Month: July 2021

In Malawi, a survey by the Ministry of Health to help ascertain the efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine has shown its effectiveness in fighting the coronavirus. The survey was based on current hospital admissions of COVID-19 patients across the country.The preliminary results of the findings released Saturday were based on COVID-19 admissions between June 26 and July 8 of this year.   Image of the preliminary findings of the survey by Malawi Ministry of Health. (Courtesy: Malawi Ministry of Health)These results show that over 80% of 227 COVID-19 patients admitted during the period were those not vaccinated.   And those who have only had one AstraZeneca jab were 12% while those fully vaccinated only accounted for 4%.   The secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Charles Mwansambo, says it’s still too early to measure the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca…

Swashbuckling entrepreneur Richard Branson hurtled into space aboard his own winged rocket ship Sunday, beating out fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos.The nearly 71-year-old Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company reached an altitude of about 85 kilometers (53 miles) over the New Mexico desert — enough to experience three to four minutes of weightlessness and witness the curvature of the Earth — and then safely glided to a runway landing."The whole thing, it was just magical," a jubilant Branson said after the trip home aboard the gleaming white space plane, named Unity.  The brief, up-and-down flight — the space plane's portion took only about 15 minutes, or about as long as Alan Shepard's first U.S. spaceflight in 1961 — was a splashy and unabashedly commercial plug for Virgin…

As the United Nations marks World Population Day on July 11, its experts say there is no perfect population number and that human innovation will continue to manage and outpace the growth in the number of humans living on the planet. VOA’s Laurel Bowman has more. ...

Thrill-seeking billionaire Richard Branson strapped in and set off Sunday on his boldest adventure yet — a bid to reach space aboard his own winged rocket ship. A successful flight would vault the nearly 71-year-old Branson past fellow billionaire and rival Jeff Bezos, who is planning to fly to space in a craft of his own nine days from now. With a crowd of more than 500 people watching, a twin-fuselage aircraft with Branson's space plane attached underneath took off in the first stage of the flight. Aboard were Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company. The plan was for the space plane to detach from the mother ship at an altitude of about 8 miles (13 kilometers), fire its rocket engine and then pierce the edge of space at…

British billionaire Richard Branson was due on Sunday to climb into his Virgin Galactic passenger rocket plane and soar more than 50 miles above the New Mexico desert in the vehicle's first fully crewed test flight to the edge of space. Branson, one of six Virgin Galactic Holding Inc. employees strapping in for the ride, has touted the flight as a precursor to a new era of space tourism, with the company he founded poised to begin commercial operations next year. A discount travel service it is not. But demand is apparently strong, with several hundred wealthy would-be citizen astronauts already having booked reservations, priced at around $250,000 per ticket.   The Swiss-based investment bank UBS has estimated the potential value of the space tourism market reaching $3 billion annually by 2030. Proving rocket travel safe…

A Northern California wildfire exploding through bone-dry timber prompted Nevada authorities to evacuate a border-area community as flames leapt on ridgetops of nearby mountains.The Beckwourth Complex — a merging of two lightning-caused fires — headed into Saturday showing no sign of slowing its rush northeast from the Sierra Nevada forest region after doubling in size only a few days earlier.The fire was one of several threatening homes across Western states that are expected to see triple-digit heat through the weekend as a high-pressure zone blankets the region.On Friday, Death Valley National Park in California recorded a staggering high of 54.4 Celsius. If verified, it would be the hottest high recorded there since July 1913, when the same Furnace Creek desert area hit 56.6 degrees Celsius, considered the highest reliably measured…

A new type of malaria vaccine is showing promise in FILE - A worker sprays insecticide for mosquitoes at a village in Bangkok, Thailand, Dec. 12, 2017."Malaria has been a really tricky infection to make a vaccine against," said Alexis Kaushansky, a malaria researcher at the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Research Institute who was not involved in the new study. "I think this vaccine is really exciting and promising." 'A game changer' Earlier studies have shown that people can develop immunity to malaria, but it requires exposure to many more parasites than mosquito bites deliver. The new vaccine, developed by biotechnology company Sanaria, involves directly injecting large doses of parasites and administering antimalarial drugs to prevent patients from getting sick. Mass producing enough parasites for a vaccine is a challenge, however. Over…

The acting head of the Food and Drug Administration on Friday called for a government investigation into highly unusual contacts between her agency's drug reviewers and the maker of a controversial new Alzheimer's drug. Dr. Janet Woodcock announced the extraordinary step via Twitter. It's the latest fallout over last month's approval of Aduhelm, an expensive and unproven therapy that the agency OK'd against the advice of its own outside experts. Woodcock made the request to the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general, the watchdog agency that oversees the FDA and other federal health agencies. The move comes after numerous calls for a probe into the approval from medical experts, consumer advocates and members of Congress. Two congressional committees have already launched their own review. The FDA's Janet Woodcock speaks during a…

