WHO insists AstraZeneca vaccine safe as jab faces new setbacks

A Royal Navy medic prepares syringes ahead of giving injections of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Bath, southwest England. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 12 March 2021
Follow

WHO insists AstraZeneca vaccine safe as jab faces new setbacks

  • “AstraZeneca is an excellent vaccine, as are the other vaccines that are being used,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said
  • UK-based AstraZeneca insisted its jab was safe, adding there is “no evidence” of higher blood clot risks from it

GENEVA: The World Health Organization said Friday there is no reason to stop using AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine after several countries suspended the rollout over blood clot fears while some nations begin warning of another virus wave.
The WHO, which said its vaccines advisory committee was examining the safety data coming in, stressed that no causal link has been established between the AstraZeneca vaccine and clotting.
“AstraZeneca is an excellent vaccine, as are the other vaccines that are being used,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva.
“Yes, we should continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine,” she added, stressing that any concerns over safety must be investigated.
UK-based AstraZeneca insisted its jab was safe, adding there is “no evidence” of higher blood clot risks from it.
Despite hopes that vaccines will pave the way to a return to normality, hard-hit Italy announced tough new restrictions in much of the country, with Prime Minister Mario Draghi warning the country was facing “a new wave” of infections.
One year after it became the first European country to face a major outbreak, Italy is once again struggling with the rapid spread of Covid-19, this time fueled by new, more contagious variants.
Schools, restaurants, shops and museums were ordered Friday to close across most regions of Italy, including Rome and Milan from next week.
The Greek authorities on Friday spoke of a “serious epidemiological situation,” also warning of a third wave as infection numbers mount in Athens and other major towns.
Health experts there warned that restriction measures in place, including school closures in the major conurbations, would be extended once more.
And Disneyland Paris, Europe’s biggest tourist attraction, said Friday it will not be able to reopen as planned on April 2 because of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis with infections remaining stubbornly high in France.
The shadow cast over the AstraZeneca jab is adding to problems the European Union has had in distributing coronavirus vaccines.
Denmark, Norway and Iceland paused the use of the AstraZeneca jab as a precaution after isolated reports of recipients developing blood clots.
Italy and Austria have banned the use of shots from separate batches of AstraZeneca, and Thailand and Bulgaria said this week they would delay the rollout of the shot.
In Spain at least five regions said Friday they had suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccines from the suspect batch banned by Austria as a precautionary measure.
But several other countries, including Australia, said they would continue their rollouts as they had found no reason to alter course. Canada also said there was no evidence the jab causes adverse reactions.
In a fresh hit, the EU’s drug regulator said severe allergies should be added to the possible side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine after likely links were found to a number of cases in Britain.

Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on Friday suggested that some European countries may have signed “secret contracts” with vaccine companies to receive more vaccines than they were entitled to based on EU rules.
EU members have agreed that vaccines should be distributed among countries based on population size, but Kurz said that after comparing the total procurement figures of member states, it became clear that “deliveries do not follow the per capita quota system.”
Despite the setbacks elsewhere, US President Joe Biden offered hope to his country, the worst-affected in the world.
The leader vowed a return to some kind of normality by July 4, marking the national holiday as his target for “independence” from the virus.
After a shaky start, the US has ramped up its vaccination program, following the advice of scientists who say jabs are the only way out of a pandemic that has killed 2.6 million people around the world.
There was also some encouraging news on the vaccine front as the WHO on Friday approved Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, paving the way for an additional 500 million doses to enter the Covax global vaccine-sharing scheme.
“Every new, safe and effective tool against Covid-19 is another step closer to controlling the pandemic,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
The news comes after the single-dose jab won approval from the European Union on Thursday.
It has also received the green light from regulators in the United States, Canada, South Africa and France — which on Friday topped 90,000 coronavirus fatalities since the start of the pandemic .
Meanwhile it was announced that India will manufacture at least one billion more Covid-19 vaccine doses by the end of next year in a joint initiative with the United States, Japan and Australia.
Following the nations’ first four-way summit, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said the so-called Quad had made a “massive joint commitment” to vaccines.
“The Quad committed to delivering up to one billion doses to ASEAN, the Indo-Pacific and beyond by the end of 2022,” Sullivan told reporters.
burs-pvh/har

