On Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU would increase its spending to boost the vaccination drive in African states. They plan to increase as they are lagging behind despite having received the COVID-19 vaccine supplies. African countries began rollouts of the vaccines much later than wealthier countries, which began receiving the limited doses in late 2020. Gavi, a nonprofit global vaccine alliance, estimates that Congo and Burundi have used less than 20% of the available doses, however, supplies have grown exponentially in recent months and m
On Monday, India approved Russia's one-shot Sputnik Light COvid-19 vaccine for unvaccinated people. India has approved the shots for emergency use almost 10 months after it cleared the two-dose Sputnik V. Indian drugmaker Dr. Reddy’s spokesperson said, “The current restricted use in emergency situation approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to Sputnik Light is for the single-shot standalone vaccine. Our efforts to seek approval for Sputnik Light as a precautionary dose/booster are currently underway”. However, the was no immediate response to an email request for
The Worlds Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus discussed collaboration on Covid origins with the Chinese premier. Tedros visited Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics. On Saturday, Tedros tweeted, “Pleased to meet with Premier Li Keqiang. We discussed COVID-19 and the need for an aggressive effort on VaccinEquiyt this year to vaccinate 70 percent of all population”. He tweeted referring to the campaign organized by the WHO for fair access to vaccines around the world. He further added that they also discussed the need for stronger collaboration on COVID-19 vi
On Thursday, Germany’s expert vaccine commission, the Standing Committee on Vaccination (StiKo) raised a recommendation approving the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for adults. Novavax shots were first approved in Indonesia. It is hoped the protein-based shot might help address vaccine hesitancy since it uses a conventional technology rather than messenger RNA vaccines (mRNA) that have proven most effective during the pandemic. Approximately 74% of people in Germany have already had two doses of the COVID vaccine. The government wishes to increase its status to 90%. In the StiKo, it is r
Australia is set to reopen its border for foreign tourists from February almost two years. The nation has locked its border for tourists due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday, the Australian government is set to announce the news post-meeting of the national security committee. Karen Andrews, Home Affairs Minister said in an interview, “We are getting ready to open as soon as we can. We don’t have all the information we need to be able to take the decision, but we are very close”. Prior to lockdown, Australia’s tourism industry’s annual revenue generated was over $84.9
Queen Elizabeth II is ready to mark 70 years on the throne on Sunday. She is the first British monarch to reign for 70 years, heralding the start of her Platinum Jubilee. At the age of 25, she inherited the throne on February 8, 1952, after the death of her father George VI. The sovereign’s record-breaking reign as head of the state came when she was watching wildlife in a remote part of Kenya with her husband, Prince Philip. However, on this landmark date, the queen traditionally spends the anniversary of the death of her father in private. On Sunday, there are no public engagements
Most of the European countries have lifted almost all the COVID restrictions and plans to ease restrictive measures. The WHO has prepared a set of guidelines with six criteria. However, according to the WHO guidelines, countries are requesting to consider easing measures after the number of infections declines and its health system can cope with the virus cases and the possible outbreak. They further asked to guarantee their capability for surveillance and contact tracing. Denmark is the latest EU nation to announce dropping most of the measure as it follows in the footsteps of the UK,
Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi congratulated Indians as it reached 75% of the adult population to get fully vaccinated with both doses of the vaccine. Mr. Modi tweeted it as the “momentous feat” for India in the fight against Corona. On Sunday, health minister Masaukh Mandaviya said in a tweet in Hindi, “With the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Prayas’, India has achieved 75% of its adult population with both doses of the vaccine. We are getting stronger in their fight against Corona. We have to follow all the rules and get the vaccine as soon as possible”. In the las
Indian-origin professor Chennupati Jagadish is accorded a rare honor in Australia. A native of Telugu, Cheenupati Jagadish is appointed as the President of the Australian Academy of Science (ANU). He is the first Indian to hold the position. Mr. Jagadish is a leading nanotechnology and physics researcher and eminent and now will continue as the next president of the ANU. he is set to take over the position in May next year. ANU Vice-Chancellor, Nobel Laureate professor Brain Smith said, “Professor Jagdish is the right person to lead the Academy of Science. Australian science and scien
India ranked among the top 10 countries for the cross-country travel index by vacation homes aggregator Holidu. Leaving behind 118 great countries like Germany, France, Japan, Turkey, and Spain, which are already tourism magnets; India bagged the 10th position. The index is compiled by taking account of various factors like Unesco World Heritage sites, number of attractions, natural assets, land size, rainforests, vertebrate species, landscape variation along with the number of ‘Best Cities’ in the top 100 rankings. There are various other reasons that India grabbed this high spot i