Why vaccine hesitancy

It is difficult to know what COVID is doing to the people of Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the death toll has been vastly undercounted in much of the world, but poor data collection in most African countries makes it difficult to assess the true impact on the continent. Evidence on COVID -related deaths in South Africa suggests there are serious grounds for concern. Experts at South Africa’s Medical Research Council believe hundreds of thousands of deaths have been lost in the paperwork. The real death toll is thought to be three times the official number of 101,000. Health officials are also grappling with worryingly low rates of vaccination in many African countries. As a whole, only 17% of Africans have been fully vaccinated against COVID, a rate that lags far behind other parts of the world - like Europe (65.7%), Asia (69%), and South America (74.5%). These dismal numbers are compounded by the fact that the drive to vaccinate the public in … [Read more...] about COVID: On the road with the ‘vaccine convoys’ critical to keeping up the fight against coronavirus

SARAH Palin has got Covid again, after saying that she'd get the vaccine "over her dead body." The former Alaska governor was previously diagnosed with Covid in March 2021. It means that the politician's legal battle with The New York Times was delayed. The defamation lawsuit against the Times, brought by Palin in 2017, was set to go to trial on Monday in federal court in Manhattan . Her case survived an initial dismissal that was reversed on appeal in 2019, setting the stage for a rare instance that a major news organization will have to defend itself before a jury in a libel case involving a major public figure. Palin, 57, claims the Times damaged her reputation with an opinion piece penned by its editorial board that falsely asserted her political rhetoric helped incite the 2011 shooting of then-Arizona US Rep. Gabby Giffords. The newspaper has conceded the initial wording of the editorial was flawed, but not in an intentional or reckless way that made it … [Read more...] about Sarah Palin gets Covid AGAIN and delays defamation trial after saying she’ll get vaccine ‘over my dead body’

Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, suffered a major blow on Sunday after his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost a key regional election amid mounting criticism of his response to the country's catastrophic outbrea k of the coronavirus. As the votes were counted for the state elections in West Bengal, a new daily record of 3,689 deaths from Covid was recorded on the day, along with 390,000 new infections. Britain announced on Sunday night that it was sending 1,000 ventilators to India. It comes on top of 200 ventilators, 495 oxygen concentrators and 3 oxygen generation units dispatched last week to Indian hospitals. Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Adviser, have also spoken to their Indian counterparts to provide advice and insight. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “The terrible images we have seen in India in recent weeks are all the more powerful because of the close and enduring … [Read more...] about Narendra Modi pays price at the polls as India suffers another day of record deaths

Health officials in Portugal said on Wednesday they had confirmed five cases of monkeypox in young men, and authorities in the US state of Massachusetts said a case had been detected there in a man who had recently traveled to Canada. Another 15 suspected cases in the area around the Portuguese capital, Lisbon , were also being investigated, said Portugal's General Directorate for Health. The United Kingdom and Spain have also been looking into suspected cases of the viral infection, marking an unusual outbreak in Europe of a disease typically only found in Africa. What do we know about monkeypox cases in Europe? Portuguese authorities said all recorded cases mostly involve young men. Officials did not disclose whether they had recently been to African countries or had links with recent cases in the United Kingdom. The UK has so far reported seven cases since May 7. The people involved in four of those cases apparently identified as gay or bisexual , the UK Health … [Read more...] about Monkeypox: Portugal reports cases as outbreak spreads

The World Health Organization on Tuesday called for a halt in the sale of live wild mammals in food markets to prevent the spread of infectious diseases . The WHO had earlier concluded, in a joint study with China, that the coronavirus was likely transmitted from bats to humans via a third animal. "Animals, particularly wild animals, are the source of more than 70% of all emerging infectious diseases in humans, many of which are caused by novel viruses," said the WHO, the World Organization for Animal Health and the United Nations Environment Programme in a statement. "Wild mammals, in particular, pose a risk for the emergence of new diseases," the statement added. While the WHO recognized how traditional markets provide food and livelihoods for large populations, it recommended that "banning the sale of the animals can protect people's health — both those working there and those shopping." The latest on variants The coronavirus variant first identified in … [Read more...] about Coronavirus digest: WHO urges ban on market sale of live wild animals