ASTRAZENECA
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
EURO DISNEY SCA


Beijing warns UK against ‘provoking tensions’ over South China Sea

Updated 11 March 2025
Follow

Beijing warns UK against ‘provoking tensions’ over South China Sea

  • China claims the strategically important waterway in nearly its entirety
  • ‘The South China Sea is currently one of the safest and freest maritime routes in the world’

BEIJING: China warned Britain on Tuesday against “provoking tensions” in the South China Sea after its foreign minister David Lammy called Beijing’s actions in the disputed waters “dangerous and destabilising.”
In a video partly filmed alongside a vessel belonging to the Philippine Coast Guard, Lammy on Monday condemned “dangerous and destabilising activities” by Beijing in the South China Sea.
China claims the strategically important waterway in nearly its entirety, despite an international ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
Asked about Lammy’s comments, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said “the UK should respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea and refrain from provoking tensions or sowing discord over regional disputes.”
“The South China Sea is currently one of the safest and freest maritime routes in the world,” Mao said.
Beijing has deployed navy and coast guard vessels in a bid to bar Manila from crucial reefs and islands in the South China Sea, leading to a string of confrontations in recent months.
In a Saturday meeting with his Filipino counterpart Enrique Manalo, Britain and the Philippines signed a joint framework to boost defense and maritime cooperation.
The Philippines has similar agreements with the United States, Australia and Japan.


India brings home nearly 300 citizens rescued from Southeast Asian scam centers

Updated 11 March 2025
Follow

India brings home nearly 300 citizens rescued from Southeast Asian scam centers

  • Thousands of people have been freed from cyber scam centers
  • Countries are working together to crack down on the criminal networks

NEW DELHI: India has brought home nearly 300 of its nationals who were lured to various southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar, with fake job offers and made to engage in cybercrime and other fraudulent activities in scam compounds, the government said.
Thousands of people have been freed from cyber scam centers along the Thailand-Myanmar border this year as countries work together to crack down on the criminal networks.
China and Indonesia repatriated some of their citizens last month.
“Indian embassies in Myanmar and Thailand have coordinated with local authorities to secure the repatriation of 283 Indian nationals today by an IAF (Indian Air Force) aircraft from Mae Sot in Thailand,” India’s foreign ministry said late on Monday.
Thailand arrested 100 people last week as a part of its crackdown on the scam centers.
Criminal gangs have trafficked hundreds of thousands of people to the centers, which generate billions of dollars a year from illegal online schemes, according to the United Nations.
India also warned its citizens against the scams, advising them to “verify” the credentials of foreign employers and check the “antecedents” of recruiting agents and companies before taking up job offers.


WHO warns difficult decisions ‘unavoidable’ as it slims down recruitment

Updated 11 March 2025
Follow

WHO warns difficult decisions ‘unavoidable’ as it slims down recruitment

  • The WHO has begun “prioritization” work to make the global health agency sustainable, the document says

GENEVA: The World Health Organization has warned that difficult decisions will be “unavoidable” in an internal memo seen by Reuters on Tuesday announcing a recruitment freeze and a one-year limit on new fixed-term contracts.
The WHO has begun “prioritization” work to make the global health agency sustainable, the document says, adding that staff are working to secure additional funding from countries, private donors and philanthropists.


