Health & Science

• Saturday, March 20th 2021 - 09:07 UTC

  VW closing down production in four plants in Brazil because of the pandemic

  

  Germany's Volkswagen said on Friday that it will suspend production at its four plants in Brazil owing to a surge in coronavirus infections in the country. The Wolfsburg-based firm said it will stop factories from March 24 for a 12-day period “to protect the health of its employees and their families.”

• Saturday, March 20th 2021 - 08:44 UTC

  Boris Johnson received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, “I did not feel a thing”

  

  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson received his first dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Friday and urged the public to do the same, saying “he did not feel a thing.”

• Friday, March 19th 2021 - 09:46 UTC

  Falklands ready to receive third batch of Covid-19 vaccines

  

  The Falkland Islands Government has received confirmation that it will receive a third batch of Covid-19 vaccines and, while the exact timing is yet to be confirmed, it is anticipated that these will arrive in the week beginning 22 March.

• Thursday, March 18th 2021 - 08:50 UTC

  Second dose of Covid vaccinations set to begin in the Falklands

  

  The next phase of Covid vaccinations in the Falklands is set to begin on 23 March, the Falkland Islands Government confirmed on Tuesday. The upcoming vaccination round will see people who received their first dose between 8-12 February receive their second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab.

• Thursday, March 18th 2021 - 08:35 UTC

  Brazil with record contagions and deaths, and a deal to purchase 100 million Pfizer doses

  

  Brazil has reported a single-day record of 90,303 new cases of COVID-19, as the country continues to grapple with mounting coronavirus infections and deaths.

• Wednesday, March 17th 2021 - 09:50 UTC

  EU regulatory body convinced that AstraZeneca vaccines benefits outweigh possible risks

  

  The EU regulatory body is “fully convinced” that the vaccine's benefits outweigh possible risks. Global health experts have been under growing pressure to answer questions over the safety of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot. “There is ”no indication'' that AstraZeneca vaccines are the cause of blood clots reported in some shot recipients, the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) chief said on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, March 17th 2021 - 08:39 UTC

  Regular booster vaccines will be needed against Covid-19, because of mutations

  

  Regular booster vaccines against the coronavirus will be needed because of mutations that make it more transmissible and better able to evade human immunity, the head of Britain's effort to sequence the virus' genomes said.

• Tuesday, March 16th 2021 - 09:53 UTC

  WHO insists that AstraZeneca vaccine is safe; EU countries suspend jabs on isolated cases of blood clots

  

  REUTERS – The World Health Organization's director-general said on Monday that systems meant to protect public health were working, as several countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine to investigate possible side-effects.

• Tuesday, March 16th 2021 - 09:40 UTC

  Bolsonaro appoints his fourth Health minister, a cardiologist

  

  With Covid-19 infections and deaths seeing in Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro confirmed on Monday that he will appoint cardiologist Marcelo Queiroga as the replacement to health minister Eduardo Pazuello. This would be the third change for the position in less than a year.

• Tuesday, March 16th 2021 - 08:37 UTC

  German doctors call for an “immediate return” to lockdown to avoid third wave of Covid-19

  

  Intensive care doctors in Germany warned on Monday that the country would need to make an “immediate return” to partial lockdown if it is to avoid stumbling into a dangerous third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.