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PARIS, France (AFP) — Covaxin, the first Covid-19 vaccine developed in India, is “highly efficacious” and presents no safety concerns, according to a study published in the Lancet on Thursday. Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech, gained emergency approval from the World Health Organization last week and has already been cleared for use in 17 countries. The UN body has described it as “extremely suitable for low- and middle-income countries due to easy storage requirements”. Some […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany registered a record 50,196 new Covid-19 infections Thursday, according to health authorities. It is the first time Germany has exceeded 50,000 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, and comes as infections and deaths have soared since mid-October. Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel has described the rise in infections as “dramatic”. “The pandemic is returning in a new spectacular fashion,” her spokesperson said, calling on regional authorities to take further steps […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The developer of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V has said Moscow should make jabs mandatory as inoculation rates remain low despite record deaths and campaigning by authorities. His call came as Russia reported a record 1,239 Covid deaths in a single day Wednesday. Only 34 percent of the country is fully vaccinated, even though Sputnik V — the world’s first Covid vaccine — has been widely available since December last year. […]
BEIJING, China,Beijing sealed off a large downtown mall and locked down several residential communities Thursday in response to a recent Covid flare-up, as the latest nationwide wave spread to the capital’s central districts. The latest spike occurred as a sensitive three-day meeting of top Communist Party leaders wraps up in the capital. China has largely curbed widespread transmission of Covid-19 through snap lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions, but authorities remain on high alert after […]
by Marisha GOLDHAMER WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Registered nurse Melody Butler seeks to provide science-based answers to American parents as she urges them to vaccinate their children against Covid-19. But her efforts to do so on social media through Nurses Who Vaccinate — a volunteer group she founded — is up against a deluge of claims that the shots are dangerous. The claims are designed to evoke fear: a 16-year-old girl said to have […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Demand for Covid booster jabs jumped in France after President Emmanuel Macron said a top-up dose would be necessary for people to retain their vaccine passes, the country’s main appointment booking site said Wednesday. “The Macron effect” prompted 149,000 requests for shots, most during and immediately after the president’s televised address on Tuesday evening, in which he warned that coronavirus cases were again on the rise, Doctolib said. Anticipation of the […]
AMRITSAR, India (AFP) – Crackling flames and plumes of smoke rise from the earth as farmers set their fields alight in northern India — an annual post-harvest practice that shrouds New Delhi in toxic smog. Tens of thousands of small farmers around the capital burn their crop residue at the start of every winter, clearing fields from the recently harvested paddy to make way for wheat. The practice was banned two years ago but enforcement is […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States immunized around 900,000 children aged five-to-11 against Covid in the first week the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for them, a White House official said Wednesday. Roughly 700,000 more have made appointments at pharmacies, White House Covid coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters. “The program is just getting up to full strength,” he said, adding most of the shots were given in the last couple of days alone. There […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US pharmaceutical giant Merck has vowed to avoid the pitfalls of the global Covid vaccine rollout by ensuring its new anti-coronavirus pill is made available in wealthy and poor countries at almost the same time. Paul Schaper, the company’s executive director of global public policy, told AFP that Merck, known as MSD outside the US and Canada, began working on its access strategy from July 2020, long before the efficacy […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German health authorities on Wednesday advised against the use of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine for people under 30 due to evidence of a small risk of cardiac inflammation. The Stiko vaccine commission cited studies showing that mRNA jabs led in rare cases to the conditions myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart) in younger patients, with slightly higher prevalence in those who received […]
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — Four lions at a Singapore wildlife park have tested positive for the coronavirus after coming into contact with infected zookeepers, and have symptoms including coughing and sneezing, officials said Wednesday. The endangered Asiatic lions started displaying signs of illness at the weekend, prompting officials to order coronavirus tests. The infected big cats along with five others at the Night Safari park have been placed in isolation in their den, the government’s […]
by Stuart WILLIAMS PARIS, France (AFP) — People over 65 in France will need to show proof of a Covid-19 booster jab to be able to visit restaurants, attend cultural events and take intercity trains, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday. The pass has become a routine part of life for many people in France since August, with a complete course of vaccinations generating a QR code that is shown on entry to gain access to […]
