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MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will receive the Covid-19 shot in public once those in his age group are in line to be vaccinated, he said in an interview broadcast Sunday. Canada began vaccinating people in high-risk categories — including frontline health care workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities — on December 14, with a relatively limited supply of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. “Absolutely,” Trudeau told the CBC public […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia on Sunday halted international flights and suspended entry through its land and sea ports for at least a week, after a new fast-spreading strain of coronavirus appeared in Britain. The kingdom is “temporarily suspending all international flights — except in exceptional cases — for a period of one week, which can be extended by another week,” the official Saudi Press Agency said. “Entry to the kingdom through land […]
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — The World Health Organization is calling on its members in Europe to step up measures against coronavirus in the face of the new variant circulating in Britain, its European branch said Sunday. Outside Britain, nine cases of the new strain have been reported in Denmark, as well as one case in the Netherlands and another in Australia, according to the WHO. “Across Europe, where transmission is intense and widespread, countries […]
MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — Canada surpassed 500,000 coronavirus cases Saturday, according to official figures, recording a 25 percent increase in just two weeks. The country’s death toll since the beginning of the pandemic stands at 14,128, according to regional figures quoted by broadcaster CBC. As in other countries, the pandemic is spreading fast in Canada, home to 38 million people. It shot up from 400,000 cases to 500,000 in just two weeks. By comparison, […]
by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been authorized for use in Switzerland, regulators announced Saturday, with immunisation set to start within days as the country battles rising coronavirus cases and deaths. The Swissmedic regulatory authority said it had given the green light following a two-month rolling review. It is the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in the wealthy Alpine nation, with rivals being assessed. “After a meticulous […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Parts of Sydney were heading into a fresh lockdown on Saturday as officials in Australia’s most populous city said they hoped the restrictions would be enough to control a growing outbreak in time for Christmas. As a cluster of cases on the city’s northern beaches grew to 38, residents were ordered to stay at home from late Saturday until midnight on Wednesday, other than for essential reasons. “We’re hoping that […]
by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Friday authorized Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, paving the way for six million doses of a second vaccine to soon begin shipping across the hardest-hit country in the world. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) chief Stephen Hahn said: “With the availability of two vaccines now for the prevention of Covid-19, the FDA has taken another crucial step in […]
by Claire Doyen with AFP bureaus in Africa JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — After being relatively spared by coronavirus, Africa is bracing for the pandemic’s second wave, noting how the microbe has once more cut a swathe through rich countries in Europe and North Africa. The continent’s most-hit nations are again having to contemplate stringent public health measures as they await the arrival of the vaccine cavalry. In South Africa, the start of summer has […]
by Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A US panel of experts on Thursday voted to recommend emergency approval of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, paving the way for six million doses to start shipping as soon as this weekend. The Food and Drug Administration is now expected to imminently grant an emergency use authorization (EUA), which would make Moderna’s vaccine the second to be approved in a Western country. The panel voted 20 in favor, […]
WILMINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming White House senior advisor, congressman Cedric Richmond, has tested positive for Covid-19 after having open-air “interactions” with Biden, the transition team said Thursday. Richmond traveled independently to the state of Georgia to campaign Tuesday with Biden for a pair of Democrats in tight runoff elections against incumbent Republican senators. “Richmond’s interactions with the president-elect happened in open air, were masked and totaled less than 15 […]
RENO, United States (AFP) — To cope with an influx of coronavirus patients, a hospital in Reno in the western US state of Nevada has transformed two floors of a nearby parking garage into a care unit dealing with patients experiencing less severe symptoms. The space gives Renown Health Hospital patients and staff a secure environment that has direct access to key hospital facilities — lab, pharmacy, food services — while freeing up intensive care […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — A Vietnamese pharmaceutical company began testing a coronavirus vaccine on volunteers in Hanoi on Thursday, as developing countries jostle with richer nations to access affordable inoculations. Nanogen’s Nanocovax is one of four under development in Vietnam, and a company representative said it is expected to cost around $5 a dose. Three volunteers received the jab on Thursday and will be monitored for 72 hours at the Vietnam Military Medical University. […]
