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by Adam PLOWRIGHT Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday that French schools would close next week and a limited lockdown in place in Paris and other regions would be extended to the whole country to battle soaring Covid-19 cases. Macron said in an address to the nation that the current efforts to limit the virus “were too limited at a time when the epidemic is accelerating”. The spread […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday received the first dose of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, just two days after authorities recommended use of the controversial jab only for people aged 60 and over. “I trust the vaccines authorised in Germany,” Steinmeier, 65, said in a statement after getting inoculated at Berlin’s Military Hospital. “Vaccinating is the decisive step on the path out of the pandemic. Use the opportunities available. Join in!” […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Alcoholic drinks will be prohibited in French parks and other outdoor public spaces as part of the new limited nationwide lockdown to stem the Covid-19 crisis, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Thursday. Addressing the National Assembly, Castex also said authorities would be quick to disperse groups of more than six people on riverbanks or squares after the new restrictions unveiled by President Emmanuel Macron late Wednesday. Castex said he “unreservedly” […]
AL WAKRAH, Qatar (AFP) — Qatar is stepping up its coronavirus vaccination drive, officials said Wednesday, with new daily cases almost quadrupling since January and prompting calls for a renewed lockdown. While the country’s death toll per capita is low, almost 5 percent of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic were during the past week, with authorities blaming the more potent British strain. Medical experts have called for a return to the strict summer […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — About 15 million doses of the single-shot coronavirus vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson were ruined in a factory error in the United States, The New York Times reported — a blow to the company’s efforts to quickly boost production. When contacted by AFP, the pharmaceutical giant said it had identified a batch of doses at a plant in Baltimore run by Emergent BioSolutions “that did not meet quality standards” […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia announced Wednesday it had registered what it said was the world’s first coronavirus vaccine for animals, describing the step as important for disrupting virus mutations. It said mass production of the vaccine could begin in April. The agriculture oversight agency Rosselkhoznadzor said in a statement that the vaccine called Carnivak-Cov had been tested since October on dogs, cats, mink, foxes and other animals and was proven to be effective. […]
by Nina Larson and Robin Millard, with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Two Chinese coronavirus jabs are safe and effective, WHO experts said Wednesday after reviewing partial data, providing a potential boost to countries from Australia to Europe struggling to roll out vaccines fast enough. Fewer than 600 million jabs have been given out across the world, three months after vaccination programmes began in earnest in Western countries and leaders […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s health ministry announced Tuesday that it was extending the roll-out of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to the over-65s, after recent scientific reassurances about its safety. The vaccine, restricted until now to the 55-to-65 age group, will now be made available to over-65s in priority groups such as health workers, police officers or teachers. “In respect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, given the new scientific evidence … the age limit is raised,” […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — More than 80 percent of Covid-19 patients who have to be intubated in Brazil have died since the start of the second wave of infections ravaging the country, according to researchers. The mortality rate since February 15 — 83.5 percent — is far higher than in countries such as Mexico, Britain, Germany or Italy, highlighting how the South American country’s hospitals are struggling to deal with a surge […]
by Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday announced a raft of new actions to expand the national immunization campaign and ensure that 90 percent of adults will be eligible for vaccination against the coronavirus by April 19. But he warned the “the war against Covid-19 is far from won,” and blasted people responsible for “reckless behavior we’ve seen on television over the past few weeks” that had […]
by Adam PLOWRIGHT PARIS, France (AFP) — The French government has vowed to do everything possible to avoid a third national lockdown, but with cases rising sharply almost everywhere and hospitals in Paris overflowing, can it avoid another crippling shutdown? This week will be decisive for the strategy overseen by President Emmanuel Macron and his government who argue that every day without a lockdown is a bonus for France which they see as exhausted after […]
The World Health Organization warned Monday against a widening gap between numbers of coronavirus vaccines in wealthy countries and those distributed to poorer nations through the global Covax initiative. “The gap between the number of vaccines administered in rich countries, and the number of vaccines administered through Covax is growing every single day,” UN health agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “The unequitable distribution of vaccines is not just a moral outrage, it’s also […]
