Month: February 2021

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday it is reviewing the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in light of a South African study indicating the drug offers minimal protection against the new South Africa variant of the virus. The study, conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand, prompted the South African government to temporarily halt its use of the vaccine.  At WHO’s usual Monday briefing at its headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the news concerning but noted what he called “some important caveats” to that development. FILE - Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, speaks in Geneva, Jan. 21, 2021.He said given the limited sample size of the Witwatersrand trial and the younger, healthier profile of the participants, it is important to determine whether the vaccine…

A British health official Monday downplayed a study suggesting the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was minimally effective against a variant of the virus and suggested the vaccine could be modified to address such strains.     South Africa halted its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine after researchers from the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Oxford said the vaccine provided minimal protection against mild or moderate infection from the so-called South African variant among young people.   But in an interview Monday, Britain’s Minister of State for Health Edward Argar and other health experts looking at the study suggested there was no evidence that the vaccine would not be effective in preventing hospitalization and severe illness and death from the South African strain.   Argar also suggested the vaccine could…

More than 800,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine should be delivered to South Sudan by the end of the month according to a South Sudanese health ministry official.     Doctor John Rumunu, director-general for preventive health services at the national health ministry said the vaccine will first be administered to the country’s most vulnerable populations.   Rumunu told reporters in Juba Sunday that South Sudan met all of the requirements necessary to acquire the vaccine.   “I’m happy to let you know that the 864,000 doses are from AstraZeneca, and AstraZeneca is using the same chain like we are using for the routine vaccination, meaning you need fridges that can keep vaccines in conditions of two to eight degrees centigrade. We have that all over the country,” he…

Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera says the country will go ahead with acquiring the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, despite concerns about its efficacy.  Chakwera on Sunday evening announced Malawi has acquired 1.5 million doses and that additional ones were on the way to vaccinate a total of about four and a half million people.  Chakwera said Malawi, one of Africa's poorest countries, settled for the AstraZeneca vaccine because it is cheaper.  In a televised address on the fight against COVID-19, President Chakwera said the vaccine type coming to Malawi has an average of 60 to 70 percent efficacy. FILE - Malawi's newly elected President Lazarus Chakwera takes the oath of office in Lilongwe, Malawi, June 28, 2020.He said although the efficacy is lower that than other vaccine types, the AstraZeneca vaccine has one great advantage…

Emergency teams in northern India are working Monday to rescue 37 power plant workers trapped in a tunnel after part of a Himalayan glacier broke away, slamming water and debris into a dam and at least two hydroelectric plants early Sunday.  Authorities say at least 18 bodies have been recovered, but more than 165 people are missing and feared dead.  More than 2,000 people have been deployed to the search-and-rescue operation in the valley, including members of the military and police. The floods destroyed a hydroelectric plant on the Alaknanda river and damaged another on the Dhauli Ganga river. The two rivers flow out of the Himalayan mountains and meet before merging with the Ganges river.Rescuers leave on a boat to search for bodies in the downstream of Alaknanda River in Rudraprayag, northern state of Uttarakhand, India, Feb.8, 2021.The incident sent a massive amount of water and debris downhill,…

The Democratic Republic of Congo reported Sunday that a woman died of Ebola, three months after the country declared an end to a previous outbreak.   The woman's husband had contracted the disease and survived in the previous 2020 outbreak. Samples from the hospital in Butembo, in the northeastern part of the country, were being sent to the capital, Kinshasa, to determine whether her illness is linked to the previous outbreak or constitutes a new one.   UNICEF identified the woman as a 42-year-old mother in a statement released Sunday, adding that its staff was on the ground in the state of North Kivu to assist local health care workers to “mobilize the community response.”   The U.N. organization for children also added that it would assist in transporting necessary…

