Tag Archives: Vaccine

The prevalence of the lambda COVID-19 variant, deemed a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization, has increased in the US. “There are currently more than 1,300 lambda sequences in the US as of August 4, 2021, and the lambda variant has been identified in 44 states,” Centers for …

The coronavirus outbreak in the United States crossed 100,000 new confirmed daily infections Saturday, a milestone last exceeded during the pre-vaccine winter surge and driven by the highly transmissible delta variant and low vaccination rates in the South. Health officials fear that cases, hospitalizations and deaths will continue to soar …

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 …

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 …

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 …

With a new wave of COVID-19 infections fueled by the Delta variant striking countries worldwide, disease experts are scrambling to learn whether the latest version of coronavirus is making people – mainly the unvaccinated – sicker than before. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that Delta, first …

Government plans to make access to public spaces conditional on health checks have provoked more protest demonstrations in France, Switzerland, and Italy. Under the schemes, vaccination cards, or a recent negative Covid-19 test, are to be made obligatory for those wanting to visit cultural, sporting, and social events. Throughout France, …

Protesters clashed with police in Berlin over government measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and in defiance of a ban on demonstrations. Dozens of planned protests were banned ahead of the weekend but demonstrators began gathering at set points throughout the German capital early on Sunday. #Berlin #Demo The …

Hackers have attacked and shut down the IT systems of the company that manages COVID-19 vaccination appointments for the Lazio region surrounding Rome, the regional government said on Sunday. “A powerful hacker attack on the region’s CED (database) is under way,” the region said in a Facebook posting. It said …

Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc have raised the prices of their COVID-19 vaccine in the latest European Union supply contracts, The Financial Times reported on Sunday. The new price for the Pfizer shot was 19.50 euros ($23.15) against 15.50 euros previously, the newspaper said citing the portions of the contracts …

Hundreds of people blocked traffic in the centre of Slovak capital Bratislava, protesting against a law that gives those who have had the COVID-19 vaccine easier access to public events and spaces, Slovak media reported on Thursday. The law, which requires people who haven’t been inoculated to take a test …

The effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine dropped from 96 percent to 84 percent over six months, a new study funded by the companies showed. The study, published on Wednesday, showed that while the efficacy level of the Pfizer vaccine reached a peak of 96.2 percent within the first two …

France said on Thursday it failed to understand why it was exempt from a new rule allowing fully-vaccinated European Union citizens to enter England without having to quarantine. From next week, travelers fully jabbed with a vaccine approved by the US Food and Drug Administration or the European Medicines Agency …

COVID-19 could be just a few mutations away from evading existing vaccines that protect against the deadly virus, according to the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Italy approved the use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for children 12-17 years old. To date, over 31 million people in Italy — or 57.4 percent of the target population aged 12 and above — have already been fully immunized. Italy has authorized the Moderna Spikevax coronavirus vaccine for minors aged …

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that 70 percent of adults in the bloc have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Overall, 57 percent of over-18s are now fully vaccinated across the 27 nations, she said in a statement. “These figures put Europe among the …

India will miss a target to administer over a half-billion COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of the month as Bharat Biotech — maker of its only approved homegrown shot — struggles to boost output, an analysis of government data showed on Monday. India has undertaken one of the world’s …

New legislation extends the use of health certificates in daily life, introduces mandatory vaccinations for healthcare workers. France’s parliament has approved legislation to make COVID passes a key part of daily life and vaccinations mandatory for health workers amid a surge in infections across the country. Monday’s move means people …

A mixed vaccination of first AstraZeneca and then a Pfizer COVID-19 shot boosted neutralizing antibody levels by six times compared with two AstraZeneca doses, a study from South Korea showed. The study involved 499 medical workers – 100 receiving mixed doses, 200 taking two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech shot, and …

Top US infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said on Sunday that Americans who are immune-compromised may end up needing COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. “Those who are transplant patients, cancer chemotherapy, auto-immune diseases, that are on immunosuppressant regimens, those are the kind of individuals that if there’s going to be a …