South Africa will begin vaccinating frontline health care workers with an unapproved coronavirus vaccine by the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company next week to see if it provides protection from the variant sweeping the country.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said Wednesday South Africa dropped plans to use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for now because of concerns it may not be effective against mild to moderate cases of the N501Y variant.
The health minister said the country’s scientists will continue to examine the AstraZeneca vaccine and offer advice on whether to swap out the vaccine before it expires.
The Associated Press reports Mkhize said in a national broadcast the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine is safe, based on testing of 44,000 people in South Africa, the United States and Latin America.
However, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has yet to be approved by any country. The company last week applied for emergency use authorization in the United States.
South Africa is also expected to use the Pfizer vaccine and others to support its immunization program.
South Africa continues to have the highest covid-19 tally on the continent, with more than 1,479,000 confirmed cases and 46,869 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Covid Resource Center.
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Month: February 2021
Jay-Z, Foo Fighters and The Go-Go’s Nominated for Rock Hall
Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, Tina Turner and Iron Maiden lead this year’s nominees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a female-heavy list of 16 acts that includes for the first time The Go-Go’s, Mary J. Blige and Dionne Warwick.
Artists are eligible for a nomination 25 years after the release of their first official recording. There are two newly eligible acts in Jay-Z and Foo Fighters while artists nominated for the first time include Blige, The Go-Go’s, Iron Maiden, Warwick and Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti.
Several candidates are looking for a second spot in the hall. Turner would be inducted for a second time, having gone to the hall as part of Ike & Tina Turner in 1991. Nominee Carole King is already in the hall as a songwriter and she would go in again this time as a performer. Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl is already in the hall as a member of Nirvana.
If elected, King and Turner would become the second and third female artists inducted twice, following Stevie Nicks’ 2019 election; she was also in as a member of Fleetwood Mac.
“This remarkable ballot reflects the diversity and depth of the artists and music the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame celebrates,” said John Sykes, Chairman of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, in a statement Wednesday. “These nominees have left an indelible impact on the sonic landscape of the world and influenced countless artists that have followed them.”
Other nominees this year include: Kate Bush, Devo, Chaka Khan, LL Cool J, New York Dolls, Rage Against the Machine and Todd Rundgren. LL Cool J is on his sixth nomination and Chaka Khan is on her third solo nomination.
The class of 2021 will be announced in May.
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Super Bowl Champion Buccaneers Celebrating with Boat Parade
The Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers are celebrating their victory Wednesday with a boat parade amid continued concern over the coronavirus pandemic.
The parade will be held on the Hillsborough River near downtown Tampa. Mayor Jane Castor is again emphasizing that people attending the parade must wear masks outdoors and observe social distancing rules.
After Tampa Bay’s 31-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s title game, throngs of people gathered in the city’s entertainment districts. Many were seen maskless despite the ordinances requiring them.
Brian Ford, chief operating officer of the Buccaneers, said in video announcement that fans should heed the rules as they celebrate the team’s victory.
“It’s essential we do it the right way,” Ford said. “We want to do our part to ensure it’s done in a safe and responsible manner.”
The boat parade is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
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South Korea Grants Emergency Use of Controversial AstraZeneca Vaccine
South Korea has approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University for all adults, despite concerns over the lack of data on its effectiveness among the elderly. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety granted emergency use for the two-dose vaccine Wednesday, but only on the condition that the British-Swedish drugmaker provide the results of its current late-stage clinical trials on adults 18 years of age and older. The ministry has also issued a precautionary warning about inoculating South Koreans older than 65 years of age. Inoculations of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the first to be approved for use in South Korea, will begin on February 26. Limits on use of AstraZeneca vaccineSeveral European countries, including Germany and France, have limited use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people between 18 and 64 years old because of insufficient data on elderly recipients. Further doubts about the AstraZeneca vaccine arose Sunday when South Africa suspended its vaccination campaign after a new study revealed that the vaccine was less effective against a variant of the virus found in the country. FILE – Blood is drawn from a clinical trials patient for the AstraZeneca test vaccine at the a hospital facility outside Johannesburg, South Africa, Nov. 30, 2020.The study, conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and not yet peer reviewed, concluded that the British vaccine offered only “limited protection against moderate forms of the disease caused by the South African variant, in young adults.” South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced Wednesday that it will begin inoculating its front-line health care workers with U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine as part of a limited study. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine has not been formally approved for use by any country, but the company says results of a late-stage clinical trial shows it is 85% effective in preventing serious illness, even against the South African variant. Therapeutic drug approved
Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency use for a new COVID-19 therapeutic drug developed by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. The drug, which combines the monoclonal antibody drug etesevimab with the already-approved bamlanivimab, will be used for coronavirus patients who are at high risk of being hospitalized with a severe form of the disease. Monoclonal antibodies are lab-engineered versions of highly targeted human antibodies chosen for their specific ability to neutralize viruses.