As Indonesia deals with a surge in COVID-19 cases, the Biden administration is sending three million doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine to the country on July 9, a senior administration official tells VOA. The shipment is one of the largest batches the U.S. has donated, the official said. In total, the U.S. has allocated four million doses for Indonesia, with the remaining one million doses to be shipped “soon.”The administration is also sending 500,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to Moldova, the first batch of U.S. vaccine shared with Europe. A woman receives a shot of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine during a mass vaccination at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, June 26, 2021.Indonesia surge Indonesia is battling a record-breaking surge in new cases and deaths, due to the highly contagious delta variant. “We recognize the difficult situation Indonesia…

Authorities in India's southern Kerala region have issued a statewide alert after a case of the Zika virus was confirmed, officials said Friday.   A further 13 suspected cases were being investigated, state health minister Veena George said.   A 24-year-old pregnant woman was found to be infected with the mosquito-borne disease and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram city.   Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable and can transmit the infection to their newborns, which can result in life-altering conditions such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare auto-immune disease.   Samples from the 13 suspected cases have been sent for further investigation to a lab in Pune, the minister added.   Zika is mostly spread through the bite of the Aedes mosquito but can also be sexually transmitted, according…

Vietnam enacted on Friday a two-week lockdown on movement in Ho Chi Minh City to battle a growing outbreak of the coronavirus.Hanoi also announced plans to vaccinate 50% of the population age 18 and older by the end of the year and set a goal of 70% of its population vaccinated by next March."Vaccination against COVID-19 is a necessary and important measure to contain the disease and ensure socio-economic development," the Health Ministry said in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse.The country of 100 million had registered fewer than 3,000 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as of April. As of Friday, Vietnam had 24,810 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 104 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.Vietnam has administered about 4 million vaccine doses,…

Coronavirus infections are rising in Australia, despite a two-week-old lockdown intended to stop their spread. Officials are now focusing on how to enforce compliance with COVID-19 lockdown rules, particularly where such restrictions appear to be mostly ignored.Authorities have said that strict stay-at-home orders in some of Australia’s most ethnically diverse areas in Sydney have been widely flouted, although charities have said community health messages for some migrant groups have been inadequate.A major police operation is underway in parts of Sydney to ensure the rules are followed. Officers on horseback are expected to patrol main shopping areas.Senior commanders have denied the crackdown is targeting multicultural areas.Australian Prime Minister Prime Minister Scott Morrison said too many people have broken the rules.“We haven’t seen the compliance that has been necessary. It is important…

Some won't ever remember the parents they lost because they were too young when COVID-19 struck. Others are trying to keep the memory alive by doing the things they used to do together: making pancakes or playing guitar. Others still are clutching onto what remains, a pillow or a photo, as they adapt to lives with aunts, uncles and siblings stepping in to fill the void.The 4 million people who have died so far in the coronavirus pandemic left behind parents, friends and spouses — but also young children who are navigating life now as orphans or with just one parent, who is also mourning the loss.It's a trauma that is playing out in big cities and small villages across the globe, from Assam state in northeast India to New…

Anti-poverty organization Oxfam said Thursday that 11 people die of hunger each minute and that the number facing faminelike conditions around the globe has increased six times over the last year.In a report titled The Hunger Virus Multiplies, Oxfam said that the death toll from famine outpaces that of COVID-19, which kills around seven people per minute."The statistics are staggering, but we must remember that these figures are made up of individual people facing unimaginable suffering. Even one person is too many," said Oxfam America's president and CEO, Abby Maxman.The humanitarian group also said that 155 million people around the world are now living in crisis levels of food insecurity or worse — some 20 million more than last year. Around two-thirds of them face hunger because their country is…

Two billionaires are putting everything on the line this month to ride their own rockets into space.It's intended to be a flashy confidence boost for customers seeking their own short joyrides.The lucrative, high-stakes chase for space tourists will unfold on the fringes of space — 88 kilometers to 106 kilometers up, pitting Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson against the world's richest man, Blue Origin's Jeff Bezos.Branson is due to take off Sunday from New Mexico, launching with two pilots and three other employees aboard a rocket plane carried aloft by a double-fuselage aircraft.Bezos departs nine days later from West Texas, blasting off in a fully automated capsule with three guests: his brother, an 82-year-old female aviation pioneer who's waited six decades for a shot at space and the winner of a…

Pfizer is about to seek U.S. authorization for a third dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, saying Thursday that another shot within 12 months could dramatically boost immunity and maybe help ward off the latest worrisome coronavirus mutant.Research from multiple countries shows the Pfizer shot and other widely used COVID-19 vaccines offer strong protection against the highly contagious delta variant, which is spreading rapidly around the world and now accounts for most new U.S. infections.Two doses of most vaccines are critical to develop high levels of virus-fighting antibodies against all versions of the coronavirus, not just the delta variant — and most of the world still is desperate to get those initial protective doses as the pandemic continues to rage.But antibodies naturally wane over time, so studies also are under way…

