s Wuhan city on Wednesday that American officials suggested could have been the source of the coronavirus. The inspection of the Wuhan virology institute, which conducts research on the world’s most dangerous diseases, will be one of the most-watched stops on the team’s probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. The sensitive mission, which China had delayed throughout the first year […]
Public can now avail of drive-thru saliva tests for COVID-19, says PRC
Saliva tests at 98 percent efficacy, officials assure https://youtu.be/YCl1EqoA4OI (Eagle News) — The Philippine Red Cross started its drive-thru saliva tests for COVID-19 which it would be conducting in selected malls in Metro Manila. This was made possible with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with SM Supermalls. More convenient COVID-19 tests would now be made more available to the public at less cost because of this. Test results would also be […]