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Bezos, Bloomberg Among Top 50 US Charity Donors for 2020
As the world grappled with COVID-19, a recession and a racial reckoning, the ultrawealthy gave to a broader set of causes than ever before — bestowing multimillion-dollar gifts on food pantries, historically Black colleges and universities and organizations that serve the poor and the homeless, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual rankings of the 50 Americans who gave the most to charity last year.Another cause that got outsize attention from billionaire philanthropists: climate change. Jeff Bezos topped the list by donating $10 billion to launch the Bezos Earth Fund. Bezos, who last week announced he was stepping down as Amazon CEO to devote more time to philanthropy and other projects, also contributed $100 million to Feeding America, the organization that supplies more than 200 food banks.FILE – In this March 4, 2018, file photo, then-MacKenzie Bezos arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif. MacKenzie Scott is one of the 50 Americans who gave the most to charity in 2020.No. 2 on the list was Bezos’s ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, who gave $5.7 billion in 2020 by asking community leaders to help identify 512 organizations for seven- and eight-figure gifts, including food banks, human-service organizations, and racial-justice charities.Another donor who gave big to pandemic causes and racial-justice efforts was Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, who ranked No. 5. He put $1.1 billion into a fund that by year’s end had distributed at least $330 million to more than 100 nonprofits.The financier Charles Schwab and his wife, Helen (No. 24), gave $65 million to address homelessness in San Francisco. Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and wife, Patty Quillin (No. 14), gave $120 million for financial aid for students at historically Black colleges and universities. Michael Jordan, the basketball great (No. 31), pledged $50 million to racial and social-justice groups.”When I look at the events of the last year, there was an awakening for the philanthropic sector,” says Nick Tedesco, president of the National Center for Family Philanthropy. “Donors supported community-led efforts of recovery and resiliency, particularly those led by people of color.”Giving experts say they think the trend toward broader giving is likely to persist.”I don’t think this approach is just a 12-month moment that started with COVID and continued following George Floyd and is going to recede,” says Melissa Berman, president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which counsels donors around the world. “There has been change building among private donors.”All told, the 50 biggest donors contributed $24.7 billion in 2020, compared with $15.8 billion in 2019. Still, those gifts come from a small share of the billionaire class. Only 23 of the people on the Forbes 400 gave enough to qualify for the list. Many of the multimillion-dollar donations came from people far less wealthy, like Gordon Rausser, a former dean of natural resources at the University of California at Berkeley.The Chronicle’s rankings are based on the total amount philanthropists awarded in 2020. The information is based on extensive research with donors, their beneficiaries, and public records.The No. 3 donor was Michael Bloomberg, who contributed $1.6 billion to arts, education, public health, and many other causes. Nike founder Phil and Penelope Knight were next, donating $1.4 billion, $900.7 million of it to their Knight Foundation.The $1 billion-plus of giving by each of the top five on the Philanthropy 50 matches last year’s record. No more than three donors gave $1 billion or more in any of the previous years.Sixteen donors in this year’s list — nearly a third of the Philanthropy 50 — made their fortunes in technology, and 20 of them live in California.Joe Gebbia (No. 47), the 39-year-old co-founder of Airbnb, has seen his net worth shoot up to around $12 billion following his company’s initial public offering in December. During 2020, he gave $25 million to two San Francisco charities that are tackling homelessness and helping people who have suffered economically due to the pandemic.”I’ve been incredibly fortunate and believe that comes with the responsibility of giving back,” Gebbia says. “Where will I take it? The sky is the limit.”At a time when tech billionaires’ wealth is compounding and many working people are still suffering from the pandemic’s fallout, philanthropic expectations have never been higher. David Beasley, executive director of the United Nations World Food Program, highlighted the disparate effects of the pandemic in a January interview on the PBS NewsHour.”During the pandemic, billionaires made $5.2 billion in increased wealth per day,” he said. “All we are asking for is $5 billion to avert famine around the world. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”Elon Musk, whose $180 billion fortune puts him neck-and-neck with Bezos for richest person in the world, is not on the Philanthropy 50. Musk has faced criticism for his meager lifetime donations, estimated in a recent Vox article at just 0.05 percent of his current net worth.If small and midsize charities were the notable winners in 2020, does that make large universities the losers? Hardly. Colleges and universities received $2.2 billion from Philanthropy 50 donors in 2020.But Benjamin Soskis, a research associate in the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute, says the most striking change with this year’s Philanthropy 50 list is that it presents a plurality of options for giving.”There’s a big difference between a hypothetical ‘Why didn’t you give to an HBCU instead of Harvard?’ and today’s list, where you can point to donors who actually did that.”More details about the Philanthropy 50 are available at philanthropy.com.
