Republicans on Friday vowed to fight U.S. President Joe Biden’s new vaccine mandate covering big companies and federal employees, but business groups that often agree with them on issues like taxes are not joining in. The mandate, which the White House says would cover 100 million U.S. workers and applies …
Read More »COVID-19 vaccines hold up against severe Delta variant: US health authorities
Fully vaccinated people were 11 times less likely to die of COVID-19 and 10 times less likely to be hospitalized since highly contagious Delta became the most common variant, US health authorities said Friday. The data came from one of three new papers published by the Centers for Disease Control …
Read More »COVID vaccine creator at Oxford says mass boosters may be unnecessary
Booster shots to extend the protection of COVID-19 vaccines may be unnecessary for many people, a leading scientist behind the AstraZeneca vaccine said on Friday. Oxford University Professor Sarah Gilbert told The Telegraph newspaper that immunity from the vaccine was holding up well — even against the delta variant. While …
Read More »Biden to make vaccines MANDATORY for federal workers, with no option for regular testing — reports
US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order requiring all federal workers and contractors to be vaccinated against Covid-19, according to multiple reports. The order is one of several measures Biden is expected to announce. Biden signed the order on Thursday, hours before he was due to give a …
Read More »Covax eyes vaccines for just 20 pct of people in poor nations in 2021
The vaccine-sharing facility Covax said Wednesday it should be able to provide COVID jabs to no more than 20 percent of people in poorer countries this year, far fewer than anticipated. Covax acknowledged that it now expects to access just 1.425 billion vaccine doses this year – far short of …
Read More »WHO chief urges halt to COVID-19 booster shots for rest of the year
The head of the World Health Organization is calling on rich countries with large supplies of coronavirus vaccines to refrain from offering booster shots through the end of the year, expanding a call that has largely fallen on deaf ears. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said on Wednesday he …
Read More »Rich countries to have 1.2bn surplus COVID vaccine doses
By end of 2021, rich countries will have 1.2 billion doses of vaccine shots not earmarked for donations. Wealthy countries could potentially have a surplus of more than one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses available by the end of the year that is not designated as donations to poorer nations, according …
Read More »Maduro says Venezuela to receive first COVAX vaccines this week
Venezuela this week will receive the first coronavirus vaccines obtained via COVAX, President Nicolas Maduro said on Sunday, following months of stalled attempts to obtain inoculations through the global vaccine program. The South American nation has been inoculating its population with doses acquired directly from China and Russia, following months …
Read More »Alaska Airlines in US offering $200 to employees vaccinated against COVID-19
US-based Alaska Airlines said it will give a $200 reward to its employees who are vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a press release. “Throughout the pandemic, the safety of our employees and guests has always come first, and we are committed to protecting our fellow employees, guests, and loved ones …
Read More »German health minister says 90% of intensive care patients haven’t received Covid-19 jab
Germany’s health minister has warned that Covid-19 is becoming the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” as 90% of the country’s intensive care patients are those who refused a potentially life-saving shot. Speaking on Friday, Health Minister Jens Spahn said people who have not been vaccinated against the virus have a responsibility …
Read More »AstraZeneca, EU reach settlement on delivery of remaining COVID-19 vaccines
The European Commission and AstraZeneca said on Friday they had reached a settlement on delivering remaining COVID-19 vaccine doses by the British drugmaker and also ended pending litigation in Brussels. The settlement clears a major overhang for AstraZeneca, whose cheap and easily transportable vaccine has faced several setbacks, including the …
Read More »Being fully vaccinated reduces odds of long-term Covid-19 symptoms by half, UK study suggests
A new study of breakthrough Covid-19 infections finds that vaccines not only reduce the risk of severe disease and hospitalization, but can lower the odds of having long-term Covid-19 symptoms too. “We found that the odds of having symptoms for 28 days or more after post-vaccination infection were approximately halved …
Read More »Well-vaccinated countries should prioritise COVAX over booster shots – WHO’s Tedros
The World Health Organisation recommends against using spare doses of COVID-19 vaccine to give booster shots to countries’ fully-vaccinated populations since the priority is to ensure the global population is vaccinated, the agency’s head said. Speaking in Berlin at the opening of a new epidemic intelligence hub, Director-General Tedros Adhanom …
Read More »10,000 unvaccinated Greek health workers against COVID-19 face suspension: Union
Some 10,000 health workers in Greece faced being suspended as a deadline to get vaccinated against COVID-19 ran out on Wednesday, a union said. From September 1, inoculations become mandatory for health workers, and those who don’t comply will not be allowed to work. Protests broke out on Wednesday morning …
Read More »North Korea rejects offer of nearly 3 million Sinovac COVID-19 shots
North Korea has rejected roughly three million COVID-19 vaccine doses of China’s Sinovac Biotech, saying they should be sent to severely affected countries, the UNICEF said on Wednesday. The isolated country’s public ministry pointed to the limited global supply for vaccines and continuing virus surges elsewhere, according to the UN …
Read More »Moderna COVID-19 vaccine creates twice as many antibodies as Pfizer: Study
Moderna Inc.‘s COVID-19 vaccine generated more than double the antibodies of a similar shot made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE in research directly comparing immune responses to the inoculations. A study of almost 2,500 workers at a major Belgium hospital system found antibody levels among individuals who hadn’t been …
Read More »New Zealand reports first death linked to Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
New Zealand reported its first recorded death linked to the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the health ministry said on Monday after a woman suffered a rare heart muscle inflammation side effect. The report comes as the country battles an outbreak of the Delta variant of the coronavirus after nearly six months …
Read More »Greek police clash with anti-vaccine protesters in Athens
Greek police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a group of people who had gathered in central Athens on Sunday to protest against mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations. About 5,000 people rallied outside the Greek parliament to protest against the inoculations.
Read More »Singapore becomes world’s most COVID vaccinated country
With 80 percent of its people fully inoculated against COVID-19, Singapore is now the world’s most vaccinated country, according to Reuters. Singapore has fully inoculated 80 percent of its 5.7 million people against COVID-19, according to officials, becoming the world’s most vaccinated country and setting the stage for further easing …
Read More »India asks two states to consider night curfews amid COVID spike
Kerala and Maharashtra asked to consider night curfews in areas with high cases as the country reports more than 40,000 new infections for two days in a row. India has asked the states of Kerala and Maharashtra to consider night curfews in areas with high COVID-19 case numbers as the …
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