United Kingdom Approves Oxford-Astrazeneca Covid - 19 Vaccine

The U.K. government approves   COVID-19 vaccine developed in Britain by Oxford University and AstraZeneca for emergency use.  The pharmaceutical company announced early Wednesday morning. 

The vaccine is considered vital for vaccination efforts in developing countries because it is cheaper to make and easier to store for long periods of time as it only requires normal refrigeration temperature to remain viable, making distribution easier. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson congratulate  the news as a "triumph for British science."

The statement cautioned, however, that social distancing and hand washing are still vital to suppress the infection while people across the country wait to receive the vaccines.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said the first doses of the vaccine were being released Wednesday “so that vaccinations may begin early in the New Year.”

Everyone will still receive their second dose and this will be within 12 weeks of their first. The second dose completes the course and is important for longer term protection.

AstraZeneca’s vaccine is a viral vector inoculation that is based on a weakened version of a common cold virus that causes infections in chimpanzees. It is designed to prime the immune system to attack the coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2, if it later infects the body .

Merry Christmas in Coronavirus

 Clockwise : Women in Pakistan chanting in a church . Iranian women buying Christmas gift, Australian girls having selfie on Christmas day . Christmas in France amid coronavirus .

The effects of the pandemic are being felt worldwide this holiday season. In Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, a stream of marching bands joyously paraded through the streets -- but few people were there to greet them as a strict lockdown dampened Christmas Eve celebrations.

Churches across South Korea stood largely empty, with worshippers congregating online as the country reported a new daily caseload record. 

The battle to halt the pandemic, which has claimed more than 1.7 million lives, is far from over despite the launching of mass vaccine campaigns that offer the promise of an eventual return to normalcy.

In Australia, worshippers had to book tickets online to attend socially distanced church services ..

Pope Francis was set to celebrate Mass in a near-empty Vatican service early in the evening as strict new curfew rules were going into effect.

Celebrations elsewhere in Europe were canceled or greatly scaled back as virus infections surge across the continent and a new variant that may be more contagious has been detected. Thousands of truck drivers and travelers were trapped in mass gridlock at Britain's Dover port on Christmas Eve, held up from crossing to France by the slow delivery of coronavirus tests demanded by French authorities.

In Bethlehem, officials tried to make the most out of a bad situation.

Several European Countries Ban Travel From UK , Fearing New Coronavirus Variant

 Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland were among those that announced bans travel from UK . British officials have reported that a mutation of the virus appears to speed its transmission, and they have imposed severe restrictions on 18 million people in London and across southern England.

Germany, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, also called a special crisis meeting on Monday to coordinate the response to the virus news among the bloc’s 27 member states.

The Netherlands banned flights from the UK for at least the rest of the year while Belgium issued a flight ban for 24 hours starting at midnight and also halted train links to Britain, including the Eurostar.

An EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were still ongoing, said on Sunday afternoon the European Commission was in touch with member states on the rapidly developing situation.

Just days before Christmas, high-speed train operator Eurostar cancelled its trains between London, Brussels and Amsterdam beginning Monday, but kept trains operating on the London-to-Paris route.

The EU governments said they were taking action in response to tougher measures imposed on Saturday by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on London and its surrounding areas.

Johnson immediately put those regions into a new Tier 4 restriction level, upending Christmas plans for millions.

He said a fast-moving new variant of the virus that is 70 percent more transmissible than existing strains appeared to be driving the rapid spread of new infections in London and southern England.

 

 

 

US Approves Moderna Covid -19 Vaccine For Emergency Use

 The food and drug administration (FDA ) approves Moderna's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use . After Pfizer and BioNtech's vaccine it is the second vaccine which was approved in USA .

The FDA’s emergency use authorization  approves the federal government’s plan to distribute roughly 5.9 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine to 64 states, territories and major cities across the nation next week.

The potentially lifesaving shots are desperately needed to fend off the pandemic that has taken more than 300,000 American lives and overwhelmed hospitals.

U.S. officials hope to vaccinate at least 20 million Americans — mostly front-line health-care workers and nursing home residents — by the end of the year. Initial doses will be limited as manufacturing ramps up, with officials predicting it will take months  to immunize everyone in the U.S. who wants to be vaccinated

The FDA authorized Moderna’s vaccine for people who are 18 years old and older. Such an authorization from the agency isn’t the same as full approval, which requires more data and can typically take several months longer. Moderna has submitted only two months of follow-up safety data. The agency usually requires six months for full approval and can always revoke an EUA for a drug if it doesn’t work as intended or proves to be unsafe. The FDA approved the emergency use of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 in March, only to revoke it in June after additional data showed it provided “no evidence of benefit” in coronavirus patients .

European Union Start Covid -19 Vaccinations From 27th December .

 The December 27 start date - confirmed by European Union Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, Austria, Germany and Italy - will be almost three weeks after the world's first fully-tested Covid-19 vaccination was administered in England. 

Health Minister Jens Spahn said  before an online meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and executives from vaccine maker BioNTech that if the approval  comes Vaccination will start from 27 the December .

