Category: News

A World Health Organization panel of immunization experts Wednesday recommended the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for all ages and in regions where variant strains of the virus are prevalent.The WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization made the recommendation from agency…

Chinese state media reported Wednesday a spacecraft known as Tianwen-1 has successfully entered orbit around Mars, the first step in an ambitious mission that includes landing a rover on the surface of the planet. In a statement, China’s National Space Administration said the spacecraft conducted a…

The heads of the World Health Organization and the U.N. Children's Fund are appealing for scaled-up COVID-19 vaccine production and equitable distribution, warning that the global rollout is dangerously uneven. "Of the 128 million vaccine doses administered so far, more than three quarters of those vaccinations…

South Africa will begin vaccinating frontline health care workers with an unapproved coronavirus vaccine by the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company next week to see if it provides protection from the variant sweeping the country.   Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said Wednesday South Africa dropped…

South Korea has approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University for all adults, despite concerns over the lack of data on its effectiveness among the elderly.  The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety granted emergency use for the two-dose vaccine Wednesday, but…

Vaccines against COVID-19 will be distributed to community health centers across the United States in the coming weeks, the White House said Tuesday.Washington has identified People wait in line to get their COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site set up in a park in the…

Across global cities big and small, the coronavirus pandemic has forced a shutdown of cultural life. But that’s changing in the Russian capital, where a mass vaccination program is in full swing. Charles Maynes reports from Moscow.Camera:  Ricardo Marquina Montanana  Produced by: Bronwyn Benito   ...

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) space agency announced Tuesday that its unmanned Mars probe has arrived at the red planet and successfully entered orbit.   The Emirates Mars Mission — known as the Amal, or Hope Probe — announced the arrival from its official Twitter account.…

The leader of international experts investigating the origins of COVID-19 in China says they saw no evidence of large outbreaks of the disease prior to its December 2019 discovery in the city of Wuhan.  Peter Ben Embarek, an expert in viral illnesses for the World Health…

The World Health Organization expressed concern Monday over new reports that vaccines against the coronavirus may not sufficiently protect against new variants. On Sunday, South Africa suspended its vaccination campaign against COVID-19 after a new study revealed that the AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against a…

Public opinion is mixed on how well Western governments have handled the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center, which also questioned people on their attitudes regarding compulsory vaccinations.Seventy-seven percent of Germans thought their government did a good job in…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…