After hurtling hundreds of millions of kilometers through space since last summer, three robotic explorers are ready to hit the brakes at Mars.  The stakes — and anxiety — are sky high.  The United Arab Emirates' orbiter reaches Mars on Tuesday, followed less than 24 hours later by China's orbiter-rover combo. NASA's rover, the cosmic caboose, will arrive on the scene a week later, on February 18, to collect rocks for return to Earth — a key step in determining whether life ever existed at Mars.Both the UAE and China are newcomers at Mars, where more than half of Earth's emissaries have failed. China's first Mars mission, a joint effort with Russia in 2011, never made it past Earth's orbit."We are quite excited as engineers and scientists, at the same…

Rights groups in Cameroon marked the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation Saturday by protesting the resurgence of the practice, also known as FGM. The government says COVID-19, the country’s separatist crisis and Boko Haram terrorism have stopped campaigns on the dangers of the practice and made providers return to FGM, which was being abandoned.  Rights groups and FGM victims are pushing for an end to the practice. At least 100 women Saturday visited the Briqueterie and Tsinga neighborhoods in Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé, where they say female genital mutilation, or FGM, is resurging. The visit was part of activities marking the 14th International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation. The government said there is a resurgence of FGM in the neighborhood because some practitioners have relocated…

Deep in the deciduous tropical forests on the Srepok River banks, Bun Tropin has a routine as he stations himself at the Mereuch Base for the armed forest rangers of Cambodia’s Ministry of the Environment.The base has a long history of combat dating to the pivotal A red muntjac. (World Wildlife Fund)But Bun Tropin, 27, a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) biodiversity research assistant, knows his way around the restricted sanctuaries in Mondulkiri province because he manages more than 200 camera traps as part of the conservation group’s effort to capture evidence of the presence of wildlife. Bun Tropin asked that his real name not be used to protect his family from threats by poachers.Bun Tropin and his team guided the journalists through chest-high grasses to check the cameras installed through…

With the world in a race between the spread of coronavirus variants and vaccinating millions, AstraZeneca announced Saturday that early data shows its vaccine provides limited protection against mild disease caused by the South African variant of the virus.The test group was small, about 2,000 people, and young, with a median age of 31. But none of the study’s participants were hospitalized or died, according to The Financial Times of London, the first to report the results.“We do believe our vaccine could protect against severe disease,” an AstraZeneca spokesperson said. He added that the company has not been able "to properly ascertain its effect against severe disease and hospitalization given that subjects were predominantly young healthy adults."The pharmaceutical company will publish its study results Monday.AstraZeneca has begun adapting its vaccine…

China has conditionally approved a second COVID-19 vaccine for public use.The National Medical Products Administration said in a statement Saturday that regulators approved the use of Sinovac Biotech Ltd.'s CoronaVac the day before.A vaccine developed by a Chinese institute affiliated with the state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) was approved for public use two months ago.The Sinovac vaccine, which is being administered in at least five other countries, was given emergency approval last July for people at high risk for infection, such as health care workers and employees of state-owned companies.Conditional approval of the vaccine allows its use for the general public while research continues. The company must submit current data and reports of any adverse effects after the vaccine is sold on the market.A third candidate vaccine from Sinopharm…

Technology that can predict bushfires is being developed in Australia, one of the world’s most fire-prone countries. It will offer real-time visual displays of how fires are likely to spread. It comes as dozens of homes already have been destroyed this year by fires on the outskirts of the Western Australian state capital, Perth.Bushfires are a perennial menace in Australia. This week, Perth has confronted twin emergencies: raging flames and a coronavirus lockdown.“When I had to evacuate, I didn’t want to come to the evacuation center because I, obviously with the lockdown, I was so concerned that this was going to be like a COVID hot spot,” one resident said. “Yeah, grabbed my animals and just headed straight for the beach, actually. I ended up trying to sleep in my…

