Category Archives: Coronavirus

Delaying second Pfizer dose leaves cancer patients at risk, say researchers

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Covid vaccination policy review urged after study finds 12-week gap leaves patients vulnerable

Delaying the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine must be urgently reviewed for cancer patients after a single shot was found to offer inadequate protection, researchers have said.

A study from King’s College London and the Francis Crick Institute – which has not yet been peer reviewed – found that three weeks after the first jab antibody responses were found in 39% of people with solid cancers and 13% of people with blood cancer.

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EMA says AstraZeneca vaccine can continue to be used during investigation

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Several countries suspend inoculations but regulator says vaccine benefits outweigh its risks

The European Medicines Agency has said the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine can continue to be used during an investigation into cases of blood clots that have prompted several European countries to pause their use of the shot.

The EMA said 30 cases of “thromboembolic events” or blood clots had been reported among 5 million people who had received the jab in Europe so far. “The vaccine’s benefits continue to outweigh its risks,” the regulator said in a statement.

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Israeli real-world data on Pfizer vaccine shows high Covid protection

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Jab has 97% efficacy against disease and death and 94% against infection without symptoms

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine appears to give high protection against asymptomatic Covid-19, according to data from Israel – a finding that will boost hopes that mass vaccination can stop the spread of the virus.

The top line of the real-world results, issued by the Israeli ministry of health and the companies but not yet peer-reviewed by scientists, is efficacy of 97% against disease and death and 94% against infection without symptoms.

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‘It’s every man for himself’: the Texans defying end of mask mandate

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Governor Greg Abbott lifted the mask mandate on 2 March but not everyone in the state is ready to embrace the change

The parking lot was packed at The Shops at La Cantera, a partially outdoor mall in north-west San Antonio, on the day that Texas officially ended mandatory mask wearing. But it was clear not everyone was ready to embrace the change, with most people who wandered in and out of stores still donning face coverings, and many shops requiring customers to wear one before entering.

Related: Texans scramble to get vaccinated after Republican governor says no more masks

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Coronavirus live: Portugal to ease lockdown; warning Paris could face new curbs

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Strict rules to be gradually relaxed from next week; situation in French capital ‘especially worrying’ says health minister

Romanian authorities have temporarily stopped vaccinating people with one batch of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine as an “extreme precaution” while deaths in Italy are investigated, but are continuing to use other doses from the company, a health agency said.

Italian health authorities have ordered the withdrawal of a batch of AstraZeneca’s vaccine following the deaths of two men in Sicily who were recently inoculated, a source close to the matter said.

This decision was made as a measure of extreme precaution without there being a scientific argument present in Romania to justify it,” Romania’s national committee in charge of COVID-19 vaccination said in a statement.

The decision to quarantine the respective batch was made exclusively based on the event reported in Italy.”

Novavax Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine was 96% effective in preventing cases caused by the original version of the coronavirus in a late-stage trial conducted in the UK, the company said, moving it a step closer to regulatory approval.

The vaccine was also about 86% effective in protecting against the more contagious virus variant first discovered and now prevalent in the UK.

Related: Novavax Covid vaccine shows nearly 90% efficacy in UK trial

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Brexit: trade survey finds 74% of British firms hit by delays with EU markets

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Brexit red tape and disruption to global trade from pandemic leaves businesses ‘severely strained’

Three-quarters of British manufacturers are struggling to cope with delays in moving goods in and out of the EU amid continuing disruption caused by Brexit and the Covid pandemic, industry figures said.

Two months after the UK left the EU on trade terms agreed by Boris Johnson’s government, research from the manufacturing trade group Make UK has shown that 74% of firms in a survey of more than 200 leading industrial companies are facing delays with EU imports and exports.

