Category Archives: headline

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UK: Most Effective Malaria Vaccine Developed

BBC- Researchers in Britain have developed the world’s most effective malaria vaccine, with it becoming the first to achieve the World Health Organization-specified 75 per cent efficacy goal.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, dubbed ‘R21/Matrix-M’, which demonstrated 77 per cent efficacy over 12 months of follow-up.

They hope the vaccine can be approved for use within the next two years, building on the speed and lessons learned through the rapid development of the COVID-19 vaccine.

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PAHO Head: Misinformation Fuelling Vaccine Hesitancy

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (CMC) – Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Dr Carissa Etienne said Wednesday that misinformation is one of the most serious threats to public health and it is most damaging when it fuels vaccine hesitancy.

“Every person in a vulnerable group that is hesitant to get the vaccine can become part of the sad statistics, one of the thousands of deaths that occur daily due to COVID-19,” she told a news conference.

“Vaccines are saving lives now and will contribute to control transmission in the near future when we achieve high immunisation coverage,” the Dominican-born PAHO director added.

She said reports of very rare unexpected side effects from some COVID-19 vaccines should not make people hesitate to get immunised.

“The vaccines delivered through COVAX [COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access] have been thoroughly assessed by the WHO [World Health Organization] experts. The benefits of these vaccines in preventing infections, hospitalisations, and deaths outweigh the risks of side effects,” Dr Etienne said.

“Because unreliable information spreads quickly, PAHO is collaborating with tech companies like Twitter, Google, and Facebook to address fake news and ensure the public can easily find accurate information,” she added.

The PAHO director said the tragic milestone of more than three million deaths from COVID, nearly half of them in the Americas, “is a reminder that we must do more to protect each other because this virus continues to be a threat in every corner and community across our region”

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US & CARICOM Agree to Tackle Joint Intrests

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (CMC) — Foreign ministers of the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the US State Department on Wednesday agreed to work together on a number of issues of mutual interest.

A Caricom statement, issued following the the virtual meeting, said the two sides have noted the “inextricable link between the region and the US, and welcomed the roundtable discussion as an initial engagement between the new US Administration and Caricom”.

It said that Belize Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Immigration Minister Eamon Courtenay, who is chair of Caricom Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Caricom Secretary General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque addressed the meeting.

“This meeting is significant as it marks the resumption of interaction between Caricom as a region and the US at this high level. I recall that meetings at this level were a regular feature of our relationship,” LaRocque said.

He said that Caricom leaders were looking forward to meeting with President Biden in the near future, adding “I hope that today’s session is the start of a renewal of such encounters”.

LaRocque said that Caricom attaches great value “to the strong and enduring bonds of friendship” with Washington, noting that a “spirit of cooperation has characterised our relationship, and it has been underpinned by collaboration on a range of issues, which include trade and investment, security, health, energy, disaster management and climate change.

“However, there are issues which we need to address as partners, such as blacklisting, correspondent banking, and access to concessional financing based on vulnerability, especially in this very challenging period for our region with COVID-19 and its economic impact, La Soufriere volcano which has impacted St Vincent and the Grenadines and the upcoming hurricane season,” the Caricom secretary general said.

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Melbourne positive case travelled Perth for five days

Perth and Peel will enter a three-day snap lockdown after a Melbourne man spent five days in the city while potentially infectious with COVID-19.

The friend who he was staying with has now also tested positive.

The 54-year-old man arrived in Perth from Shanghai, China, on April 3 and left hotel quarantine on April 17, after testing negative to COVID-19 on his Day 12 test.

He then stayed with a friend and her family in the Perth suburb of Kardinya and visited various locations including a restaurant, a swimming pool and a university college before flying to Melbourne on April 21.

READ MORE: NZ pauses travel bubble with WA

Premier Mark McGowan said one of the people he had been staying with has today returned a positive COVID-19 test, with health authorities still awaiting results from other family members.

Anzac Day marches and other events across the two regions have been cancelled and residents will only be able to leave their homes for one of four essential reasons.

From 6pm this evening, masks will be mandatory for everyone over the age of 12.

