In Costa Rica, officials are encouraging those infected with the coronavirus to skip voting in upcoming national elections. On the other side of the world, Beijing is locking down residential communities as the country anxiously awaits the start of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 4. In Latin America and Asia, …

The U.S. government said Friday it would suspend 44 China-bound flights from the United States by four Chinese carriers in response to the Chinese government’s decision to suspend some U.S. carrier flights over COVID-19 concerns. The suspensions will begin Jan. 30 with Xiamen Airlines’ scheduled Los Angeles-to-Xiamen flight and run …

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it has evidence COVID-19 vaccines work against the omicron variant.  Citing three studies, the CDC said the vaccines appear to work particularly well for those who received booster shots. The U.S. studies are the first to examine the effectiveness of …

The White House says some of the at-home, free COVID-19 tests it is offering to Americans have begun shipping via the U.S. Postal Service.  During a Friday press briefing, Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said shipping started Thursday.  He said demand has been high and added that there …

A federal judge on Friday issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting the enforcement of U.S. President Joe Biden’s requirement that federal workers be vaccinated.  Biden announced the mandate, which required 3.5 million federal workers to be vaccinated or ask for a medical or religious exemption, in September. There was no option …

Hing Pal Singh is among dozens of patients with daily appointments at the Oriental Chinese Herbal Clinic in Nairobi. Singh, 85, has been suffering from spinal problems for five years and is now trying herbal remedies. “There is a slight difference,” Singh said. ” … It’s only a week now. It …

Austria’s lower house of parliament passed a bill Thursday making COVID-19 vaccinations compulsory for adults as of Feb. 1, bringing Austria closer to introducing the first such sweeping coronavirus vaccine mandate in the European Union. Faced with a stubbornly high number of vaccine holdouts and a surge in infections, the …

More than 1.2 million people are dying every year directly from bacterial infections that are resistant to several antibiotics, according to a new study, making multiresistant bacteria far deadlier than HIV/AIDS or malaria. A further 4.95 million deaths were associated with these multiresistant bacteria. “It is estimated that if we …

Over 1.2 million people are dying every year from bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics, according to a new study. That makes multi-resistant bacteria far deadlier than HIV/AIDS or malaria. Henry Ridgwell reports. …

It remains 100 seconds to midnight on the “Doomsday Clock,” the famous annual announcement for how close humanity is to extinction. The Chicago-based non-profit Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists kept the analog hands at the same time for a second year in a row — the closest it has been …

International health workers say the end of the war in Afghanistan brings new hope to efforts to rid the country of the crippling disease polio.  For many years, efforts to immunize all Afghan children under five years old were considered unfeasible because of widespread insecurity and threats to health workers.  …

A new study in two states that compares coronavirus protection from a prior infection and vaccination concludes that getting the shots is still the safest way to prevent COVID-19.  The study examined infections in New York and California last summer and fall and found people who were both vaccinated and …

It’s been a year since U.S. President Joe Biden took the oath of office on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. He inherited a global coronavirus pandemic that, from the campaign trail, he promised to end. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports on his handling of the pandemic. …

South African-born U.S. billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa have cut the ribbon Wednesday at a new vaccine manufacturing plant. It is hoped the facility will soon start making Africa’s first locally produced COVID-19 vaccines, as well as cancer vaccines and other pharmaceuticals. A crowd of ceremony …

U.S. news outlets said Wednesday that the Biden administration will distribute 400 million high-quality face masks free of charge to the American people beginning next week. A White House official, speaking anonymously, said the N95 masks will be shipped to thousands of local pharmacies and community health centers across the …

The U.S. government quietly conducted a soft launch Tuesday of its website where Americans can request free rapid coronavirus tests — a day ahead of the scheduled rollout.   Covidtests.gov quickly became the most accessed federal government website as millions of households began placing orders for test kits.  “COVIDtests.gov is up …

A large asteroid is expected to pass within 1.93 million kilometers of Earth on Tuesday, according to NASA. The asteroid known as 7482 (1994 PC1), which was discovered in 1994, is about one kilometer wide or “bridge size” as NASA called it. NASA says the asteroid will again make a …

The worst drought in Somalia in decades has millions of people dependent on food aid and thousands flocking to cities to escape hunger. At makeshift shelters on the outskirts of the capital, displaced people face cramped conditions and poor sanitation in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mohamed Sheikh Nor …

China on Monday canceled plans to sell tickets to the public for the Winter Olympics in Beijing, as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country reached its highest point since March 2020.  Organizers said last year there would be no international spectators at the Games – partly due to …

Scientists are struggling to monitor an active volcano that erupted off the South Pacific island of Tonga at the weekend, after the explosion destroyed its sea-level crater and drowned its mass, obscuring it from satellites.  The eruption of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano, which sits on the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, sent …

New Zealand began inoculating 5- to11-year-old children Monday with Pfizer’s pediatric COVID vaccine. More than 120,000 vaccines have been delivered to 500 vaccination centers around the country, the health ministry said.   “Getting vaccinated now is a great way to help protect tamariki (children) before they go back to school,” Dr. …

Millions of Americans hunkered down as a major winter storm hit the eastern United States with heavy snow and ice knocking power out for an estimated 130,000 customers as of early Monday.    The National Weather Service (NWS) said the storm was bringing a miserable combination of heavy snow, freezing rain …

On a cold winter afternoon in the Indian capital, New Delhi, a group of auto rickshaw drivers huddled outside a metro station hoping to pick up passengers. Since the city shut schools, colleges, restaurants and offices to cope with a third wave of the pandemic fueled by the omicron variant, though, …

The Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said early Sunday 326.2 million people around the world have been infected with the coronavirus, while 5.5 million deaths have been recorded. More than 9 billion vaccines have been administered, the center reported. UNICEF’S executive director said Saturday’s shipment of 1.1 million COVID vaccines …

Novak Djokovic faces deportation instead of starting his Australian Open title defense on Monday, a stunning and unprecedented end to his run of success at Melbourne Park. Djokovic has won nine of his 20 Grand Slam trophies at the Australian Open — including three in a row — and was …