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Rolls-Royce reports £4bn loss as Covid crisis shakes jet-engine maker

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Air travel restrictions forced firm to burn through £4.2bn in cash to keep afloat as revenues collapsed

Rolls-Royce has reported a loss of £4bn for 2020 as the jet-engine manufacturer’s business was shaken by the coronavirus pandemic.

The FTSE 100 manufacturer revealed it burned through £4.2bn in cash during the year as revenues from servicing passenger aircraft collapsed. It expects to burn through a further £2bn this year.

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Outage locks customers out of Service NSW Covid check-in app

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Users told their pin was incorrect when they tried to log in to the state’s official contact-tracing app

New South Wales residents were left unable to check in to restaurants and other venues on Thursday afternoon using the state’s official Covid check-in app, Service NSW, after it went offline.

The outage lasted about four hours and affected the official Service NSW app, although Service NSW said its coronavirus webform check-in was not impacted.

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‘Ecological island’: as Maasai herding lands shrink, so does space for Kenya’s elephants

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The collapse of ecotourism during the pandemic and moves to lease land to big farms threaten vital conservation corridors

Kenyan elephants risk a slow extinction in a bleak, ever-shrinking “ecological island” in one of the country’s most picturesque and photographed landscapes, according to a government report.

The animals face a grim future as habitat loss is exacerbated by the pandemic’s impact on tourism, which is pushing landowners to sell off areas for development, and a growing trend towards a sedentary lifestyle among the pastoralist Maasai people, says the new 10-year management plan.

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Biden pledges surplus vaccines will be shared with the rest of the world – video

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The US president has pledged surplus vaccines will be shared with the rest of the world, after he announced the purchase of an additional 100m Johnson & Johnson doses. ‘If we have a surplus, we’re going to share it with the rest of the world,’ he said. ‘This is not something that can be stopped by a fence no matter how high you build a fence or a wall. So we’re not going to be safe until the world is safe. And so, we’re going to start off making sure Americans are taken care of first, but we’re then going to try and help the rest of the world.’ The president reiterated plans to have all American adults vaccinated by the end of May and revealed the country hit a record of 2.9m vaccinations in one day on Saturday

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‘For women, it’s behind enemy lines!’ Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe on their parenting podcast

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It began as a way to moan about the pandemic – or avoid childcare. Now Lockdown Parenting Hell is downloaded 2m times a month. The comedians chat fatherhood, burnout – and dreaming of the pub

Like many comedians, Josh Widdicombe and Rob Beckett found themselves without an outlet when the pandemic struck. And so, like many comedians, they decided to make a podcast. Theirs – Lockdown Parenting Hell – has become one of the most popular in the country, mining the stresses of everything from twins, tantrums and building a trampoline to the tune of more than 15m downloads.

Beckett has two young children with his wife, Louise Watts, while Widdicome and his wife, Rose Hanson, have one, with another on the way. Each week, the pair interview a celebrity (past guests have included Michael Sheen, Philippa Perry and Paddy McGuinness) while sharing stories about their upended domestic lives. It is fast, fun and, at times, genuinely touching. Here, they share their thoughts on their pandemic pastime.

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Labor questions why majority of destinations for cheap flights are marginal seats

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The $1.2bn package to provide cheap flights has already been dismissed as ‘second-rate’ by tourism sector, as opposition questions scope

Labor has questioned why 13 regions to benefit from half-price flights to boost tourism include marginal seats in Tasmania and Queensland while neighbouring areas miss out.

The Morrison government on Thursday unveiled its $1.2bn tourism and aviation rescue package combining discount flights with business loans – but the scheme has already been labelled “second-rate” by the two sectors that warn it is an incomplete replacement for jobkeeper wage subsidies.

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Majority think Covid has increased UK social inequality, survey shows

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Social Mobility Commission says results show need for urgent action to stop gap growing even wider

Over half of the public believes the coronavirus outbreak has driven greater social inequality in the UK over the past few months, according to a study by the government’s independent advisers.

