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Blood Clot Reports with J&J Vaccine, US Hoarding Vaccine Supply, World Stats

EMA says four serious cases reported, one fatal, and also expands inquiry into AstraZeneca vaccine

Reuters- The EU’s drug regulator is reviewing reports of rare blood clots in four people who received Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine and has expanded its inquiry into AstraZeneca’s shot to include reports of a bleeding condition.

Of the four serious cases of clotting and low platelets, three occurred in the US during the rollout of J&J’s vaccine from its Janssen pharmaceuticals unit, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Friday, adding that one person had died and one case was reported in a clinical trial. It was the first news of EMA’s inquiry into the J&J vaccine.

The EMA has already confirmed possible links between AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine and very rare blood clots in the brain and abdomen.

J&J, which is based in the US, said it was aware of the reports of blood clots possibly related to its Covid vaccine and others, and was working with regulators to assess the data and provide relevant information.

“At present, no clear causal relationship has been established between these rare events and the Janssen Covid-19 vaccine,” the company said in an emailed statement.

The EMA also said it was not yet clear if there was a link between the two vaccines and the reported conditions, and that its safety committee would decide if regulatory action such as label changes were needed.

Some countries in Europe and Asia have restricted the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, Vaxzevria, in younger people after an update by EU and UK regulators this week that found a link between the events and the shot. Regulators have said the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

J&J’s single-dose vaccine has been approved for EU use but the rollout has yet to begin. It is mainly being used in the US.

The EMA also said five cases of capillary leak syndrome in people who received AstraZeneca’s vaccine were reported.

The condition, in which blood leaks from the smallest of vessels into muscles and body cavities, is characterised by swelling and a drop in blood pressure.

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US Not Ready to Share Surplus Vaccine with World

The Biden administration is taking initial steps toward an expanded role in global COVID-19 vaccination efforts, while stopping short of sharing excess doses on a wide scale.

The federal government has been amassing doses, growing its supply into what will likely become a surplus as the rest of the world struggles with shortages.

In fact, the U.S. has purchased enough vaccines to immunize every adult in the country three times over. Aid groups now say it’s past time to start giving away the surplus.

The administration, however, remains hesitant to do so.

The U.S. vaccination campaign has been relatively successful to date, averaging close to 3 million shots administered every day. About a quarter of all adults have been fully vaccinated, and the Biden administration is well on its way to achieving its goal of inoculating 200 million people by the end of April.

But most of the U.S. international support has come in the form of money, with the administration committing $4 billion to the World Health organization-backed COVAX vaccine initiative.

The U.S. is also co-hosting a fundraising campaign for COVAX in the coming days, with the aim of calling on wealthy nations to join the United States and others in providing resources and commitments to accelerate global COVID-19 vaccinations.

In recent days, top financial and diplomatic officials have indicated they are thinking about next steps, and how to balance the humanitarian needs and possible political implications of vaccine diplomacy.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said he has been hearing the calls to share doses.

“I know that many countries are asking for the United States to do more, some with growing desperation because of the scope and scale of their COVID emergencies. We hear you. And I promise, we’re moving as fast as possible,” Blinken said.

In response to those calls, he announced the appointment of Gayle Smith as U.S. coordinator for global COVID-19 response and health security.

Smith most recently served as president and CEO of the ONE Campaign, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for ending poverty and preventable disease by 2030.

The ONE Campaign has been pressuring the administration to ship some of its vaccine supply to developing countries.

Late last month, the group joined a coalition of 30 nongovernmental organizations in sending a letter to Biden, urging him to immediately begin to develop a plan to share excess vaccine doses.

“It is estimated that there could be twice as many deaths from COVID-19 if rich countries monopolize the first doses of vaccines instead of making sure they are distributed globally,” the groups wrote.

The hope for advocates is that Smith, who helped lead the Obama administration’s response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014, will play a pivotal role in designing such a program.

In a dig at Russia and China, which have been more than willing to donate vaccines as a way to foster friendly relations, Blinken noted that when the time comes for the U.S. to send doses overseas, the nation “won’t trade shots in arms for political favors. This is about saving lives.”

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently spoke about the role wealthy countries need to play in helping to end the pandemic.

During a speech before the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Yellen warned that the economic toll of the pandemic will push 150 million people into extreme poverty this year without a substantial increase in support for developing countries.