UN migration agency in turmoil after US aid freeze

Updated 11 March 2025
Follow

UN migration agency in turmoil after US aid freeze

  • The UN agency, which at the end of last year employed around 22,000 people, has already laid off thousands
  • The IOM announced on February 1 that it was scaling up its efforts across Latin America and the Caribbean

GENEVA: Hit hard by US aid funding cuts, the UN migration agency is battling claims from current and former staff of now pandering to Washington and providing cover for mass deportations.
Like many humanitarian agencies, the International Organization for Migration has been reeling since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, pushing an anti-migrant agenda and immediately freezing most US foreign aid funding.
“These funding cuts directly affect IOM’s ability to support some of the world’s most vulnerable people,” an IOM spokesperson said, warning this would “lead to more suffering, increased migration, and greater insecurity.”
The United Nations agency, which at the end of last year employed around 22,000 people, has already laid off thousands.
It has also been accused of allowing its assisted voluntary return (AVR) program to be used to “bluewash” — or give a UN stamp of approval — to Trump’s mass deportation scheme.
IOM announced on February 1 that it was scaling up its efforts across Latin America and the Caribbean “to help migrants return home, reintegrate and rebuild their lives.”
It said it had resumed its AVR programs in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, as well as Panama, which with Costa Rica has reached an agreement to take in migrants from other countries deported by the United States.
Describing its activities as “a lifeline for stranded migrants,” it said it aimed to provide “urgent support” to those “unable or unwilling to remain where they are and need help to return home safely and with dignity.”
“Without this vital support, conditions for the people impacted would be far worse,” the spokesperson insisted.
But one of the thousands of IOM employees who received notice last month warned it looked “like there is an effort to align ourselves with the administration.”
This was “very concerning,” she said, asking not to be named.
“It really looks very bad for IOM’s reputation,” agreed a former agency staff member, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
The criticisms come as the IOM seeks its footing after the threat that all US funding — accounting for around 40 percent of its total financing — could evaporate indefinitely.
“We have to make some really hard decisions about staff because we simply can’t afford to pay staff when we’re not actually being paid for our work,” IOM chief Amy Pope said recently.
The biggest impact so far has been seen in connection with the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), since the Trump administration has suspended all refugee entries into the country.
Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden embraced the program designed to facilitate legal resettlement of vetted refugees, resettling over 100,000 refugees in the United States last year.
Trump’s sudden about-face prompted the IOM last month to send pink slips to 3,000 staff, warning more “adjustments” were likely.
“It was quite a shock,” the dismissed staff member said.
Another former employee said staff were “appalled” by the swift pace of the layoffs.
Those at IOM headquarters in Geneva were especially bracing for more mass job cuts.
According to an internal memo from the IOM’s Global Staff Association Committee, seen by AFP, management last month ordered directors to slash a certain percentage of their department costs.
Word inside headquarters is that around one third of around 550 staff there will soon get the axe, the former employee said, with “managers under huge pressure to meet quotas.”
“People are terrified... They’ve got laser beams pointed at their heads.”
IOM staff and union representatives have sent complaints to management about the abrupt layoffs, warning of detrimental impacts on employees and on many of the tens of millions of migrants the organization serves.
Also sparking outrage was a report by the Devex news organization last month suggesting IOM had scrubbed its website of content that could be construed as promoting Trump’s bete noir — DEI (diversity, equality and inclusion).
IOM did not respond directly to that allegation but said it had “recently relaunched its global website following a year-long review, refining content to align with evolving contexts and in accordance with United Nations humanitarian principles.”
The laid-off employee said the Devex report “really hurt.”
“We can align ourselves with certain priorities of this (US) administration,” she said.
“But we shouldn’t lose our identity in the process.”


UN migration agency says aid to Rohingya in Indonesia reinstated

Updated 11 March 2025
Follow

UN migration agency says aid to Rohingya in Indonesia reinstated

  • Chief of mission, Jeff Labovitz, said there is no current planned reduction in services

JAKARTA: The United Nations’ migration agency has reinstated its humanitarian assistance to Rohingya refugees in Indonesia, its chief of mission in Jakarta told Reuters on Tuesday.
Chief of mission, Jeff Labovitz, said there is no current planned reduction in services.
A Reuters report last week cited the agency as saying it would slash aid to hundreds of Rohingya sheltering in the city of Pekanbaru on the island of Sumatra.