U.S.-based pharmaceutical company Moderna has begun testing its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine in young children to determine if vaccinations should be expanded to people younger than 18 years of age.   The company will administer the vaccine to about 6,750 children in the United States and Canada between the ages of six months and 12 years old.  The doses would be given 28 days apart so researchers can monitor the side effects from the vaccine and determine its ultimate effectiveness.   The study is being conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which helped Moderna in development of the vaccine. Moderna has been conducting a separate study on the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness since December involving 3,000 children between the ages of 12 and 18 years old.A nurse draws a Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, in Los Angeles, March 12, 2021.In a related development, the Vietnamese government says its homegrown COVID-19 vaccine called Nanocovax will be available by the end of this year. Vietnam has inoculated more 15,000 of its citizens with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine this month, and is negotiating to purchase more vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and the developer of Russia’s Sputnik V.  Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Wednesday that the country will send about 8,000 doses of its supply of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to neighboring Papua New Guinea, which is battling an ever-increasing spread of the disease.  Prime Minister Morrison also called on the European Union and AstraZeneca to ship one million doses of the vaccine to Papua New Guinea that had been purchased by Canberra. The EU recently blocked a shipment of more than 250,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia in order to help make up an acute shortage of vaccines in Europe, plus Australia’s success in largely containing the virus.  Australian Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly told reporters that half of expectant mothers who have been admitted to hospitals in the capital of Port Moresby have tested positive for COVID-19. Kelly said large numbers of frontline health care workers have also contracted the virus.  Morrison says all travel between Australia and Papua New Guinea has been suspended.   
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Researchers in Japan recently discovered that some sea slugs can regrow their bodies. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports that studying these slugs may one day help answer questions about our own health.Produced by: Arash Arabasadi 
 
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Pakistan says it is now facing a third wave of the novel coronavirus. Officials have particularly expressed concern over the spread of the so-called UK variant of the virus. VOA’s Ayesha Tanzeem reports from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Camera: Malik Waqar Ahmed   Produced by: Malik Waqar Ahmed, Rob Raffaele 
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Europe’s medical regulator, the European Medicines Agency, will announce Thursday its findings on the safety of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine as more European Union countries suspend its use over fears it might be linked to blood clots. Critics say governments are putting politics over science.The European Medicines Agency’s executive director, Emer Cooke, said Tuesday that for now, the regulator stands behind its conclusion the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, even as its experts conduct a thorough safety review.The AstraZeneca vaccine has been injected into millions of arms, with just a few reported cases of blood clots—and it’s uncertain if they’re linked to the shot.  “We need to have the facts first,” Cooke said. “We cannot come to a conclusion before we’ve done a thorough scientific analysis. And we owe it to the European citizens to deliver this clear and science-based response.”The medicines agency, or EMA, has also tapped international experts for its review, which will also look at whether certain specific batches could be problematic. Scientists will also look at chances of blood clots with other COVID-19 vaccines beyond AstraZenaca’s.”At present there is no evidence that vaccination has caused these conditions,” said Cooke. “They have not come up in clinical trial and they are not listed as known or expected side events with this vaccine.”  But increasingly, European Union governments are taking no chances. Sweden and Latvia are among the latest to join more than a dozen EU countries to temporarily halt their AztraZeneca rollouts.In France, which suspended the shot Monday, Health Minister Olivier Veran said he hoped the AstraZeneca vaccine campaign will quickly resume — pending a positive EMA ruling. Veran himself received the AstraZeneca inoculation and he told French citizens who have done likewise not to worry.The World Health Organization also recommends AstraZeneca, pending evidence to the contrary. Dozens of countries have authorized its use, although the United States has yet to do so. And AstraZeneca still has EU champions. Belgium, for example, argues suspending the vaccine’s rollout would be irresponsible.That’s also the view of many French medical experts. Dr. Jean-Paul Hamon, honorary president of the French doctor’s federation, told French TV the decision to suspend the vaccine’s use reflected political rather than medical considerations.  “National governments are afraid for safety concerns,” said Simona Guagliardo, an analyst at the Brussels-based European Policy Centre. “But at the same time, I’m not convinced that this is the right way to go about it.””I wonder what could be the damage in the public opinion,” she said. “People are already scared, and I fear that this might scare them off even more.”The vaccine suspensions couldn’t come at a worse time for the EU, with some member states hit by a third wave of the pandemic. Italy is again under lockdown. France and Germany may follow shortly.  And suspending the shot’s use may further delay the EU’s much-criticized vaccine rollout that sees the 27-member bloc lagging behind countries like the United States, Israel, Bahrain and even ex-member Britain—which has jabbed millions in the UK with the AstraZeneca shot. While acknowledging mistakes, EU officials also blame some of the problems on production delays by AstraZeneca itself.
