Tag Archives: COVID-19

The U.S. Senate voted to advance a $1 trillion infrastructure package on Saturday, an important procedural step forward after months of negotiations between President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators. In a 67-27 vote demonstrating broad support, senators agreed to limit debate on the legislation, which represents the …

From Monday, people in France would need the health pass if they want to eat at restaurants, cafes or use inter-city transport. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across France for the fourth weekend in a row against a coronavirus health pass needed to enter a cafe …

Over 11 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses are needed to fully inoculate around 70 percent of the world against the novel coronavirus, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, according to the Emirates News Agency (WAM). At the first International Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Cooperation held on Thursday, Guterres said that vaccines …

Big pharma giant Moderna says people who received its two-dose Covid-19 vaccine would need a booster shot in the fall to keep strong protection against the raging Delta variant. Drugmaker Moderna said Thursday that its coronavirus vaccine is 93 percent effective only six months after injection. In a statement regarding …

The highest constitutional authority in France ruled in favor of controversial measures for a COVID-19 “health pass” Thursday, along with compulsory vaccination for health care workers. With the decision by the Constitutional Council, the precautions drawn out in a recently passed health crisis bill will go into effect on Monday, …

Australian officials warned Sydney residents on Friday to brace for a surge in COVID-19 cases after the country’s largest city logged record infections for the second straight day despite a weeks-long lockdown to stamp out an outbreak of Delta variant. “Just based on the trend in the last few days …

Lebanon’s new Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati says progress, though slow, has been achieved toward forming a desperately-needed cabinet in the cash-strapped country, stressing that donor countries will not help Lebanon unless it helps itself. A caretaker administration by former premier Hassan Diab has run the small country since the aftermath …

However, a booster dose will be necessary prior to the winter season as antibody levels are likely to wane, Moderna said. Moderna said on Thursday its Covid-19 shot was about 93 percent effective through six months after the second dose, showing hardly any change from the 94 percent efficacy reported …

South Korea has detected its first two cases of the new Delta Plus COVID-19 variant, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Tuesday, as the country battles with its fourth wave of infections. The Delta Plus variant is a sub-lineage of the Delta variant first identified in …

The UK drew up a blueprint to respond to a COVID-19-type outbreak in 2005 – but the contingency plan was apparently “lost” and never considered when the coronavirus surged across the world, according to a new report. The Independent reported on Wednesday that the document, drawn up in response to …

The New York International Auto Show, which had been scheduled to open to the public in just two weeks, has been canceled due to concerns about the Covid-19 Delta variant and the steps being taken to prevent it. The show was first canceled in the spring of 2020 due to …

Coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 200 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the more infectious Delta variant threatens areas with low vaccination rates and strains healthcare systems. The global surge in cases is highlighting the widening gap in inoculation rates between wealthy and poor nations. Cases are rising …

A doctor based in the United States shared X-ray images of the lungs of two COVID-19 patients, one who was vaccinated against the virus and one who was not, indicating a significant difference in infections. When examining the two images, the ICU director at the Saint Louis University Hospital (SSM) …

The largest clinical trial investigating the best gap between first and second COVID-19 vaccine doses for pregnant women has been launched in the UK. Following 130,000 pregnant women being vaccinated in the US and no safety concerns being raised, the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were recommended by the independent experts …

Pakistan has announced that it hit the milestone of administering one million Covid vaccinations in a day, shortly after a deadline for compulsory vaccination was set for certain categories of people. Asad Umar, the minister in charge of the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), a military-run organization that manages …

The board of governors of the International Monetary Fund on Monday greenlit increasing the institution’s lending capacity by $650 billion, the last step in approving an initiative to boost aid to the most vulnerable countries. “This is a historic decision – the largest SDR (Special Drawing Rights) allocation in the …

Authorities in Wuhan on Tuesday said they would test its entire population for Covid-19 after the central Chinese city where the coronavirus emerged reported its first local infections in more than a year. The city of 11 million is “swiftly launching comprehensive nucleic acid testing of all residents”, senior Wuhan …

Qantas Airways Ltd is temporarily idling about 2,500 employees without pay for at least two months in a bid to cope with fresh COVID-19 restrictions in Australia slashing domestic travel demand. The decision will directly impact domestic pilots, cabin crew, and airport workers, mostly in New South Wales, the airline …

Nigeria has been hit by a surge in cholera cases in recent weeks, focused on the country’s north and adding to a public health crisis accompanied by a rise in COVID-19 cases. “In the last two weeks we had new and resurgence cases,” Dr. Bashir Lawan Muhammad, the state epidemiologist …

A pandemic-related US government ban on residential evictions expired at midnight on Saturday, putting millions of American renters at risk of being forced from their homes. The expiration was a blow to President Joe Biden, who on Thursday made a last-ditch request to Congress to extend the moratorium, citing the …