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With Mass Vaccination Program Under Way, Moscow Eyes Return to Normal
Across global cities big and small, the coronavirus pandemic has forced a shutdown of cultural life. But that’s changing in the Russian capital, where a mass vaccination program is in full swing. Charles Maynes reports from Moscow.Camera: Ricardo Marquina Montanana Produced by: Bronwyn Benito
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US to Distribute Vaccines to Community Health Centers
Vaccines against COVID-19 will be distributed to community health centers across the United States in the coming weeks, the White House said Tuesday.Washington has identified People wait in line to get their COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site set up in a park in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Feb. 9, 2021.Forty-three million doses of the vaccine have been administered, with just over 3% of the U.S. population fully vaccinated, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.The number of available doses is expected to increase as a third vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson is expected to receive approval for emergency use sometime this month.Currently, both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, both of which require two doses, are being distributed across the United States.U.S. is world leader in confirmed cases Around the globe, there are more than 106.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 2.3 million deaths due to the disease caused by the coronavirus. The U.S. leads the world in confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 27.1 million, and deaths, with nearly 465,000.Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky warned Tuesday that vaccines against COVID-19 may need to be administered every year, just as the flu shot is.”Unfortunately, as [the virus] spreads it can also mutate,” Gorsky told CNBC.As vaccination rates rise slowly across the country, health experts are still warning Americans to practice social distancing and masking to avoid further spread of the disease.We are all tired of #COVID19, but the pandemic is not over yet. We can slow its spread. #WearAMask, stay at least 6 feet from others, avoid crowds & poorly ventilated spaces, wash your hands often, & get vaccinated when it’s available to you. Learn more: https://t.co/qKkt9oEm7M. pic.twitter.com/iWwliR6sjZ— CDC (@CDCgov) February 8, 2021
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Pilot Safety Violations Likely Caused Crash that Killed NBA Star Bryant
The head of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that the pilot of the helicopter that crashed and killed basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others apparently violated federal safety standards by flying into clouds. The Sikorsky S-76B helicopter was taking the passengers to a youth basketball tournament amid heavy fog in January 2020 when it crashed into hilly terrain outside Los Angeles. NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt made the revelation at the beginning of a meeting to determine the likely cause of the crash. Pilots can experience “spatial disorientation” when they are unable to see the sky or landscape around them, NTSB investigator-in-charge Bill English said. FILE – Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna are honored along with all of the other helicopter crash victims, in Miami Gardens, Fla., Feb. 2, 2020.The board said in June that Pilot Ara Zobayan told air traffic controllers the helicopter was climbing out of heavy clouds when it was, instead, descending immediately before crashing into a hillside near the town of Calabasas. Some attendees at the hearing traded blame for the crash. Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, faulted the pilot, while she and relatives of the other victims blamed the companies that owned and operated the aircraft. While not blaming the former Los Angeles Lakers’ star directly, the pilot’s brother said Bryant was aware of the risks of flying. The helicopter companies blamed the air traffic controllers and argued that foggy conditions before the helicopter hit the ground was an act of God. Board members could give recommendations Tuesday for how to prevent similar disasters in the future. The NTSB previously said there was no sign of mechanical failure on the helicopter, and that the crash is believed to be an accident. While the NTSB is an independent federal agency that investigates transportation-related accidents, it has no enforcement authority. The deaths of the 18-time National Basketball Association all-star and the other passengers sparked an outpouring of shock and grief from sports fans worldwide. The crash triggered several lawsuits and led to the passage of state and federal legislation.
