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by Diana SIMEONOVA / Rossen BOSSEV SOFIA, Bulgaria (AFP) — It’s getting close to lunchtime and a Covid-19 vaccination centre in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, is almost empty, a vivid example of the way the country’s immunisation effort is hamstrung by fake news and widespread mistrust. As a fourth coronavirus wave threatens, official data show that only 15 percent of the population of 6.9 million people has been fully vaccinated, far below the EU average […]
CANBERRA, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s capital Canberra was ordered into a seven-day lockdown Thursday, after a single Covid-19 case was detected in the city that has largely avoided virus restrictions. About 400,000 people in the nation’s political hub will be under stay-at-home orders from 5:00 pm local time, joining millions more already under lockdown in Australia’s southeast. “This is the most serious public health risk that we are faced in the territory this year. Really, […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain’s medicines agency approved Tuesday a first round of clinical trials on humans for a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Spanish firm Hipra. “This is the first trial on humans of a vaccine made in Spain,” the agency said in a statement. Dozens of volunteers will be recruited from Spanish hospitals “as soon as possible” for the clinical trials, it added. Hipra, which is based in the northeastern city of Girona, said […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US health authorities urged pregnant women on Wednesday to get inoculated against Covid-19, arguing that the data demonstrates they do not increase the risk of miscarriage. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the agency “encourages all pregnant people or people who are thinking about becoming pregnant and those breastfeeding to get vaccinated to protect themselves from Covid-19.” “The vaccines are safe and effective, […]
by Huw GRIFFITH LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — All teachers in California will have to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or submit to weekly virus tests, the state’s governor announced Wednesday, as authorities grapple with exploding infection rates. The number of people testing positive for the disease has surged across the United States in recent weeks, with the highly infectious Delta variant blamed for the bulk of new cases. That has worried parents and educators […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s drug regulator has approved the country’s first mixed-vaccine trial, a company involved in the study said, as the rapid spread of the Delta variant raises concern about the efficacy of domestically produced jabs. The trial will test the efficacy of combining an “inactivated” vaccine made by China’s Sinovac with a DNA-based one developed by US pharmaceutical company Inovio, a statement issued on Tuesday said. The statement was put out by […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A group of Australian Olympic athletes were Wednesday facing 28 days in quarantine on return from Tokyo in a move slammed as “cruel” and “uncaring” as concerns mount over their mental wellbeing. All overseas travellers, including the nearly 500-strong Australian team, are required to spend 14 days’ isolation in a hotel or special outback camp on arrival in the country, under strict coronavirus rules. But some will have to endure double […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization on Tuesday urged the 20 leaders with the power to overturn the “disgraceful” global imbalance in access to Covid-19 vaccines to reverse the tide before October. The WHO’s Bruce Aylward said the world should be “disgusted” — and asked whether the situation could have been any worse had there been an active effort to block the planet’s poor from getting vaccinated. The UN health agency has been […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Asian and European markets were mixed Wednesday as investors assess the impact of the fast-spreading Delta variant and the future of Federal Reserve financial support against expectations that the global economy will eventually recover from the pandemic crisis. News that US President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending bill had finally passed the Senate provided some cheer, though analysts said it would likely be some time before it gets through […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka’s government rejected on Tuesday mounting calls for an immediate lockdown to contain a surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths that is severely stretching hospitals and crematoriums. Government spokesman and Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said the country had not reached a critical stage even as the island nation suffers more than 100 deaths per day on average. “Curfews or a lockdown is the last resort, but we are not […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Riot police fired water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters in Bangkok Tuesday as hundreds rallied for democratic reform and against the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Demonstrators defied a ban on public gatherings as Thailand tries to quash its worst virus outbreak so far, with new cases hovering around the 20,000 mark daily. The slow start to the coronavirus vaccination program in Thailand and economic pain from […]
CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — Guinea has recorded the first known case of Marburg virus, a lethal cousin to Ebola, the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) says. Here is a factfile on the disease (source: WHO, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). – What is Marburg? – Marburg virus is a highly dangerous pathogen that causes haemorrhagic fever. According to past outbreaks, the average fatality rate is 50 percent, in a range of 24-88 […]
