Month: March 2021

The first federal recommendations for people vaccinated against COVID-19 allow cautious steps toward normal life.Too cautious, critics say.The In this Jan. 27, 2021, image from video, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks during a White House briefing.Though vaccinated…

U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry was in Brussels Tuesday to discuss transatlantic cooperation with European Union (EU) officials and U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to rejoin the global climate change effort.   Speaking to reporters alongside EU climate chief Frans Timmermans, Kerry reiterated…

Last March, when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, it had already proved to be lethal and highly contagious. It was a new virus with many unknowns. Since then, scientists have learned a lot about how it affects vital organs and its long-term effects. VOA's Carol Pearson reports. ...

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine neutralizes the rapidly spreading variant of the coronavirus recently discovered in Brazil, according to the results of a laboratory study.   Scientists with Pfizer and the University of Texas took blood from people who had been given the vaccine and mixed it with…

Uganda launches its national vaccination program on Wednesday, two days after receiving 100,000 additional doses of Covid-19 vaccine donated by the Indian government.   So far, Uganda has received 964,000 doses of the vaccine through donations.   Health minister Jane Ruth Aceng said healthcare workers…

The U.S. government on Monday sued the automobile device manufacturer EZ Lynk for selling tens of thousands of "defeat devices" that enabled car and truck owners to disable their vehicles' computerized emission controls at the push of a button. In a complaint filed in the federal…

The United States denounced Monday what it called a Russian disinformation campaign against U.S.-made COVID-19 vaccines, saying Moscow was putting lives at risk. The Global Engagement Center, an arm of the State Department whose activities include monitoring foreign propaganda, said that Russian intelligence was behind four online…

As coronavirus vaccine rates in the U.S. continue to climb, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Monday that those who have been vaccinated can gather with other vaccinated people indoors without masks or social distancing. The CDC also said vaccinated people can gather…

Italy's death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 100,000 on Monday, a year after it became the first country in Europe to go into lockdown to try to stop the spread of the virus.  Italy's Health Ministry recorded 318 deaths Monday in the past 24 hours,…

Wang  Jingyu didn’t think he would become an enemy of China for his online comments.    The 19-year-old left his hometown of Chongqing in July 2019 and is now traveling in Europe. On February 21, netizens on the popular micro-blogging website, Weibo reported him to Chinese…

The Italian Health Ministry Monday changed course and signed an order approving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for people 65 and older. Even though Europe’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, fully approved the vaccine, the Italian government initially balked, as did Germany, at giving the vaccine…

When the coronavirus first emerged, many East Asian countries were hailed as global examples due to their impressive containment efforts. But as the one-year anniversary of the pandemic approaches, some of those countries are falling behind in their vaccine campaigns, as VOA’s Bill Gallo reports…

Before COVID-19, the United States considered itself one of the best-prepared countries in the world for a health crisis. The pandemic proved otherwise. One year into the crisis, more than half a million Americans have died. VOA's Steve Baragona has more. ...

Britain opened all its schools Monday. The openings come as the country has experienced some of its lowest coronavirus death tolls since October.Vietnam began its COVID-19 vaccination program Monday with its front-line health care workers as the first recipients of the shots.Japan’s rollout of its…

There is a call for an amnesty for the estimated 100,000 undocumented workers in Australia because of fears they could miss out on the coronavirus vaccine.They are an unseen workforce in Australia, from cleaning to hospitality and farm work. Of the estimated 100,000 undocumented workers,…

Canada’s postal service is trying to bridge the socially distanced gap of the coronavirus pandemic by encouraging people to send postcards to loved ones.To facilitate that effort, Canada Post is delivering a postcard to every residential address in the country that people can then send…

March 11 marks a year since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. The Middle East was one of the first regions to be hit outside China – and as Henry Ridgwell reports, the pandemic has exacerbated existing crises caused by…

The United States is marking one year since the first stay-at-home orders went into effect because of the coronavirus pandemic; but, returning to normal is happening slowly as Michelle Quinn reports. Producer: Mary Cieslak ...

Cameroon says two polio cases discovered in the capital, Yaoundé, three weeks ago are a consequence of people refusing to inoculate their children for fear of being infected by COVID-19. The central African state has redeployed health teams to all towns and villages to ask…

In recent weeks, as Africa prepared to mark the milestone of one year since the coronavirus reached its shores, millions of doses of long-awaited vaccine finally began to arrive across the continent. Most were provided by the global COVAX Facility, which distributes vaccine to lower…

Africa’s year with the pandemic has been a challenging one, full of suspense and surprises. VOA’s Anita Powell looks back at the continent’s bout with the virus, which has infected at least 2.8 million people and killed about 72,000, according to the World Health Organization.…

Traveling across the rugged, unforgiving and roadless Alaska terrain is already hard enough, but whatever comforts mushers previously had in the world’s most famous sled dog race will be cast aside this year due to the pandemic.In years past, mushers would stop in any number…

The virus swept through a nursery school and an adjacent elementary school in the Milan suburb of Bollate with amazing speed. In a matter of just days, 45 children and 14 staff members had tested positive.Genetic analysis confirmed what officials suspected: The highly contagious coronavirus…

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday came one step closer to his first major political victory: passage of his coronavirus economic relief package.What is it? A $1.9 trillion bill that Democrats said would help the country defeat the coronavirus and repair the economy. Republicans say…

Pharmaceutical giant Merck and an American laboratory announced progress Saturday in the design of an oral drug against COVID-19. Their antiviral has shown positive effects in reducing the viral load in current tests."Knowing that there is an unmet need for antiviral therapy for SARS-CoV-2, we…