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Pandemic

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Immunized but banned: EU says not all Covid vaccines equal

Although AstraZeneca vaccine produced in Europe has been authorized by the continent’s drug regulatory agency, the same shot manufactured in India hasn’t been given the green light. EU regulators said AstraZeneca hasn’t completed the necessary paperwork on the Indian factory, including details on its production practices and quality control standards.

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Study finds why people with diabetes develop severe Covid-19

“Our research is showing that maybe if we are able to target patients with diabetes with interferon, especially early in their infection, that may actually make a big difference,” W. James Melvin, M.D. said.
Type 2 diabetes- a condition affecting more than 10 per cent of the US population– is one of the main risk factors for severe COVID-19 illness. New research from U-M uncovers why this might be and offers hope for potential therapy.

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Diet impacts COVID-19 risk, severity: Study

The results also suggest that public health strategies that improve access to healthy foods and address social determinants of health may help to reduce the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our findings are a call to governments and stakeholders to prioritize healthy diets and wellbeing with impactful policies, otherwise we risk losing decades of economic progress and a substantial increase in health disparities,” said Merino.

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Pandemic prompting professionals to rethink their career paths: Amazon India survey

About 59 percent of the respondents said they were actively searching for a job.

More than one in three (35 percent) respondents said they saw their pay cut as a result of COVID-19, while 68 percent said they are looking to switch industries as a result of COVID-19.

One in three (33 percent) respondents said they are looking for a new job right now where ”they can do more meaningful work”.

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Vaccination is the medicine to boost economy: FM

”All our prayers are not for a third wave (of the Covid-19 virus). Suppose, if it occurs, then one has to think about the availability of hospitals, even if there is a hospital, does it have an ICU, and even if there is an ICU, does it have oxygen support? For all these questions, the Ministry announced a scheme allowing hospitals to ramp up the expansion when there was a huge impact in the country caused by the second wave (of Covid-19),” she said.

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UK’s Sunak wants insurers to explore products for social care costs

Social care refers to long-term health care outside hospitals.Sunak has asked officials to work with insurers to consider “new products” that can help with social care costs, the treasury source said.

“We’re hopeful that in time the cap on costs will provide the clarity insurers need to create new products,” the source said.

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Covid-19 Pandemic risks worsening on Africa variants, scientists say

A study of genomes from 33 African nations and two “overseas territories,” published in the journal Science on Thursday, tracks the evolution of the pandemic across the continent and the emergence of a number of so-called Variants of Concern and Variants of Interest. One of those, beta, spread around the globe earlier this year and rendered some vaccines partially ineffective.

The “slow rollout of vaccines in most African countries creates an environment in which the virus can replicate and evolve,” the organizations said. “This will almost certainly produce additional VOCs, any of which could derail the global fight against Covid-19.”

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