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PARIS, France (AFP) — People who are vaccinated and have had a booster shot against Covid-19 recover from symptoms from the Omicron variant more than three days earlier than those with the Delta variant, a study said Friday. The study also found that people with Omicron are significantly less likely to lose their sense of smell, and confirmed previous research that it is less severe. To find out the differences in how Omicron and […]
by Irakli METREVELI Agence France Presse TBILISI, Georgia (AFP) — It may seem strange after a pandemic that has killed millions and turned the world upside down, but viruses could save just as many lives. In a petri dish in a laboratory in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, a battle is going on between antibiotic resistant bacteria and “friendly” viruses. This small nation in the Caucasus has pioneered research on a groundbreaking way to tackle […]
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Pfizer and BioNTech announced Tuesday they had formally asked the United States drug regulator for emergency approval of a second booster shot of their Covid vaccine for people aged 65 and older. The companies said in a press statement that their request is based off two Israeli studies that show “an additional mRNA booster increases immunogenicity and lowers rates of confirmed infections and severe illness.” Most countries’ case-levels have […]
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) – A Shanghai pedestrian swarmed by hazmat-clad health officials, police tape wrapped around entire blocks, and panic buying at a Shenzhen shopping centre: China is returning to virus controls many hoped it had long left behind. The country is facing its worst Covid-19 outbreak since the first wave of the pandemic emerged in Wuhan in late 2019. While the daily caseload is comparatively small, around 5,300 were recorded on Tuesday, the Omicron […]
by Nathalie OLOF-ORS Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – Airlines may find themselves swept up in unprecedented turbulence — with air travel shunned over climate concerns, plagued by pandemic shutdowns and soaring oil prices — but for private jet operators, business is booming. The appeal of private jets has taken off since the start of the pandemic, amid fear of catching Covid-19 and as widespread cancellations and stringent measures have turned flying commercial into a […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia said Friday it is buying extra vaccines to fight the potentially deadly, mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis virus, which has spread down the flood-hit east coast for the first time. Previously confined to the tropical north, Japanese encephalitis has traveled as far south as South Australia since late February — infecting 17 people and leading to two confirmed deaths, according to state health authorities. More extreme rainfall events have brought greater numbers […]
by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Friday marks two years to the day since the World Health Organization first described Covid-19 as a pandemic, shaking countries into action as the disease ripped around the planet. The once-in-a-century pandemic has turned the world upside down, claiming more than six million lives and infecting at least 450 million people. But the WHO voiced its frustration at people marking the second anniversary of […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – The Covid pandemic has taken a dire toll on mental health, the WHO said Wednesday, indicating that cases of anxiety and depression had swelled by over 25 percent globally. In a fresh scientific brief, the World Health Organization also found that the Covid-19 crisis had in many cases significantly impeded access to mental health services and raised concerns about increases in suicidal behaviour. The brief, which […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China could move away from its zero-Covid strategy “in the near future” and co-exist with the virus, a top Chinese scientist said in a possible sign that the country’s leadership is rethinking its strict approach. The country where the coronavirus was first detected in 2019 is now one of the last places still hewing to a zero-tolerance approach, responding to small outbreaks with snap lockdowns and cutting off most international […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) – New Zealand Covid-19 infections reached a record high Wednesday as anti-vaccine protesters claimed victory after police failed to clear vehicles blocking the streets around parliament. Health authorities reported 1,160 new coronavirus cases, the most since the pandemic began, as the Omicron variant continues to spread in a country that was largely virus-free until August. While there have only been 53 virus deaths in the nation of five million, some protesters […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Babies born to mothers fully vaccinated against the coronavirus during pregnancy were around 60 percent less likely to be hospitalized with severe Covid, a new study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. Such an effect had been hypothesized — because of the transfer of antibodies through the placenta during pregnancy and through breast milk after birth — but wasn’t backed by real world evidence until […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – The Swiss voted on Sunday to tighten their notoriously lax tobacco laws by banning virtually all advertising of the hazardous products. Nearly 57 percent of voters and 16 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons backed the near-total tobacco advertising ban, final results showed. “We are extremely happy. The people understood that health is more important than economic interests,” Stefanie De Borba of the Swiss League against Cancer, told […]
