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 plans to use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for now because of concerns it may not be effective against mild to moderate cases of the N501Y variant.
The health minister said the country’s scientists will continue to examine the AstraZeneca vaccine and offer advice on whether to swap out the vaccine before it expires.
The Associated Press reports Mkhize said in a national broadcast the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine is safe, based on testing of 44,000 people in South Africa, the United States and Latin America.
However, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has yet to be approved by any country. The company last week applied for emergency use authorization in the United States.
South Africa is also expected to use the Pfizer vaccine and others to support its immunization program.
South Africa continues to have the highest covid-19 tally on the continent, with more than 1,479,000 confirmed cases and 46,869 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Covid Resource Center.
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Month: February 2021
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 only on the condition that the British-Swedish drugmaker provide the results of its current late-stage clinical trials on adults 18 years of age and older. The ministry has also issued a precautionary warning about inoculating South Koreans older than 65 years of age. Inoculations of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the first to be approved for use in South Korea, will begin on February 26. Limits on use of AstraZeneca vaccineSeveral European countries, including Germany and France, have limited use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people between 18 and 64 years old because of insufficient data on elderly recipients. Further doubts about the AstraZeneca vaccine arose Sunday when South Africa suspended its vaccination campaign after a new study revealed that the vaccine was less effective against a variant of the virus found in the country. FILE – Blood is drawn from a clinical trials patient for the AstraZeneca test vaccine at the a hospital facility outside Johannesburg, South Africa, Nov. 30, 2020.The study, conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and not yet peer reviewed, concluded that the British vaccine offered only “limited protection against moderate forms of the disease caused by the South African variant, in young adults.” South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced Wednesday that it will begin inoculating its front-line health care workers with U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine as part of a limited study. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has not been formally approved for use by any country, but the company says results of a late-stage clinical trial shows it is 85% effective in preventing serious illness, even against the South African variant. Therapeutic drug approved
Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use for a new COVID-19 therapeutic drug developed by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. The drug, which combines the monoclonal antibody drug etesevimab with the already-approved bamlanivimab, will be used for coronavirus patients who are at high risk of being hospitalized with a severe form of the disease. Monoclonal antibodies are lab-engineered versions of highly targeted human antibodies chosen for their specific ability to neutralize viruses.
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As the world grappled with COVID-19, a recession and a racial reckoning, the ultrawealthy gave to a broader set of causes than ever before — bestowing multimillion-dollar gifts on food pantries, historically Black colleges and universities and organizations that serve the poor and the homeless, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual rankings of the 50 Americans who gave the most to charity last year.Another cause that got outsize attention from billionaire philanthropists: climate change. Jeff Bezos topped the list by donating $10 billion to launch the Bezos Earth Fund. Bezos, who last week announced he was stepping down as Amazon CEO to devote more time to philanthropy and other projects, also contributed $100 million to Feeding America, the organization that supplies more than 200 food banks.FILE – In this March 4, 2018, file photo, then-MacKenzie Bezos arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif. MacKenzie Scott is one of the 50 Americans who gave the most to charity in 2020.No. 2 on the list was Bezos’s ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, who gave $5.7 billion in 2020 by asking community leaders to help identify 512 organizations for seven- and eight-figure gifts, including food banks, human-service organizations, and racial-justice charities.Another donor who gave big to pandemic causes and racial-justice efforts was Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, who ranked No. 5. He put $1.1 billion into a fund that by year’s end had distributed at least $330 million to more than 100 nonprofits.The financier Charles Schwab and his wife, Helen (No. 24), gave $65 million to address homelessness in San Francisco. Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and wife, Patty Quillin (No. 14), gave $120 million for financial aid for students at historically Black colleges and universities. Michael Jordan, the basketball great (No. 31), pledged $50 million to racial and social-justice groups.”When I look at the events of the last year, there was an awakening for the philanthropic sector,” says Nick Tedesco, president of the National Center for Family Philanthropy. “Donors supported community-led efforts of recovery and resiliency, particularly those led by people of color.”Giving experts say they think the trend toward broader giving is likely to persist.”I don’t think this approach is just a 12-month moment that started with COVID and continued following George Floyd and is going to recede,” says Melissa Berman, president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which counsels donors around the world. “There has been change building among private donors.”All told, the 50 biggest donors contributed $24.7 billion in 2020, compared with $15.8 billion in 2019. Still, those gifts come from a small share of the billionaire class. Only 23 of the people on the Forbes 400 gave enough to qualify for the list. Many of the multimillion-dollar donations came from people far less wealthy, like Gordon Rausser, a former dean of natural resources at the University of California at Berkeley.The Chronicle’s rankings are based on the total amount philanthropists awarded in 2020. The information is based on extensive research with donors, their beneficiaries, and public records.The No. 3 donor was Michael Bloomberg, who contributed $1.6 billion to arts, education, public health, and many other causes. Nike founder Phil and Penelope Knight were next, donating $1.4 billion, $900.7 million of it to their Knight Foundation.The $1 billion-plus of giving by each of the top five on the Philanthropy 50 matches last year’s record. No more than three donors gave $1 billion or more in any of the previous years.Sixteen donors in this year’s list — nearly a third of the Philanthropy 50 — made their fortunes in technology, and 20 of them live in California.Joe Gebbia (No. 47), the 39-year-old co-founder of Airbnb, has seen his net worth shoot up to around $12 billion following his company’s initial public offering in December. During 2020, he gave $25 million to two San Francisco charities that are tackling homelessness and helping people who have suffered economically due to the pandemic.”I’ve been incredibly fortunate and believe that comes with the responsibility of giving back,” Gebbia says. “Where will I take it? The sky is the limit.”At a time when tech billionaires’ wealth is compounding and many working people are still suffering from the pandemic’s fallout, philanthropic expectations have never been higher. David Beasley, executive director of the United Nations World Food Program, highlighted the disparate effects of the pandemic in a January interview on the PBS NewsHour.”During the pandemic, billionaires made $5.2 billion in increased wealth per day,” he said. “All we are asking for is $5 billion to avert famine around the world. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”Elon Musk, whose $180 billion fortune puts him neck-and-neck with Bezos for richest person in the world, is not on the Philanthropy 50. Musk has faced criticism for his meager lifetime donations, estimated in a recent Vox article at just 0.05 percent of his current net worth.If small and midsize charities were the notable winners in 2020, does that make large universities the losers? Hardly. Colleges and universities received $2.2 billion from Philanthropy 50 donors in 2020.But Benjamin Soskis, a research associate in the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute, says the most striking change with this year’s Philanthropy 50 list is that it presents a plurality of options for giving.”There’s a big difference between a hypothetical ‘Why didn’t you give to an HBCU instead of Harvard?’ and today’s list, where you can point to donors who actually did that.”More details about the Philanthropy 50 are available at philanthropy.com.
