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BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing was cloaked by a thick yellow smog on Monday with pollution surging to hazardous levels as a sandstorm swept across China’s capital. City residents used goggles, masks and hair nets to protect themselves from the choking air, with landmarks including the Forbidden City and the distinctive headquarters of state broadcaster CCTV partly obscured behind an apocalyptic-looking pall of smog. The city government ordered all schools to cancel outside sport and […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York, the US city most bereaved by the coronavirus, paid a moving tribute Sunday to its 30,258 dead, one year after the start of the pandemic. “More New Yorkers lost than in World War Two, Vietnam, Hurricane Sandy and 9/11 put together. Every family touched in some way, and for so many families a pain, a pain that is raw,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a live […]
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Dutch health officials said they had suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine on Sunday for two weeks after “possible side effects” were reported in Denmark and Norway. “Based on new information, the Dutch Medicines Authority has advised, as a precautionary measure and pending further investigation, to suspend the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine,” the Health Ministry said in a statement. “The crucial question is whether these are complaints after […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — Italy’s northern Piedmont region on Sunday suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after the death of a teacher who had received it the day before, the regional health authority said. The woman, who age has not been disclosed, died Sunday at Biella, a town north of Turin. “This is an extreme precautionary measure, while waiting to see if there exists a causal link between the vaccination and the death,” said a […]
AMMAN, Jordan (AFP) — The director and four other officials of a Jordanian hospital treating coronavirus patients were detained on Sunday over deaths at the facility after it ran out of oxygen, judicial sources said. A prosecutor decided to place them in custody for a week for questioning after seven patients died Saturday in the hospital in Salt, near the capital Amman, they said. Public anger over the deaths led to the resignation of health […]
OSLO, Norway (AFP) — Norwegian health officials reported three more cases of blood clots or brain haemorrhages in younger people who received the AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab, but said they could not yet say they were vaccine-related. The Norwegian Medicines Agency said similar incidents had been reported in other European countries. While there was no proof of a link to the vaccine, anyone under 50 who felt unwell and developed large blue patches after vaccination should […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India will carry out a deeper review of post-vaccination side effects from the AstraZeneca shot next week although no cases of blood clots have been reported so far, an official told AFP Saturday. New Delhi decided to conduct the review after several countries suspended rollout over blood clot fears even as the World Health Organization said there was no reason to stop using AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 jab. Denmark, Norway and […]
by Robin Millard, with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization said there was no reason to stop using AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 jab after several countries suspended rollout over blood clot fears, while the hard-hit United States exceeded 100 million doses of vaccine administered to its people. The WHO, which said its vaccines advisory committee was examining the safety data coming in, Friday stressed that no causal link has […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The UK government on Thursday defended the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine after Denmark suspended the jab’s use, and insisted it would continue with its own rollout. “We’ve been clear that it’s both safe and effective… and when people are asked to come forward and take it, they should do so in confidence,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman told reporters. “And in fact you’re starting to see the results of […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand abruptly delayed its roll-out of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Friday, stopping Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha from getting the first jab as several European nations suspended their programmes over blood clot fears. The kingdom was scheduled to start administering the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday, with Prayut expected to be filmed receiving the first injection. But by 8:30 am (0130 GMT) the gruff former general was nowhere to be seen, the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden will order authorities across the entire United States to lift priority restrictions on people wanting to get Covid-19 vaccinations by the start of May, an official said Thursday. “He will direct states that no later than May 1, all Americans need to be eligible to receive the vaccine,” said a senior administration official, who asked not to be identified. Biden will discuss his plans in a primetime […]
by Sebastian Smith WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden signed a massive $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill Thursday ahead of giving a national address where he was set to urge “hope” on the first anniversary of the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Biden called the American Rescue Plan “historic” as he signed the package into law in the Oval Office. The bill, passed by Congress earlier this week, dishes out $1,400 payments to […]
