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by Julie CHARPENTRAT with AFP bureaus in Europe Agence France Presse PARIS France (AFP) — Despite dozens of deaths of people shortly after they were vaccinated against coronavirus, scientists say the evidence available so far does not incriminate the new anti-Covid vaccines. Health agencies stress however that the vast majority of post-vaccination fatalities were elderly, already vulnerable and often sick. Here’s a review of the situation: – Elderly, vulnerable – Norway sparked alarm last […]
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The emirate of Dubai has said it was slowing down its rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine due to a temporary delay in global deliveries. Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, began mass inoculations in December after the approval of vaccines by Chinese firm Sinopharm and US drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. According to health officials, the UAE has […]
by Leo RAMIREZ / Sébastien RICCI Agence France Presse WUHAN, CHina (AFP) — Exactly one year after it thrust the word “lockdown” into the global conversation, Wuhan passed the anniversary with a mix of pride at emerging from Covid-19’s grip and caution over a possible relapse. A year ago Saturday, Wuhan shocked the world by confining its 11 million anxious citizens to their homes, beginning a traumatic 76-day lockdown that underscored the growing threat […]
(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte said that local government units (LGUs) can procure their own vaccines against COVID-19 as long as these had passed the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Duterte said he sees nothing wrong with LGUs getting their own vaccines, but that they have to follow the requirement, which is clearance from the FDA. “Now, let me be very clear. Doon sa mga local governments, Sakur, wala akong objection kung magbili […]
MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — A major clinical trial shows that an inflammatory drug called colchicine is effective in treating Covid-19 and reduces the risk of complications from the disease, doctors in Canada said. The results of the study are a “major scientific discovery” and make colchicine — a medicine used to treat gout — “the world’s first oral drug that could be used to treat non-hospitalized patients with Covid-19,” the Montreal Heart Institute said in […]
by Ammu KANNAMPILLY Agence France Presse PUNE, India (AFP) — The tiny clinking vials supervised by silent PPE-wearing technicians belie the excitement inside the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India, a major player in the fight against coronavirus. The firm, founded in 1966 in the western city of Pune, is producing millions of doses of the Covishield vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, for India and much of the developing world. […]
by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Pfizer announced Friday that it will provide up to 40 million of its Covid-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries on a non-profit basis, through the globally-pooled Covax facility. While dozens of the world’s richer countries have begun their vaccination campaigns in a bid to curb the pandemic, coronavirus jabs have been few and far between in the world’s poorer nations. Covax — the globally-pooled coronavirus […]
(Eagle News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking a review of the reports on deaths in frail elderly individuals who had received the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. In a statement on Friday, Jan. 22, WHO said that the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) has already met early this week for the review. The GACVS is a group of experts that provides independent and authoritative guidance to WHO on the matter of […]
by Kelly MACNAMARA Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — To monitor changes to the coronavirus that could supercharge the pandemic or render vaccines less effective, scientists must sequence its genetic code to catalogue potentially dangerous mutations as they emerge. But so few countries are conducting and sharing surveillance that experts are as worried about the mutations they cannot see as those they can. Publication of the first genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 in January […]
by Deborah COLE Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany on Friday recorded more than 50,000 deaths from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, as public health officials expressed cautious optimism about a slowing infection rate. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) disease control centre said 859 people died from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 50,642. “That is a distressing, incomprehensible number to […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing on Friday kicked off a drive to test two million people in 48 hours as the city rushed to snuff out a new local cluster of cases believed to be linked to a more contagious virus variant. Long queues snaked through the Chinese capital — which reported 19 coronavirus cases in the past week — as the mass testing campaign got under way in Dongcheng and Xicheng districts. The […]
Mayor Belmonte warns against discrimination if resident is allowed to return to community (Eagle News) – The country’s first UK-COVID-19 variant positive case who has now tested negative for the virus might soon be allowed to return to his community once assessed to have fully recovered, according to the Quezon City government on Friday, Jan. 21. The patient who is a resident of Quezon City is still staying at a quarantine facility and doctors […]