Then from midnight, people are only permitted to leave home for work, essential shopping, healthcare, and exercise and places of worship, pubs, clubs, bars, gyms, cinemas, entertainment venues, libraries and outdoor recreational facilities will be shut down.

Cafes and restaurants will be able to provide takeaway only.

No visitors will be permitted in hospitals or aged care. Weddings and funerals can go ahead, but with a 100-attendee capacity.

Residents living outside the restricted Perth and Peel regions will only be allowed to enter to provide essential services or if they are returning residents.

READ MORE: AFL clash rocked by Perth COVID-19 outbreak

The Western Force's rugby union local derby with the Perth Wildcats this evening will go ahead as normal with the mask requirement in place, but from midnight sporting events will not be permitted to host fans.

Premier Mark McGowan confirmed that Anzac Day dawn services would not go ahead, encouraging residents to instead participate in marking the event from their driveways.

"I encourage everyone to take part in the driveway dawn service again this year, and I will do that again," he said.

"We will monitor this very closely here on and continue to assess the situation as more information comes to light."

READ MORE: Melbourne man tests positive to COVID-19 after Perth quarantine

The Mercure Hotel in Perth.

The news comes just hours after it was revealed a Melbourne man has tested positive to COVID-19 after returning from 14 days of quarantine at the Mercure Hotel, where the virus has spread between guests.

He was declared a close contact and directed to isolate as he had been staying in a room adjacent to a positive case.

All passengers on board the flight he caught from Perth – Qantas flight QF778 – have been deemed close contacts and directed to self-isolate for 14 days.

It brings the total number of locally-acquired cases associated with the hotel outbreak to four.

https://www.facebook.com/MarkMcGowanMP/posts/311982833623902

The original pair that sparked an investigation by WA health authorities – a mother and her young child – tested positive on April 16 while still quarantined at the Mercure Hotel.

Mr McGowan said there were 16 others staying on that floor of the Mercure Hotel during the danger period, 13 of whom have so far returned negative test results.

The premier has requested Prime Minister Scott Morrison reduce WA's international arrivals cap from 1025 a week to 512 a week for the next month.

Where the Melbourne COVID-19 case visited in Perth

The COVID-19 case that has sparked WA's snap three-day lockdown was moving in the Perth community for several days while presumed to be infectious.

  • Premier Mark McGowan said on April 17, the man stayed with a friend and her two children in Kardinya.
  • On April 18, he visited a swimming pool in the southern suburbs.
  • He also visited Leeming, Northbridge, and stayed at St Catherine's College.
  • On April 19, he visited Northbridge again, and once more spent the night at St Catherine's.
  • On April 20, he visited Kings Park and Northbridge.
  • On April 21, he had breakfast at St Catherine's, and was driven to the airport, where he boarded flight QF778 to Melbourne.

Mr McGowan said more specific details of danger areas and times would be released shortly, and anybody who had been to the locations would need to be tested and isolate until they return a negative result.

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'No legal reason' baby Kobi shouldn't have been in father's care

The man who died along with a baby girl in a suspected murder-suicide at the Whispering Wall had appeared in an Adelaide court just hours before the tragedy.

Warning – this story may be distressing to some readers

Police believe the deaths of Henry Shepherdson, 38, and his nine-month-old daughter Kobi on Wednesday were a murder-suicide, with witnesses reporting they saw the man jump from the tourist attraction in Williamstown.

Onlookers tried to help baby Kobi following the fall but paramedics who arrived about 4.30pm found her unresponsive and were unable to revive her.

Kobi Shepherdson

The man was found dead.

A police statement said early investigations showed a history of domestic violence between Mr Shepherdson and the mother of Kobi.

A case against Shepherdson for alleged assault, and for allegedly threatening his partner and baby last year was dropped.

He was in an intervention order hearing five hours before Kobi's suspected murder.

South Australia Attorney-General Vickie Chapman has said on face value, she does not believe the court system failed Kobi.

Despite facing domestic violence allegations, there was no legal reason Mr Shepherdson could not have the baby girl on Wednesday afternoon.

