Day: July 13, 2021

Seven COVID-19 vaccines have received the green light from the World Health Organization so far. And as new variants of the coronavirus evolve, questions arise about how well each vaccine works. It can get confusing. But as VOA’s Steve Baragona reports, when it comes to keeping people out of the hospital and the grave, any shot will help.
Video editor: Bronwyn Benito
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Students in Afghanistan have lacked access to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, as schools have remained closed and the virus has not been controlled.”The real tragedy is that over 3,000 students in Kabul who come from poor families simply do not have the ability to pursue online education during the pandemic when schools are closed,” said Aziz Royesh, a teacher and founder of the A doctor fills a syringe with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center, in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 11, 2021.Not all have internet, electricityStudents in big cities such as Kabul and Herat have better security and a few hours of electricity most days, and more privileged students have access to the internet, although it is often weak and unreliable. But in the countryside, students do not have the same security, power is very limited and the internet is almost nonexistent, they report.A teacher talks with students at a coffee shop in the Kardan University in Kabul, June 15, 2021.’I will be a year behind’Mohammad Reza Nazari, a recent high school graduate in Kabul, is struggling to get an education during COVID-19. He was taking English classes at Star Educational Society when the center shut down, putting a stop to his education. “I was taking a TOFEL class to pass the exam and apply for schools abroad, but unfortunately the limited electricity and poor Wi-Fi connection prevented me from doing online study,” he said, referring to the Test for English as a Foreign Language that many U.S. colleges and universities require for acceptance.”I get really sad and depressed when I remember that I will be a year behind other students my age,” he said.Khodadad Jafari from Daikundi, Afghanistan, is a student at Star Educational Society. He moved to Kabul three years ago to learn English so he could study abroad and find a part-time job to support himself and his family back in his village.”I came to Kabul with a lot of hope, but I had to return to the village with all my wishes destroyed,” Jafari said.He tried to stay in his village, but his drive to get an education led him back to Kabul.”I have access with my mobile to some phone data in Kabul that I did not have at home. I learn English by watching YouTube videos and from websites, but I have limited data and resources,” Jafari said.Maryam Darwish is a high school senior in Kabul. Since her school shut down, she has found it hard to study by herself.”I can study social studies, but I need someone to help me with science and math. I try to spend my day drawing, reading fiction and going over my social studies books,” Darwish said. “I want to continue my education online, but I am always worried and sleepless.””It’s hard to overstate the impact that COVID has had on the continuity of education in Afghanistan. So many students lost nearly all of 2020 to school closures, and now schools are closed again for the foreseeable future,” said Shabana Basij-Rasikh, co-founder of the School of Leadership, Afghanistan, in Kabul.”SOLA, as a boarding school, is fortunate in that we’ve been able to institute health and safety procedures that have allowed us to operate throughout this year without any outbreaks on our campus, but our model is unique in Afghanistan,” she said. “COVID is the great thief that has robbed millions, literally millions, of Afghan girls and boys of their education.” 
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In the future, keyboards and remote controls may be replaced with a more direct way for humans to interact with machines —  hand gestures. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has more.  
Camera: Elizabeth Lee
Produced by: Elizabeth Lee
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A report by a non-profit group says Africa needs to increase internet access to boost its economies, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The advocacy group found that while Africa’s locally routed online traffic has increased, only one in five Africans has internet access.  High taxes and frequent internet shutdowns by some African governments have also discouraged online trade.The Internet Society group says in a report this month Africa’s internet exchange points, or IXP’s, have increased from 19 to 46 in under eight years. Six countries have more than one IXP. An IXP is where multiple networks and service providers exchange internet traffic.  The increase is significant because a decade ago, most African countries routed their online traffic outside the continent.Dawit Bekele is the Africa regional vice president for the Internet Society, a global nonprofit organization that promotes the development and use of the internet. He said Africa having its own IXP’s improves internet performance for users on the continent.“By developing internet exchange points within Africa, we have limited this kind of unnecessary travels of internet traffic outside of Africa to come back to Africa, which has a considerable advantage to improving the user experience, be it the speed, connectivity or even the cost of connectivity,” he said.The Washington-based group says its goal is to eventually have 80% of internet traffic in Africa be exchanged locally.Michael Niyitegeka, an information technology expert, said public demand has forced African governments to improve internet access.“We can’t run away from the youth population. There are quite a number of young people and therefore their affinity or drive for technology and use of the Internet is way higher than our parents and they are more comfortable using technology than anything else. Finally, the other aspect I think is quite critical is the access to mobile technology devices is a big driver. We see quite a number of relatively cheap smart or internet-enabled phones in our markets and that has a massive effect on how many people can access the internet,” said Niyitegeka.In a 2020 study, the International Foundation Corporation said internet use could add $180 billion to Africa’s economies.However, some governments have taken steps to control digital communication by shutting down social media platforms and imposing a high tax on internet use.Omoniyi Kolade is the CEO of SeerBit, a Nigerian company that offers payment processing services to businesses. He said that government control of the internet will drive businesses backward. “It’s a way we are driven backward instead of moving forward. We are supposed to encourage access, we are supposed to encourage free access point for interaction for solutions, because if businesses had to put their product on platforms, as long as those platforms are put down or disconnected there is loss of revenue at that point and for payment gateway. We are already losing revenue as those businesses do not exist to achieve the purpose of what they should achieve,” he said.The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa notes that only 20% of the continent’s population has access to the Internet.The Internet Society Group is urging African governments to expand internet infrastructure to rural areas, where most of the population lives, so that they can benefit from it.Editor’s note: an earlier version of this story misspelled Omoniyi Kolade’s last name. VOA regrets the error.
