Month: March 2021

Europe's drug regulator, the Europe Medicines Agency (EMA), said Thursday the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective in protecting people from the disease and its benefits outweigh its possible risks. Speaking to a remote news conference from the agency's Amsterdam headquarters, Executive Director Emer Cooke…

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) director for Europe said Thursday that the COVID-19 situation in the continent has taken a step backward, with more people dying from the disease than at this time last year.   During a virtual briefing from his office in Copenhagen,…

Leading United Nations agencies are calling for urgent action to combat ageism, which they say harms the well-being of older people and national economies. The World Health Organization, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs and U.N.…

Australia is beginning an urgent rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations in the Torres Strait in northern Queensland because of a sharp increase in infections in neighboring Papua New Guinea, a situation Health Minister Greg Hunt called a “clear and present danger” to both nations.Papua New Guinea,…

The European Union’s medications watchdog is due to release initial results Thursday of its investigation into whether there is a connection between the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and cases of recipients developing blood clots.The European Medicines Agency has been examining 30 reported blood coagulation…

Scientists are rethinking the cause of water loss on Mars in the face of new evidence that challenges the long-held theory that the water may have evaporated into space. That’s according to new NASA-funded research published this week in the journal Science.Researchers hypothesize that about…

Testing is under way for modified versions of COVID-19 vaccines that aim to deal with coronavirus variants. Experts say current vaccines still seem to work against the variants and prevent the most severe forms of disease, though the evidence is limited. Making changes may not be…

Mass migration and the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to the worldwide spread of female genital mutilation, or FGM, executed on girls from infancy to puberty, say aid organizations.Perpetrators cross borders to perform FGM in countries such as Chad, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan,…

Kenya's constitutional court has dismissed a petition to strike down the Female Genital Mutilation Act, which outlaws the traditional practice of female circumcision.Women's rights groups welcomed the ruling and said the judges' pronouncement would protect millions of women and girls.The 2017 petition sought to invalidate…

U.S. President Joe Biden says he is mystified about continuing opposition by some Americans to getting vaccinated against the coronavirus, particularly among Republicans who opposed his election."I honest to God thought that, once we guaranteed we had enough vaccine for everybody, things would start to…

The European Union’s executive arm rolled out plans Wednesday for a green certificate to ensure COVID-19-safe travel across the 27-member grouping by June, even as the region grapples with an uptick of the pandemic and a slow vaccination rollout.EU leaders will discuss the COVID-19 travel…

U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Moderna has begun testing its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine in young children to determine if vaccinations should be expanded to people younger than 18 years of age.   The company will administer the vaccine to about 6,750 children in the United States and Canada between the ages…

Researchers in Japan recently discovered that some sea slugs can regrow their bodies. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports that studying these slugs may one day help answer questions about our own health.Produced by: Arash Arabasadi    ...

Pakistan says it is now facing a third wave of the novel coronavirus. Officials have particularly expressed concern over the spread of the so-called UK variant of the virus. VOA’s Ayesha Tanzeem reports from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Camera: Malik Waqar Ahmed   Produced by: Malik Waqar Ahmed, Rob Raffaele  ...

Europe's medical regulator, the European Medicines Agency, will announce Thursday its findings on the safety of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine as more European Union countries suspend its use over fears it might be linked to blood clots. Critics say governments are putting politics over science.The European…

Despite the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, France is once again under pressure to take new measures to curb a new spread of the virus in the country.  The situation is once again deteriorating rapidly in the French capital. Hospitals in the Paris region are…

Researchers working with NASA say the discovery of three new strains of bacteria growing on the International Space Station (ISS) could prove helpful in growing crops in space and perhaps on Mars.In a study published Monday in the scientific journal Frontiers in Microbiology, researchers in…

Over the next 10 days, the United States will achieve what President Joe Biden describes as “two giant goals” — the completion of 100 million coronavirus vaccine shots in people’s arms and 100 million checks in people’s pockets.Those payments are among the disbursements from the…

The top U.S. infectious disease expert said Sunday the country is going in the “right direction” with millions of Americans receiving coronavirus vaccinations, but he was cautious about the high plateau of U.S. cases.  Speaking on the NBC-TV program “Meet the Press,” Anthony Fauci warned…

There was no reason to celebrate on Rachel Van Lear’s anniversary. The same day a global pandemic was declared, she developed symptoms of COVID-19. A year later, she is still waiting for them to disappear. And for experts to come up with some answers. The Texas woman is one of thousands of…

Dr. Anthony Fauci, U.S. President Joe Biden’s top coronavirus adviser, said Sunday he is optimistic the country can return to some sense of normalcy by the annual July 4 independence celebration, but that precautions still need to be taken in the meantime to avert a…

More than 119.5 million people have contracted COVID-19, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center reported early Sunday.  The United States tops the list as the place with the most infections at 29.4 million.  Brazil and India follow the U.S. with 11.4 million and 11.3 million,…