Coronavirus infections broke records in parts of Europe on Wednesday, with the continent once again the epicentre of a pandemic that has prompted new curbs on movement and made health experts think again about booster vaccination shots. Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary all reported new highs in daily infections …
Read More »Iraqi MoH: seven million people received COVID-19 vaccines in Iraq
The Iraqi Ministry of Health and environment revealed the percentage of citizens vaccinated against COVID-19 in Iraq. A member of the Ministry’s communication team, Ruba Falah said, “The number of people vaccinated against the COVID-19 in Iraq has reached seven million, while the percentage of vaccinated people of 12 and …
Read More »FDA clears Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 boosters for all US adults
The Food and Drug Administration opened booster shots for the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to all adults today, the companies announced, expanding eligibility outside of the initial, vulnerable groups they were cleared for earlier this fall. Although the COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States are still …
Read More »Another European country imposes Covid lockdown for unvaccinated
Slovakia has become the latest European country to implement lockdown restrictions on people who haven’t had the Covid vaccine, as it seeks to prevent a resurgence in infections and hospital admissions over the winter. Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger announced the new measures in a press conference on Thursday, declaring …
Read More »Disney to ban unvaccinated kids on cruises
Children as young as five will need to be vaccinated to travel on Disney Cruise Line ships, the company has announced, in an expansion of its vaccine mandate. It is the first major passenger liner to require jabs for kids. The updated coronavirus vaccination requirements were announced by Disney on …
Read More »Greek health sector workers protest as hospitals struggle with COVID spike
Greek public health sector workers protested in Athens over pay and conditions on Monday as hospitals struggled with a new surge in COVID-19 cases and authorities considered further restrictions. The protesters said they were underpaid, overworked, and understaffed. They called for more hirings, for the government to include them on …
Read More »UK researchers identify T-cell targets for future COVID vaccines
British researchers said on Wednesday they had identified proteins in the coronavirus that are recognised by T-cells of people who are exposed to the virus but resist infection, possibly providing a new target for vaccine developers. Immunity against COVID-19 is a complex picture, and while there is evidence of waning …
Read More »Global COVID-19 cases near 250 million as Delta surge eases
Worldwide cases due to COVID-19 were approaching 250 million on Sunday as the surge from the Delta variant eases and more normal trade and tourism resume, although some countries in eastern Europe are experiencing record outbreaks. Over the last three months, the daily average number of cases has fallen by …
Read More »US federal appeals court freezes Biden’s vaccine rule for companies
A US federal appeals court issued a stay on Saturday freezing the Biden administration’s efforts to require workers at US companies with at least 100 employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested weekly, citing “grave statutory and constitutional” issues with the rule. The ruling from the United States …
Read More »India’s first homegrown COVID-19 shot Covaxin wins WHO emergency use listing
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that it has granted approval for Indian drugmaker Bharat Biotech’s home-grown COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use listing, paving the way for it to be accepted as a valid vaccine in many poor countries. The WHO tweet that its technical advisory group had …
Read More »Opinion | 5 Million People Have Now Died Of COVID-19 But It’s Likely To Be Much, Much More
The COVID-19 global death toll has just passed another grim milestone: more than 5 million people have now died from the disease. However, most experts agree that number is hugely underestimated and the real figures could be two to four times that. Vaccines have hugely slowed the death rate but …
Read More »Iraq authorizes Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine use for Children over 12
The Iraqi Ministry of Health authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 to include children 12 through 18 years of age. An official document issued by the Ministry on Monday said that the authorization was based on the recommendations of advisory committee experts …
Read More »Being vaccinated offers better protection than being infected: CDC study
A new study from the CDC finds that people with “natural” immunity through infection were more than five times more likely to become infected with COVID-19 compared to people who were fully vaccinated. The study reviewed more than 7,000 people across nine states, measuring infections and hospitalization rates three to …
Read More »G20 wants 70% of world vaccinated by mid-2022, sets up pandemic task force
Finance and health ministers from the world’s 20 biggest economies (G20) said on Friday they would take steps to ensure 70% of the world’s population is vaccinated against COVID-19 by mid-2022 and created a task force to fight future pandemics. They could not reach an agreement on a separate financing …
Read More »Tough winter could be coming with resurgent COVID-19
Restaurants and hair salons are shut. Schooling is remote. People are stuck at home after 8 pm At least one country in Europe has already returned to full-on crisis mode as COVID-19 flares anew from the UK to Russia to Singapore. Latvia’s response is the most extreme, but the Baltic …
Read More »S.Korea says it reaches goal of 70% vaccinations for COVID-19
South Korea said on Saturday that it has achieved its goal of vaccinating 70 percent of its 52 million people, paving the way for a planned return to normal next month. The target, set a month before the country kicked off its inoculation campaign in late February, was reached by …
Read More »Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shows 90.7% efficacy in trial in children
The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine showed 90.7% efficacy against the coronavirus in a clinical trial of children 5 to 11 years old, the U.S. drugmaker said on Friday. Sixteen children in the trial who had received a placebo got COVID-19, compared with 3 who were vaccinated, Pfizer said in briefing documents …
Read More »US FDA to recommend Pfizer, Moderna boosters for people 40 and older: CNN
The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon recommend that persons 40 and older receive Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 booster shots, CNN reported on Tuesday. The US has administered 409,438,987 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Tuesday morning and distributed 495,844,635 doses, the US Centers …
Read More »Italy’s Chinese feel penalized by COVID-19 Green Pass rules
One of Italy’s largest Chinese communities says it is being unfairly penalized by the government’s mandatory COVID-19 health pass and has asked the authorities for a flexible interpretation of the rules. The so-called Green Pass, showing proof of COVID immunity through vaccination, previous infection, or a negative test, has triggered …
Read More »Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine highly protective in 12-18 age group: US CDC
The Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE COVID-19 vaccine was 93 percent effective in preventing hospitalizations among those aged 12 to 18, according to an analysis released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday. The study was conducted between June and September when the extremely contagious Delta variant …
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