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BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — People who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will no longer have to abide by curfews and contact restrictions in Germany under a draft law agreed by the cabinet on Tuesday. They will also be allowed access to shops and other facilities without first providing a negative test result as is currently required of the rest of the population, Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht said while announcing the measures, which may come […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — French Health Minister Olivier Veran on Tuesday defended the country’s staggered rollout of Covid-19 vaccines over the coming weeks, despite calls for making more adults eligible immediately as some doses go unused. Currently people aged 55 and older can get the jab, but several vaccination centres have reported a shortage of candidates and surplus vials in recent weeks. That has prompted some local officials to quietly offer vaccines to all adults […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States is expected to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children age 12 and up by early next week, US media reported Monday. Pfizer has applied for emergency use authorization for its Covid vaccine for children and teenagers between ages 12 and 15, according to CNN, citing a government official. “The FDA will have to amend the emergency use authorization for the vaccine, but the process should be […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India’s total Covid caseload soared past 20 million on Tuesday, official data showed, as the pandemic continued to wreak havoc on the country’s hospitals. In the past 24 hours, India added 357,229 cases, taking the total to 20.3 million, according to the health ministry. Deaths rose 3,449 to 222,408. Many experts suspect the true number to be much higher. India has added around eight million new cases since the end […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — A Canadian government advisory panel on Monday recommended the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for people aged 30 years and over, despite blood clotting fears. Health Canada in March authorized the jab’s use for all adults, but doses have yet to be administered, and authorities are still holding back the first shipment of 300,000 doses over possible quality issues. Shelley Deeks of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) […]
KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday announced the end of a nearly three-month outbreak of Ebola that claimed six lives out of 12 known cases. The outbreak, the DRC’s 12th since the disease was first identified in 1976, was rolled back thanks to a campaign to vaccinate hundreds of people, the new health minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani said. The disease was first detected on February 7 in the eastern province […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech firm Novavax said Monday it had started clinical trials of its proposed Covid-19 vaccine on children, in a program that will involve up to 3,000 adolescents aged 12-17. Far fewer children have been sick with Covid-19 compared to adults, and most have mild to no symptoms, but they can be infected and spread the virus. Novavax said the trials would test “the efficacy (and) safety” of the vaccine, […]
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Florida governor Ron DeSantis on Monday lifted all Covid-19 restrictions in the US state, citing the effectiveness and availability of vaccines, in a move that attracted criticism from Democratic mayors. DeSantis signed a law invalidating local emergency orders — which impose restrictions due to Covid-19 — effective from July 1, and then signed an executive order that bridges the gap between now and then. “That’s the evidence thing to do,” […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a major easing of coronavirus restrictions Monday, including the imminent resumption of 24-hour operations on the city subway. The announcement highlights how far the Big Apple, once the epicenter of the United States’s outbreak, has come in getting the virus under control. From May 19, percentage limits on occupancy will be scrapped for many business and cultural venues in the city — including […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Shortages of Covid-19 vaccines have forced several large Brazilian cities to suspend administering second doses, officials and media reports said Monday, the latest breakdown in the hard-hit country’s troubled immunization drive. Seven of Brazil’s 26 state capitals have stopped administering the booster shot of Chinese-developed CoronaVac because of a lack of supply, according to news site G1. And Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second city, announced Saturday it was halting […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Covax global vaccine equity program has signed an advance purchase agreement with Moderna for 500 million doses of its Covid-19 jabs, the scheme’s co-leaders Gavi announced Monday. “We are very pleased to sign this new agreement with Moderna, giving Covax facility participants access to yet another highly efficacious vaccine,” Seth Berkley, chief executive of the Gavi vaccine alliance, said in a statement. © Agence France-Presse
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The European Union’s executive on Monday proposed that travellers who are fully vaccinated with EU-approved jabs be able once again to enter the bloc, if they come from countries keeping Covid-19 at bay. “The Commission proposes to allow entry to the EU for non-essential reasons not only for all persons coming from countries with a good epidemiological situation but also all people who have received the last recommended dose of an […]
