Year: 2021

U.S. pharmaceutical and medical device maker Johnson & Johnson says after a global trial, the COVID-19 vaccine it has developed is 66% effective in preventing infection. The one-dose vaccine, which was developed by the company's Belgian subsidiary Janssen, appears to be 85% effective in preventing serious illness, even against the South African variant. Of the 44,000 people who participated in the trail in the U.S., South Africa and Brazil, no one who was given the vaccine died, the company said. "The potential to significantly reduce the burden of severe disease, by providing an effective and well-tolerated vaccine with just one immunization, is a critical component of the global public health response," Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer of Johnson & Johnson, said in a company press release. "A one-shot vaccine is considered by the World…

Federal officials at a California military base last year who met with the first American evacuees from Wuhan, China, the place where the coronavirus emerged, were not prepared for their mission, according to The Washington Post.   They did not wear masks and had “no virus prevention plan or infection-control training” when they met with the evacuees, the Post said, according to two federal reports the newspaper said it has obtained. The newspaper reported on its website late Thursday that the reports supported “a whistleblower’s account of the chaos as U.S. officials scrambled to greet nearly 200 evacuees” who eventually did not test positive for the coronavirus.The whistleblower’s complaint, however, resulted in “internal reviews by the Health and Human Services Department and an investigation overseen by the Office of Special Counsel,” the Post…

Germany’s health minister said Friday he expects the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to be approved for emergency use later in the day but possibly only for restricted use. Speaking at a Berlin news briefing, German Health Minster Jens Spahn said Europe’s drug regulator, the Europe Medicines Agency (EMA) could approve the new vaccine with restrictions because data on its use on the elderly was “insufficient.” Spahn said it was important to point out the difference between insufficient data and “bad” data. Speaking at the same news conference, Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) President Klaus Cichutek, said there had been heated debate regarding the vaccine during the approval process this past week, but he believed the “essential groundwork” had been laid to approve the drug without an age restriction.   He said, “the…

Federal officials at a California military base last year who met with the first American evacuees from Wuhan, China, the place where the coronavirus emerged, were not prepared for their mission, according to The Washington Post.They did not wear masks and had “no virus prevention plan or infection-control training” when they met with the evacuees, the Post said, according to two federal reports the newspaper said it has obtained.The newspaper reported on its website late Thursday that the reports supported “a whistleblower’s account of the chaos as U.S. officials scrambled to greet nearly 200 evacuees” who eventually did not test positive for the coronavirus.The whistleblower’s complaint, however, resulted in “internal reviews by the Health and Human Services Department and an investigation overseen by the Office of Special Counsel,” the Post…

President Joe Biden reversed several Trump administration health care policies Thursday, including one that restricted access to abortion both inside and outside the United States. White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara has this story on what Biden’s actions may mean for women’s reproductive rights around the world. Producer: Bakhtiyar Zamanov ...

Novavax Inc. said Thursday that its COVID-19 vaccine appears 89% effective based on early findings from a British study and that it also seems to work — though not as well — against new mutated versions of the virus circulating in that country and South Africa.The announcement comes amid worry about whether a variety of vaccines being rolled out around the world will be strong enough to protect against worrisome new variants, and as the world desperately needs new types of shots to boost scarce supplies.The study of 15,000 people in Britain is still under way. But an interim analysis found 62 participants so far have been diagnosed with COVID-19 — only six of them in the group that received the vaccine, and the rest who received dummy shots.The infections…

Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary in Whittier, California, may be the biggest cemetery in North America, but the 1,400-acre park is struggling to cope with the number of bodies awaiting funeral services because of an increase in COVID-19 deaths.Despite the numerous facilities at Rose Hills, there is about a month's delay before families can receive funeral services for their loved ones.Patrick Monroe, CEO and president of Rose Hills, told Reuters via Zoom that there had been a sharp increase for services since the Thanksgiving holiday in November, with demand nearly doubling.Rose Hills has brought in a large number of refrigeration units to deal with the additional bodies.The park has also set up tented areas to replace on-site chapels and is using new methods like livestreaming to bring services to…

Protesters took to the streets of the Polish capital, Warsaw, late Wednesday and more demonstrations were scheduled for Thursday after the government implemented a court ruling that placed a near-total ban on abortions.The ruling, which was made October 22 but came into force Wednesday, permits abortions only in cases of rape and incest, and when the mother's life or health is endangered. Doctors performing illegal abortions in Poland face jail.The implementation had been delayed by Poland’s conservative government after nationwide protests in October. But publishing the law late Wednesday triggered a new round of protests in Warsaw, with the promise of more, wider-spread protests Thursday, carried out in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings.The constitutional court is made up mostly of Law and Justice Party appointees who ruled on a motion brought…