A report is being prepared for the coroner.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday the baby's death was an incident of "profound sorrow".

"We must continue to just further increase our efforts to do all we can in these circumstances," he said.

"The events that lead to this is hard to understand and how people can take these such violent and appalling acts, but it is something our society has been sadly living with for too long."

If you need help or support, contact the National Domestic Violence Service on 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). If you are in immediate danger call triple zero (000).

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

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Allison Baden-Clay's sister despairs at news of Kelly Wilkinson's death

The alleged murder of Gold Coast mother-of-three Kelly Wilkinson hits close to home for the family of Brisbane woman Allison Baden-Clay.

Ms Baden-Clay, also a mother-of-three, was murdered by her husband Gerard in 2012.

Her sister Vanessa Fowler today told 9News she heard of Ms Wilkinson's death nine years to the day her sister was killed.

Kelly Wilkinson was allegedly murdered by her estranged partner.

READ MORE: Deputy commissioner 'gutted' by scourge of domestic violence across state

"I feel such despair when I hear that another life is lost and realise that we have just so much more to do," Ms Fowler said.

"The system is broken, she did everything right, she engaged with the system and she reached out for support."

Today Queensland Police deputy commissioner and police minister Mark Ryan came under fire over failures in the police system's response to domestic violence.

Allison Baden-Clay.

READ MORE: Internal review to probe Kelly Wilkinson's interactions with police before death

Neither of them could pinpoint exactly where the system let down Kelly Wilkinson but both admitted change is needed.

An internal review is being conducted by Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd of the Domestic, Family Violence and Vulnerable Persons Command, which will run separately to a coronial investigation and the criminal investigation

headline

UK Study: Just One Vaccine Shot Cuts Virus Infection Rate for All Ages

BBC- The chances of becoming infected by Covid fell sharply after a first dose of either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines, a UK study has found.

The vaccines worked just as well in the over-75s and those with underlying health conditions, as other people.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and University of Oxford research also found a strong antibody response in all age groups from either jab.

Everyone showed some response to both vaccines, they said.

The research, contained in two studies which have not yet been peer-reviewed or published, is based on virus tests from 370,000 people in the general UK population – one of the largest to date.

It provides further real-world evidence that the vaccines being used in the UK to protect against Covid-19 are effective at protecting people against coronavirus infections.

In the first study, people who had been vaccinated with a single dose of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines were 65% less likely to get a new Covid infection.

Variant protection

Three weeks after their jab, given between December 2020 and early April 2021, infections with symptoms fell by 74%, while infections with no reported symptoms fell by 57%.

Those who had received a second vaccine dose of Pfizer were 90% less likely to be infected. The same calculation could not be made for AZ, because too few people in the study had received a second dose as its rollout started later.

The study showed both vaccines were effective against the Kent variant (B117) which was circulating at the time.

Dr Koen Pouwels, senior researcher in University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Population Health, said the data backed up the decision to extend the gap between doses.

“The protection from new infections gained from a single dose supports the decision to extend the time between first and second doses to 12 weeks to maximise initial vaccination coverage, and reduce hospitalisations and deaths,” he said.

However, he said the figures showed there was still a chance vaccinated people could acquire Covid again and pass it to others, emphasising the need for social distancing and masks.

The second study, in nearly 46,000 adults who had been vaccinated with one dose, found strong antibody responses – a sign that the vaccines are stimulating the body’s defence system to protect against the virus – in all age groups.

These antibody responses were “broadly sustained out to 10 weeks afterwards”, the researchers said.

Although antibody levels rose more slowly and to a lower level with a single dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca, they dropped more quickly after one Pfizer dose, particularly in older age groups.

Antibody boost for over-80s

There was a better response in younger adults compared with older adults over 60 with both jabs, but after two doses of Pfizer antibody levels were high across all ages, the study said.

One finding that surprised researchers was the amount by which the immune response shot up in the over-80s after a second dose – far more than in younger age groups.

The findings highlight the importance of people getting their second vaccine dose for increased protection, the researchers said.