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Despite the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, France is once again under pressure to take new measures to curb a new spread of the virus in the country.  The situation is once again deteriorating rapidly in the French capital. Hospitals in the Paris region are close to capacity and health professionals are rushing daily to find beds for their COVID patients. As of Monday, more than 4,200 patients were in intensive care units across France. The pandemic’s third wave is a reality in France and health workers have been evacuating seriously ill COVID patients to other parts of the country to cope with bed shortages. Enrique Casalino, a medical director with Hopitaux de Paris, the largest health system in Europe, describes the epidemic situation as deteriorating in the Paris region where every 12 minutes a new patient enters an intensive care unit. Casalino thinks medical evacuation to other French regions is just a temporary solution that does not solve the current crisis. He says there are only two options: a quick and massive immunization campaign to safeguard 70% of the population, which he doubts is currently achievable in France. The other would be a strict lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading further.On top of a delay in the delivery of vaccines, France is among European nations that are pausing the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to public concerns about side effects.Lockdowns have already been imposed in some hotspots in France, including Dunkirk and Nice, but not in the capital region.  A national nighttime curfew has been in force since the end of January, and bars, restaurants, museums, and movie theaters remain closed.  Still, a general lockdown in the Paris region has not been ordered.  Jerome Béglé, deputy director at Le Point, a French weekly, sees a lockdown of the Paris region as equivalent to a national lockdown as this region is the main economic center of France with 12 million people living there and a few tourists still visiting.With neighboring Italy imposing new restrictions Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron resisted the idea of a third national lockdown.Jean Castex, France’s prime minister says a national lockdown would be a last resort that cannot be ruled out due to the current situation. He says he would like to avoid one as it would place a heavy burden on the population.More than 90,000 people have died so far in France due to the COVID. The country is expected to reach a dreaded 100,000-death milestone next month.
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Over the next 10 days, the United States will achieve what President Joe Biden describes as “two giant goals” — the completion of 100 million coronavirus vaccine shots in people’s arms and 100 million checks in people’s pockets.Those payments are among the disbursements from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package the U.S. leader signed into law last week.“The American rescue plan is already doing what it was designed to do — make a difference in people’s everyday lives,” Biden said Monday during remarks in the White House State Dining Room.What his administration is promoting as the “Help is Here” tour began on Monday. It features the president and others, including Vice President Kamala Harris, visiting numerous states beginning this week to promote the benefits of the plan.The appearances are intended to highlight to voters how the aid, approved by both chambers of Congress despite uniform Republican opposition, could help them. Republican lawmakers objected to the size of the deal and said that some of the funding is not tied directly to trying to end the pandemic in the United States. “The American Rescue Plan includes a $350 billion bailout for states, rewarding those with poor fiscal management and punishing those who operated responsibly during the pandemic. Funds can be used for virtually anything a state chooses to spend money on, with next to nothing in terms of constraints or restrictions,” said Republican Senator Mike Crapo in a statement on Monday.  The ranking member of the Senate finance committee and his fellow Idaho Republican senator, Jim Risch, have introduced a bill to eliminate a provision in the legislation Biden signed that would prevent states from using relief funds to cut taxes.  Biden is scheduled to be in a key suburban Philadelphia jurisdiction Tuesday in the eastern state of Pennsylvania that he carried over former President Donald Trump in the November election.His visit there is to “highlight how the rescue plan invests in small businesses,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.U.S. First Lady Jill Biden delivers remarks at the playground of the Samuel Smith Elementary School in Burlington, New Jersey, March 15, 2021.First lady Jill Biden went to the state of New Jersey on Monday where she joined Governor Phil Murphy at a school in Burlington.