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With Mass Vaccination Program Underway, Moscow Eyes a Return to Normal
Across global cities big and small, the coronavirus pandemic has forced a shutdown of cultural life. But that’s changing in the Russian capital, where a mass vaccination program is in full swing. Charles Maynes reports from Moscow.Camera: Ricardo Marquina Montanana Produced by: Bronwyn Benito
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Super Bowl LV Made History – For Many Reasons
Super Bowl 2021 in now history – and it also made history for a number of reasons. Maxim Moskalkov has the story.Camera: Yuriy Zakrevskiy
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Behind the Scenes, America’s First Ladies Exert Powerful Influence
America’s latest first lady is breaking with tradition as the first presidential spouse to keep her job while in the White House. Jill Biden, who has a doctorate in education, is an English professor at a community college near Washington. “I think in particular, the fact that she is in a profession that is seen as a helping profession, that is seen as not innately a controversial profession, that she will be more accepted by the American people in continuing her professional life,” says Katherine Jellison, a professor of history at Ohio University. “Also, she’s in a traditionally female profession — teaching.” Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
Jacqueline Kennedy poses during a tour of the White House East Room in Washington in 1962.Ever since she embraced historic preservation in the 1960s, every first lady has adopted at least one public service project. Lady Bird Johnson was an environmentalist who pushed for the preservation of wildflowers and other native plants. Nancy Reagan encouraged children to “Just Say No” to drugs. Barbara Bush championed literacy for children and adults, while Michelle Obama promoted healthy eating by planting a White House vegetable garden. “Things that are related to women — children, health literacy, drugs, gardening, historical preservation — those are the things that Americans are comfortable with their first lady doing,” says Perry. “The American people have a limited role they want the first lady to play, and if she steps outside that role, they turn on her.” Hillary Clinton learned that firsthand in 1993 after President Bill Clinton appointed her to lead his task force on national health care reform. It was an unprecedented policy role for a first lady. But fierce public backlash, some of it personally directed at Clinton, herself, helped doom the plan, which never even got a floor vote in Congress. “We saw where that got her — much hatred, people turned on her, it didn’t pass,” Perry says. “And then, she had to go back to more soft-power approaches to being first lady.” Behind the scenes While first ladies are often seen as motherly symbols of American womanhood, history shows these women can have considerable behind-the-scenes influence. A portrait of former first ladies: Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush (standing). Seated, left to right: Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, Rosalynn Carter and Betty Ford, Nov. 4, 1991 in Simi Valley, California.“Melania Trump had a top national security adviser fired in her husband’s administration because she didn’t like the way her staff was treated on a foreign trip by this adviser. So, they can also determine who’s around the president,” says presidential historian Kate Andersen Brower, author of “First Women.” “Nancy Reagan was really the human resources department for her husband. She decided who would be in and who was out.” And the same year she tried to push health care reform through Congress, Clinton made a quiet suggestion to her husband. “She’s one of the reasons why Ruth Bader Ginsburg was on the Supreme Court,” Andersen Brower says. “She told her husband that she thought she would make an excellent Supreme Court justice.” Former President Bill Clinton, left, Hillary Clinton, and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Oct. 30, 2019, in Washington.It’s an example of soft power and how private conversations between spouses can have a huge impact on the country. “These women are really strong. I think that they’re constantly underestimated, and I think that’s partially because women in our society are often underestimated,” says Andersen Brower. “I hope and I think that we are moving in the right direction having Jill Biden as a working woman who can be both things at the same time. She can be a wife, a supporting actor, but also a strong woman.” While Biden is redefining her current role, the biggest shake-up could come once a woman is elected president, Jellison says, and a man takes up the role of first spouse.