As a member of the EU, Germany is obliged, by and large, to wait for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to approve the vaccine. The EMA is expected to make an announcement on December 21.

Von der Leyen confirmed the planned timetable for the start of inoculations for the European Union's 450 million citizens.

Italy said it would start vaccinating health workers on December 27, the Sunday after Christmas. Vaccinations will also start in Austria on that date, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Twitter .

 Germany was looking forward to starting life-saving vaccinations, a day after the country reported 952 deaths related to the coronavirus, its highest daily number yet.

Singapore Approves Pfizer / BioNtech Covid - 19 Vaccine in Asia .

 Singapore is the first Asian country has  approved corona virus   vaccine developed by United States pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German firm BioNTech . First shipment will arrive in Singapore by the end of December .

The Health Sciences Authority ( HSA) has studied the scientific evidence and clinical trial data for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Priority will be given to those at greatest risk, such as frontline and healthcare workers, and the elderly and vulnerable.

Vaccinations will be free for all Singaporeans as well as long-term residents currently in Singapore.

Two doses are required to be administered 21 days apart, in people aged 16 years and above, according to the vaccination regime submitted by Pfizer-BioNTech.

Khunjerab Pass : Pakistan China Border , The Highest Border Crossing In The World

People Visit Khunjerab Pass To See Pak China Border  From Different Parts of Pakistan .

 

Khunjerab Pass  is a high mountain pass on the northern border of Pakistan with China, The altitute is 4.733m (15,528ft) above the sea level. The Khunjerab Pass is the highest border-crossing in the world and the highest point on the Karakoram Highway.

 Khunjerab Pass is located in the Karakoram Mountains in a strategic position on the northern border of Pakistan's Gilgit–Baltistan Hunza-Nagar District on the southwest border of the Xinjiang region of China .

The Khunjerab Pass is only open Monday through Friday. Hours of opening aren’t really of concern to travelers as the border is only open to those taking the NATCO and Hunza-Xinjiang Trading Co. buses, and those with their own vehicles that will cross with the convoy of buses. If you are curious, the Chinese side is open from 11 am-8 pm Beijing time (9 am-6 pm Xinjiang time). The Pakistani side is open from 9 am-5 pm. The border is closed for Chinese and Pakistani (as well as Islamic holidays) so do check ahead that you won’t be planning to cross on a holiday.

Khunjerab Pass is closed during winter season from November to April . So don't make any plan to visit there in those months .

Pfizer/BioNtech's Covid Vaccine Approved by FDA For Emergency Use In US .

 The Food and Drug Administration has approved Pfizer and BioEntech's Corona virus vaccine for emergency use in US .

The approval marks a turning point in a pandemic that has claimed more than 294,000 American lives and 1.5 million lives globally.

Earlier this week, the one-day COVID-19 death total topped 3,000, while hospital intensive care units across the country are nearing capacity, threatening to overwhelm healthcare systems . 

The vaccine was set to roll out of Pfizer’s principal manufacturing facilities in Michigan within hours and could be administered to the first, highest-priority recipients by the end of Monday .

 The US follows other countries, including the UK, Canada. Mexico and Bahrain which have also authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for broader  public use .

The FDA clearance marks a record-breaking time frame for a process that normally takes about a decade. The fastest-ever vaccine development, for mumps, took more than four years and was licensed in 1967. Pfizer and BioNTech announced plans to develop a coronavirus vaccine in March and submitted an application to the FDA for emergency authorization in November. 

The FDA is also considering a vaccine by Moderna, which could receive emergency authorisation as soon as next week .

" V Day " Covid -19 Vaccine Rollout Begins In United Kingdom .

90-year-old Margaret Keenan, the first patient in the UK to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, at University Hospital, 

 

 

 

 Margaret Keenan a 90 year old woman has become the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outside of a clinical  trial .

United Kingdom  began rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine on 8th December 2020  dubbed “V-Day”, the first Western country to start vaccinating its general population .

On 5th December 2020 Russia began vaccinating thousands of doctors, teachers and others at dozens of centres in Moscow with its Sputnik V vaccine. That programme is being viewed differently because Russia authorised use of Sputnik V last summer after it was tested in only a few dozen people. 

 The UK has recorded 61,000 COVID-19 related deaths – more than any other country has reported in Europe, and over 1.7  million cases .

Ray Of Hope : Russia Starts Mass Covid -19 Vaccination with its Sputnik V shot .

Russia has has begun distributing a its COVID-19 vaccine Sputinik V , marking Russia's first mass immunisation effort against the disease.

Moscow's  coronavirus task force said the Sputnik V COVID-19 shot would first be made available via 70 clinics to doctors and other medical workers, teachers and social workers because they ran the highest risk of exposure to the disease.

Moscow the epicenter of Russia's coronavirus outbreak registered 7,993 new cases overnight, up from 6,868 a day before and well above the daily tallies of around 700 seen in early September.

Over the first five hours, 5,000 people signed up for the jab - teachers, doctors, social workers, those who are today risking their health and lives the most . 

The age for those receiving shots is capped at 60. People with certain underlying health conditions, pregnant women and those who have had a respiratory illness for the past two weeks are  barred from vaccination .