“We are going to safely open schools. We are going to get people back to work. We’re going to lift up the families who are struggling to get by,” she said at the Samuel Smith Elementary School.Harris traveled west to visit a COVID-19 vaccination site at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and several other locations in the area.  The vice president was asked by a reporter why the administration is compelled to sell the plan, which enjoys widespread public support.  “It’s not selling,” Harris replied. “It’s kind of like you buy a product — you’re already sold on the product, but you need some directions out of the box.” Both Biden and Harris are to make appearances in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday.Vice President Kamala Harris looks over a vaccination site at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, March 15, 2021.“When it’s a package of this size, people don’t always know how they benefit,” explained Psaki, responding to reporters’ questions on Monday about the president’s travel this week.The American Rescue Plan is one of the FILE – Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 17, 2019.Republicans, who mostly opposed the stimulus, captured the House of Representatives in the 2010 elections.  The White House is also planning to make surrogates and senior administration officials available for local television interviews in cities across the country and get more than 400 mayors and governors to talk about what the relief package means for them and their communities.  Congresswoman Liz Cheney, the House’s No. 3 Republican, said in a statement that only a small fraction of the $1.9 trillion deal was aimed at the virus and warned the relief package might eventually lead to tax increases to help pay for it. 
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The top U.S. infectious disease expert said Sunday the country is going in the “right direction” with millions of Americans receiving coronavirus vaccinations, but he was cautious about the high plateau of U.S. cases.  Speaking on the NBC-TV program “Meet the Press,” Anthony Fauci warned that “When you get a plateau at a level around 60,000 new infections per day, there’s always the risk of another surge.”  Fauci used Italy as an example of a location that experienced “a diminution of cases.” People walk past army vehicles at a street on the final day of open restaurants and bars before tighter coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions are enforced, in Rome, Italy, March 14, 2021.He said Italy “plateaued, and they pulled back on public health measures,” which contributed to Italy’s current surge of infections, forcing officials to place portions of the European country in lockdowns Monday. “He urged people to continue to observe “public health measures,” especially wearing masks.  The U.S. remains at the top of the list as the location with the most COVID-19 cases, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, a research body constantly updating with COVID-19 data and expert input.The U.S. has 29.4 million of the world’s almost 120 million COVID infections, followed by Brazil with 11.4 million and India with 11.3 million.    AstraZeneca said Sunday a review of its data found no evidence that its vaccine against COVID-19 causes blood clots. A woman receives a vaccine as Vietnam starts its official rollout of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for health workers, at Hai Duong Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Hai Duong province, Vietnam, March 8, 2021.“A careful review of all available safety data,” the company said in a statement. The vaccine “has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country.” Pulmonary embolism occurs when lung arteries are blocked as a result of blood clotting whereas thromboembolic events occur when a blood clot breaks loose and travels through the body, causing harm.  The AstraZenica review, which covered more than 17 million people who had received the vaccine in Britain and the European Union, was conducted as Ireland and the Netherlands joined Denmark, Norway, and Iceland in suspending the use of the vaccine because of clotting issues. Austria stopped using a batch of the shot last week while investigating a death from coagulation disorders. However, the company asserts that there is no connection with the vaccine. This photo provided by Berkshire Community College shows cellist Yo-Yo Ma performing at Berkshire Community College’s second dose Pfizer vaccination clinic in the Paterson Field House on March 13, 2021 in Pittsfield, Mass.In Massachusetts on Saturday, Yo-Yo Ma, the internationally acclaimed cellist, celebrated receiving his second vaccine. While he waited seated with others for the 15 minutes of observation post vaccination, Ma, 65 and wearing a mask, started playing his cello at a clinic in Berkshire Community College, Massachusetts, on Saturday. His impromptu performance included Ave Maria and Bach’s Prelude in G Major. As Ma got up to leave, he was applauded by others seated and socially distant waiting for their own observation periods to end.   
