World
Dhaka is world's most polluted city
Dhaka has once again topped the list of world cities with the worst air quality.
The capital's air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 184 at 8.48 am on Saturday.
Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and China’s Wuhan occupied the next two spots, with AQI scores of 180 and 173, respectively.
An AQI between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy', particularly for sensitive groups.
Similarly, an AQI between 201 and 300 is said to be 'poor', while a reading of 301 to 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents.
READ: Air Pollution: Dhaka ranks 2nd worst, Lahore tops list
AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, is used by government agencies to inform people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for them.
In Bangladesh, the AQI is based on five criteria pollutants -- Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone.
Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy during winter and improves during monsoon.
A report by the Department of Environment (DoE) and the World Bank in March 2019 pointed out that the three main sources of air pollution in Dhaka "are brick kilns, fumes from vehicles and dust from construction sites".
With the advent of winter, the city’s air quality starts deteriorating sharply due to the massive discharge of pollutant particles from construction works, rundown roads, brick kilns and other sources.
Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.
READ: Downpour downs pollution levels in Dhaka
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.
World needs New Delhi at the table permanently: India
India's performance as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council indicates that the world needs India to be at the horseshoe table permanently, the country's envoy to the United Nations TS Tirumurti has said.
"India took its place in the Security Council for the eighth time as an elected member - The highlight of our presence in the Security Council so far has been our presidency in August," Mr Tirumurti, who is India's Permanent Representative to the UN, said in a video, reports NDTV.
India's Permanent Mission to the UN posted the special video highlighting the several achievements by India as its first year in the UN Security Council draws to a close.
Read: 90 pc of adult population in India vaccinated against COVID-19 with first dose: Union Health Ministry
The video chronicles India's journey as a non-permanent UNSC member in 2021 including its Presidency of the 15-nation Council in August, on combatting terrorism, UN peacekeeping, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Africa, Middle East and Climate action.
"Our performance again indicates that the world needs India to be at the horseshoe table permanently," Mr Tirumurti said, as he underscored the need for New Delhi to have a seat at the UN Security Council as a permanent veto-welding member.
Narendra Modi also became the first Indian Prime Minister to preside over a UN Security Council Open Debate as he chaired the high-level session on 'Enhancing Maritime Security - A Case for International Cooperation' on August 9.
For the first time, the Security Council adopted a presidential statement on maritime security. The visit of the Indian Prime Minister to the United Nations and to address the UN General Assembly was "certainly a high point this year", he said.
It was during India's August presidency of the Council that the situation in Afghanistan rapidly deteriorated, requiring the Security Council to act without any delay, Mr Tirumurti said, adding that Resolution 2593 on Afghanistan was adopted under India's presidency, which demands assurances that Afghan soil will not be used for terrorism against other countries and that the authorities in Kabul will act against all terrorists, including those designated by the 1267 Sanctions Committee.
Significantly, India firmly opposed the attempt by countries to bring the issue of climate change into the Security Council. Mr Tirumurti had said at the Council meeting earlier this month that "India is second to none when it comes to climate action and climate justice. But the Security Council is not the place to discuss either issue. In fact, the attempt to do so appears to be motivated by a desire to evade responsibility in the appropriate forum."
At the flag installation ceremony in the beginning of the year for the incoming UNSC members, Mr Tirumurti had highlighted that India comes into the Security Council "as a largest democracy, representing 1/6 of humanity and a very strong commitment to reformed multilateralism, rule of law, a fair and equitable international system and to peace, security and development."
Mr Tirumurti said in the video that India has been consistent in its support for transition to democracy, whether in Myanmar or in Africa and on issues affecting the developing world, India has been a strong voice to protect their interests.
"Our steadfast commitment to safeguarding the interests of the developing world is reflected in our performance," he said.
Further, given its predominant role in UN peacekeeping, India gave UN peacekeeping a strong focus in the last one year, including during its August Presidency.
During a meeting in August, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that peacekeeping continues to play a crucial role in India's vision of ensuring international peace and security and providing greater clarity, direction and professionalism in UN peacekeeping operations is at the heart of the vision.
Read: Indian Centre Allows Export Of 7 Crore Covovax Doses To Three Foreign Countries
After nearly five decades, India piloted a resolution on 'Protecting the Protectors', calling for accountability for crimes against peacekeepers. India also gifted 200,000 COVID vaccines to cover every peacekeeper in every peacekeeping mission throughout the world.
Jaishankar had also chaired a briefing on ISIL Daesh during India's presidency and New Delhi helped shape the Global Counterterrorism Strategy in the UN General Assembly.
