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The AstraZeneca vaccine is still safe and recommended for use, while studies continue to probe a potential link to its “very rare” side effects, including blood clots, said WHO Deputy Director-General Mariangela Simao.
“The position is that the benefits outweigh the risks,” Simao said at a press conference on Friday. “A potential link to a very rare side event … that would occur [to] one in a million, is still under review by the WHO and also by the European Medicines Agency and other regulatory agencies. “
German researchers last week looked at how the vaccine could cause rare cerebral thrombosis in a small number of patients and found that targeted treatment could be offered to those with similar clotting, using a common drug. . Several countries, including Germany, have briefly suspended use of the vaccine due to clotting problems.
Europe
The number of confirmed cases in Germany rose by 20,472, bringing the total to 2,755,225, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for Infectious Diseases on Saturday. Meanwhile, the reported death toll increased from 157 to 75,780.
German health officials warned on Friday that the third wave of infections would likely be “more difficult to curb” than the previous two, in large part because of the more virulent and more easily transmitted B117 variant.
RKI leader Lothar Wieler called on Germans to reduce their social contacts during the Easter holidays.
Americas
United States has administered nearly 137,000,000 doses of the COVID vaccine and distributed more than 177,000,000 doses to date, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention.
Meanwhile, former CDC director Robert Redfield said he believed the virus had likely escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan, China.
“I still think the most likely etiology of this pathogen in Wuhan was from a lab, you know, that escaped,” Redfield told CNN. “It is not uncommon for respiratory pathogens being worked on in a lab to infect a lab worker.”
The theory has been rejected by many global epidemiologists and has contributed to tensions between China and the United States.
Brazil set a new daily record with 3,650 deaths in 24 hours, Brasilia’s health ministry said on Friday. The country’s total death toll now stands at 307,112, with more than 12.4 million confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.
The milestone comes as the Butantan Institute of Sao Paolo announced the development of a “100% Brazilian” vaccine. The institute said it plans to start using the jab in July.
Butantan is the largest vaccine producer in Brazil and manufactures the CoronaVac vaccine produced by Chinese company Sinovac.
In Venezuela, Facebook has frozen President Nicolas Maduro’s page for violating policies against spreading disinformation about the virus by promoting a cure that, without evidence, can cure the disease, a company spokesperson said.
Maduro in January described Carvativir, an oral solution derived from thyme, as a “miracle” drug that neutralizes the coronavirus without side effects. Doctors said his claim was not supported by science.
lc / mm (AP, AFP, Reuters)
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