Pharmaceutical giant Merck and an American laboratory announced progress Saturday in the design of an oral drug against COVID-19. Their antiviral has shown positive effects in reducing the viral load in current tests.”Knowing that there is an unmet need for antiviral therapy for SARS-CoV-2, we are encouraged by these preliminary …
your ad hereStop ‘Fussing and Whining’ Over COVID Response, Says Brazil President
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center has recorded more than 116 million global coronavirus cases. The U.S. is on the verge of having 30 million infections, followed by India with 11 million and Brazil with 10.8 million.Earlier this week, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had callous words for fellow Brazilians unhappy with …
your ad hereInternational Women’s Day Marks Year of Increased Hardships for Women Worldwide
For more than a century, International Women’s Day has celebrated women’s achievements across the globe, overcoming persistent gender inequality. This year’s observance comes as the UN reports women, particularly women of color, face especially high rates of unemployment. VOA’s Esha Sarai has more. Camera: Karen Sánchez and Rebaz Majeed …
your ad hereNASA’s New Mars Rover Hits Dusty Red Road, 1st Trip 6.6 Meters
NASA’s newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 6.5 meters on the odometer in its first test drive.The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after setting down on the Red Planet to seek signs of past life.The roundabout, back and forth drive …
your ad hereWhite House COVID Team: Take Any Vaccine You Can Get
The White House COVID-19 response team said Friday that all coronavirus vaccines currently available were safe and effective and urged Americans to take whichever one they had access to, after the mayor of Detroit reportedly declined an allocation of the Johnson & Johnson drug.At a news briefing Thursday, Detroit Mayor …
your ad hereEffort to Curb Ebola in Guinea, DR Congo Gathering Steam
The World Health Organization says it is using every measure it has to curb the spread of parallel Ebola outbreaks in Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo. One of the biggest lessons learned from the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa — the largest in history — is the critical …
your ad hereRwanda Begins COVID-19 Vaccinations
The east-central African nation of Rwanda began its COVID-19 vaccination program Friday, using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, making it the first African nation to administer the drug. The nation received 102,960 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and 240,000 doses of AstraZeneca through the international vaccine cooperative, COVAX facility earlier this week. Rwandan health authorities …
your ad hereWHO Cancels Interim Report on Origins of COVID in China
A Wall Street Journal report says World Health Organization investigators who recently visited China to determine the origins of the emergence of the COVID-19 virus will not release a promised interim report of their findings.The Journal account, published Thursday, said the WHO team decided not to release its interim account …
your ad hereWHO Cancels Interim Report on China COVID Investigation
A Wall Street Journal report says World Health Organization investigators who recently visited China to determine the origins of the emergence of the COVID-19 virus will not release a promised interim report of their findings.The Journal account, published Thursday, said the WHO team decided not to release its interim account …
your ad hereCOVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Grows as Side Effect Worries Fade
Confidence in COVID-19 vaccines is growing, with people’s willingness to have the shots increasing as they are rolled out across the world and concerns about possible side effects are fading, a 14-country survey showed on Friday.Co-led by Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) and the polling firm …
your ad hereSpaceX Takes Flight With and Without Success
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station this week built the bones for much-needed power upgrades. Also, SpaceX took flight with and without success, and flaming space junk lights up Australian skies. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi brings us the Week in Space. …
your ad hereKenyan Women’s Rights Groups Hail Lifting of US Abortion Funding ‘Gag Rule’
Women’s rights activists in Kenya have welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden’s order revoking the ban blocking U.S. funding to women’s health organizations that provide abortion or abortion-related services. Critics say the so-called gag rule left women uninformed about safe options to end a pregnancy. Forty-five-year-old Najma Wangoi …
your ad hereSpaceX Test Rocket Launches, Lands, Then Explodes