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UAE Probe Successfully Begins Orbit of Mars
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) space agency announced Tuesday that its unmanned Mars probe has arrived at the red planet and successfully entered orbit. The Emirates Mars Mission — known as the Amal, or Hope Probe — announced the arrival from its official Twitter account. “Success! Contact with #HopeProbe has been established again. The Mars Orbit Insertion is now complete,” the tweet said. The probe’s successful drop into orbit makes the UAE the fifth nation in the world to reach the red planet and the first in the Arab world. A laser show celebration is put on ahead of a live broadcast of the Hope Probe attempting to enter the Mars orbit as a part of Emirates Mars mission, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 9, 2021.Ground controllers at the UAE’s space center in Dubai rose to their feet and applauded when word came that the craft had reached the end of its nearly seven-month, 482-million-meter journey (300 million miles) and had begun circling Mars, where it will gather detailed data on the planet’s atmosphere. The probe, along with its three scientific instruments, is expected to create the first complete portrait of the Martian atmosphere. The instruments will collect different data points on the atmosphere to also gauge seasonal and daily change. The orbiter fired its main engines for 27 minutes in an intricate maneuver that slowed the craft enough for it to be captured by Mars’ gravity. It then took a nail-biting 15 minutes or so for the signal confirming success to reach Earth. Two more unmanned spacecraft from the United States and China are following close behind, set to arrive on Mars over the next several days. A combination orbiter and lander from China is scheduled to reach the planet on Wednesday. It will circle Mars until the rover separates and attempts to land on the surface in May to look for signs of ancient life. A rover from the U.S. named Perseverance is scheduled to land on the planet February 18. It will be the first leg in a decadelong U.S.-European project to bring Mars rocks back to Earth to be examined for evidence the planet once harbored microscopic life.
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Digital Radio Powering Global Communications
Many broadcasters are using a variety of digital radio for high quality transmissions reaching faraway lands. Mike O’Sullivan reports on one format that is starting to play an important role in global communications.
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WHO Finds No Evidence of COVID-19 Outbreaks in Wuhan Before December 2019
The leader of international experts investigating the origins of COVID-19 in China says they saw no evidence of large outbreaks of the disease prior to its December 2019 discovery in the city of Wuhan. Peter Ben Embarek, an expert in viral illnesses for the World Health Organization, said Tuesday in Wuhan that his team’s findings indicate COVID-19 probably originated in bats, but says it is unlikely the bats were in Wuhan. The team visited the city’s Huanan Seafood Market, which was initially believed to be the epicenter of the outbreak, the Wuhan Institute of Virology and laboratories at state facilities, including the Wuhan Center for Disease Control. Embarek said at a news conference the theory that the virus leaked from a laboratory is extremely unlikely, and that his team will not investigate it further.Embarek said the most likely pathway for the virus was a crossover into humans from an intermediary species, which he said “could have been very convoluted.” He also said the idea that COVID-19 can be transmitted through trade in frozen products is possible. WHO Urges Measures to Stop Spread of COVID-19 Amid Vaccinations Warning comes after South Africa suspends their vaccine campaign, citing concerns it was not as effective against variants Dr. Liang Wannian, an expert with China’s Health Commission, told reporters at the briefing the novel coronavirus could have been circulating in other regions before it was officially identified in Wuhan. The WHO dispatched Embarek and his 10-member team to Wuhan last month to track down the source of the virus, which has killed more than 2.3 million people among more than 106 million infected worldwide. Monday the WHO expressed concern about new reports that vaccines against the coronavirus may not sufficiently protect against new variants. On Sunday, South Africa suspended its vaccination campaign against COVID-19 after a new study revealed that the AstraZeneca vaccine it was using is less effective against a variant of the virus found in the country. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday at a media briefing that the decision is “a reminder that we need to do everything we can to reduce circulation of the virus with proven public health measures.” The study, conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and not yet peer reviewed, concluded that the British vaccine offered only “limited protection against moderate forms of the disease caused by the South African variant, in young adults.” WHO to Review AstraZeneca Vaccine after South Africa Halts Vaccinations Tedros calls study suggesting vaccine minimally effective against the South African variant ‘concerning’ The news was a blow to South Africa, which has seen more than 46,000 people die from the virus. It had planned to begin inoculating its population with a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the coming days. But the study found that the vaccine was only 22% effective in moderate cases of the South African variant of the disease. The study did not explore the vaccine’s effect against severe cases. The variant has been found in at least 32 other countries, including the United States. AstraZeneca said Sunday it was developing another vaccine that would be more effective against the South African variant, which could be expected by this autumn. But WHO’s chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, cautioned Monday that countries should not assume the AstraZeneca vaccine does not work, noting that all available evidence shows that vaccines reduce death, hospitalizations and severe disease.