But it is still not clear what the build-up of antibodies after a Covid vaccine actually means.

Prof Sarah Walker, chief investigator on the studies, from the University of Oxford, said: “We don’t yet know exactly how much of an antibody response, and for how long, is needed to protect people against getting Covid-19 in the long term – but over the next year, information from the survey should help us to answer these questions.”

Both studies are based on data from the Covid-19 Infection Survey, a partnership between the University of Oxford, the ONS and the Department for Health and Social Care.

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Haiti: 3 Abducted Catholic Clergy Freed, 7 Still Held

Three members of the Catholic clergy kidnapped in Haiti earlier month this have been released, officials say.

But seven other people – including a French nun and a French priest – abducted in the town of Croix-des-Bouquets remain in captivity.

The kidnappers had demanded $1m (£722,000) as a ransom payment after they seized the group on 11 April.

Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse has vowed to “do everything the law allows” to secure their release.

“Three of the seven clergy kidnapped on April 11 were released,” Father Loudger Mazile, spokesman for the Bishop’s Conference of the island nation, told the AFP on Thursday.

“The French were not released. There were no lay people among those released,” he said.

It is not known whether any ransom has been paid.

The attack happened when the Catholic clergy were on their way to the installation of a new parish priest.

A police source told AFP that a gang calling itself 400 Mazowo was most probably behind the abduction.

Kidnappings have surged in Haiti, with the Catholic Church describing the situation as “a descent into hell”.

While at first well-off business people were the main targets, victims have come from all walks of life. Religious groups have not been spared.

On 1 April, armed men burst into a service at an evangelical church on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and abducted the pastor and three other people. The service was being live-streamed on social media at the time.

The four were released three days later after an undisclosed sum was paid in ransom but the brazenness of kidnapping a pastor in the middle of a service shocked many Haitians.

Map

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World View: Biden’s Climate Summit, India Needs Oxygen, Drop in US Vaccine Demand, More

April 23, 2021

Alternate text

 

Find out why some places in the U.S are turning down COVID-19 vaccines.

We look at how President Joe Biden is bringing out the billionaires at a virtual climate summit of world leaders.

And criticism over Israel’s use of deadly force against Palestinians has echoes of the debate over police killings of Black Americans in the United States.

Also:

  • India’s hospitals desperate for oxygen as virus crisis deepens
  • Denmark tells some Syrian refugees to go back home
  • Digital Underground leader Shock G has died

KARL RITTER

Southern Europe News Director

The Associated Press

Rome

The Rundown

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is bringing out the billionaires, the CEOs and the union executives Friday to help sell President Joe Biden’s climate-friendly transformation of the U.S. economy at a virtual summit of world leaders. The closing day…Read More

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NEW DELHI (AP) — India put oxygen tankers on special express trains as major hospitals in New Delhi on Friday begged on social media for more supplies to save COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breathe. More than a dozen people died when an oxy…Read More

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Louisiana has stopped asking the federal government for its full allotment of COVID-19 vaccine. About three-quarters of Kansas counties have turned down new shipments of the vaccine at least once over the past month. And in Mis…Read More

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Moments after former officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in George Floyd’s death, copies of the original Minneapolis police statement began recirculating on social media. It attributed Floyd’s death to “medical distress…Read More

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Hours after Israeli soldiers shot and killed Osama Mansour at a temporary checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, the military announced that it had thwarted a car-ramming attack — but the facts didn’t seem to add up. By all accounts,…Read More

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pentagon panel is recommending that decisions to prosecute service members for sexual assault be made by independent authorities, not commanders, in what w…Read More

Gunfire crackled near the straw-woven home of Abraha Kinfe Gebremariam. He hoped it drowned out the cries of his wife, curled up in pain, and the newborn twin daughters wailin…Read More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts arrived at their launch pad early Friday morning for a SpaceX flight to the International Space Station, the company’s third bon vo…Read More

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shock G, who blended whimsical wordplay with reverence for ’70s funk as leader of the off-kilter hip-hop group Digital Underground, has died. He was 57. Nz…Read Mor

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