As the Trump administration was nearing the end of an unprecedented string of executions, 70% of death row inmates were sick with COVID-19. Guards were ill. Traveling prisons staff on the execution team had the virus. So did media witnesses, who may have unknowingly infected others when they returned home because they were never told about the spreading cases.Records obtained by The Associated Press show employees at the Indiana prison complex where the 13 executions were carried out over six months had contact with inmates and other people infected with the coronavirus but were able to refuse testing and declined to participate in contact tracing efforts and were still permitted to return to their work assignments.Other staff members, including those brought in to help with executions, also spread tips to…

The head of the World Health Organization called Friday for pharmaceutical companies to share manufacturing facilities to increase the production of COVID-19 vaccines.Speaking at an online news briefing from Geneva, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said what is needed is “a massive scale-up in production.”He noted that France’s pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced it would make its manufacturing infrastructure available to support production of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and called on other companies to do the same.“We encourage all manufacturers to share their data and technology to ensure global, equitable access to vaccines.”He also repeated his call for rich nations to share doses with poorer countries once they have vaccinated health workers and older people.Tedros said 75% of all COVID-19 vaccinations worldwide have been given in just 10 countries, while nearly 130 nations have…

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday that 75% of all COVID-19 vaccinations worldwide have been given in just 10 countries, while nearly 130 nations have not given a single vaccination.At the agency’s regular briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that, globally, the number of vaccinations has now overtaken the number of reported COVID-19 infections.He said that is basically good news and a remarkable achievement in such a short timeframe. But there are almost 130 countries with 2.5 billion people, that have not delivered a single dose of vaccine.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization speaks during a session of the Executive Board on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Geneva, Jan. 21, 2021.Tedros said there are some wealthier nations that have already…

As more people get the COVID-19 vaccine, health care experts are tackling the issue of how someone can prove they've been vaccinated. Lesia Bakalets has more in this story narrated by Anna Rice.  Camera: Sergii Dogotar        ...

Despite its world-class medical system and its vaunted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. fell behind in the race to detect dangerous coronavirus mutations. And it’s only now beginning to catch up.The problem has not been a shortage of technology or expertise. Rather, scientists say, it’s an absence of national leadership and coordination, plus a lack of funding and supplies for overburdened laboratories trying to juggle diagnostic testing with the hunt for genetic changes.“We have the brains. We have the tools. We have the instruments,” said Ilhem Messaoudi, director of a virus research center at University of California, Irvine. “It’s just a matter of supporting that effort.”Viruses mutate constantly. To stay ahead of the threat, scientists analyze samples, watching closely for mutations that might make the coronavirus more…

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Friday that there are more than 104 million global GOVID-19 cases and 2.2 million deaths from the virus. The United States remains at the top of the list as the location with the most infections, with more than 26 million cases, followed by India with 10.8 million and Brazil with 9.3 million. Medical officials are urging U.S. residents to not turn Sunday’s Super Bowl, a yearly football game, into a superspreader event.  Fans usually gather at large home parties or in bars and restaurants to watch the game on television.  Medical authorities this year, however, are urging football fans to watch the game “with the people you live with.” Some areas in the United States are running into difficulty ensuring that their residents are being…

Despite its world-class medical system and its vaunted Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. fell behind in the race to detect dangerous coronavirus mutations. And it’s only now beginning to catch up.The problem has not been a shortage of technology or expertise. Rather, scientists say, it’s an absence of national leadership and coordination, plus a lack of funding and supplies for overburdened laboratories trying to juggle diagnostic testing with the hunt for genetic changes.“We have the brains. We have the tools. We have the instruments,” said Ilhem Messaoudi, director of a virus research center at University of California, Irvine. “It’s just a matter of supporting that effort.”Viruses mutate constantly. To stay ahead of the threat, scientists analyze samples, watching closely for mutations that might make the coronavirus more…