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There was no reason to celebrate on Rachel Van Lear’s anniversary. The same day a global pandemic was declared, she developed symptoms of COVID-19. A year later, she is still waiting for them to disappear. And for experts to come up with some answers. The Texas woman is one of thousands of self-described long-haulers, patients with symptoms that linger or develop out of the blue months after they first became infected with coronavirus. Hers first arrived March 11, 2020. The condition affects an uncertain number of survivors in a baffling variety of ways.  “We’re faced with a mystery,” said Dr. Francis Collins, chief of the National Institutes of Health. Is it a condition unique to COVID-19, or just a variation of the syndrome that can occur after other infections? How many people are affected, and how long does it last? Is it a new form of chronic fatigue syndrome — a condition with similar symptoms?  Or could some symptoms be unrelated to their COVID-19 but a physical reaction to the upheaval of this past pandemic year — the lockdowns, quarantines, isolation, job losses, racial unrest, political turmoil, not to mention overwhelming illness and deaths?  These are the questions facing scientists as they search for disease markers, treatments and cures. With $1 billion from Congress, Collins’ agency is designing and soliciting studies that aim to follow at least 20,000 people who’ve had COVID-19. “We’ve never really been faced with a post-infectious condition of this magnitude, so this is unprecedented,” Collins said Monday. “We don’t have time to waste.’’ With nearly 30 million U.S. cases of COVID-19 and 119 million worldwide, the impact could be staggering, even if only a small fraction of patients develop long-term problems.  Fatigue, shortness of breath, insomnia, trouble thinking clearly, and depression are among the many reported symptoms. Organ damage, including lung scarring and heart inflammation, have also been seen. Pinpointing whether these symptoms are directly linked to the virus or perhaps to some preexisting condition is among scientists’ tasks. “Is it just a very delayed recovery or is it something even more alarming and something that becomes the new normal?” Collins said.President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, in Bethesda, Md. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, left, and Dr. Anthony Fauci.There are a few working theories for what might be causing persistent symptoms. One is that the virus remains in the body at undetectable levels yet still causes tissue or organ damage. Or it overstimulates the immune system, keeping it from returning to a normal state. A third theory: Symptoms linger or arise anew when the virus attacks blood vessels, causing minute, undetectable blood clots that can wreak havoc throughout the body.  Some scientists think each of these may occur in different people. Dr. Steven Deeks, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, said researchers first need to create a widely accepted definition of the syndrome. Estimates are “all over the map because no one is defining it in the same way,” he said. Deeks is leading one study, collecting blood and saliva samples from volunteers who will be followed for up to two years. Some people develop long-term problems even when their initial infections were silent.  Deeks said some evidence suggests that those who initially get sicker from a coronavirus infection might be more prone to persistent symptoms, and women seem to develop them more than men, but those observations need to be confirmed, Deeks said. Van Lear says she was in great shape when she got sick. At 35, the suburban Austin woman had no other health issues and was a busy mother of three who often worked out. First came a chest cold, then a high fever. A flu test came back negative, so her doctor tested for COVID-19. Soon after she developed blinding headaches, debilitating fatigue and nausea so severe that she needed emergency room treatment.  “I was very scared because no one could tell me what was going to happen to me,” Van Lear said. Over the next several months, symptoms would come and go: burning lungs, a rapid heartbeat, dizzy spells, hand tremors and hair loss. While most have disappeared, she still deals with an occasional racing heartbeat. Heart monitoring, bloodwork and other tests have all been normal.  