“Our first task must clearly be stopping the virus by ensuring that vaccinations, testing and therapeutics are available as widely as possible,” she said.

President Biden has so far only committed to providing about 4 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which is not yet authorized in the U.S., to Mexico and Canada.

“The president remains committed to playing a constructive role in the global effort to defeat the virus,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday. “But as we’ve seen, this is an unpredictable virus and his first priority is ensuring the American people are vaccinated, and that means we need to plan for supply.”

Psaki said the administration is planning for contingencies, and cited the recent error at a manufacturing plant producing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that resulted in 15 million ruined doses. She also said the U.S. needs to plan for vaccinating children and the potential need for booster shots.

Tom Kenyon chief health officer at Project HOPE, a global health organization, said the appointment of Smith, and the remarks by Yellen and Blinken, is a sign the administration will eventually move to start sharing vaccines.

“But I think we have to move beyond the promise, to action,” Kenyon said. “This is a pandemic, and it’s an emergency.”

Kenyon said the U.S. should have already been sending surplus supplies to help other countries protect their health workers.

“This is a public health endeavor, not a diplomatic endeavor alone. We need diplomacy, but we need public health action,” Kenyon said.

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WORLD STATS

Coronavirus Cases:

136,661,942

Deaths:

2,950,186

Recovered:

109,908,961
ACTIVE CASES
23,802,795
Highlighted in green
= all cases have recovered from the infection
Highlighted in grey
= all cases have had an outcome (there are no active cases)

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Latest News

April 12 (GMT)

Updates

  • 1,793 new cases and 126 new deaths in Mexico [source]

The post Blood Clot Reports with J&J Vaccine, US Hoarding Vaccine Supply, World Stats appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

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Queensland cop's last heroic act as he died

The family of slain police officer Brett Forte broke down as they saw footage of the moments leading up to his death played in court.

Gunman Rick Maddison was seen unloading a magazine of bullets into the police car on May 27 2017 in footage played to the Toowoomba court today – the first day of an inquest into Senior Constable Forte's death .

Mr Forte's wife, father and mother were inside the courtroom and were all forced to relive the moment their world changed.

READ MORE: Worker threatened with knife during second armed robbery of service station in a week

The dashcam video and radio calls from the day show police pursuing the wanted man before eventually heading down a dirt road outside Toowoomba.

Maddison got out of his vehicle before he used an automatic weapon to open fire into officer Mr Forte's squad car, even reloading his gun at one point.

The harrowing police radio recording then picked up Mr Forte's partner yelling, "we're sitting ducks".

"Urgent, gunfire, urgent, gunfire," another officer said.

Bleeding out, Senior Constable Forte managed to back the vehicle away – rolling down an embankment to get his partner to safety.

Brett Forte inquest

It was his final heroic act. Two minutes later, the two bullet wounds he sustained killed him.

Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers had difficulty watching the graphic footage.

"It was extremely difficult and confronting watching the dashcam video where we saw the final moments of Brett's life," Mr Leavers said.

A 20-hour siege followed Mr Forte's death. Maddison was shot dead by a heavily armed response team.

Those specialist officers will be among 30 witnesses called upon to give evidence throughout the two-week inquest.

Inspecting Officer, Detective Senior Sergeant Fiona Hinshelwood, defended the pursuit of Maddison.

Rick Maddison was killed in the shooting.

Mr Forte's widow's solicitor demanded to know why police were not told there was a chance Maddison was heavily armed, particularly given he had a history of violence and weapon possession.

In talking to Maddison's violent tendencies, police said Maddison had poured petrol ona woman and brandished a pirate-like weapon in another domestic-violence related incident.

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UK In Mourning Over Death of Prince Philip

The UK remains in mourning following the death of Prince Philip. The flag at Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom is flying at half-mast on Friday following an announcement from the royal family that Prince Philip had died. He was was the husband of the country’s monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, and was the longest-serving consort in British history.

Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and father to the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, had been hospitalized several times in recent years. Soon after the announcement, people began to line up outside Buckingham Palace to see the official death notice that had been attached to the gate.

Following the announcement, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Philip “earned the affection of generations here in Britain, across the Commonwealth and around the world.”