The Social Mobility Commission said its annual survey of public attitudes revealed 56% of adults believed social inequality had increased during the pandemic. A quarter said Covid had made no difference to inequality and 16% were unsure.

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‘Help is on the way’: Democrats cheer as US House passes $1.9tn Covid relief plan – video

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The House of Representatives gave final approval on Wednesday to one of the largest economic stimulus measures in US history, a sweeping $1.9tn Covid-19 relief bill that gives Joe Biden his first major victory in office. The measure provides $400bn for $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, $350bn in aid to state and local governments, an expansion of the child tax credit, and increased funding for vaccine distribution. 'This is the most consequential legislation that many of us will ever be a party to,' the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said at a ceremony to sign the bill before it goes to the White House

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US House passes $1.9tn Covid relief plan in major legislative victory for Biden

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Final tally was 220 to 211, with one Democrat and all Republicans voting against the measure

A deeply divided Congress passed a landmark $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill on Wednesday, delivering the first major legislative victory of Joe Biden’s presidency and a sweeping promise to raise millions of Americans out of poverty.

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Lula excoriates Bolsonaro’s ‘moronic’ Covid response in comeback speech

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Addressing the nation, Brazil’s former president left no doubt that his political fightback had begun

Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has excoriated Jair Bolsonaro’s “moronic” and bungling response to the coronavirus pandemic, in a stirring and potentially historic address widely seen as the start of a bid to wrestle the presidency back from his far-right nemesis.

The veteran leftist, who led Latin America’s top economy through some of the brightest years in its modern history, was catapulted back onto the frontline of Brazilian politics on Monday by the surprise decision to quash the corruption convictions that scuppered his bid to reclaim the presidency in 2018. On Tuesday a supreme court judge branded the anti-corruption operation that forced Lula from that year’s election “the greatest judicial scandal” in Brazilian history.

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House passes Biden’s $1.9tn Covid relief bill projected to slash US poverty in 2021 – live

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The House has passed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, delivering Joe Biden his first major legislative victory as president.

The final vote was 220 to 211, and it fell almost exactly along party lines. Only one Democrat, Jared Golden of Maine, voted against the bill. Applause broke out among Democrats on the House floor after the bill passed.

The House voted 220-211 to concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 1319 - American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

The House now has enough votes to pass the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, although the vote remains open.

As of now, the vote stands at 220 to 211, meaning more than half of House members have voted for the passage of the relief bill.

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Vaccine row: EU has exported 34m doses – including 9m to the UK

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Internal figures leaked amid tit-for-tat with Boris Johnson over claims UK had export ban in place

A total of 34m doses of coronavirus vaccine have been exported from the EU despite shortages for people living in the bloc, including 9m sent to the UK and 1m to the US, which has a ban on sales abroad.

The internal figures were leaked as the EU was embroiled in a tit-for-tat with Boris Johnson over claims that the UK had an export ban in place.

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$1,400 stimulus checks and vaccine funds: what the Covid relief bill contains

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The bill passed by the House includes sweeping measures to try to tackle deep-rooted racial, gender and class inequalities in the US

The US House on Wednesday passed the huge $1.9tn coronavirus relief and economic stimulus package that represents Joe Biden’s first major legislative victory.

Related: Biden poised for first major legislative victory with House vote on $1.9tn Covid relief – live

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Governments failing to fulfil talk of green Covid recovery, UN warns

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Prospect of green focus for rescuing economies in danger unless swift action is taken, environment chief says

Governments around the world are failing to match their green rhetoric with action in rescuing their economies from the Covid-19 pandemic, the UN has warned, with prospects for a “green recovery” in danger unless swift action is taken.

Countries are spending an unprecedented $14.6tn (£10.5tn) on trying to prevent economic collapse, seeking to protect jobs and save businesses on the brink of ruin. However, a UN-backed analysis of 50 leading economies has found only $368bn, or about 18%, of the rescue spending so far can be regarded as green.

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