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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 Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Feb. 9, 2021.Forty-three million doses of the vaccine have been administered, with just over 3% of the U.S. population fully vaccinated, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.The number of available doses is expected to increase as a third vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson is expected to receive approval for emergency use sometime this month.Currently, both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, both of which require two doses, are being distributed across the United States.U.S. is world leader in confirmed cases Around the globe, there are more than 106.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 2.3 million deaths due to the disease caused by the coronavirus. The U.S. leads the world in confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 27.1 million, and deaths, with nearly 465,000.Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky warned Tuesday that vaccines against COVID-19 may need to be administered every year, just as the flu shot is.”Unfortunately, as [the virus] spreads it can also mutate,” Gorsky told CNBC.As vaccination rates rise slowly across the country, health experts are still warning Americans to practice social distancing and masking to avoid further spread of the disease.We are all tired of #COVID19, but the pandemic is not over yet. We can slow its spread. #WearAMask, stay at least 6 feet from others, avoid crowds & poorly ventilated spaces, wash your hands often, & get vaccinated when it’s available to you. Learn more: https://t.co/qKkt9oEm7M. pic.twitter.com/iWwliR6sjZ— CDC (@CDCgov) February 8, 2021
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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
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Super Bowl 2021 in now history – and it also made history for a number of reasons. Maxim Moskalkov has the story.Camera: Yuriy Zakrevskiy
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America’s latest first lady is breaking with tradition as the first presidential spouse to keep her job while in the White House. Jill Biden, who has a doctorate in education, is an English professor at a community college near Washington. “I think in particular, the fact that she is in a profession that is seen as a helping profession, that is seen as not innately a controversial profession, that she will be more accepted by the American people in continuing her professional life,” says Katherine Jellison, a professor of history at Ohio University. “Also, she’s in a traditionally female profession — teaching.” Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
Jacqueline Kennedy poses during a tour of the White House East Room in Washington in 1962.Ever since she embraced historic preservation in the 1960s, every first lady has adopted at least one public service project. Lady Bird Johnson was an environmentalist who pushed for the preservation of wildflowers and other native plants. Nancy Reagan encouraged children to “Just Say No” to drugs. Barbara Bush championed literacy for children and adults, while Michelle Obama promoted healthy eating by planting a White House vegetable garden. “Things that are related to women — children, health literacy, drugs, gardening, historical preservation — those are the things that Americans are comfortable with their first lady doing,” says Perry. “The American people have a limited role they want the first lady to play, and if she steps outside that role, they turn on her.” Hillary Clinton learned that firsthand in 1993 after President Bill Clinton appointed her to lead his task force on national health care reform. It was an unprecedented policy role for a first lady. But fierce public backlash, some of it personally directed at Clinton, herself, helped doom the plan, which never even got a floor vote in Congress. “We saw where that got her — much hatred, people turned on her, it didn’t pass,” Perry says. “And then, she had to go back to more soft-power approaches to being first lady.” Behind the scenes While first ladies are often seen as motherly symbols of American womanhood, history shows these women can have considerable behind-the-scenes influence. A portrait of former first ladies: Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush (standing). Seated, left to right: Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter and Betty Ford, Nov. 4, 1991 in Simi Valley, California.“Melania Trump had a top national security adviser fired in her husband’s administration because she didn’t like the way her staff was treated on a foreign trip by this adviser. So, they can also determine who’s around the president,” says presidential historian Kate Andersen Brower, author of “First Women.” “Nancy Reagan was really the human resources department for her husband. She decided who would be in and who was out.” And the same year she tried to push health care reform through Congress, Clinton made a quiet suggestion to her husband. “She’s one of the reasons why Ruth Bader Ginsburg was on the Supreme Court,” Andersen Brower says. “She told her husband that she thought she would make an excellent Supreme Court justice.” Former President Bill Clinton, left, Hillary Clinton, and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Oct. 30, 2019, in Washington.It’s an example of soft power and how private conversations between spouses can have a huge impact on the country. “These women are really strong. I think that they’re constantly underestimated, and I think that’s partially because women in our society are often underestimated,” says Andersen Brower. “I hope and I think that we are moving in the right direction having Jill Biden as a working woman who can be both things at the same time. She can be a wife, a supporting actor, but also a strong woman.” While Biden is redefining her current role, the biggest shake-up could come once a woman is elected president, Jellison says, and a man takes up the role of first spouse.
