According to the Swedish Medical Products Agency, as of last week, the Scandinavian nation had received 31,844 reports of adverse reactions linked to the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. Sweden is currently offering three variants of the drug. There are currently 2,103 reports of side effects from the Moderna shot, while …
Read More »Japan’s booking platform for Covid vaccine appointment crashes as Tokyo struggles to kick-start inoculation program
On Wednesday, Salesforce experienced a global outage, described by chief technology officer Parker Harris as a “major disruption,” crippling Japan’s online booking platform for Covid-19 shots, which is using the US technology. The booking system crashed in a number of places around the country, including parts of Tokyo and the …
Read More »Smearing yourself in cow dung won’t cure Covid, Indian doctors warn, as country’s seven-day case rate hits new high
On Tuesday, India’s seven-day average case count for Covid-19 reached a record high of 390,995 as the World Health Organization labeled the Indian strain of the virus a “variant of concern.” With hospitals already at breaking point and oxygen supplies being rationed, doctors have reiterated their warning against alternative treatments …
Read More »Slovakia suspends use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for first doses after blood clot-linked death of recipient
The death of a 47-year-old woman was likely connected to her receiving the Anglo-Swedish vaccine, due to a medical predisposition she had for blood clotting disorders, the country’s regulator, the State Institute for Drug Control (SUKL) said last week. “Currently, people who are waiting for the second dose … are …
Read More »EU to hit AstraZeneca with second lawsuit over Covid-19 vaccine delivery delays, spokesperson says
“Tomorrow, the case against AstraZeneca on the merits [of the proposed lawsuit] will be introduced before the Belgian court,” the spokesperson told a news briefing on Monday. This second round of legal action against the Anglo-Swedish drugs manufacturer is mostly procedural, according to Reuters, but could allow the bloc to …
Read More »FDA authorizes emergency use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for American children as young as 12
“Today’s action allows for a younger population to be protected from COVID-19, bringing us closer to returning to a sense of normalcy and to ending the pandemic,” acting FDA commissioner Dr. Janet Woodstock said in a statement on Monday. “Parents and guardians can rest assured that the agency undertook a …
Read More »WHO classes Indian Covid-19 variant as ‘global’ concern, amid worries of vaccine resistance
First identified in India last year, the B.1.617 strain is believed to be behind the wave of infections and deaths in the country in recent months. More than 400,000 cases were recorded on multiple days last week in India, with deaths hitting a record 1,187 on Friday. “We are classifying …
Read More »Fauci claims there’s ‘no doubt’ US has ‘UNDERCOUNTED’ its Covid-19 deaths
“I think there’s no doubt that we are and have been undercounting,” Fauci said on Sunday during NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ program. Asked by host Chuck Todd about a University of Washington study which said there were more than 900,000 US Covid-19 deaths, exceeding the official count of 581,000, the …
Read More »‘Welcome reassurance’: Mild Covid-19 infection unlikely to cause lasting heart damage, UK study finds
University College London (UCL) researchers analysed MRI scans of 149 healthcare workers; 74 of whom had recovered from previous mild Covid-19 infections and a control group of 75 with no prior infection whose age, sex and ethnicity matched those of the first group. Amid increasing concerns about blood clots following …
Read More »EU did not renew its order for AstraZeneca Covid-19 jabs beyond June, bloc’s vaccines boss says
No new orders for the AstraZeneca vaccine – recently rebranded as Vaxzevria – have been made by the European Union, with the contract set to expire in June, European Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told France Inter on Sunday. “We have not renewed the order after June. We will see …
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