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Says Delta variant now in 132 countries by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Delta variant of Covid-19 is a warning to the world to suppress the virus quickly before it mutates again into something even worse, the WHO said Friday. The highly-transmissible variant, first detected in India, has now surfaced in 132 countries and territories, the World Health Organization said. “Delta is a warning: it’s a warning that the virus […]
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Drugmaker AstraZeneca said Saturday it was scouring its supply chain to find more doses of its Covid-19 vaccine for Southeast Asia, which is facing its most serious outbreak yet of the virus. The statement from the Anglo-Swedish company — which produces its vaccine in Thailand for use domestically and in neighbouring countries — comes in the wake of a supply shortage which has sparked heavy criticism of Thai Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha’s […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippines became the world’s first country Friday to approve the commercial production of genetically modified “golden rice” that experts hope will combat childhood blindness and save lives in the developing world. A biosafety permit issued by government regulators paves the way for the rice — enriched with the vitamin A-precursor beta-carotene to make it more nutritional — to be grown by farmers across the country, its developers said. “It’s […]
ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — The mental health impact of the pandemic will be “long-term and far-reaching”, the World Health Organization said Thursday, as experts and leaders called for action on Covid-linked anxiety and stress. “Everyone is affected in one way or another,” the WHO said in a statement at the start of a two-day meeting in Athens with health ministers from dozens of countries. It said “anxieties around virus transmission, the psychological impact of lockdowns […]
(Eagle News) — Do you or someone you know belong to a household with both vaccinated and unvaccinated kids? EBC’s Pennsylvania bureau Maila Simbulan tells us how Pennsylvania is reaching out to children and their parents to provide COVID safety tips as schools are set to resume in the US this fall. (Eagle News Service)
by Marianne BARRIAUX with Agence France Presse bureaus The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Thursday that “more dangerous” variants of Covid-19 could tear across the world as global infections soared to half a million daily, largely driven by the virulent Delta strain. An AFP tally of official sources found that after an initial dip, cases have been rising again worldwide since the end of June, topping 540,000 on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. “The […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — People who received BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine had ten times the amount of antibodies than those given China’s Sinovac, a Hong Kong study has shown, adding to growing data on different jabs’ effectiveness. The University of Hong Kong (HKU) research, based on a study of 1,442 healthcare workers, was published in Lancet Microbe on Thursday. Researchers said antibodies are not the only measure of a vaccine’s success at fighting a […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — A 90-year-old woman who died after falling ill with Covid-19 was infected with both the Alpha and Beta variants of the coronavirus at the same time, researchers in Belgium said Sunday, adding that the rare phenomenon may be underestimated. The unvaccinated woman, who lived alone and received at-home nursing care, was admitted to the OLV Hospital in the Belgian city of Aalst after a spate of falls in March and tested […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — The Chinese CoronaVac jab, a key tool in Brazil’s fight against Covid-19, is less effective against the Gamma variant first detected in the virus-ravaged South American country, a study said Friday. Researchers found that antibodies generated by the vaccine work less well against the variant than a previous coronavirus strain, while Gamma may also be able to reinfect people who had previously had the virus. Gamma’s capacity to evade these […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Pfizer and BioNTech announced Thursday they would seek regulatory authorization for a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine. It comes after initial data from an ongoing trial showed a third shot pushed antibody levels five to 10 times higher against the original coronavirus strain and the Beta variant, first found in South Africa, compared to the first two doses alone, according to a statement. “The companies expect to publish more […]
by Robin MILLARD GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization on Wednesday urged “extreme caution” for countries considering lifting Covid-19 restrictions, warning that high vaccination rates would not stop transmission of the virus increasing. The UN health agency urged governments not to squander hard-won gains and return to scenes of overwhelmed hospitals and exhausted health workers. Asked about England’s plans to ditch most of its coronavirus restrictions from July 19, WHO emergencies director Michael […]
Lambda variant has now been detected in at least 29 countries including South America, US, Australia, Israel and parts of Europe (Eagle News) – A new variant of interest of the COVID-19 virus is yet again causing concern since it was first detected in Peru late last year, amid recent research that indicated it may be more infectious than other variants and could have higher immune escape mechanisms. The Lambda variant, or C.37, has […]