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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. “Success! Contact with #HopeProbe has been established again. The Mars Orbit Insertion is now complete,” the tweet said. The probe’s successful drop into orbit makes the UAE the fifth nation in the world to reach the red planet and the first in the Arab world. A laser show celebration is put on ahead of a live broadcast of the Hope Probe attempting to enter the Mars orbit as a part of Emirates Mars mission, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 9, 2021.Ground controllers at the UAE’s space center in Dubai rose to their feet and applauded when word came that the craft had reached the end of its nearly seven-month, 482-million-meter journey (300 million miles) and had begun circling Mars, where it will gather detailed data on the planet’s atmosphere. The probe, along with its three scientific instruments, is expected to create the first complete portrait of the Martian atmosphere. The instruments will collect different data points on the atmosphere to also gauge seasonal and daily change. The orbiter fired its main engines for 27 minutes in an intricate maneuver that slowed the craft enough for it to be captured by Mars’ gravity. It then took a nail-biting 15 minutes or so for the signal confirming success to reach Earth. Two more unmanned spacecraft from the United States and China are following close behind, set to arrive on Mars over the next several days. A combination orbiter and lander from China is scheduled to reach the planet on Wednesday. It will circle Mars until the rover separates and attempts to land on the surface in May to look for signs of ancient life. A rover from the U.S. named Perseverance is scheduled to land on the planet February 18. It will be the first leg in a decadelong U.S.-European project to bring Mars rocks back to Earth to be examined for evidence the planet once harbored microscopic life.
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Many broadcasters are using a variety of digital radio for high quality transmissions reaching faraway lands. Mike O’Sullivan reports on one format that is starting to play an important role in global communications.
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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 Organization, said Tuesday in Wuhan that his team’s findings indicate COVID-19 probably originated in bats, but says it is unlikely the bats were in Wuhan. The team visited the city’s Huanan Seafood Market, which was initially believed to be the epicenter of the outbreak, the Wuhan Institute of Virology and laboratories at state facilities, including the Wuhan Center for Disease Control. Embarek said at a news conference the theory that the virus leaked from a laboratory is extremely unlikely, and that his team will not investigate it further.Embarek said the most likely pathway for the virus was a crossover into humans from an intermediary species, which he said “could have been very convoluted.” He also said the idea that COVID-19 can be transmitted through trade in frozen products is possible. WHO Urges Measures to Stop Spread of COVID-19 Amid Vaccinations Warning comes after South Africa suspends their vaccine campaign, citing concerns it was not as effective against variants Dr. Liang Wannian, an expert with China’s Health Commission, told reporters at the briefing the novel coronavirus could have been circulating in other regions before it was officially identified in Wuhan. The WHO dispatched Embarek and his 10-member team to Wuhan last month to track down the source of the virus, which has killed more than 2.3 million people among more than 106 million infected worldwide. Monday the WHO expressed concern about 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 it was using is less effective against a variant of the virus found in the country. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday at a media briefing that the decision is “a reminder that we need to do everything we can to reduce circulation of the virus with proven public health measures.” The study, conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and not yet peer reviewed, concluded that the British vaccine offered only “limited protection against moderate forms of the disease caused by the South African variant, in young adults.” WHO to Review AstraZeneca Vaccine after South Africa Halts Vaccinations Tedros calls study suggesting vaccine minimally effective against the South African variant ‘concerning’ The news was a blow to South Africa, which has seen more than 46,000 people die from the virus. It had planned to begin inoculating its population with a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the coming days. But the study found that the vaccine was only 22% effective in moderate cases of the South African variant of the disease. The study did not explore the vaccine’s effect against severe cases. The variant has been found in at least 32 other countries, including the United States. AstraZeneca said Sunday it was developing another vaccine that would be more effective against the South African variant, which could be expected by this autumn. But WHO’s chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, cautioned Monday that countries should not assume the AstraZeneca vaccine does not work, noting that all available evidence shows that vaccines reduce death, hospitalizations and severe disease.
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U.S. rhythm and blues singer Mary Wilson, who rose to fame as a member of the legendary female singing trio The Supremes in the 1960s, has died at the age of 76.