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Legendary Supremes Singer Mary Wilson Dies at Age 76
U.S. rhythm and blues singer Mary Wilson, who rose to fame as a member of the legendary female singing trio The Supremes in the 1960s, has died at the age of 76.
Her friend, publicist Jay Schwartz, said Wilson died suddenly Monday at her home in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Wilson founded The Supremes with Diana Ross and Florence Ballard while living in a public housing project in Detroit, Michigan in 1959. The group signed with local R&B music label Motown Records two years later, but their first hit did not occur until 1964 with the classic chart-topping single “Where Did Our Love Go.”
The Supremes would go on to sing a record 12 number one hits, including such classics as “Baby Love,” “Come See About Me,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “I Hear a Symphony,” and “You Can’t Hurry Love.” Their songs, numerous television appearances and live shows made them one of most popular musical acts of the 1960s, and helped transform Motown Records into an iconic figure on the American cultural landscape.
Ballard was replaced by Cindy Birdsong in 1967, and Ross left the group in 1969 for a solo career, but Wilson remained with The Supremes with various singers until it was formally disbanded in 1976. She remained active for many years as a solo performer, motivational speaker and U.S. cultural ambassador. The lineup of Wilson, Ross and Ballard were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
Motown founder Berry Gordy praised Wilson in a statement as “quite a star in her own right” who worked hard over the years “to boost the legacy of The Supremes.”
“She was a trailblazer, a diva and will be deeply missed,” Gordy said.
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Safety Board to Determine Probable Cause of Kobe Bryant Helicopter Crash
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board meets Tuesday to vote on a probable cause for the helicopter crash that killed basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven others in California last year. The NTSB has said there was no sign of mechanical failure on the helicopter, and that the crash is believed to be an accident. Board members Tuesday could give recommendations for how to prevent similar disasters in the future. The helicopter was taking the eight passengers to a youth basketball tournament amid heavy fog when it crashed into hilly terrain outside Los Angeles.
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WHO Urges Measures to Stop Spread of COVID-19 Amid Vaccinations
The World Health Organization expressed concern Monday over new reports that vaccines against the coronavirus may not sufficiently protect against new variants. On Sunday, South Africa suspended its vaccination campaign against COVID-19 after a new study revealed that the AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against a variant of the virus found in the country. Speaking at a media briefing a day later, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing that the decision is “a reminder that we need to do everything we can to reduce circulation of the virus with proven public health measures.” FILE – A clinical trial patient receives a dose of AstraZeneca test vaccine at the University of Witwatersrand facility in Soweto, South Africa, Nov. 30, 2020.The study, conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and not yet peer reviewed, concluded that the British vaccine offered only “limited protection against moderate forms of the disease caused by the South African variant, in young adults.” The news was a blow to South Africa, which has seen more than 46,000 people die from the virus. It had planned to begin inoculating its population with a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the coming days. But the study found that the vaccine was only 22% effective in moderate cases of the South African variant of the disease. The study did not explore the vaccine’s effect against severe cases. The variant has been found in at least 32 other countries, including the United States. AstraZeneca said Sunday it was developing another vaccine that would be more effective against the South African variant, which could be expected by this autumn. A man photographs his mother getting a shot of China’s Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine for COVID-19 during a priority vaccination program for the elderly at a drive-thru site in the Pacaembu soccer stadium parking lot in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 8, 2021.But WHO’s chief scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, cautioned Monday that countries should not assume the AstraZeneca vaccine does not work, noting that all available evidence shows that vaccines reduce death, hospitalizations and severe disease. Millions of Mexicans were frustrated last week with the rollout of the country’s website to register people for coronavirus vaccine appointments. The first group designated to use the site to arrange appointments were the country’s senior citizens. One man told Britain’s Guardian newspaper that he “spent three days fighting with the website” to get a vaccination appointment for his mother. He told the newspaper his mother “would have been unable to do it without me.” Florida seniors have their temperatures taken before receiving the second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Jackson Health System, in