While the nation mourns, many remember the duke’s more often controversial and even racist remarks. He was also known to embody the British stiff upper lip but perhaps equally known for his awkward one-liners.

The post UK In Mourning Over Death of Prince Philip appeared first on The St Kitts Nevis Observer.

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More than 40 WA childcare centres sanctioned for safety breaches

More than 40 childcare centres in Western Australia have been sanctioned for serious safety breaches.

A 9News investigation can reveal the state government has taken enforcement action against 42 childcare or Out of School Hours Care centres since 2019.

The sanctions range from inadequate supervision of children, failure to protect from harm and hazard and contravening safety rules.

When Anthony Shipp went to pick up his son Tom from after school care in October last year, he expected him to at the very least be safe.

Four-year-old Tom had been forgotten, left on a bus for half an hour.

"You expect your child to be alive at the end of the day and taken care of," Mr Shipp told 9News.

"He said he couldn't get his seatbelt off… just looking dishevelled… really pale, really sweaty."

The four-year-old had been forgotten, left on a bus on a 32-degree day for half an hour.

Tom was only found by staff after Mr Shipp arrived to pick his son up and asked where he was.

Alarmingly, this incident is far from rare.

Other incidents include children escaping daycare in Bicton, burning their feet on hot days in the city and multiple instances of being left on buses.

Tom's father, Anthony Shipp.

At Nido Early Learning at QV1 three children sustained second degree burns to their feet during a fire alarm drill on a hot day.

A four-year-old with special needs who got out of Kids Active at Canning Vale was found by a member of the public standing next to a pond.

A five-year-old was also left on a vehicle outside Helping Hands in Inglewood.

Any information on incidents is very hard to find and not readily available. It took 9News hours to compile this list – and it is far from comprehensive.

Many of the most recent incidents at childcare centres are not listed and the less serious ones can't be found at all.

The Department of Communities website gives childcare services a general rating.

Parents say the information needs to be publicly and easily available.

"We think it's really important for parents to have peace of mind about their children and particularly from our point of view, their safety," KIDSAFE WA spokesperson said.

Childcare centres and Out of School Hours Care are the responsibility of the Education and Community Services Ministers Sue Ellery and Simone Mcgurk.

Neither agreed to an interview with 9News.

Instead they pointed us to the Department of Communities website and a nationally run site that gives childcare services a general rating.

On that website these same childcare centres (QV1, Canning Vale and Inglewood) were rated as either meeting or exceeding national quality standards but there was no reference to the safety breaches.

Tom and his father Anthony Shipp.

"Quite often one breach of protocol and safety is completely different to another type," KIDSAFE WA said.

"When you research where you want your child to go improvements have been made."

See below for the full list of childcares compiled by 9News that have been sanctioned for serious safety breaches.