 
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In the future, keyboards and remote controls may be replaced with a more direct way for humans to interact with machines —  hand gestures. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has more.  
Camera: Elizabeth Lee
Produced by: Elizabeth Lee
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is adding a new warning to Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine because of a link to a rare neurological condition.The federal oversight agency issued a statement Monday saying it had received preliminary reports of 100 people who developed Guillain-Barré syndrome after receiving the single-shot vaccine. According to the FDA, Guillain-Barré syndrome occurs when the immune system damages nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and occasional paralysis.  Between 3,000 and 6,000 people are diagnosed each year with the condition in the United States.The FDA said of the 100 vaccine recipients who developed Guillain-Barré syndrome, one person died and 95 were hospitalized. Most of the cases were reported in men 50 years old and older, and usually two weeks after being inoculated.The numbers are a small fraction of the 12.8 million people who have received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which makes up a small proportion of the U.S. vaccine supply.  The FDA said after evaluating the information it has determined that “the known and potential benefits” of the vaccine “clearly outweigh the known and potential risks.”But the new warning casts another cloud over the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has been plagued with problems since it was approved by the FDA.  Both the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention briefly halted use of the vaccine back in April after several women under 50 years old developed a rare but serious blood-clotting disorder following vaccination, and at least one person died. Another problem occurred earlier this year when millions of doses were ruined when a Baltimore-based manufacturing plant mixed the Johnson & Johnson vaccine with ingredients from the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca.   Global COVID Cases Up for 4th Consecutive Week, WHO Says Spike comes as delta variant has now been reported in more than 104 countriesThe company said in a statement it has been discussing the reports with the FDA and other health regulators around the world.The latest tally from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center shows 187.3 million total COVID-19 infections around the world, including over 4 million deaths.  The U.S. leads in both categories with 33.8 million total cases, including 607,442 deaths.  India and Brazil are second and third in total infections with 30.8 million and 19.1 million, respectively, while the positions are reversed in fatalities — Brazil is second with 534,233, followed by India with 408,764. [[ COVID-19 Map – Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
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Wildfires that torched homes and forced thousands to evacuate burned across 10 parched Western states on Tuesday, and the largest, in Oregon, threatened California’s power supply. Nearly 60 wildfires tore through bone-dry timber and brush from Alaska to Wyoming, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Arizona, Idaho and Montana accounted for more than half of the large active fires. The fires erupted as the West suffered through the second bout of dangerously high temperatures in just a few weeks. A climate change-fueled megadrought also is contributing to conditions that make fires even more dangerous, scientists say. The National Weather Service says the heat wave appeared to have peaked in many areas, and excessive-heat warnings were largely expected to expire by Tuesday. However, they continued into Tuesday night in some California deserts, and many areas were still expected to see highs in the 80s and 90s. In Northern California, a combined pair of lightning-ignited blazes dubbed the Beckwourth Complex was less than 25% surrounded after days of battling flames fueled by winds, hot weather and low humidity that sapped the moisture from vegetation. Evacuation orders were in place for more than 3,000 residents of remote northern areas and neighboring Nevada. There were reports of burned homes, but damage was still being tallied. The blaze had consumed 362 square kilometers (140 square miles) of land, including in Plumas National Forest. A fire that began Sunday in the Sierra Nevada south of Yosemite National Park exploded across 36 square kilometers (14 square miles) and was just 10% contained. A highway that leads to Yosemite’s southern entrance remained open. The largest fire in the United States lay across the California border in southwestern Oregon. The Bootleg Fire — which doubled and doubled again over the weekend — threatened about 2,000 homes, state fire officials said. It had burned at least seven homes and more than 40 other buildings. Over the weekend, the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office warned that it would cite or even arrest people who ignored orders to “go now” in certain areas immediately threatened by the blaze. Tim McCarley told KPTV-TV that he and his family were ordered to flee their home on Friday with flames just minutes behind them. He described the blaze as “like a firenado,” with flames leaping dozens of feet into the air and jumping around, catching trees “and then just explosions, boom, boom, boom, boom.” The fire is burning in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, near the Klamath County town of Sprague River. It had ravaged an area of about 621 square kilometers (240 square miles), or nearly twice the size of Portland. Firefighters hadn’t managed to surround any of it as they struggled to build containment lines. The fire drastically disrupted service on three transmission lines providing up to 5,500 megawatts of electricity to California, and California’s power grid operator has repeatedly asked for voluntary power conservation during evening hours. Elsewhere, a forest fire started during lightning storms in southeast Washington grew to 223 square kilometers (86 square miles). It was 20% contained Monday.  Another fire west of Winthrop closed the scenic North Cascades Highway, the most northern route through the Cascade Range. The road provides access to North Cascades National Park and the Ross Lake National Recreation Area.  In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little mobilized the National Guard to help fight twin lightning-sparked fires that have together charred nearly 62 square kilometers (24 square miles) of dry timber in the remote, drought-stricken region. The July heat wave follows an unusual June siege of broiling temperatures in the West, and comes amid worsening drought conditions throughout the region. Scientists say human-caused climate change and decades of fire suppression that increases fuel loads have aggravated fire conditions across the region. 
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