Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Pfizer said Thursday it had begun clinical trials for its Covid vaccine in children under the age of eleven, an early sign of the next stage of the global immunization campaign. “Together with our partner BioNTech, we have dosed the first healthy children in a global Phase 1/2/3 continuous study to further evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine,” the company said in a statement […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca on Wednesday revised down by three percentage points the effectiveness of its Covid vaccine after American authorities raised concerns that results reported from its US trial were outdated. The company now says its vaccine is 76 rather than 79 percent effective at preventing any kind of symptomatic Covid. It remains 100 percent effective against severe Covid, it added. The move came after an independent panel of experts […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Africa experienced a 30-percent rise in infections in its second wave of coronavirus last year but implemented fewer public health measures than in the first, research showed Thursday. Writing in The Lancet medical journal, researchers said a loosening of public health measures such as distancing and intermittent lockdowns probably contributed to higher death tolls during the second wave. The study looked at Covid-19 case, death, recovery and test data carried out […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — France’s culture minister Roselyne Bachelot has been hospitalized after testing positive for Covid-19 over the weekend, a source close to the minister told AFP on Wednesday. The worsening symptoms for Bachelot, 74, comes after the announcement Monday that her cabinet colleague Elisabeth Borne, the 59-year-old labour minister, had also been hospitalized with the coronavirus. “Her condition is stable and is not worrying,” the source said, adding that Bachelot’s doctor ordered “increased […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong health authorities have ejected a private clinic from the city’s coronavirus vaccination programme after it reportedly recommended the German-made Pfizer/BioNTech shot to patients over the one from China’s Sinovac. The move illustrates the Hong Kong government’s sensitivity to any criticism of the Sinovac vaccine, which has a comparatively lower efficacy rate and was fast-tracked by regulators despite a lack of published data. The city’s health department said […]
by Jordi MIRO Agence France Presse BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s daily Covid-19 death toll soared past 3,000 for the first time Tuesday as the hard-hit country struggled to contain a surge of cases that has pushed many hospitals to breaking point. The health ministry registered a record 3,251 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing Brazil’s overall death toll to nearly 299,000 — second only to the United States. The latest bleak milestone […]
by Dave CLARK Agence France Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The European Commission will tighten its export guidelines on Wednesday to prevent what it sees as an unfair one-way flow of vaccines, according to a draft seen by AFP. Brussels has been infuriated that Britain has laid claim to vaccines produced at a plant in the Netherlands by AstraZeneca, while the UK-based firm falls short on deliveries promised to the EU. While negotiations with […]
by Paul RICARD and Jean-Philippe CHOGNOT Agence France Presse With several Covid-19 vaccines either being rolled out or under trial, here is a rundown of the various stages of their development. On the market: PFIZER/BIONTECH The mRNA vaccine developed by US pharma giant Pfizer and German start-up BioNTech is already approved for use in the European Union, the United States, Canada, Britain and several other nations. Clinical trials showed the vaccine — […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s drug authority has approved for clinical trials an inhaled Covid-19 vaccine co-developed by domestic firm CanSino Biologics, the company said in a filing on Tuesday. The move comes after the National Medical Products Administration gave another CanSino vaccine conditional approval last month, allowing it for public use. China currently has five coronavirus vaccines that have been given conditional market approval or allowed for emergency use, but none of these […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The vast Russian region of Siberia will face hot and dry weather this year leading to more forest fires, forecasters said on Tuesday, linking the blazes to climate change. Devastating forest fires have ripped across Siberia with increasing regularity over the past few years, which the country’s weather officials and environmentalists have linked to climate change and an underfunded forest service. Speaking to reporters to mark World Meteorological Day by video […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin will be vaccinated in private on Tuesday evening, the Kremlin said, as Russia looks to boost a vaccination campaign that is faltering despite having produced three home-grown jabs. Putin announced a day earlier that he would be vaccinated on Tuesday, joining other world leaders who have received jabs including US President Joe Biden, Pope Francis and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth. But unlike many others who were vaccinated in public […]
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Denmark, which has been under a partial lockdown for the last three months, says it will reopen most of society once everyone over 50 years old are vaccinated. In an announcement late Monday, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen unveiled the plan for a return to normal which will see schools and universities, shops, restaurants and bars, libraries, museums and cinemas gradually reopen over a period of two months. “With a few exceptions, […]