U.S. President Joe Biden signed two orders expanding health care on Thursday, saying they would "undo the damage" of policies favored by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. Biden restored U.S. funding for foreign nongovernmental groups that give information to women about abortions, and also opened a special three-month enrollment period for uninsured Americans who now want to buy health insurance, as well as for those who lost their coverage because of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump, like past Republican presidents, had supported what critics have called the "global gag rule" on abortion information and had refused to reopen the government's market for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.  Biden's order also increased access to health care funding for impoverished Americans under a program called Medicaid. "There's nothing new that we're doing here,"…

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged China and the United States on Thursday to "reset" relations, suggesting they cooperate on common interests such as fighting climate change. "It is clear that in human rights there is no scope for an agreement or a common vision," Guterres acknowledged. "There is an area where I believe there is a growing convergence of interests and my appeal is for that area to be pursued by the two sides together with the whole of the international community — and that area is climate action." FILE - Chinese President Xi Jinping.Since the Trump administration announced in June 2017 that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, China has continued to move forward to reduce emissions. At the virtual U.N. General Assembly in September, Chinese President…

Thursday, January 28, marked the 35th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster.  The craft exploded shortly after liftoff, killing all seven on board, including a schoolteacher who was NASA’s first citizen passenger.  VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has this story and more in the Week in Space.  ...

General Motors Co said Thursday it was setting a goal to sell all its new cars, SUVS and light pickup trucks with zero tailpipe emissions by 2035, a dramatic shift by the largest U.S. automaker away from gasoline and diesel engines. GM, which also said it plans to become carbon neutral by 2040, made its announcement just over a week after President Joe Biden took office pledging to tackle greenhouse gas emissions and dramatically boost the sales of electric vehicles. GM sold 2.55 million vehicles in the United States last year, only about 20,000 of which were EVs. It said in November it was investing $27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles over the next five years, up from $20 billion planned before the coronavirus pandemic. GM, which was up…

A vaccine war has erupted between Britain and the European Union with Brussels demanding that tens of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses earmarked for Britain, and made by a British pharmaceutical company, be diverted to Europe to make up for a shortfall in promised deliveries.     The demand marks a sharp political turn in a dispute between the EU and drug company AstraZeneca, as well as underscoring the mounting risks of vaccine nationalism. It was triggered after the pharmaceutical giant announced it would have to cut vaccine doses scheduled for delivery to Europe before the end of March from 80 million to 31 million.     The reduction will add woes to an EU inoculation program that has gotten off to a sluggish and at times chaotic start, with…

As part of an ongoing project in Pakistan’s Sindh province, efforts are underway to integrate a uniquely nutritious and drought-resistant tree called Moringa, into the local diet to help alleviate malnutrition. Muhammad Saqib has details from Matiari in Sindh province in this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. ...

Australia is failing to keep up with the growing threat of extreme weather as global warming increases the risk in areas once thought to be safe, according to a new report.Australia is a land well used to nature’s extremes. It is the world’s driest inhabited continent, where droughts can last for years. The Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 were the most intense on record. Heatwaves are by far its deadliest natural hazard.A new report by the Climate Council, an independent non-profit organization, says the cost of extreme weather in Australia has almost doubled since the 1970s.It is warning the financial consequences of fires, floods, droughts, storms and sea level rises linked to climate change could soar, potentially costing the country's economy up to $76 billion every year by 2038.Robert Glasser,…

World Health Organization investigators exited a two-week quarantine Thursday in Wuhan, China, to begin their work in search of the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.The international team boarded a bus after exiting their hotel in the afternoon.China, which for months rejected calls for an international probe, has pledged adequate access for the researchers. The team is expected to spend several weeks interviewing people from research institutes, hospitals and a market linked to many of the first cases.The WHO has said the purpose of the mission is not to assign blame for the pandemic but to figure out how it started in order to better prevent and combat future outbreaks of disease.“We are looking for the answers here that may save us in the future, not culprits and not people to…

Human Guinea worm cases in six African countries dropped to 27 in 2020, about 50% less than what was recorded the year before, despite COVID-19 challenges, the Carter Center announced Tuesday.Animal cases fell by 20% over the same period.“The numbers we are seeing are very encouraging,” said Jason Carter, chair of the center’s board of trustees.In Chad, cases dropped to 36 from the 48 recorded in 2019 — the most significant decline for a single nation.The central African country’s significant decline in cases was attributed to “recommitted country and community efforts, innovation, and aggressive, science-based interventions,” said Dr. Kashef Ijaz, Carter Center vice president of health programs.Although these figures are only provisional, Ijaz said the dramatic reductions may be an early indication that a corner is being turned in the…