Miami, Feb. 8, 2021.The shaky launch of the site is disheartening for a country that has the third-highest number of deaths from the coronavirus. Mexico has more than 166,200 COVID-19 deaths. Only Brazil and the U.S. have more, with 231,534 and 463,477 respectively, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The U.S. remains at the top of Johns Hopkins’ list as the place with the most COVID-19 infections. The U.S. now has more than 27 million cases, followed by India with 10.8 million and Brazil with 9.5 million. Head of Iran’s Razi Vaccine and Serum research Institute Ali Eshaghi speaks during a press conference after the unveiling ceremony of the locally-made Razi Cov Pars coronavirus vaccine, in the northern Alborz Province, Feb. 8, 2021.Over the weekend, both Iran and China unveiled new vaccines against the virus. On Sunday, Iran announced it had developed the Razi Cov Pars vaccine manufactured by the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute. Scientists will begin testing the vaccine on people this week. More than 59 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed across the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday. More than 41 million doses of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines had been administered by Sunday morning, with more than 31.5 million people receiving the first inoculation, according to the CDC. More than 9 million people received their second dose. VOA’s Fern Robinson contributed to this report.
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WHO to Review AstraZeneca Vaccine after South Africa Halts Vaccinations
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday it is reviewing the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in light of a South African study indicating the drug offers minimal protection against the new South Africa variant of the virus. The study, conducted by the University of the Witwatersrand, prompted the South African government to temporarily halt its use of the vaccine. At WHO’s usual Monday briefing at its headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the news concerning but noted what he called “some important caveats” to that development. FILE – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, speaks in Geneva, Jan. 21, 2021.He said given the limited sample size of the Witwatersrand trial and the younger, healthier profile of the participants, it is important to determine whether the vaccine remains effective in preventing more severe illness. Tedros said it is becoming increasingly clear that manufacturers will have to adjust to the evolution of the virus and consider altering their vaccines to address the variants, as is done with flu shots each year. He said WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) met Monday to review the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. He said he would be meeting with them to discuss their recommendations. Ebola deathMeanwhile, Tedros also said a new case of Ebola was reported Sunday near the city of Butembo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Butembo is in North Kivu province, where a previous outbreak last June was declared over. He said the female victim, the wife of an Ebola survivor, had died. Tedros said WHO is supporting local and national authorities to trace those who had contact with the woman, and so far, more than 70 contacts have been identified, and no additional cases. He warned, however, there could possibly be additional cases, because the woman had contact with many people after she became symptomatic. Vaccines are being sent to the area, as well as a WHO rapid response team.
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China Appears to Block Popular Clubhouse App
After a brief honeymoon, China appears to have blocked a popular, invite-only audio app called Clubhouse.
The iPhone-only app had seen a surge in users over the weekend as users were able to discuss taboo topics like reunification with Taiwan and the plight of the Muslim minority in Xinjiang province.
But on Monday, users began reporting difficulty connecting, fueling speculation the app had been blocked by the so-called Great Firewall.
According to Bloomberg, Clubhouse was a hot topic on Chinese social media, and some were even selling invitations to the app on Alibaba’s online retailer. Some of the invites were going for as much as $44.60, according to Bloomberg.
As with many banned apps, Chinese users can still access Clubhouse using a virtual private network (VPN), and CNN reported that many were doing so. One such user was Susan Liang, a 31-year-old from Shenzhen.
“It is too rare an opportunity. Everyone has lived under the Great Firewall for so long, but on this platform, we can talk about anything,” she told CNN. “It’s like someone drowning and can finally breathe in a large gulp of air.”
She said she feared a crackdown as VPNs not approved by the government are illegal.
Clubhouse has so far not responded to media inquiries, Reuters reported.
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South Sudan Due to Receive 800,000 Doses of AstraZeneca Vaccine
More than 800,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine should be delivered to South Sudan by the end of the month according to a South Sudanese health ministry official.
Doctor John Rumunu, director-general for preventive health services at the national health ministry said the vaccine will first be administered to the country’s most vulnerable populations.
