Reports out of Norway that up to 30 “frail patients” have died after receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will ultimately help Australian health authorities determine the best way to safely administer the drug, experts say. Norwegian health authorities sparked concerns when they announced “common adverse reactions” to the vaccine “may have contributed to a fatal...
Category: <span>Health</span>
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Confidence in Chinese vaccines has taken a hit amid mass jabs
Mass public vaccination programs using a Chinese coronavirus vaccine are underway across Indonesia and Turkey, where tens of millions of people are expected to receive doses of the CoronaVac shot made by Beijing-based company Sinovac. On Wednesday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo was shown receiving the country’s first CoronaVac shot, after the government authorized it for...
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Oxford vaccine chief says Australia can’t afford to delay the jab’s rollout
A key scientist behind the Oxford coronavirus vaccine has warned against pausing the planned rollout in Australia over concerns it might not generate herd immunity, arguing the proposed strategy would cost lives if the country were hit by another wave of infections. In a strident defence of the jab developed by British researchers and pharmaceutical...
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Brisbane to enter three-day lockdown over single infection
Brisbane has begun a snap three-day lockdown after a cleaner in its hotel quarantine system became infected with coronavirus. Health officials said the cleaner had the highly transmissible UK variant and they were afraid it could spread. Brisbane has seen very few cases of the virus beyond quarantined travellers since Australia’s first wave last year....
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EU authorizes Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, paving the way for its rollout next week
The European Union has authorized Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine, the second coronavirus vaccine to be approved for use in the EU. The move finalizes the recommendation of the European Union drugs regulator, who earlier on Wednesday recommended granting the drug a conditional marketing authorization. Emer Cooke, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) executive director, said on Wednesday...
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Scientists seek to understand new South Africa Covid variant
Scientists in South Africa say there is a “reasonable concern” that the new variant of Covid-19 sweeping across the country might prove to be more resistant to current vaccines being rolled out in the UK and elsewhere, and warn that it makes the need for a global roll-out of vaccines “even more critical”. “It’s a...
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WHO team investigating virus origins denied entry to China
A World Health Organization (WHO) team due to investigate the origins of Covid-19 in the city of Wuhan has been denied entry to China. Two members had already set out on their journey – one has now turned back and the other is in transit in a third country. The WHO said the problem was...
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Cops bust Sydney wedding reception, 12 people accused of coronavirus breaches
A dozen people will be fined after being sprung at a wedding reception in Sydney that allegedly breached coronavirus restrictions. A tip-off alerted NSW Police to a crowd at a venue on Pirrama Road in Pyrmont about 5pm on Sunday. “After speaking with staff and attendees, police recorded contact details for more than a dozen...
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Queensland records five new COVID-19 cases as border traffic delays continue
Queensland has recorded five new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours but all of the infections were acquired overseas. The new infections bring the number of active cases in the state to 13. Queensland has now gone 103 days without community transmission but anyone with symptoms is still being urged to get tested...
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Alarm raised as Sydney cluster spreads to Victoria
Victoria has picked up its first “interstate” case from the NSW cluster, as Sydney has reportedly recorded single-figure increase in new cases. Health Minister Martin Foley says the new case is a 15-year-old girl from the Moonee Valley local government area who visited several of the high-risk exposure sites in Sydney. “The young person travelled...