Expert: Vaccines will reduce coronavirus to ‘sniffles’

Vaccinations will reduce the impact of COVID-19 from grave illness to mere “sniffles,” according to an Oxford Vaccine Group expert. (Shutterstock/Illustration
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Updated 10 February 2021
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Expert: Vaccines will reduce coronavirus to ‘sniffles’

  • Recently introduced inoculations will ‘have a huge impact on transmission’

LONDON: Vaccinations will reduce the impact of COVID-19 from grave illness to mere “sniffles,” according to an Oxford Vaccine Group expert.

Prof. Andrew Pollard told British MPs that he believes the recently introduced vaccines will “have a huge impact on transmission.”

Fears have risen in recent days that new variants of COVID-19 might be vaccine resistant, but he played down these concerns, saying this might not be an issue if the vaccines protect against serious illness.

Pollard, who studies new and improved vaccines, delivered his comments as ministers look to boost confidence in the Oxford-AstraZeneca inoculation, which the UK is set to rely on, after a study in South Africa found that it appeared to have little effect in preventing mild illness caused by one of the major variants.

“The virus will only survive if it is able to make new versions of itself that can still spread despite that immunity,” he said.

“In the trials in those regions where new variants are emerging, we are not seeing a sudden shift where lots of people who are vaccinated are ending up in hospital.”

Pollard warned that “we might need boosters every year” if new trials of vaccines continue this trend, but he said we “might be generating enough immunity with the current generation of vaccines to stop severe disease.” He added: “If people have just got the sniffles, then I think our job is done.”


Kremlin blasts potential EU deployment of French nuclear bombers

Updated 59 min 10 sec ago
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Kremlin blasts potential EU deployment of French nuclear bombers

  • Russia, the world’s biggest nuclear power, possesses about 4,000 warheads and views France’s nuclear deterrence as a potential threat to its national security
  • The French president floated the idea during a TV appearance on Tuesday

MOSCOW: The possible deployment of French nuclear bombers across the EU will not enhance security on the continent, the Kremlin said Wednesday, after French President Emmanuel Macron said he was ready to discuss the issue.
“The proliferation of nuclear weapons on the European continent is something that will not add security, predictability, or stability to the European continent,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The French president floated the idea during a TV appearance on Tuesday, comparing it to the United States’s nuclear umbrella policy that guarantees Washington would reciprocate if its allies come under nuclear attack.
“The Americans have the bombs on planes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkiye,” Macron told TF1 television.
“We are ready to open this discussion. I will define the framework in a very specific way in the weeks and months to come.”
France is the EU’s only nuclear-armed nation.
Amid Russia’s offensive on Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s calls on Europe to take more of the burden for its own defense, discussion is growing over extending Paris’s nuclear deterrent to the rest of the 27-member bloc.
Russia, the world’s biggest nuclear power, possesses about 4,000 warheads and views France’s nuclear deterrence as a potential threat to its national security.
“At present, the entire system of strategic stability and security is in a deplorable state for obvious reasons,” Peskov added.
Amid his offensive on Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has several times threatened nuclear escalation, drawing rebukes from the West over “reckless” rhetoric.


‘Albania belongs in EU,’ von der Leyen tells re-elected PM Rama

Updated 14 May 2025
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‘Albania belongs in EU,’ von der Leyen tells re-elected PM Rama

  • EU and French leaders congratulated Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama Wednesday after his party’s electoral victory

BRUSSELS: EU and French leaders congratulated Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama Wednesday after his party’s electoral victory, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailing his “great progress toward our Union.”
“Let’s keep working closely together on EU reforms. Albania belongs in the EU!” von der Leyen said on X. French President Emmanuel Macron also hailed Rama’s win, writing on X: “France will always stand alongside Albania on its European path.”


Germany arrests three Ukrainians suspected of spying in exploding parcel plot

Updated 14 May 2025
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Germany arrests three Ukrainians suspected of spying in exploding parcel plot

BERLIN: Germany has arrested three Ukrainian nationals on suspicion of foreign agent activity linked to the shipment of parcels containing explosive devices, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The suspects are believed to have been in contact with individuals working for Russian state institutions, federal prosecutors said in a statement.


France says to expel Algerian diplomats in tit-for-tat move

Updated 14 May 2025
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France says to expel Algerian diplomats in tit-for-tat move

PARIS: France will expel Algerian diplomats in response to plans by Algiers to send more French officials home, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Wednesday, as relations between the countries deteriorate.
Barrot told the BFMTV broadcaster that he would summon Algeria’s charge d’affaires to inform him of the decision that he said was “perfectly proportionate at this point” to the Algerian move, which he called “unjustified and unjustifiable.”


Japanese military training plane crashes with two on board

Updated 14 May 2025
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Japanese military training plane crashes with two on board

TOKYO: A Japanese military training plane crashed shortly after takeoff, authorities said Wednesday, with reports saying two people were on board the aircraft which appeared to have fallen in a lake.
“We’re aware a T-4 plane that belongs to the Air Self-Defense Force fell down immediately after taking off at Komaki Air Base” in central Japan, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
“Details are being probed by the defense ministry,” he told reporters.
The T-4 seats two and is a “domestically produced, highly reliable and maintainable training aircraft... used for all basic flight courses,” according to the defense ministry website.
The aircraft was flying around Lake Iruka near Inuyama city north of Nagoya, according to media outlets including public broadcaster NHK.
“There is no sight of the plane yet. We’ve been told that an aerial survey by an Aichi region helicopter found a spot where oil was floating on the surface of the lake,” local fire department official Hajjime Nakamura told AFP.
He said his office had received unconfirmed information that there were two people on board but that they had not been able to independently verify this.
Aerial footage of the lake broadcast by NHK showed an oil sheen on its surface, dotted with what appeared to be various pieces of debris.
Just after 3:00 p.m. (0600 GMT) the local fire department received a call saying it appeared that a plane had crashed into the lake, the reports said.
The reports added, citing defense ministry sources, that the training plane had disappeared from the radar.
The defense ministry was not able to immediately confirm details to AFP.
Jiji Press said the local municipality had said there had been no damage to houses in the area.