Her friend, publicist Jay Schwartz, said Wilson died suddenly Monday at her home in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Wilson founded The Supremes with Diana Ross and Florence Ballard while living in a public housing project in Detroit, Michigan in 1959. The group signed with local R&B music label Motown Records two years later, but their first hit did not occur until 1964 with the classic chart-topping single “Where Did Our Love Go.”
The Supremes would go on to sing a record 12 number one hits, including such classics as “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “I Hear a Symphony,” and “You Can’t Hurry Love.” Their songs, numerous television appearances and live shows made them one of most popular musical acts of the 1960s, and helped transform Motown Records into an iconic figure on the American cultural landscape.
Ballard was replaced by Cindy Birdsong in 1967, and Ross left the group in 1969 for a solo career, but Wilson remained with The Supremes with various singers until it was formally disbanded in 1976. She remained active for many years as a solo performer, motivational speaker and U.S. cultural ambassador. The lineup of Wilson, Ross and Ballard were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
Motown founder Berry Gordy praised Wilson in a statement as “quite a star in her own right” who worked hard over the years “to boost the legacy of The Supremes.”
“She was a trailblazer, a diva and will be deeply missed,” Gordy said.
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The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board meets Tuesday to vote on a probable cause for the helicopter crash that killed basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others in California last year. The NTSB has said there was no sign of mechanical failure on the helicopter, and that the crash is believed to be an accident. Board members Tuesday could give recommendations for how to prevent similar disasters in the future. The helicopter was taking the eight passengers to a youth basketball tournament amid heavy fog when it crashed into hilly terrain outside Los Angeles.
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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 variant of the virus found in the country. Speaking at a media briefing a day later, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing that the decision is “a reminder that we need to do everything we can to reduce circulation of the virus with proven public health measures.” FILE – A clinical trial patient receives a dose of AstraZeneca test vaccine at the University of Witwatersrand facility in Soweto, South Africa, Nov. 30, 2020.The study, conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and not yet peer reviewed, concluded that the British vaccine offered only “limited protection against moderate forms of the disease caused by the South African variant, in young adults.” The news was a blow to South Africa, which has seen more than 46,000 people die from the virus. It had planned to begin inoculating its population with a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the coming days. But the study found that the vaccine was only 22% effective in moderate cases of the South African variant of the disease. The study did not explore the vaccine’s effect against severe cases. The variant has been found in at least 32 other countries, including the United States. AstraZeneca said Sunday it was developing another vaccine that would be more effective against the South African variant, which could be expected by this autumn. A man photographs his mother getting a shot of China’s Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine for COVID-19 during a priority vaccination program for the elderly at a drive-thru site in the Pacaembu soccer stadium parking lot in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 8, 2021.But WHO’s chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, cautioned Monday that countries should not assume the AstraZeneca vaccine does not work, noting that all available evidence shows that vaccines reduce death, hospitalizations and severe disease. Millions of Mexicans were frustrated last week with the rollout of the country’s website to register people for coronavirus vaccine appointments. The first group designated to use the site to arrange appointments were the country’s senior citizens. One man told Britain’s Guardian newspaper that he “spent three days fighting with the website” to get a vaccination appointment for his mother. He told the newspaper his mother “would have been unable to do it without me.” Florida seniors have their temperatures taken before receiving the second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Jackson Health System, in Miami, Feb. 8, 2021.The shaky launch of the site is disheartening for a country that has the third-highest number of deaths from the coronavirus. Mexico has more than 166,200 COVID-19 deaths. Only Brazil and the U.S. have more, with 231,534 and 463,477 respectively, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The U.S. remains at the top of Johns Hopkins’ list as the place with the most COVID-19 infections. The U.S. now has more than 27 million cases, followed by India with 10.8 million and Brazil with 9.5 million. Head of Iran’s Razi Vaccine and Serum research Institute Ali Eshaghi speaks during a press conference after the unveiling ceremony of the locally-made Razi Cov Pars coronavirus vaccine, in the northern Alborz Province, Feb. 8, 2021.Over the weekend, both Iran and China unveiled new vaccines against the virus. On Sunday, Iran announced it had developed the Razi Cov Pars vaccine manufactured by the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute. Scientists will begin testing the vaccine on people this week. More than 59 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed across the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday. More than 41 million doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines had been administered by Sunday morning, with more than 31.5 million people receiving the first inoculation, according to the CDC. More than 9 million people received their second dose. VOA’s Fern Robinson contributed to this report.