An unmanned SpaceX Starship SN10 test rocket – designed to take humans to the moon and beyond – perfectly launched and touched down on Earth Wednesday, but then exploded on the launch pad shortly after landing.It was third consecutive test flight of the rocket to end in an explosion, though …
your ad hereEnding Mask Mandates Reflects ‘Neanderthal Thinking,’ Biden Says
U.S. President Joe Biden, while expressing frustration, has limited power to overrule decisions by state governors who are ending mask mandates and lifting other restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.”I think it’s a big mistake,” Biden told a small group of reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office when asked about Republican …
your ad hereCountries Roll Out Chinese-Made COVID Vaccines
Nearly 50 countries have either received or ordered at least one of the three Chinese-developed COVID-19 vaccines, according to an Associated Press survey. More with VOA’s Mariama Diallo on the vaccine rollouts. …
your ad hereUS Health Official: ‘Now is Not the Time’ to End COVID-19 Restrictions
The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday “now is not the time” to lift COVID-19 restrictions, one day after the governor of Texas announced the southern U.S. state was “100 percent open.” At a virtual news briefing for the White House COVID-19 response, …
your ad hereCOVID-19 Exposes Hearing Problems
The World Health Organization says one in 10 people worldwide is expected to suffer from hearing loss by 2050. But in the United States, health officials say around 20 percent of America’s adult population is already experiencing some level of hearing loss and the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the problem …
your ad hereBrazilian Variant of COVID-19 Could Resist Vaccine, Scientists Warn
Scientists are warning that a variant of the novel coronavirus that was first detected in Brazil could reinfect people already recovering from COVID-19. The P.1 variant has spread to more than 20 countries since it was first detected last November in the Amazonian region city of Manaus. A joint study by …
your ad hereWHO Says 1.5 Billion People Suffer Hearing Loss Globally
To mark World Hearing Day, the World Health Organization is calling for action to stem the epidemic of hearing loss, which currently affects 1.5 billion people globally. A roadmap for action is contained in WHO’s first World Report on Hearing. WHO officials warn nearly 2.5 billion people will be living with …
your ad hereJapan Billionaire Offers Space Seats to Moon
It’s the sort of chance that comes along just once in a blue Moon: a Japanese billionaire is throwing open a private lunar expedition to eight people from around the world. Yusaku Maezawa, an online fashion tycoon, was announced in 2018 as the first man to book a spot aboard the lunar …
your ad hereBiden: Enough Vaccine for Every Adult American by End of May
Merck will help its pharmaceutical competitor Johnson & Johnson make the single-shot coronavirus vaccine. That was announced on Tuesday by President Joe Biden.VOA’s White House bureau chief Steve Herman was in the room when the president also said he wants every American educator to receive at least one vaccine dose …
your ad hereTexas Becomes Biggest US State to Lift COVID-19 Mask Mandate
Texas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to no longer require one of the most effective ways to slow the spread of the coronavirus.The announcement in Texas, where the virus has killed more than 42,000 people, rattled doctors and big city …
your ad hereUS Drug Maker Merck to Help Produce Rival’s COVID Vaccine
U.S. pharmaceutical giant Merck has agreed to help manufacture rival Johnson & Johnson’s new coronavirus vaccine to help speed production of millions of new doses of the single shots to inoculate more Americans in the coming months, White House officials said Tuesday.Johnson & Johnson has encountered unexpected production problems, even …
your ad hereCOVAX Program to Roll Out Tens of Millions of Vaccine Doses Globally
The global COVAX vaccine distribution plan aims to deliver tens of millions of vaccine doses to low-income countries — many of them in Africa – in the coming months, top global health officials say, describing this as a turning point in the quest to quash the coronavirus pandemic.The world’s largest, …
your ad hereFrance Reverses Course on Using AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine on Citizens Over 65
France will now vaccinate people aged 65 years and older with the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by Oxford University and British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca. The decision was announced Tuesday by Health Minister Olivier Veran during a televised interview. Veran said anyone older than the age of 50 with pre-existing conditions can …
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