Rumunu told reporters in Juba Sunday that South Sudan met all of the requirements necessary to acquire the vaccine.
“I’m happy to let you know that the 864,000 doses are from AstraZeneca, and AstraZeneca is using the same chain like we are using for the routine vaccination, meaning you need fridges that can keep vaccines in conditions of two to eight degrees centigrade. We have that all over the country,” he said.
Rumunu said COVAX (COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access) assessed all vaccines and determined that AstraZeneca was best suited to South Sudan’s capacity to preserve the vaccine.
Concerns have been raised over the safety and efficacy of preserving COVID-19 vaccines in hot climate countries like South Sudan, concerns triggered primarily by misinformation circulating on social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook.
Dr. Guyo Guracha, the World Health Organization’s emergency coordinator in the South Sudan capital Juba, said AstraZeneca is safe to use in South Sudan.
“There should be no worry about safety and efficacy because we have an elaborate mechanism in place as WHO and the country also has its own. Many countries also will be looking at it on their own, independently,” Guracha said.
Health Ministry spokesperson Dr. Loi Thuou strongly advised the public against sharing misleading information about COVID-19 vaccines on the internet.
“We need to be very careful in handling and sharing that information with, let’s say innocent people, who may not necessarily have their own analytical capacity. I mean, if someone really wanted to actually do something against Africa or black race, why should it be through vaccines?” Thuou said in Juba.
Africans are consuming many other common drugs from the Western world like malaria medications such as Artimisin, according to Thuou.
He urged South Sudanese to practice social distancing and follow other preventative measures to prevent transmission of the virus in markets and other places where people congregate.
“Part of the reason why partial lockdown is mandatory is the behavior of our people. If you go to Konyokonyo [marketplace]… before partial lockdown was declared, you will not have a sense that there’s COVID-19 in this country, people are just mingling [in the] crowd and nobody cares, hardly people wear masks,” said Thuou.
Health officials are reporting a rapid jump in the number of COVID-19 cases in parts of South Sudan, particularly Central Equatoria state, which in recent days reported more than 300 new cases.
As of Sunday, South Sudan registered 4,609 positive COVID-19 cases, 861 active cases, 66 deaths and 3,692 recoveries.
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Britain Vaccine Minister Suggests AstraZeneca Vaccine Could Be Modified
A British health official Monday downplayed a study suggesting the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was minimally effective against a variant of the virus and suggested the vaccine could be modified to address such strains.
South Africa halted its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine after researchers from the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Oxford said the vaccine provided minimal protection against mild or moderate infection from the so-called South African variant among young people.
But in an interview Monday, Britain’s Minister of State for Health Edward Argar and other health experts looking at the study suggested there was no evidence that the vaccine would not be effective in preventing hospitalization and severe illness and death from the South African strain.
Argar also suggested the vaccine could be modified the way flu vaccines are each year to address a variety of strains. He said the German pharmaceutical company CurVac – with which the British government has a contract – is already working on this.
Argar said just 147 people are known to have been infected with the South African variant in Britain.
The country has the world’s fifth worst COVID-19 death toll with more than 110,000. So far, a little more than 12 million Britons have received first doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
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At least 18 Dead in Northern India After Himalayan Glacier Burst
Emergency teams in northern India are working Monday to rescue 37 power plant workers trapped in a tunnel after part of a Himalayan glacier broke away, slamming water and debris into a dam and at least two hydroelectric plants early Sunday. Authorities say at least 18 bodies have been recovered, but more than 165 people are missing and feared dead. More than 2,000 people have been deployed to the search-and-rescue operation in the valley, including members of the military and police. The floods destroyed a hydroelectric plant on the Alaknanda river and damaged another on the Dhauli Ganga river. The two rivers flow out of the Himalayan mountains and meet before merging with the Ganges river.Rescuers leave on a boat to search for bodies in the downstream of Alaknanda River in Rudraprayag, northern state of Uttarakhand, India, Feb.8, 2021.The incident sent a massive amount of water and debris downhill, flooding the Dhauli Ganga River and forcing the evacuation of downstream villages. Video from the area shows floods of gray glacial water and debris traveling through a valley and surging through the dam in the northern state of Uttarakhand. Scientists have blamed global warming for the glacier’s catastrophic melting.
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