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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Moderna said Thursday its Covid-19 vaccine is 96 percent effective among youths aged 12 to 17, according to the results of its first clinical trials. Two-thirds of the 3,235 participants in trials in the United States received the vaccine and one-third were given a placebo. The study “showed vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 of 96%; mRNA-1273 was generally well tolerated with no serious safety concerns identified to date,” the company said. […]
BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (AFP) — The World Health Organization on Thursday warned of a new wave of Covid-19 infections in Africa due to delayed vaccine supplies, a slow rollout and new variants. The African bureau of the UN agency said the continent had to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of vaccine rollouts. “The delay in the delivery of vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India earmarked for Africa, the delay […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said he supported the idea of a waiver on patent protections for coronavirus vaccines as Russia registered its fourth virus jab called Sputnik Light. A campaign to lift patent protections on Covid-19 vaccines picked up steam on Thursday, with French, German and EU leadership saying they were ready to discuss a proposal by US President Joe Biden, before Putin added his support. “We are […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Health officials in Russia approved a single-dose version of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the developers of the shot said Thursday. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which helped finance the vaccine, said in a statement that Sputnik Light “demonstrated 79.4 percent efficacy” compared to 91.6 percent for the two-shot Sputnik V. The results, it said, were drawn from “data taken from 28 days after the injection was administered as […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Sydney’s first local Covid-19 cases in more than a month left health authorities scrambling to trace their origins on Thursday, but they stopped short of ordering Australia’s most populous city into lockdown. A man in his 50s and his wife have tested positive for the virus, triggering warnings for a string of locations around the city that they visited while believed to be contagious. They are Sydney’s first recorded cases of […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India saw almost 4,000 Covid-19 deaths and more than 412,000 new cases in the past 24 hours, both new records, official data showed Thursday. Health ministry numbers showed 3,980 deaths, taking the national total to 230,168, and 412,262 new cases, bringing India’s caseload since the pandemic began to 21.1 million. The renewed rise follows several days of falling case numbers that had raised government hopes that the catastrophic recent surge […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech firm Moderna on Wednesday announced initial data from a small clinical trial that showed its booster shots improved people’s immune responses against key coronavirus variants of concern. “We are encouraged by these new data, which reinforce our confidence that our booster strategy should be protective against these newly detected variants,” said the company’s CEO Stephane Bancel. Forty participants were tested for their levels of neutralizing antibodies six to […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia will tighten coronavirus curbs in the capital to combat a fresh spike in cases, with only essential businesses allowed to operate and restaurant dining-in banned, authorities said Wednesday. The partial lockdown in Kuala Lumpur, initially set to last from May 7 to 20, comes a day after officials announced tougher restrictions in several districts surrounding the city. The Southeast Asian nation was hit by a fresh Covid-19 outbreak at […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Switzerland’s Covid-19 death toll topped 10,000 on Wednesday as health officials gave cautious signs of optimism that the pandemic was coming under control in the wealthy Alpine nation. The landlocked European country, population 8.6 million, said 10,012 people had now died from the virus, while more than 664,000 cases have been registered. But the government’s Covid-19 expert group said the situation was currently stable and even slightly improving. “We have good […]
by Bhuvan BAGGA NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India, gripped by one of the most deadly coronavirus surges seen by any country, will have to be ready for new waves and badly needs more oxygen from other countries, officials said Wednesday. Facing critical shortages of hospital beds and oxygen, the warnings came as India reported 3,780 new pandemic deaths, a new daily high, and 382,000 new cases. Experts say the peak may not be reached […]
by Heather SCOTT WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday announced support for a global waiver on patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines, offering hope to poor nations that have struggled to access the life-saving doses. India, where the death toll hit a new daily record amid fears the peak is still to come, has been leading the fight within the World Trade Organization (WTO) to allow more drugmakers to manufacture […]
by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — The largest real-world study yet of the Pfizer/BioNTec vaccine on Thursday confirmed that the jab provided more than 95 percent protection against Covid-19, but found that the level dropped significantly when people received just one of the two prescribed doses. The authors of the research from Israel’s national vaccination campaign said it showed real-world proof that the pandemic could be ended by rapid, global vaccination programmes. An analysis […]