Far beneath the ocean surface, a cacophony of industrial noise is disrupting marine animals' ability to mate, feed and even evade predators, scientists warn. With rumbling ships, hammering oil drills and booming seismic survey blasts, humans have drastically altered the underwater soundscape – in some cases deafening or disorienting whales, dolphins and other marine mammals that rely on sound to navigate, researchers report in a metastudy published online Thursday and in the Friday edition of the journal FILE - A large crevasse forms near the calving front of the Helheim glacier near Tasiilaq, Greenland, June 22, 2018."It’s a chronic problem that certainly weakens the animals all the way from individuals to populations," Duarte said in an interview. "This is a growing problem, one that is global in scope." These noises and their…

Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson said Thursday it is seeking approval for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.The FDA said it has scheduled a Feb. 26 meeting of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee to discuss an emergency use authorization for the company.In January, Johnson & Johnson released a report that said its vaccine had a 66% rate of preventing the coronavirus infection in a large global trial. However, the vaccine was found in trials not to protect as well against the South Africa virus variant, which is highly transmissible and spreading around the globe, officials said.After previous such meetings of the FDA committee, vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna received authorization within a day.The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which each require two doses to…

The Biden administration on Thursday underscored the importance of supporting COVAX, the global mechanism that aims to deliver coronavirus vaccines to poor countries, but it acknowledged it has not increased funding beyond the $4 billion approved in December for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, one of the co-leaders of COVAX.“We have reiterated our commitment to COVAX, and I don’t have any additional funding note to announce today,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in response to a question from VOA.On Jan. 21, the day after President Joe Biden was inaugurated, the U.S. announced it would join COVAX and rejoin the World Health Organization. In July 2020, then-President Donald Trump formally withdrew from the world body, accusing it of being a puppet of China during the pandemic.Biden highlighted the message of…

As African nations wait for hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to arrive, health officials are concerned about a general rise in coronavirus cases and deaths, especially in Southern Africa.   The stories, reported in local media and highlighted by aid groups, are chilling. In the tiny kingdom of eSwatini, medical aid group Doctors Without Borders says health facilities are seeing 200 new cases per day and a death rate four times higher than they saw in the first wave.     In the coastal nation of Mozambique, case numbers are nearly seven times higher than they were at the peak of the first wave in 2020.     And in the landlocked nation of Malawi, the poorest country in Southern Africa, new cases are doubling every four to…

In a report marking World Cancer Day, the World Health Organization says COVID-19 is having a negative impact on cancer control efforts at a time when cases and deaths from this deadly disease are rising significantly. New statistics show the number of people diagnosed with cancer globally last year reached 19.3 million, with the number of people dying increasing to 10 million.  The World Health Organization reports cancer now is the second leading cause of death, with 70 percent of deaths occurring in low-and-middle income countries. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 7 MB480p | 10 MB540p | 13 MB720p | 23 MB1080p | 46 MBOriginal | 66 MB Embed" />Copy Download AudioBreast cancer WHO reports…

Strict COVID-19 measures are being reintroduced in the state of Victoria after a 26-year-old Australian Open hotel worker tested positive.Up to 600 tennis players, officials and support staff have been told to isolate and be screened, while warm-up matches for next week’s Grand Slam in Melbourne have been canceled. They must return a negative coronavirus test before they can resume their preparations for next week’s tournament.“About five [to] 600 people that are either players or officials and others who are casual contacts, they will be isolating until they get a negative test,” said Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews. “So, it may have an impact on the lead-up event, but at this stage there is no impact to the tournament proper.”Andrews added that there was “no need for people to panic” because…

Testing began in Britain on Thursday to determine if different COVID-19 vaccines can be used together in a two-shot regimen.Researchers are aiming to inoculate more than 800 volunteers with one shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, followed either four or 12 weeks later with a booster shot of the vaccine developed jointly by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, or vice versa.The vaccines were developed with different technology -- the Pfizer vaccine through messenger RNA (mRNA), while the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is adenovirus viral vector, or common cold virus.Health officials say if two vaccines developed with different technology are able to be used interchangeably, it could allow greater flexibility in immunization campaigns around the world.In a related development, The Guardian newspaper says an analysis of Israel’s mass vaccination program has found that a single…