Fatigue, fever, and no taste or smell were Karla Jefferies’ first symptoms after testing positive last March. Then came brain fog, insomnia, a nagging smell of something burning that only recently disappeared, and intermittent ringing in her ears. Now she can’t hear out of her left ear. Doctors can’t find anything to explain it, and she bristles when some doctors dismiss her symptoms. “I understand that COVID is something that we’re all going through together but don’t brush me off,” said Jefferies, 64, a retired state worker in Detroit. As an African American woman with diabetes and high blood pressure, she was at high risk for a bad outcome and knows she’s lucky her initial illness wasn’t more serious. But her persistent symptoms and home confinement got her down and depression set in. Political and racial unrest that dominated the news didn’t help, and church services — often her salvation — were suspended. She knows all that could have contributed to her ill health and says listening to music — R&B, jazz and a little country — has helped her cope. Still, Jefferies wants to know what role the virus has played. “I’m a year in, and to still from time to time have lingering effects, I just don’t understand that,” Jefferies said.  Jefferies and Van Lear are members of Survivor Corps, one of several online support groups created during the pandemic and that have amassed thousands of members. Some are enrolling in studies to help speed the science. Dr. Michael Sneller is leading one study at the NIH. So far, 200 have enrolled; they include survivors and a healthy comparison group.  They are being given a series of physical and mental tests once or twice a year for three years. Other tests are seeking signs of ongoing inflammation, abnormal antibodies and blood vessel damage. Sneller said he’s found no serious heart or lung tissue damage so far. He notes that many viruses can cause mild heart inflammation, even some cold viruses. Many people recover but in severe cases the condition can lead to heart failure. Fatigue is the most common symptom in the coronavirus group, and so far, researchers have found no medical explanation for it. Insomnia is common, too — in both groups.  Sneller says that’s not surprising. “The whole pandemic and lockdown affected all of us,” he said. “There’s a lot of anxiety in the control group too.” Many have symptoms similar to those of chronic disease syndrome; and to a condition involving fatigue and thinking difficulties that can develop after treatment for Lyme disease, a bacterial infection spread by certain ticks.  Researchers are hopeful that studies of long-term COVID-19 may yield answers to what causes those conditions, too. 
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Dr. Anthony Fauci, U.S. President Joe Biden’s top coronavirus adviser, said Sunday he is optimistic the country can return to some sense of normalcy by the annual July 4 independence celebration, but that precautions still need to be taken in the meantime to avert a new surge in infections. The United States is picking up the pace of coronavirus vaccinations, administering a new high of 3 million shots on Saturday. Fauci told news talk shows he believes the U.S. will have enough doses of vaccine by the end of May so that any American who wants a shot will be able to get one. Biden last week said all adults, not just older people, should be eligible to get a shot starting May 1. The U.S. leader predicted families may be able to gather for small Independence Day celebrations. “I think the Fourth of July projection is quite reasonable,” Fauci told the “Fox News Sunday” show. But Fauci also warned the pandemic is still a danger in the United States, with the number of new cases seeming to plateau at 50,000 or 60,000 daily over the last week. On CNN, he called it a “very vulnerable” time, citing the new increase in cases in Europe as officials there eased off coronavirus restrictions. “We can avoid that,” Fauci said. “We need to get as many vaccinated as possible.” He said the growing pace of vaccinations can be maintained and even increased as the U.S. opens more community health centers for vaccinations and more pharmacies start to administer shots, too.  Governors in some U.S. states have started to allow businesses to resume normal operations and told residents in their states they no longer have to wear face masks in public. “This is absolutely no time to declare victory,” Fauci told Fox. “There’s always a risk of a surge back up.” He contended that easing face mask directives and social distancing guidelines to stay two meters away from other people is “risky and potentially dangerous.” Nonetheless he offered assurances that the government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is continuing to monitor the number of new infections and the pace of inoculations to see whether restrictions can be carefully lifted. Fauci told CNN that new directives will be issued soon on how safe it is for people who have been vaccinated to travel or be in a crowd of people, or for school children to return to in-school instruction while maintaining a one-meter distance from others instead of two meters. He said the disease control agency “wants to make sure they get it right” before issuing new directives. 
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