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by Paavan MATHEMA KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — Nepal has restarted visas on arrival for vaccinated tourists as South Asian nations attempt to revive tourism businesses devastated after 18 months of the pandemic. A near travel shutdown has been in place in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka for more than a year as successive waves of coronavirus took a deadly toll. Nepal reopened to tourists and scrapped quarantine requirements for vaccinated foreigners on Thursday […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — A high-profile shaman who tried to end Sri Lanka’s Covid-19 outbreak with “blessed” water has died of the virus, his family said Thursday. Eliyantha White, 48, who treated sports stars and top politicians including the country’s prime minister, claimed in November he could end the pandemic in Sri Lanka and neighbouring India by pouring pots of his “blessed” water into rivers. Health minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi endorsed the water treatment, but […]
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — The EU’s drug watchdog said Thursday it expected to decide in early October whether to approve boosters of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for over 16s. A decision on further jabs of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for at-risk people and the elderly is due at the same time, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said. Protection against coronavirus is shown to decrease in the months following the first jabs, the […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday recommended the synthetic antibody treatment Regeneron for Covid-19, but only in patients with specific health profiles. Persons with non-severe Covid-19 who are nonetheless at high risk of hospitalization can take the antibody combo, as should critically ill patients unable to mount an adequate immune response, according to a WHO finding published in BMJ. Regeneron is only the third treatment for Covid to be recommended […]
by Paul RICARD PARIS, France (AFP) — With global Covid cases declining and pandemic fatigue on the rise, many countries are easing restrictions put in place to block the spread of the virus. But it’s far too soon to declare victory, say experts, who warn that unequal vaccine access could still lead to the emergence of new and more deadly variants of the virus. Positive signs On September 14 the World Health Organization (WHO) announced […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Biotech billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong on Thursday said he will begin transferring technology to make Covid-19 and cancer vaccines in South Africa. The South African-born and now United States-based doctor, provided details of the plan that will see coronavirus vaccine production starting next year in an online press conference with President Cyril Ramaphosa. Soon-Shiong’s company NantWorks will transfer the technology within the next three months and vaccine production is expected to […]
Expected vaccine supplies can be used to vaccinate up to 12 million children, says vaccine czar (Eagle News) – The Philippine government might just open vaccination for children aged 12 to 17 years old by mid-October as the country receives more supplies of vaccines. This was raised by National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., during the Sept. 22 Talk to the People of President Rodrigo Duterte. “We are proposing […]
Face shield together with face mask only required in 3Cs- closed, crowded areas where there is close contact (Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte said that face shields are no longer required to be worn outside, but wearing face masks should be continued as a protection against COVID-19. In his “Talk to the People” on Wednesday night, Sept. 22, Duterte said that the use of face shields with face masks would only be required […]
by Issam Ahmed with Sebastian Smith WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden addressed a Covid-19 summit of world leaders Wednesday with a promise to donate a “historic” extra 500 million vaccines to countries struggling to overcome the pandemic. “This is an all-hands-on-deck crisis,” Biden said. “America will become the arsenal for vaccines as we were the arsenal for democracy in World War II.” The pledge from Biden at the summit, held virtually […]
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga tested positive for Covid-19 Tuesday after attending the UN General Assembly in New York that was inaugurated by his president, Jair Bolsonaro, according to an official statement. “The other members of the delegation have been tested and are negative,” said the official Brazilian government press release. Queiroga, who had received a Covid-19 vaccine, was the second member of Bolsonaro’s entourage to test positive for the virus […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Delta has all but elbowed out the three other Covid-19 variants of concern, which now represent a tiny fraction of the samples being sequenced, the WHO said Tuesday. “Less than one percent each of Alpha, Beta and Gamma are currently circulating. It’s really predominantly Delta around the world,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead on Covid-19. Delta “has become more fit, it is more transmissible and it […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine is more effective when given as a two-dose regime, according to new data released by the company on Tuesday. A second shot given 56 days after the first provided 75 percent protection against symptomatic Covid in a global clinical trial, with that level rising to 94 percent in the United States. The reason behind this difference was not clear from the company’s press release, […]
