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by Joe JACKSON Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Health officials said Monday they will urgently increase testing in eight areas across England where nearly a dozen South African Covid-19 variant cases have been identified in the last week. The 11 cases, detected in genomic sequencing carried out on random samples of positive coronavirus results, cannot be traced back to international travel, prompting concerns of localised transmission. The move in the areas […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday said the country had “passed the peak” of its second coronavirus infection wave, allowing for the easing of restrictions ahead of first vaccinations this month. The country hit hardest in Africa had earlier taken delivery of its first shipment of coronavirus shots, paving the way to the first phase of inoculation. Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation that that “first good […]
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — The EU’s police agency on Monday warned travellers to watch for organised crime gangs selling fake Covid-negative certificates at airports, sometimes for as much as 300 euros each. The warning from Europol comes after police busted several suspects selling forged certificates declaring people Covid-19 negative at airports in Britain and France, online and through mobile messaging chat groups in Spain and the Netherlands. Many EU countries and others now […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The mayor of Chicago has said the US city’s public schools are “safe” and will reopen Monday, despite teachers union calls for them to continue remote work due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “We expect all of our teachers who have not received a specific accommodation to come to school tomorrow,” Lori Lightfoot said during a press conference. “Those who do not report to work, and I hate to even […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s health minister warned Sunday that new coronavirus restrictions could be imposed amid an uptick in infections, as the kingdom slows the rollout of vaccines due to supply delays. “We have seen in recent days a noticeable and continuous rise in coronavirus infections,” Tawfiq al-Rabiah said in a video message, blaming “gatherings and lax enforcement of preventative measures”. “The lack of compliance will undoubtedly force us to introduce measures […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — AstraZeneca will increase its coronavirus vaccine deliveries to the EU by 30 percent, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday as the bloc sought to claw back time lost rolling out the jabs. The British-Swedish company had announced last week that it could deliver only a quarter of the doses originally promised to the bloc for the first quarter of the year because of problems at one of its […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Protesters briefly disrupted a coronavirus vaccination distribution center at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, US media reported Saturday. Several dozen people carrying signs demanding the end of lockdowns and promoting anti-vaccination conspiracy theories gathered at the entrance to the site, one of the largest in the US, social media posts showed. “There appears to be only about 30 protestors total. It’s not clear why they’ve shut off the whole […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s government on Sunday threatened legal action against laboratories failing to deliver coronavirus vaccines to the European Union on schedule, amid tension over delays to deliveries from AstraZeneca. “If it turns out that companies have not respected their obligations, we will have to decide the legal consequences,” Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told German daily Die Welt. “No company can favour another country over the EU after the fact,” he added. […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The EU backtracked Friday over threats to restrict vaccine exports to Northern Ireland after London voiced “grave concerns” over the proposed move. A furious row over shortages of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine has risked stoking conflict with the UK just weeks after London and Brussels sealed a Brexit trade agreement. The EU had warned it would invoke Article 16 — overriding part of a deal with London allowing the free-flow of […]
by Leo RAMIREZ / Hector RETAMAL Agence France Presse WUHAN, China (AFP) — A team of WHO experts investigating the origins of the coronavirus toured a propaganda exhibition celebrating China’s recovery from the pandemic in Wuhan on Saturday, after a meeting at the hospital that treated the first confirmed Covid-19 cases over a year ago. Details of the trip have been scant so far, with the media kept at arm’s length and information on […]
Vaccine also prevented 85 percent of severe Covid-19 cases across all regions by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine has an overall efficacy of 66 percent, the company said Friday after a huge multi-continent trial, but the shot does not protect as well against a variant first detected in South Africa. Encouragingly, the vaccine was able to prevent 85 percent of severe Covid-19 cases across all geographical regions however — […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine appeared not to be effective for people over 65 years of age. Speaking to reporters only hours before the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended the vaccine for adults of all ages, Macron also questioned Britain’s decision to delay the second dose of Covid vaccines to inoculate more people. Macron said there was “very little information” available for the vaccine […]
