Vaccinate or repent, Russian church says amid hundreds of daily COVID-19 deaths
Moscow, RussiaReuters Russia’s powerful Orthodox Church admonished people refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, calling them sinners who would have to atone for the rest of their lives, as the country reported another jump in new infections and deaths. The church urged all its faithful to be inoculated as another 24,353 new COVID-19 cases were […]
Explainer: Will COVID-19 vaccines protect us? Does efficacy equal effectiveness?
Reuters The frontrunners in the COVID-19 vaccine race have emerged with different success rates for their shots in clinical trials, but what does that mean for the global fight against the pandemic? US drugmakers Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna have each said their coronavirus vaccines have an efficacy rate of around 95 per cent and a Russian […]
WHO chief says coronavirus is “not tired”, urges vigilance; WHO in talks on Russian vaccine
Paris, France/Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters People are becoming weary of the coronavirus pandemic but should remain vigilant and continue to take precautions while the world awaits a vaccine, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday. Eleven months into the pandemic that has killed more than 1.2 million people, derailed economies and turned daily lives […]
Russia vaccine roll-out plan prompts virus mutation worries
London, UKReuters Russia’s plan to roll-out its “Sputnik-V” COVID-19 vaccine even before full trials show how well it works is prompting concern among virus experts, who warn a partially effective shot may encourage the novel coronavirus to mutate. Viruses, including the pandemic SARS-CoV-2, are known for their ability to mutate all the time – and […]
Russia becomes first country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, says Putin
Moscow, RussiaReuters President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing, a move hailed by Moscow as evidence of its scientific prowess. The vaccine still has to complete final trials, raising concerns […]