Actress and model Gloria Hendry became the first African American to play a so-called James Bond girl, debuting in the 1973 movie Live and Let Die. In an interview with VOA, Hendry reflected on what the role meant for her and other Black actresses at the time. More from Genia Dulot in Los Angeles.
Camera: Genia Dulot
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World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday that Europe remains the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting 2 million new cases last week, the region’s highest number since the pandemic began.
At a briefing in Geneva, the WHO chief said the region also reported nearly 27,000 deaths last week, more than half of all COVID-19 deaths worldwide.
Tedros said COVID-19 is surging in countries with lower vaccination rates in Eastern Europe, but also in countries with some of the world’s highest vaccination rates in Western Europe. He said it is a reminder that while vaccines reduce the risk of hospitalization, severe disease and death, they do not replace the need for other precautions.
Tedros said that while vaccines reduced transmission of the coronavirus, they do not fully prevent it.
On the subject of vaccines, the WHO chief once again spoke about the injustices of COVID-19 vaccine inequities and how wealthy nations are neglecting low-income nations in the distribution of the drugs. Tedros said every day, there are six times more boosters administered globally than primary doses in low-income countries.
He once again urged nations with stockpiled vaccine to donate it to the WHO-managed COVAX global vaccine cooperative to distribute to the developing world. He said that COVAX works when given the chance, having delivered almost 500 million doses to 144 countries and territories.
Tedros said the majority of countries are prepared to distribute vaccines to their people, but they need the doses. He said there are only two countries that have not started vaccinating their populations — Eritrea and North Korea.
The WHO has set a goal of fully vaccinating 40 percent of the population of every country in the world by the end of this year.
Scientists in South Africa have discovered the first partial Homo Naledi child’s skull in one of the world’s richest hominin fossil sites. The discovery at a UNESCO World Heritage site near Johannesburg, called “Cradle of Humankind,” reveals that the non-human species performed rituals for their dead thousands of years ago, before humans did. For VOA, Marize de Klerk visited the site and has this report. Camera – Franco Puglisi.
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More than 22 million infants missed their first measles vaccine in 2020, according to a report by the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
WHO said in a statement the 22 million tally was “the largest increase in two decades” and sets the stage for “creating dangerous conditions for outbreaks to occur.”
While reports of measles decreased by 80% in 2020, WHO says that figure is misleading because measles surveillance deteriorated with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Evidence suggests we are likely seeing the calm before the storm as the risk of outbreaks continues to grow around the world,” Dr. Kate O’Brien, director of WHO’s Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals said in a statement.
“It’s critical that countries vaccinate as quickly as possible against COVID-19, but this requires new resources so that it does not come at the cost of essential immunization programs. Routine immunization must be protected and strengthened; otherwise, we risk trading one deadly disease for another,” she said.
WHO said there were “major measles outbreaks” in 26 countries, representing 84% of all reported cases in 2020.
“We must act now to strengthen disease surveillance systems and close immunity gaps, before travel and trade return to pre-pandemic levels, to prevent deadly measles outbreaks and mitigate the risk of other vaccine-preventable diseases,” said Dr. Kevin Cain, CDC’s global immunization director.
Measles is one of the world’s most contagious human viruses although it is almost entirely preventable through vaccination.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday people have a duty to be inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine as a way of protecting not only themselves, but others as well.
She made the comments in a virtual conversation with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
COVID-19 cases are soaring in Germany. A record high daily count of 50,000 new infections were reported Thursday. A week ago, the daily tally was 33,000 new cases.
“The virus is still among us and threatens the health of its citizens,” German Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday.
German officials are meeting next week to discuss way to combat the COVID-19 surge.
A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts pulled up Thursday at the International Space Station, their new home until spring.
It took 21 hours for the flight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to the glittering outpost.
The one German and three U.S. astronauts said it was an emotional moment when they first spotted the space station 30 kilometers (20 miles) distant — “a pretty glorious sight,” according to Raja Chari, commander of the Dragon capsule.
“Floating in space and shining like a diamond,” noted German astronaut Matthias Maurer. “We’re all very thrilled, very excited.”
