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BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (AFP) — Africa needs at least 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine within six weeks if those who have had their first shot are to get the second in time, the WHO said Thursday. “Africa needs vaccines now,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s Regional Director for Africa. “Any pause in our vaccination campaigns will lead to lost lives and lost hope.” The WHO statement underlined the importance of respecting […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan will extend a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas on Friday until just a month before the Olympics, in a move that is likely to fuel concerns over whether the Games can be held safely. Tokyo and nine other parts of the country are currently under emergency orders which mostly involve closing bars and restaurants early and banning them from selling alcohol. The emergency was supposed to […]
MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Five million weary Melbourne residents returned to lockdown Friday, straining local resolve and testing Australia’s “zero-Covid” strategy of smothering outbreaks however small. As authorities said the cluster of positive cases had grown to 39, streets in Australia’s second city emptied out for the fourth time since the pandemic began. “It’s just very difficult,” resident Gavin Catt told AFP. “This lockdown is affecting us. Many families and friends can’t work.” Melbournians have […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam began vaccinating hundreds of thousands of factory workers in its industrialized north on Thursday to combat its largest Covid-19 outbreak so far, days after the country reported a daily record in new cases. The communist country has been widely applauded for its aggressive pandemic response — with mass quarantines and strict contact tracing helping keep infection rates low — but clusters have now been reported in around half of its […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany will start offering coronavirus jabs to children over the age of 12 from June 7, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday. But she stressed that vaccination would not be compulsory and would have no bearing on whether children can attend school or go on holiday. The European Medicines Agency is expected to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid jab for 12- to 15-year-olds on Friday. It is already authorised in the EU for […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Covax global vaccine-sharing program said Thursday it needs $2.0 billion in additional funding by the beginning of June in order to boost coronavirus inoculation programs in lower-income countries. “We need an additional $2 billion to lift coverage… up to nearly 30 percent, and we need it by June 2 to lock in supplies now so that doses can be delivered through 2021, and into early 2022,” the mechanism’s organizers — […]
MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — More than five million people in Australia’s second-biggest city of Melbourne were ordered into a snap week-long lockdown Thursday, as officials blamed a sluggish vaccine rollout and hotel quarantine failures for another virus outbreak. Stay-at-home orders will apply to Melbourne and surrounding Victoria state from midnight for seven days, acting state Premier James Merlino told residents, as the cluster doubled to 26 cases. “In the last day, we’ve seen more evidence […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Johnson & Johnson’s single-jab vaccine against Covid-19 will be limited in Belgium to people aged 41 and over, authorities said on Wednesday following the death of a woman who received the jab. The country’s inter-ministerial health body focused on the pandemic said that restriction will be “provisionally” applied pending further guidance from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine. The move underlined the level of caution EU […]
SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — People in Chile who have been vaccinated and are fully immunized against the coronavirus could from Wednesday obtain a pass to move about more freely, a move criticized by health professionals. The pass, which can be downloaded on a person’s mobile phone two weeks after receiving their second shot, gives the bearer permission to move about freely in cities under lockdown to go to the supermarket, pharmacy, or for open air […]
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The coronavirus variant first detected in India has now been officially recorded in 53 territories, a World Health Organization report showed Wednesday. Additionally, the WHO has received information from unofficial sources that the B.1.617 variant has been found in seven other territories, figures in the UN health agency’s weekly epidemiological update showed, taking the total to 60. The report said B.1.617 had shown increased transmissibility, while disease severity […]
KANO, Nigeria (AFP) — A cholera outbreak in northern Nigeria has killed at least 20 people in the past two weeks with more than 300 hospitalized from the disease, a health official said Tuesday. Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, suffers from a high rate of water-borne diseases as a result of dilapidated infrastructure and under-investment. The latest outbreak in Bauchi state was reported in nine districts, with the state capital Bauchi worst hit, Mohammed Maigoro, […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Half of all US adults have now received full Covid-19 vaccines, the White House said Tuesday, marking another huge milestone in the fight against the pandemic. “Now 50% of all American adults are fully vaccinated,” tweeted Cyrus Shahpar, Covid-19 data director for the White House. That means half the adult population has received either two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, or one of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson. […]
