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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A US panel of medical experts advising the government voted Thursday to recommend mRNA Covid vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna over the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, in light of its weaker protection and greater risks. The panel voted 15-0 in favor of the so-called “preferential recommendation,” which applies to everyone over 18 years of age. “I would not recommend a Janssen vaccine to my family members,” said Beth Bell, […]
by Stuart WILLIAMS Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — France will ban non-essential travel to and from Britain from the weekend to slow the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant that is causing record numbers of cases on the other side of the Channel, the government said Thursday. From midnight Saturday (2300 GMT Friday) there will be a “requirement to have an essential reason to travel to, or come from, the UK, both […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said Thursday it will reimpose coronavirus curfews on businesses and limit the size of gatherings again as record infections forced the government to pause its plan to live with Covid. Following a rapid vaccination program, authorities eased restrictions last month to help boost the Covid-hit economy, removing limits on how long businesses could stay open. But new daily infections have more than trebled since then, with a record […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — The Canadian government on Wednesday urged citizens to avoid foreign travel over the Christmas holidays, saying the Covid-19 Omicron variant “makes us fear the worst,” including soaring infections and travel disruptions. The travel advisory will be re-evaluated in four weeks, but public health restrictions could be imposed in the interim if the pandemic situation worsens, officials told a news conference. “Our government is officially advising Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside […]
CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti (AFP) — Fears grew Wednesday the death toll from a massive gas truck explosion in Haiti would climb as officials scrambled to provide care for dozens suffering burn injuries sustained in the accident. One day after the blast in Haiti’s second largest city of Cap-Haitien, 75 people were confirmed dead in the latest disaster to hit the poverty-wracked Caribbean nation, riven by gang violence and political paralysis. As of Wednesday evening, there were […]
by Daniel Silva with AFP bureaus MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Europe stepped up vaccinations of children aged five to 11 against Covid-19 Wednesday, as the EU’s health agency warned immunization alone would not stop the rapid rise of the Omicron variant. Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary and Spain were among those opening up their inoculation drives to younger kids, with other nations still weighing their approach. South Africa — where Omicron was first detected — and […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa Wednesday reported its highest daily tally of new coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, just weeks after announcing the discovery of the Omicron strain. The tally of 26,976 Covid infections topped the previous record of 26,485 on July 3, at the height of the country’s third wave caused by the Delta variant. The highly mutated Omicron strain was first detected in South Africa last month […]
by Agence France Presse bureaus GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization warned Tuesday Omicron was spreading at an unprecedented rate and urged countries to act, as drug maker Pfizer said its coronavirus pill was effective against the variant. Dutch primary schools will close early as Europe battles a fresh wave of infections and hospital admissions, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a major parliamentary test seeking to impose fresh Covid curbs. […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States, the country hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, crossed 800,000 Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University showed. The figure is greater than the entire population of several states, including North Dakota and Alaska. Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, who lead the House of Representatives and Senate respectively, as well as House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and other members of Congress held […]
by Nina LARSON GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The new coronavirus variant Omicron is spreading at an unprecedented rate, the WHO said Tuesday, urging countries to act swiftly to rein in transmission and protect their health systems. Since the new, heavily-mutated variant was first detected in southern Africa last month, it has been reported in 77 countries, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. But, he stressed, “the reality is that Omicron is probably in most […]
by Issam AHMED with Claire DOYEN in Johannesburg WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Pfizer said Tuesday that clinical trials confirmed its Covid pill — a new type of treatment that should withstand the mutations seen with Omicron — drastically reduced hospitalizations and deaths among at-risk people by almost 90 percent. The announcement came as a real-world study from South Africa showed two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 70 percent effective in stopping severe illness […]
COVID-19 positivity rate down to below 1 percent for the first time (Eagle News) – The Department of Health recorded only 235 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, December 14, with 780 new recoveries and only 10 new deaths. The 235 new COVID cases on Tuesday represented a new record low for virus cases reported in a single day for this year. Because of this, the total active COVID-19 cases have gone down to just […]
