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BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany is poised to prolong and tighten its partial lockdown into April as new virus cases soar, according to a draft document seen by AFP ahead of a strategy meeting on Monday. Europe’s biggest economy had begun easing restrictions, first reopening schools in late February, before allowing hairdressers and some shops to resume business in March. The strategy meeting between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leaders of Germany’s 16 states was […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A top US health official on Monday warned Americans it was too soon to resume traveling despite progress in the battle against the coronavirus, after data showed the country recorded its highest number of airport check-ins since last year. “Now is not the time to travel,” Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told reporters, urging people to keep up with measures to stem the […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain on Monday raised the maximum age limit for people to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has faced setbacks in Europe due to safety concerns, from 55 to 65. When the AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for use by European Union regulators in January, Spain said it would only be used on those under 55 for lack of data from trials in older age groups. But since then, more trial data has […]
MOSCOW Russia (AFP) — The backer of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine said Monday it had signed an agreement with an India-based pharmaceuticals giant for the production of up to 200 million doses of the jab a year. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, said in a statement it has partnered with the Virchow Group to produce up to 200 million doses of the two-dose vaccine in India every year. […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine is 80 percent effective at preventing the disease in the elderly and does not increase the risk of blood clots, the biotech firm said Monday, following its US phase III efficiency trials. It was 79 percent effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 in the overall population and 100 percent effective at preventing severe disease and hospitalization, it said. Several countries had advised against administering the jab to […]
ISALAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, officials said, just two days after he received his first vaccination against the disease. The 68-year-old former top cricketer received a shot of the Chinese-produced Sinopharm vaccine on Thursday, as the country battles a third wave of the virus. “At this point, the prime minister’s office can only confirm that the honourable prime minister has tested positive for Covid-19 and […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan kicked off its coronavirus inoculation drive Monday with two top officials getting AstraZeneca shots in a bid to boost public confidence in a vaccine that has had a troubled rollout. Premier Su Tseng-chang and health minister Chen Shih-chung sat for jabs at a Taipei hospital after local authorities cleared the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant’s vaccine for use. “I am not feeling any pain at the spot or any soreness… I hope […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand is finalizing a long-awaited travel bubble with neighboring Australia and will reveal next month when trans-Tasman trips can resume, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Monday. Speaking almost exactly a year after New Zealand closed its borders as Covid-19 swept across the globe, Ardern acknowledged many Kiwis were impatient for quarantine-free travel to and from Australia. But she said the government would exercise the cautious approach that has seen […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The British government on Saturday hailed its coronavirus vaccination programme as “a huge success” after announcing half of the adult population had now received a jab. Health Secrtary Matt Hancock said the biggest vaccine drive in the country’s history, which began in early December, was “making massive strides” following a record number of inoculations Friday. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was among those to get a jab that day, receiving […]
by Katy LEE with AFP bureaus PARIS, France (AFP) — Several European countries introduced new lockdown measures Saturday as they battled surging coronavirus infections, while Tokyo Olympics organizers were forced to announce an “unavoidable” ban on overseas fans to keep the Games safe. Residents in Poland, parts of France and Ukraine’s capital Ukraine all faced new restrictions, with most shops shut and people urged to work from home. Elsewhere in Europe, frustrations with Covid-19 curbs […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday received a first dose of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine, at the London hospital where he fought for his life almost a year ago, assuring the public the jab is safe. “I literally did not feel a thing. It was very good, very quick,” the 56-year-old leader told reporters at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London, close to his Downing Street residence. “Everybody, when […]
OSLO, Norway (AFP) — Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg is being investigated after revelations that she and her family broke the country’s Covid-19 restrictions, police said Friday. For her 60th birthday, at the end of February, Solberg gathered her family in the ski resort town of Geilo, in breach of restrictions and recommendations on limiting social interactions, public broadcaster NRK revealed on Thursday. “Against the background of information that has surfaced through the press, […]
