All posts tagged "Virus"

Washington (AFP) - The United States on Monday approved Covid vaccines with formulations that more closely target currently circulating variants, as infections are once more on the rise. The new approvals relate to updated vaccines produced by Moderna and Pfizer that correspond to an Omicron sublineage. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that the benefits of receiving the shots outweighs the risk for those aged six months and up. "Vaccination remains critical to public health and continued protection against serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death," ......

Washington (AFP) - Former US president Donald Trump's administration prevented health officials from providing accurate information about Covid-19 in a bid to back up his overly optimistic view of the outbreak, according to a congressional report released Monday. Senior staff at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told investigators Trump aides bullied staff and tried to rewrite their reports in a bid to align guidance with the president's public downplaying of the crisis. Officials took "unprecedented steps to insert political appointees into the publication process and re......

Washington (AFP) - The number of gun deaths in the United States underwent an "historic" increase in 2020, possibly due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and poverty, according to a report by health authorities published Tuesday.  The US racked up 19,350 firearm homicides in 2020, up nearly 35 percent as compared to 2019, and 24,245 gun suicides (up 1.5 percent), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its report.  The CDC deemed both the murders and suicides by firearm "persistent and significant US public health concerns." The firearm homicide rate stood at 6.1 per......

Windsor (Canada) (AFP) - A Canadian mayor Sunday declared the standoff on a key US border bridge over after police moved in and arrested protesters, but the trucker-led movement against Covid-19 restrictions remained defiantly mobilized in the capital Ottawa and elsewhere. A heavy contingent of officers backed by armored vehicles made their way to the demonstration near Windsor, Ontario, to clear the Ambassador Bridge, a major border crossing to the US city of Detroit, Michigan.  Authorities began their operation Saturday but several demonstrators had remained, extending the protracted standof......

Ottawa (AFP) - Hundreds of truckers drove their giant rigs into the Canadian capital Ottawa on Saturday as part of a self-titled "Freedom Convoy" to protest vaccine mandates required to cross the US border. Flying the Canadian flag, waving banners demanding "Freedom" and chanting slogans against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the truckers were joined by thousands of other protesters angered not only by Covid-19 restrictions but by broader discontent with the government.  There was an enormous clamor as hundreds of big trucks, their engines rumbling, sounded their air horns non-stop. Closer to ......

Los Angeles (AFP) - Singer Joni Mitchell said Friday she was pulling her music from Spotify over "lies" on the streaming service about Covid-19, just days after fellow musical titan Neil Young did the same. In a post on her website, the "Big Yellow Taxi" singer said she was supporting Young, who clashed with Spotify over its wildly popular "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. "I've decided to remove all my music from Spotify," Mitchell wrote. "Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. "I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical com......