Year: 2020

As more countries approve a coronavirus vaccine, the urgent need for inoculation continues to grow with COVID-19 cases and deaths spiking to record highs in several countries. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Sunday that South Korea recorded a record daily increase in coronavirus…

As more countries approve a coronavirus vaccine, the urgent need for inoculation continues to grow with COVID-19 cases and deaths spiking to record highs in several countries.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Sunday that South Korea recorded a record daily increase in coronavirus…

A Chinese space capsule bringing back the first moon rocks in more than four decades started its three-day return to Earth on Sunday.The Chang’e 5 lunar probe, which had been orbiting the moon for about a week, fired up four engines for about 22 minutes…

Super-cooled shipments of a newly approved coronavirus vaccine are set to roll out of a Pfizer manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in tractor-trailers Sunday for rapid air freight distribution to regional hubs across the United States.Inoculations could begin as early as Monday at a time…

The U.S. has approved emergency use of the Pfizer–BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for Americans to start getting vaccinated within days. But public skepticism about the safety of the vaccine remains, with polls showing many adults say they won’t get the shot or are…

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan announced Saturday that his country would have no new coal-fired power generation as part of its contribution in global efforts against climate change.Khan gave details of the substantial undertaking while addressing the international Climate Ambition Summit 2020, held virtually because…

U.S. President Donald Trump late Friday hailed what he termed “a medical miracle” – the immediate but extremely limited availability of a coronavirus vaccine less than a year after the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in the United States.In a video message posted on…

Mexico approved the emergency use of a coronavirus vaccine late Friday, bringing to six the number of countries that are inoculating or plan to inoculate with shots produced by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Saudi Arabia and the United States have also…

Brazil, which is second to the U.S. in deaths from COVID-19 and third in the world in positive cases, is approaching 180,000 deaths as it suffers through its second wave of the disease caused by the coronavirus.In the past day, more than 53,000 cases and…

The U.S. gave the final go-ahead Friday to the nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine, marking what could be the beginning of the end of an outbreak that has killed nearly 300,000 Americans, according to a person familiar with the decision but not authorized to discuss it…

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Friday pressed Food and Drug Administration chief Stephen Hahn to grant an emergency use authorization for Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine by the end of the day or face possible firing, two administration officials said.The vaccine produced by Pfizer…

The World Health Organization (WHO) says action and money are needed to ensure coronavirus vaccines are available around the world as Western nations approve them. During Friday’s COVID-19 briefing at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus applauded the fact Britain was already vaccinating…

Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced Friday that beginning Monday, the self-isolation period after contact with confirmed COVID-19 carriers will be shortened from 14 to 10 days in the nation. At her COVID-19 news briefing in Edinburgh, Sturgeon also said that the four-day reduction in…

The United States could be hours away from starting its COVID-19 vaccination program. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reportedly could authorize on Friday or Saturday the emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine produced by U.S. drug maker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. An FDA advisory panel voted to recommend approval of the vaccine late Thursday. With the U.S. on the verge of its inoculation program, human rights group Amnesty International’s director of economic and social justice issued a warning.  Steve Cockburn told The…

British health officials are warning that people with a “significant history” of allergic reactions should not receive the new coronavirus vaccine that was rolled out in a mass vaccination program Tuesday, pending investigation of two adverse reactions.  Britian is the first western country to begin the mass vaccinations,…

Clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Australia’s University of Queensland in partnership with biotech company CSL have been abandoned after participants returned false positive HIV test results. The treatment was a key part of Australia’s response to the pandemic, and the government…

A US government advisory panel on Thursday recommended emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, which meant Americans could begin being vaccinated as soon as this weekend. Earlier this week, the country recorded its highest death toll from COVID-19, with more than 3,100 deaths in…

Trial data from Pfizer Inc with partner BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc and AstraZeneca Plc has shown their experimental vaccines are effective in preventing novel coronavirus infection.While regulatory processes are underway, few Asian countries expect to receive significant amounts of the vaccines initially. Here are estimated…

The United Nations’ World Food Program was awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize in a virtual ceremony Thursday. As Henry Ridgwell reports, the head of the organization warned that hundreds of millions of people are facing starvation around the world, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. …

After nine hours of deliberation Thursday, a special panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for emergency use a coronavirus vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. The decision was made as the U.S. continues to confirm record numbers of coronavirus…

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says “vaccine nationalism” is on the rise as wealthier nations line up to buy millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines at the expense of much poorer nations.During a virtual meeting Wednesday with African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat,…

NASA on Wednesday formally introduced 18 astronauts who will take part in the U.S. space agency’s new manned lunar program.Nine men and nine women are the first group of astronauts assigned to the Artemis program, half of whom have already flown into space. Two of…

After more than 15.3 million total infections, the United States is on the verge of obtaining a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.A special panel of the Food and Drug Administration will meet Thursday morning to consider whether to grant emergency use authorization to the new…