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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 handling the outbreak, while 58% of Americans say the U.S. government is doing a bad job.More than 4,000 adults were questioned in the United States, Britain, France and Germany.The survey was conducted in November and December 2020, before U.S. President Joe Biden took office in mid-January and just as vaccination programs were beginning to roll out in the United States and Britain.The European Union has been far slower in getting its vaccination programs under way, leading to some criticism of the bloc’s vaccine approval and procurement policy among EU citizens.An elderly visitor receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Cent Quatre cultural center in Paris, France, Feb. 1, 2021.France and other EU states have argued the process must not be rushed, fearing a loss of public trust. France has one of the highest levels of so-called “vaccine skepticism” in the world.A recent newspaper poll suggested that just over 40% of the adult population intend to get the coronavirus vaccine. French President Emmanuel Macron recently rejected calls for mandatory vaccines.The Pew survey questioned respondents on their attitudes to compulsory vaccinations.“In three of the countries where we asked that question, most people do not find that an acceptable idea,” report co-author Kat Devlin told VOA. “So, for instance, 75% in France do not like the idea of a government-mandated vaccine. The U.K. was the one country where we found more acceptance of the idea of a government-mandated vaccine — 62% find that an acceptable proposition.”Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 9 MB480p | 13 MB540p | 17 MB720p | 32 MB1080p | 71 MBOriginal | 224 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioThe vaccination program is accelerating in Britain, with over 12 million people having now received their first dose. Britain has also suffered the highest number of coronavirus deaths in Europe.Analysts say local elections scheduled for May will offer another measure of public approval for the British government’s handling of the pandemic.
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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 the South African government to temporarily halt its use of the vaccine. At WHO’s usual Monday briefing at its headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the news concerning but noted what he called “some important caveats” to that development. FILE – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, speaks in Geneva, Jan. 21, 2021.He said given the limited sample size of the Witwatersrand trial and the younger, healthier profile of the participants, it is important to determine whether the vaccine remains effective in preventing more severe illness. Tedros said it is becoming increasingly clear that manufacturers will have to adjust to the evolution of the virus and consider altering their vaccines to address the variants, as is done with flu shots each year. He said WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) met Monday to review the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. He said he would be meeting with them to discuss their recommendations. Ebola deathMeanwhile, Tedros also said a new case of Ebola was reported Sunday near the city of Butembo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Butembo is in North Kivu province, where a previous outbreak last June was declared over. He said the female victim, the wife of an Ebola survivor, had died. Tedros said WHO is supporting local and national authorities to trace those who had contact with the woman, and so far, more than 70 contacts have been identified, and no additional cases. He warned, however, there could possibly be additional cases, because the woman had contact with many people after she became symptomatic. Vaccines are being sent to the area, as well as a WHO rapid response team.