It seems Richard Branson, and not Jeff Bezos, will be the first billionaire in space.  Plus, a new robot could make work safer on the International Space Station, while the UAE names its first female astronaut.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has the Week in Space.Camera:  AP/NASA/EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY (ESA)/REUTERS/VIRGIN GALACTIC/SPACE X/GSMA/ESA Produced by : Arash Arabasadi   ...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday new cases of COVID-19 were up in the United States by nearly 11 percent in the past week, driven by the prevalence of the delta variant in areas with the nation’s lowest vaccination rates. During the regular weekly White House COVID Response Team briefing, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said hospitalizations were also up in the past week by about seven percent, while deaths from COVID-19 continued to fall.   Walensky said the statistics show “two truths” that exist in the U.S., with the nation’s vaccination effort significantly driving down cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 from the peaks they reached in January. She said more than 160 million people in the United States are now fully vaccinated. On the…

As the world surpassed four million coronavirus-related deaths, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that millions more remain at risk “if the virus is allowed to spread like wildfire.” The head of the world body said in a written statement that most of the world is “still in the shadows” due to the inequitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccine between the world’s richest and poorest nations and the rapid global spread of the more contagious delta variant of COVID-19.  Guterres called for the creation of an emergency task force, composed of vaccine-producing nations, the World Health Organization and global financial institutions, to implement a global vaccine plan that will at least double production of COVID-19 vaccine and ensure equitable distribution through the COVAX global vaccine sharing initiative. “Vaccine equity is the greatest immediate…

UNICEF said Thursday it has signed a deal to provide up to 220 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to African Union member states by the end of 2022.   The child humanitarian group announced in a statement the agreement was reached with Belgium-based and J&J-owned Janssen Pharmaceutica NV.   An additional 35 million doses of the single-dose vaccine could be delivered to the African Union’s 55-member states by the end of this year and another 180 million doses could be ordered by year’s end, UNICEF said.   “African countries must have affordable and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible. Vaccine access has been unequal and unfair, with less than 1 per cent of the population of the African continent currently vaccinated against COVID-19.…

Chinese state-owned media has claimed that Australian consultants in Papua New Guinea have been hindering the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines flown in from China. It was alleged that they had engaged “in political manipulation and bullying” there.Australia has strongly denied claims it has tried to sabotage China’s efforts to boost vaccinations in Papua New Guinea.Papua New Guinea is currently using the AstraZeneca vaccine. Two hundred thousand doses of the Sinopharm vaccine have recently been flown in from China but have yet to be approved for use by local authorities.A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned Australia to “stop interfering with and undermining vaccine cooperation between China and Pacific Island countries.”Australia’s minister for the Pacific, Zed Seselja, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. all international assistance is welcome.“When it comes to the rollout,…

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has formally declared a new state of emergency for Tokyo due to the rise of new COVID-19 cases in the capital city.   The new decree will take effect next Monday, July 12 and last until August 22 — a period that will cover the duration of the Tokyo Olympics, which will take place between July 23 and August 8. The new state of emergency will likely prompt the government to either scale back the number of spectators allowed to witness Olympics events to 5,000 people, or ban them altogether. Olympic organizers announced just last month that it would allow just 10,000 people, or 50% of a venue’s capacity, at all events, despite advice from health experts that banning all spectators was the “least risky” option.  Foreign…

South Korea’s capital is on the verge of perhaps its most intense lockdown yet, after the country reported its largest daily surge of coronavirus cases.Officials on Thursday recorded 1,275 new infections, the vast majority of which were in the Seoul area, where over half of South Koreans live.That is South Korea’s largest number of confirmed daily cases since the pandemic began.Seoul may soon impose the toughest restrictions under a four-tier social distancing system, said Sohn Young-rae, a senior Health and Welfare Ministry official, according to the Yonhap news agency.Level 4 restrictions can include severe measures, such as a ban on private gatherings of more than two people after 6 p.m.That would amount to the first intense lockdown of Seoul, where life has largely gone on as usual over the past year…

Ethnic minorities, the self-employed and low-income families in Britain suffered greater deprivation levels during the coronavirus pandemic despite "surprisingly positive" living standards figures, a report published Thursday found.The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank's annual report on living standards, poverty and inequality identified these groups as the hardest hit, even as unprecedented state support mitigated the worst effects of the crisis.The research follows other studies showing that Britain's ethnic minorities were more likely to suffer worse health and economic outcomes during the pandemic and less likely to accept vaccines."How fast and to what extent these groups recover as the economy reopens will be a key determinant of the pandemic's legacy," said report co-author Tom Wernham.Some 15% of Britons from minority ethnic backgrounds were behind their household bills at the…

The deadly heat wave that roasted the Pacific Northwest and western Canada was virtually impossible without human-caused climate change that added a few extra degrees to the record-smashing temperatures, a quick new scientific analysis found.An international team of 27 scientists calculated that climate change increased chances of the extreme heat occurring by at least 150 times, but likely much more.The study, not yet peer reviewed, said that before the industrial era, the region's late June triple-digit heat was the type that would not have happened in human civilization. And even in today's warming world, it said, the heat was a once-in-a-millennium event.But that once-in-a-millennium event would likely occur every five to 10 years once the world warms another 0.8 degrees Celsius, said Wednesday's study from World Weather Attribution. That much…