If you had to leave your home and all your worldly belongings in an instant to run for your life, as thousands of Ukrainians have, what would you grab? Money, your passport, some spare clothes? For many Ukrainian families, the one thing they could not leave behind was their pets. Pictures have emerged of refugees carrying cats, dogs and birds as they rush to safety . But those animals that were abandoned roam the streets in search of food and love. One of these much-loved pets found me, while I was reporting in Ukraine, and I could not leave that dog behind. This is my story of how I came back from war with a friend for life, one who helped me cope with the reality of a warzone. Before I left Islington for Ukraine, I could have never imagined the experience. The stories of destruction I found are so devastating that I struggle to comprehend how this is happening in the 21st century. Genocide. War crimes. Invasion. Yet, when entering Ukraine back in February, … [Read more...] about ‘I went to war – and came back with a dog’

The United States is considering sending Ukraine advanced anti-ship missiles to sink Russian war vessels in the Black Sea and end the Kremlin’s naval food blockade . US officials said sea-skimming Harpoon and Naval Strike Missiles [NSMs] could be dispatched, either directly, or by European allies equipped with them. A handful of nations were said to be open to sending Harpoons, which have a range of up to almost 300km, but there was hesitation over being the first to do so amid concerns over escalation. Vladimir Putin has been blocking Ukrainian ports to stop grain and other produce leaving the so-called “breadbasket of Europe”, triggering a global food crisis . The UN urged Russia to end the blockade and warned rising global food prices could lead to “mass hunger and famine”. Officials in the key Ukrainian port of Odesa told The Telegraph Putin was trying to starve the world’s poorest people. 'Craven and reckless' Ala Stoyanova, the deputy governor of the city, said: … [Read more...] about US missiles could end Putin’s food blockade

Not believing in very much is usually a strength in a politician, and it has served Boris Johnson well. But there are times when it is a weakness and now is one of those times. He had to pretend to be Conservative to get himself out of a hole earlier this year, only to find that he was like a worm that went down when it thought it was coming up. In order to buy off a rebellion among Conservative MPs, who came close to getting rid of him in January, Johnson changed the team in No 10, appointing a cabinet minister, Steve Barclay, as chief of staff to replace Dan Rosenfield. Rosenfield was a political appointment but had been a civil servant, whereas Barclay was a political appointment of an actual politician. Andrew Griffith, a Tory MP, was brought in to head the No 10 policy unit. And David Canzini, a more “political” special adviser than Rosenfield, was brought in as deputy chief of staff. Canzini was quickly credited by Tory MPs with repairing a connection between the … [Read more...] about It won’t be long before Boris Johnson does the popular thing, and adopts Labour’s policy

In his first trip to Asia since taking office, President Joe Biden laid out conditions for meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. "With regard to whether I would meet with the leader of North Korea, that would depend on whether he was sincere and whether he was serious," Biden told reporters on Saturday as he appeared alongside South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at a press event. MORE: Biden embarks for Asia with a heavy focus on China and North Korea Biden campaigned on taking a tougher stance on the North Korean leader than his predecessor. Former President Donald Trump frequently praised Kim, once saying he had a "great and beautiful" vision for his country. Trump and Kim held three high-profile meetings during his presidency. Biden said last year he'd only meet with Kim so long as he committed to a discussion about dismantling North Korea's nuclear arsenal. Yoon, South Korea's newly elected president, reaffirmed Saturday that their shared goal is the … [Read more...] about Biden says meeting with Kim Jong Un would depend on North Korean leader’s seriousness

Ukraine's bid to join the European Union has left the bloc struggling to square its support for Ukraine with the concerns of western member states, many of which are skeptical of enlargement and wary of setting a precedent of "fast-track" membership. Member states appear largely open to eventual Ukrainian membership, but division between east and west has arisen as to exactly how and when this might happen. The road to Brussels is long and, at times, painful for aspirants. The journey can typically take around a decade, involving labyrinthine negotiations and structural national reforms. The shortest process was for Austria, Finland, and Sweden—all took nearly five years to meet the criteria. Negotiations to expand into eastern Europe took more than 10 years. The existential threat from Russia prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his top officials to call for an accelerated process, an appeal which appears to have fallen flat. The EU has acted with … [Read more...] about Ukraine’s EU application is splitting Europe in two