Attitudes vary across the region. Singapore, Australia and New...
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China wanted to show off its vaccines. It’s backfiring
To be sure, the Chinese vaccines have a big appeal to many countries. More than 40 countries have expressed an interest in importing Chinese vaccines, according to China’s Foreign Ministry. Several world leaders, including President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, have gotten a Sinovac vaccine.
But the spotty and inconsistent disclosures about the vaccines remain a problem. Sinopharm, has said a vaccine candidate made by its Beijing Institute of Biological Products arm has an efficacy rate of 79 per cent, but it did not disclose crucial details. Sinopharm didn’t respond to a request for comment.
US leading race in artificial intelligence, China rising: Survey
“The Chinese government has made AI a top priority and the results are showing,” said Daniel Castro, director of the think tank’s Center for Data Innovation and lead author of the report.
Google opening up its spaces in US to serve as mass COVID-19 vaccination sites: Sundar Pichai
“Today we’re announcing that we’ll be opening up Google spaces to serve as mass vaccination sites, committing more than USD 150 million to promote vaccine education and equitable distribution, and making it easier for you to find where and when to get a vaccine,” Pichai announced in a blog post on Monday.
“Searches for ‘vaccines near me’ have increased 5x since the beginning of the year and we want to make sure we’re providing timely and locally relevant answers,” he said.
Facebook says ‘configuration change’ at back-end logged out some users
“We’re looking into reports of people being logged out and having to login again to access their Facebook accounts. We’re working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience,” Facebook tweeted.
Google to redesign mobile search with new interface
According to The Verge, Aileen Cheng, who led the redesign, in an official release announced on Friday, “We wanted to take a step back to simplify a bit so people could find what they’re looking for faster and more easily.”
Cash for Covid? UK says no decision on reported plan for positive tests
Currently, only some people receiving welfare benefits receive a 500 pound payment if they are told to self-isolate, but according to an official policy paper seen by the Guardian newspaper and others, ministers were looking at making this a universal payment to all who tested positive.
This would cost up to 453 million pounds a week, 12 times the cost of the current system, the Guardian said.
42 pc girls allowed access to mobile phone for less than an hour a day: Survey
Most parents felt that a mobile phone is ”unsafe” and an ”unhealthy distraction” for an adolescent girl, the survey said. ”Even when families and adolescents can afford smartphones, computers or other digital devices, it is always the male family members’ usage of such devices that is prioritized,” the survey found.
Noting that financial affordability is a major cause for lack of access, the survey said 71 percent of the girls do not own a mobile phone because they cannot afford it. ”81 percent of families say they cannot afford one, while 79 percent do not have a computer at home,” it said.
New online tool can calculate COVID-19 transmission risk in poorly-ventilated places
Scientists agree that the vast majority of Covid-19 cases are spread through indoor transmission, whether via aerosols or droplets.The researchers noted that it only takes a matter of seconds for aerosols to spread over two meters when masks are not worn, implying that physical distancing in the absence of ventilation is not sufficient to provide safety for long exposure times.
Amazon to open pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Seattle headquarters
The move came a day after Reuters reported that Amazon had offered to help with the United States’ efforts involving the COVID-19 vaccine, citing a letter addressed to President Joe Biden.
The State currently allows people aged 65 and older and people 50 and older living in a multi-generational household to get vaccinated. It has yet to grant doses for the vaccination of warehouse employees, such as Amazon’s.
Nasal Covid-19 vaccine will be easy to give to children: AIIMS director
“It (coronavirus infection) is very mild in children but they are infectious. They can spread the disease.”
“The vaccines that have come are not approved for children because there have been no studies conducted on children but this (vaccination) is a very important step and trials are being done,” he said.