BRAZIL

Brazil’s Bolsonaro names 4th health minister during pandemic

11:57 pm March 16, 2021

Sao Paulo: With COVID-19 still raging in Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro picked his fourth health minister since the pandemic began, this time the head of the country’s cardiology society who in the past has spoken favourably of the country’s conservative leader. Marcelo Queiroga will replace Eduardo Pazuello, an active-duty army general with expertise in logistics who landed the position last May […]

Sao Paulo state stops professional sports as COVID-19 rages

11:51 am March 12, 2021

Sao Paulo: Professional sports in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo will stop from Monday until March 30 because of a rise in coronavirus cases, Gov. João Doria said. The decision includes the local soccer championship, which started less than two weeks ago. Doria said that activities that produce large gatherings need to stop before the state’s health system collapses. More […]

Medical oxygen scarce in Africa, Latin America amid virus

11:42 pm February 25, 2021

Dakar: A crisis over the supply of medical oxygen for coronavirus patients has struck nations in Africa and Latin America, where warnings went unheeded at the start of the pandemic and doctors say the shortage has led to unnecessary deaths. It takes about 12 weeks to install a hospital oxygen plant and even less time […]

Three month gap between Oxford vaccine jabs provides better efficacy: Study

2:39 pm February 20, 2021

New Delhi: A three-month interval between doses of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine results in higher vaccine efficacy than a six-week gap, according to a new study which says the first dose can offer up to 76 percent protection in the months between the two jabs. The results of the analysis from a phase 3 randomized controlled […]

Clinical trials indicate India’s vaccines will be effective against Covid-19 variants: ICMR

2:23 pm February 19, 2021

Thiruvananthapuram: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Balram Bhargava has said interim results of the ongoing clinical trials indicated that the indigenous Covid-19 vaccines would be effective against the mutated virus strains reported from the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil. A paper on Covaxin’s neutralization potential against the UK strain has […]