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by Marc Preel with Agence France Presse bureaus STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — The head of the EU’s disease control agency warned Friday that the novel coronavirus could last indefinitely even as global infections slowed by nearly half in the last month and vaccine rollouts gathered pace in parts of the world. In an interview with AFP, ECDC chief Andrea Ammon urged European countries in particular not to drop their guard against a virus that “seems […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Hard-hit Brazil’s drive to vaccinate its population against Covid-19 has stumbled this week as a lack of doses forced authorities to slow or halt immunization in several key areas. Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo state and the northeastern city of Salvador have all run into vaccine shortages, fueling frustration with the government, which already faced criticism for President Jair Bolsonaro’s erratic handling of the pandemic. Brazil got its immunization […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech firm Moderna said Friday it was seeking clearance with regulators around the world to put 50 percent more coronavirus vaccine into each of its vials as a way to quickly boost current supply levels. The company issued a statement after The New York Times first reported the US Food and Drug Administration had already cleared it to increase levels by 40 percent. “In order to better maximize resources […]
BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (AFP) — Deaths from Covid-19 in Africa surged by 40 percent over the last month, the World Health Organisation said Thursday, as the continent’s toll approaches 100,000. “Over 22,300 deaths were reported in Africa in the last 28 days, compared with nearly 16,000 deaths in the previous 28 days,” said the WHO Africa office based in the Republic of the Congo capital Brazzaville. “This comes as Africa battles new, more contagious variants […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Facing a severe vaccine shortage, Los Angeles moved to temporarily close five major inoculation centers including its giant Dodger Stadium site Thursday, even as California this week topped the nation’s pandemic death toll. “We’re vaccinating people faster than new vials are arriving here in Los Angeles, and I’m very concerned right now,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti, slamming the vaccine supply as “uneven… unpredictable and too often inequitable.” Los Angeles […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP)– Mexican regulators gave emergency approval Wednesday to the Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines CanSino Biologics and CoronaVac. The approval was announced by deputy health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell as Mexico struggles to manage the pandemic. “I have given the authorization for emergency use of both vaccines,” Lopez-Gatell, who serves as the spokesman for the government’s pandemic coordination, said during a press conference. In addition to CanSino and Sinovac’s CoronaVac, Mexico has authorized three […]
by Yemeli Ortega with Alina Dieste in Washington and Agence France Presse bureaus MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AFP) — As a second, deadly wave of Covid-19 batters Latin America, images have emerged from country after country of desperate people lining up for days to buy oxygen to ease the suffering of infected loved ones fighting for breath. As demand soars, prices have skyrocketed and families have had to scrape together their last cents to pay for […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest son and heir Prince Charles, who contracted Covid-19 last year, has received a first vaccine dose, his office said on Wednesday. The 72-year-old Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, 73, both received the shot as health authorities urged those over the age of 70 to get a jab. Britain, which was the first Western nation to roll out Covid jabs in the general population, […]
by Nina LARSON GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine can be used for people aged over 65, and also where coronavirus variants of concern are circulating, WHO experts said Wednesday, soothing fears about the jab. The World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) issued interim recommendations for when and how to use the two-shot vaccine, which has yet to receive WHO emergency use authorization. The announcement came after the […]
LIMA Peru (AFP) — Peru on Tuesday began its coronavirus immunization program just two days after receiving 300,000 vaccine doses from state-owned Chinese company Sinopharm. The country has been hard hit by a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping Latin America. It has recorded around 1.2 million cases and more than 42,000 deaths from Covid-19 among its population of 33 million. Hospitals are overrun with almost 13,800 Covid patients while they have also reported […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran began its vaccination campaign against Covid-19 on Tuesday to fight the Middle East’s deadliest outbreak of the illness, images broadcast by state television showed. “We begin our national vaccination against the Covid-19 virus… (in) memory of the martyrdom of health workers,” Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said at a ceremony at a Tehran hospital, referring to medical personnel who have died from the disease. Iran’s inoculation effort for its 80-million-plus population […]
by Nina Larson with AFP Bureaus GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization insisted Monday that the AstraZeneca vaccine was still a vital tool in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic, after South Africa delayed the start of its inoculation programme over concerns about its efficacy against a virus variant. “It is vastly too early to be dismissing this vaccine,” said Richard Hatchett, who heads the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which […]