A Polish law limiting abortion to cases of rape, incest and when the mother's health or life is at risk was expected to go into effect Wednesday following an October court decision deeming abortions due to fetal defects illegal. The court's decision set off protests across the mostly Roman Catholic country. More protests were expected as the law goes into effect. "See you in front of the Constitutional Tribunal today at 6:30 p.m.," the Women's Strike protest group, which organized many of the October protests, said on Facebook, according to Bloomberg News. FILE - Police secure the road as demonstrators try to block traffic during a pro-choice protest in the center of Warsaw, Nov. 28, 2020.Opponents of the ruling allege the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) Party, which took power in 2015, influenced the…

Two NASA astronauts conducted a spacewalk Wednesday outside the International Space Station (ISS) to complete an antenna assembly and communications terminal.  Flight Engineers Astronaut Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover are conducting the space walks, which will complete upgrades to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Columbus Module, among other tasks.     A posting to the ISS Twitter account explains the antenna rigging for the “Bartolomeo” science payloads platform outside the Columbus module and the communications links will allow high-bandwidth communication with European ground stations, as well as further research in Earth observation, robotics, material science and astrophysics.   The spacewalk was scheduled to last about six hours.   Wednesday’s spacewalk is the first in Glover’s career and the third for Hopkins. The two are scheduled to conduct another spacewalk next…

Zimbabwe’s government held burials Wednesday for two Cabinet ministers and a former prison official who died from COVID-19.   The Cabinet now has lost four ministers to the coronavirus — three of them this month — and more than 1,000 people overall.  Public health experts blame Zimbabwe's collapsed healthcare system.  At the burial of the transport and foreign affairs ministers, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga urged Zimbabweans to observe social distancing, wear face masks and wash their hands to fight the coronavirus.      “COVID-19 has taught us an important lesson; that we are all mortals," he said. "The fight against this pandemic does not allow us to choose who to walk with, work with, or run with. It does not discriminate, between the powerful and the weak, the privileged and the…

Authorities in Moscow have lifted some coronavirus restrictions, including the overnight closure of bars, restaurants, and nightclubs, citing the improving health situation. Starting on Wednesday, businesses no longer are required to have at least 30 percent of employees working remotely, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his blog, saying the “situation with the spread of the coronavirus infection continues to improve” in the city. “In these conditions it is our duty to create conditions for the fastest possible economic recovery,” Sobyanin said. A ban on mass rallies and the requirement for people to wear masks in shops and on public transport remain in place. He said measures requiring distance learning for university students would be reviewed on February 6. Russia, which has the world's fourth-highest number of COVID-19 cases, has opted…

As countries deal with coronavirus vaccine access, supply and distribution difficulties, the world surpassed 100 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 with more than 2.1 million deaths. It took about 11 months for worldwide infections to reach 50 million, and three more months to hit 100 million. Five nations have suffered more than 100,000 deaths, including Britain, which crossed that threshold on Tuesday. Public health officials have urged people to take steps such as wearing masks, keeping distance from others, and avoiding large gatherings in order to stop the spread of the virus.  Governments have turned to various levels of lockdowns amid spikes in infections. Peru announced late Tuesday a lockdown of its capital and nine other regions as hospitals struggled to deal with a big increase in cases. FILE - A medical worker takes notes…

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is calling on wealthy countries to, in his words, stop hoarding coronavirus vaccines so that poorer countries can have access to them. Ramaphosa spoke at a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum Tuesday, as VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports.  ...

U.S. President Joe Biden is set to sign a series of actions Wednesday to combat climate change. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday that Biden believes climate change is one of the top crises to address during his time in office. Biden has appointed former Secretary of State John Kerry to serve as his climate envoy.   Kerry was the nation’s top diplomat during the crafting of the Paris climate agreement, a pact Biden recommitted the United States to on his first day in office in a reversal of former President Donald Trump’s policy. The steps Biden is expected to take include a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on U.S. lands and waters, and regulatory actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It will also include directing officials to set aside more area for conservation and establishing a White House office to serve…

The World Health Organization director-general on Tuesday continued to press his case against what he calls "vaccine nationalism,” saying poor countries have had to “watch and wait,” while wealthy nations forge ahead with vaccination programs.In his closing remarks to the 10-day WHO executive board meeting in Geneva, agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “With every day that passes, the divide grows larger between the world's haves and have-nots."He said the world faces a "catastrophic moral failure" if it does not work for vaccine equity. He cited recent studies showing how such policies hurt the global economy by leaving some nations behind.“Vaccine nationalism could cost the global economy up to $9.2 trillion and almost half of that — $4.5 trillion — would be incurred in the wealthiest economies," Tedros said.The WHO-organized…