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After a brief honeymoon, China appears to have blocked a popular, invitation-only audio app called Clubhouse.The iPhone-only app had seen a surge in users over the weekend as users were able to discuss taboo topics like reunification with Taiwan and the plight of the Muslim minority in Xinjiang province.But on Monday, users began reporting difficulty connecting, fueling speculation the app had been blocked by the so-called Great Firewall.“Clubhouse created the space many Chinese yearn for – the means to communicate with each other and the world outside of the Great Firewall unconstrained by censorship,” said Angeli Datt, a senior research analyst at Freedom House. “The Chinese government swiftly blocked Clubhouse because it knows the most effective way to control free speech is to swiftly clamp down on the channels and tools used to communicate rather than policing individual conversations.” The user surge started last week when Elon Musk of SpaceX and Tesla appeared on the app unexpectedly and held a discussion with Vlad Tenev, CEO of Robinhood, the app instrumental to the GameStop drama. Chinese media covered the conversation.According to Bloomberg, Clubhouse was a hot topic on Chinese social media, and some were even selling invitations to the app on Alibaba’s online retailer. Some of the invites were going for as much as $44.60, according to Bloomberg.As with many banned apps, Chinese users can still access Clubhouse using a virtual private network (VPN), and CNN reported that many were doing so. One such user was Susan Liang, a 31-year-old from Shenzhen.”It is too rare an opportunity. Everyone has lived under the Great Firewall for so long, but on this platform, we can talk about anything,” she told CNN. “It’s like someone drowning and can finally breathe in a large gulp of air.”She said she feared a crackdown as VPNs not approved by the government are illegal.Clubhouse has so far not responded to media inquiries, Reuters reported.While Clubhouse was fully accessible, VOA Mandarin observed several Chinese-language clubs where users joined discussions on wide-ranging and sensitive topics including Uighur rights, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan’s independence, China’s national identity and gender issues. In a club conversation titled “Politically Incorrect Reporters,” users engaged in a heated debate about the continuing influence of former U.S. President Donald Trump. In another people were chatting about women’s rights in different places In the “room of silence” chat, the description read, “Today is the death anniversary of Dr. Li Wenliang. We remember him not because he’s a hero, but because everyone of us could be him.” Li was a Chinese whistleblower doctor who died from the coronavirus a year ago.Chinese Whistleblower Honored on Anniversary of His DeathDr. Li Wenliang, 34, was one of eight whistleblowers whom local authorities punished early on for ‘spreading rumors’ about a SARS-like virus; it turned out to be COVID-19, which eventually killed him Graham Webster, editor of the DigiChina project at the Stanford University Cyber Policy Center, told VOA Mandarin that Chinese netizens had seized the rare chance to hold open, free discussions with their peers in Hong Kong and Taiwan. “[The conversations] were open and people were having a really interesting engagement in a way that they might not be able to in writing, which is a much more censorship and surveillance intensive form,” he said. He added that the app was helping people working across the Chinese border to have connections with one another when travel is difficult because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A netizen said in a Chinese language chat room that he/she valued the platform mostly because it offered people from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan a chance to sit down and just talk about anything. “I think it’s a rare ecology, it’s quite Utopian,” the user said, “I want to learn more and get more information from it.” Datt said it is unlikely that China will unblock the app, adding, “Even if the developers of the app comply with Chinese censorship and surveillance laws, which would be difficult for a small startup, there is no guarantee that censors would unblock Clubhouse.” Adam Xu and Lin Yang of VOA Mandarin contributed to this report.
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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 the vaccine will first be administered to the country’s most vulnerable populations.
Rumunu told reporters in Juba Sunday that South Sudan met all of the requirements necessary to acquire the vaccine.
“I’m happy to let you know that the 864,000 doses are from AstraZeneca, and AstraZeneca is using the same chain like we are using for the routine vaccination, meaning you need fridges that can keep vaccines in conditions of two to eight degrees centigrade. We have that all over the country,” he said.
Rumunu said COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access) assessed all vaccines and determined that AstraZeneca was best suited to South Sudan’s capacity to preserve the vaccine.
Concerns have been raised over the safety and efficacy of preserving COVID-19 vaccines in hot climate countries like South Sudan, concerns triggered primarily by misinformation circulating on social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook.
Dr. Guyo Guracha, the World Health Organization’s emergency coordinator in the South Sudan capital Juba, said AstraZeneca is safe to use in South Sudan.