  • Bluebird Busselton – Inadequately supervise children
  • Gummi Bears Child Care Centre – Interactions with children
  • Sparrow Early Learning – Offence relating to protection of children from harm/hazards
  • 4 BIG KIDS – A six-year-old child with additional needs left alone in a room and unsupervised
  • North Fremantle School of Early Learning – Two-year-old child sustained burns to her feet
  • YMCA Carnaby Rise – Two-year-old walked out, no staff noticed for 45 mins, found on a road 800 metres away
  • Nature's Atelier – Seven-year-old with ADD was not collected from bus stop
  • Great Beginnings Byford – Inadequately supervise children
  • Nido Early Learning QV1 – Three children (2nd degree) burnt feet
    Freo Kids Early Learning Port Coogee – Failed to protect child from harm/ hazard
  • Mosaic Early Learning Centre – Food allergies
  • Success Early Learning – Two-year-old child foot burnt while playing outside, treated in hospital
  • Bicton OSHClub – Three and four-year-old found by a parent outside on the side of the road
  • Waabiny Out of School Hours Care – Inadequately supervise children
  • ASILO Bilingual Childcare And Learning Centre – Premises/equipment safe condition contravened
  • KidsHQ Jacaranda – Inadequately supervise children and harm and hazard
  • Goodstate early learning thornlie – Inadequately supervise children
  • Jelly Beans Childcare Wellard – Inadequately supervise children
  • Nido Early School Byford – Failed to protect child from harm and hazard
    Helping Hands Inglewood – Five and a half year old girl left on bus for 10 to 15 minutes
  • Kids Active – Four-year-old with special needs found by member of public next to a pond
  • Goodstart early learning East Bunbury – Three-year-old left service, walked home 150m, no-one noticed child gone
  • CYC Camp Coolongup – Failed to protect child from harm and hazard
  • Buggles Child Care – Spearwood – Inadequately supervise children
  • ACE Early Learning – Inadequately supervise children
  • Kids Inn OSHC Club – Inadequately supervise children
  • Care for Kids OSHC North Woodvale – Six-year-old child left in bus for 17 minutes, found by school pastor
  • Wellard Early Learning – Inadequately supervise children and harm and hazard
  • Buggles Early Learning and Kindy – Atwell – Inadequately supervise children
  • Riverton Out of School OSHC – Inadequately supervise children and harm and hazard
  • Nido Early School Byford – Inadequately supervise children
  • Child Campus Karratha – Three children, aged four to six, were found in the middle of Dampier Highway
  • Buggles Early Learning and Kindy – Baldivis – Two-year-old child excreted 65 pieces of pea gravel
  • Kwinana Recquatic Vacation Care Program (City of Kwinana) – Inadequately supervise children
  • Mundarda Child Care Centre – Inadequately supervise children
  • Jellybeans Child Care – Warwick – Understaffed
  • Cuddles Childcare Centre South Lake – Premises/equipment safe condition contravened
  • Jelly Beans Childcare Wellard – Inadequately supervise children
  • Fun-A-Rama Halls Head – Ten and a half year old fell off a tree stump, needed surgery; was in wheelchair for two weeks
  • Buggles Child Care – Beckenham – Inadequately supervise children and harm and hazard
  • Little Beginnings Education Forrestfield – Four-year-old child severely burned by hot water on genitals, legs and buttocks
  • Nippers Vacation Care – Seven-year-old boy left on bus for three and a half hours
headline

Archaeologists discover 3000-year-old city

A group of archaeologists has found the largest ancient city ever discovered in Egypt, dating back 3000 years.

The city, named "The Rise of Aten," was discovered under the sand on the western bank of Luxor, lead archaeologist Zahi Hawass said in a statement.

It dates to the reign of King Amenhotep III, who ruled Egypt between 1391 and 1353 BCE, according to the statement.

"It was the largest administrative and industrial settlement in the era of the Egyptian empire," Hawass said.

READ MORE: Egypt parades royal mummies to new resting place

Archeologists say the city is 3000 years old.

Archaeologists found the "city's streets flanked by houses," with intact walls up to 10 feet high and "rooms filled with tools of daily life … left by the ancient residents as if it were yesterday," such as rings, coloured pottery vessels, casting moulds to make amulets, pots used to carry meat, and tools for spinning, weaving and metal and glass-making.

The team also found a large bakery, "complete with ovens and storage pottery," whose size suggests it was used to cater to a "very large number of workers and employees."

Other discoveries include the skeleton of a person buried with arms stretched out to the side and rope wrapped around the knees.

"The location and position of this skeleton are rather odd, and more investigations are in progress," according to the statement, which describes it as a "remarkable burial."

READ MORE: Egypt seeks settlement out of court for Suez Canal blockage

Skeletons were also found buried in the city.

"The discovery of this lost city is the second most important archaeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun," Betsy Bryan, professor of Egyptology at Johns Hopkins University, said in the statement.

The team found an inscription dating back to 1337 BCE, which confirms the city was active during the reign of Amenhotep III's son, Akhenaten.

Historians believe that one year after the pot was made the city was abandoned and the capital moved to Amarna, 250 miles to the north, but the reasons for doing so remain unknown, according to the statement.

"The discovery of the Lost City not only will give us a rare glimpse into the life of the Ancient Egyptians at the time where the Empire was at his wealthiest but will help us shed light on one of history's greatest mystery: why did Akhenaten and Nefertiti decide to move to Amarna?" Bryan added.

'The Rise of Aten' is the largest ancient city ever discovered in Egypt.

The excavation, which began in September 2020, has unearthed most of the southern part of the city. However, the northern region is still to be unearthed.

A large cemetery and tombs, similar to those in the Valley of Kings, were also uncovered but have not been explored yet.

"Only further excavations of the area will reveal what truly happened 3500 years ago," the statement said.