The Dragon’s entire flight was automated, with Chari and pilot Tom Marshburn monitoring the capsule systems, ready to take control if necessary. At one point, they reported what looked like a “gnarled knob” or possibly a small mechanical nut floating past their camera’s field of view, but SpaceX Mission Control said it posed no concern. The docking occurred 423 kilometers (263 miles) above the eastern Caribbean.
The station’s welcoming committee consisted of three astronauts instead of the originally planned seven. That’s because SpaceX returned four of the station residents on Monday, after the new arrivals’ launch kept getting delayed.
While Chari, Marshburn, Maurer and NASA astronaut Kayla Barron were adapting to weightlessness — all but Marshburn are space rookies — the previous crew was adjusting to life back on Earth.
“Gravity sucks, but getting used to it slowly,” Japanese astronaut Akihoki Hoshide tweeted.
The new crew will spend the next six months at the space station and, during that time, host two groups of visiting tourists. Russia will launch the first bunch in December and SpaceX the second in February.
The contagious delta variant is driving up COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Mountain West and fueling disruptive outbreaks in the North, a worrisome sign of what could be ahead this winter in the U.S.
While trends are improving in Florida, Texas and other Southern states that bore the worst of the summer surge, it’s clear that delta isn’t done with the United States. COVID-19 is moving north and west for the winter as people head indoors, close their windows and breathe stagnant air.
“We’re going to see a lot of outbreaks in unvaccinated people that will result in serious illness, and it will be tragic,” said Dr. Donald Milton of the University of Maryland School of Public Health.
In recent days, a Vermont college suspended social gatherings after a spike in cases tied to Halloween parties. Boston officials shut down an elementary school to control an outbreak. Hospitals in New Mexico and Colorado are overwhelmed.
In Michigan, the three-county metro Detroit area is again becoming a hot spot for transmissions, with one hospital system reporting nearly 400 COVID-19 patients. Mask-wearing in Michigan has declined to about 25% of people, according to a combination of surveys tracked by an influential modeling group at the University of Washington.
“Concern over COVID in general is pretty much gone, which is unfortunate,” said Dr. Jennifer Morse, medical director at health departments in 20 central and northern Michigan counties. “I feel strange going into a store masked. I’m a minority. It’s very different. It’s just a really unusual atmosphere right now.”
New Mexico is running out of intensive care beds despite the state’s above-average vaccination rate. Waning immunity may be playing a role. People who were vaccinated early and have not yet received booster shots may be driving up infection numbers, even if they still have some protection from the most dire consequences of the virus.
“Delta and waning immunity — the combination of these two have set us back,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington. “This virus is going to stick with us for a long, long time.”
The delta variant dominates infections across the U.S., accounting for more than 99% of the samples analyzed.
No state has achieved a high enough vaccination rate, even when combined with infection-induced immunity, to avoid the type of outbreaks happening now, Mokdad said.
In a deviation from national recommendations, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed an executive order Thursday that allows any resident 18 or older access to a COVID-19 booster shot, another step to prevent hospitals and health care workers from being overwhelmed by the state’s surge in delta infections.
Progress on vaccination continues, yet nearly 60 million Americans age 12 and older remain unvaccinated. That’s an improvement since July, when 100 million were unvaccinated, said White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients.
First shots are averaging about 300,000 per day, and the effort to vaccinate children ages 5 to 11 is off to a strong start, Zients said at a briefing Wednesday.
Virginia Tech’s Linsey Marr, a leading researcher on the airborne spread of the coronavirus, predicted the northward spread of the virus in a Twitter post on September 15. The virus spreads in the air and can build up in enclosed rooms with poor ventilation. Colder weather means more people are indoors breathing the same air, Marr said.
Imagine that everyone you spend time with is a smoker and you want to breathe as little of their smoke as possible, she said.
“The closer you are to a smoker, the more exposure you have to that smoke,” Marr said. “And if you’re in a poorly ventilated room, the smoke builds up over time.”
Marr said she and her vaccinated family would use rapid tests before gathering for Christmas to check for infection.
“It’s hard to know what’s coming next with this virus,” Marr said. “We thought we knew, but delta really surprised us. We thought the vaccine would help end this, but things are still dragging on. It’s hard to know what’s going to happen next.”
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