“There should be no worry about safety and efficacy because we have an elaborate mechanism in place as WHO and the country also has its own. Many countries also will be looking at it on their own, independently,” Guracha said.
Health Ministry spokesperson Dr. Loi Thuou strongly advised the public against sharing misleading information about COVID-19 vaccines on the internet.
“We need to be very careful in handling and sharing that information with, let’s say innocent people, who may not necessarily have their own analytical capacity. I mean, if someone really wanted to actually do something against Africa or black race, why should it be through vaccines?” Thuou said in Juba.
Africans are consuming many other common drugs from the Western world like malaria medications such as Artimisin, according to Thuou.
He urged South Sudanese to practice social distancing and follow other preventative measures to prevent transmission of the virus in markets and other places where people congregate.
“Part of the reason why partial lockdown is mandatory is the behavior of our people. If you go to Konyokonyo [marketplace]… before partial lockdown was declared, you will not have a sense that there’s COVID-19 in this country, people are just mingling [in the] crowd and nobody cares, hardly people wear masks,” said Thuou.
Health officials are reporting a rapid jump in the number of COVID-19 cases in parts of South Sudan, particularly Central Equatoria state, which in recent days reported more than 300 new cases.
As of Sunday, South Sudan registered 4,609 positive COVID-19 cases, 861 active cases, 66 deaths and 3,692 recoveries.
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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 about four and a half million people. Chakwera said Malawi, one of Africa’s poorest countries, settled for the AstraZeneca vaccine because it is cheaper. In a televised address on the fight against COVID-19, President Chakwera said the vaccine type coming to Malawi has an average of 60 to 70 percent efficacy. FILE – Malawi’s newly elected President Lazarus Chakwera takes the oath of office in Lilongwe, Malawi, June 28, 2020.He said although the efficacy is lower that than other vaccine types, the AstraZeneca vaccine has one great advantage over the other vaccines: its cost. “At four dollars a dose, it costs two and a half times less than the two other vaccine types, almost four times less than a third type, five times less than a fourth type, and eight times less than a fifth type,” he said. However South Africa has decided to put a hold on the AstraZeneca vaccine jabs after studies showed that it gives minimal protection against the COVID-19 variant that is currently circulating in the country. Prior to widespread circulation of the more contagious variant, the vaccine was showing efficacy of around 75%, but health officials say in a later analysis of its strength against the new variant, shows a 22% efficacy rate. A woman walks past newspaper billboards during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Johannesburg, South Africa, Feb. 8, 2021.President Chakwera announced last week that Malawian scientists had confirmed that the country now has a more contagious new strain of the virus from South Africa known as 501Y.V2. In his address Sunday, Chakwera said the country’s rate of infection is too high. “Over the course of this past week, 2,987 new infections were confirmed by our testing facilities across the country. This represents a 22 percent positivity rate. And while it is lower than the 29 percent positivity rate from last week, it is still higher than the 0 to 5 percent rate we are aiming for,” he said. FILE – COVID-19 patients being treated at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi, Jan. 30, 2021.Dorothy Ngoma, former president of Malawi’s National Organization of Nurses and Midwives, says Malawi should take vaccine with caution. “Because we have both virus raging in our country, there is still an advantage to be protected from the first virus probably the one which was put at 75 percent efficacy. And if that’s correct, then it makes sense because as long as it [the vaccine] is a gift,” she said. Ngoma said the government would consider buying vaccines with more efficacy rate once they have got money to do so. Social commentator Humphrey Mvula disagrees. “Life is not cheap. We will not compromise on the price of the vaccine which does not address the concerns that we have on COVID-19. We should be able to base on experience of South Africa. We should now engage our scientists; medical experts do an analysis on the strain that is prevalent in Malawi and then advise the government accordingly,” he said.The chairperson for the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Dr. John Phuka said Monday that the task force would soon make its decision on whether to proceed with AstraZeneca vaccine roll out — based on findings about its efficacy on the new strain of the virus.
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