During the year, India also sought to bring the necessary balance to the debates relating to Africa, Mr Tirumurti said adding that India made its views clear on the issue of burdening African countries with unrealistic benchmarks on their sanctions regime and called for greater commitment from the international community to assist Africa fight terrorism.
India chaired the Taliban Sanctions Committee and the Libya Sanctions Committee this year and will chair the Counter-terrorism Committee next year. In a historic decision, the UN General Assembly granted observer status to the International Solar Alliance.
Global Covid cases near 253 million amid surge in cases in parts of world
The overall global number of Covid-19 cases is approaching 253 million amid spike in infections in several countries including Western European ones.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 253, 294,186 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,100,195 as of Monday morning.
The US has recorded 47,074,080 cases to date and more than 763,092 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.
READ: Global Covid cases near 253 million amid vaccination
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 21,957,967 cases as of Sunday, while its Covid death toll rose to 611,283.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,437,307 on Sunday, as 11,271 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.
Besides, 285 deaths due to the pandemic since Saturday morning took the total death toll to 463,530.
Russia recorded 8,918,926 cases with fatalities of 250,609 so far.
For two months now, a stubborn wave of virus infections has ripped mercilessly through several countries in Central and Eastern Europe, where vaccination rates are much lower than elsewhere on the continent, reports AP.
While medical workers pleaded for tough restrictions or even lockdowns, leaders let the virus rage unimpeded for weeks.
READ: Global Covid cases top 252 million
“I don’t believe in measures. I don’t believe in the same measures that existed before the vaccines,” Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said last month as the Balkan nation sustained some of its worst daily death tolls of the pandemic. “Why do we have vaccines then?”
A World Health Organization official declared earlier this month that Europe is again at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. While several Western European countries are seeing spikes in infections, it is nations to the East that are driving fatalities.
Romania, Bulgaria and the Balkan states recorded some of the highest per-capita death rates in the world in the first week of November, according to the WHO.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh recorded four more Covid-linked deaths and reported 223 fresh infections in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
The daily-case positivity rate slightly increased to 1.14 per cent from Saturday’s 1.11 per cent.
The fresh numbers took the total fatalities to 27,922 while the country’s caseload mounted to 15,72,501, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Of the deceased, one was a man and three were women.
Dhaka division logged three Covid-linked deaths today while Chattogram division reported one on Sunday, said the DGHS.
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 per cent.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 19,517 samples, the DGHS added.
Besides, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.71 per cent with the recovery of 212 more patients during the 24-hour period.
World should recognise us as leaders of Afghanistan: Taliban
A victory over terrorism is impossible without the outside world's recognition of the Taliban authority in Afghanistan, Abdul Salam Hanafi, deputy head of the temporary government formed by the group, said Monday.
"If the world wants the Taliban to successfully combat drug [trafficking] and terrorism, it should recognise the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," he told Afghanistan's Aamaj News agency. "The Taliban seeks to establish diplomatic ties with the US and interact with the whole world."
The Taliban launched a large-scale operation to take control of Afghanistan after the US declared its troop pullout earlier this year.
READ: Taliban hang body in public; signal return to past tactics
On August 15, Afghanistan's then-president Ashraf Ghani fled the country, while the Taliban swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance.
In early September, the Taliban declared that the entire territory of the country was under their control, and formed an interim government.
READ: Russia says it’s in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban
Global Covid-19 cases surpass 175.5 million
More than 175.5 million people have been detected globally with Coronavirus infections amid the emergence of its new variants.
The global case count and fatalities now stand at 175,567,564 and 3,791,424 respectively as of Sunday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
To date, some 2,314, 059,718 people have been vaccinated globally, as per JHU data.
Read: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Positivity rate hits 14.12%, highest in 50 days
The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 33,457,378 cases and 599,664 deaths, Johns Hopkins figures reveal.
Brazil registered 2,037 deaths from Covid-19, bringing the death toll in the country to 486,272, the Ministry of Health reported on Saturday.
In the last 24 hours, 78,700 new cases of Covid-19 were reported, for a total of 17,374,818 infections.
The average cases over the last seven days were 66,770, while that of deaths 1,963.
Brazil is currently second in the world in number of deaths from Covid-19, surpassed only by the United States, and third in cases, behind the United States and India.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 29,359,155 on Saturday, with 84,332 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours, said its federal health ministry.
Read: Global Covid-19 cases surpass 175 million
Besides, 4,002 Covid-19 patients have died since Friday morning, taking the death toll to 367,081.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh registered 1,637 new Covid cases with the positivity rate hitting 14.12% in 24 hours until Saturday morning.
The positivity rate went up again from Friday’s 13.39 percent, said a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
This is the highest in 50 days since April 23 this year when the country reported 14% Covid positivity rate.
Besides, 39 people died due to Covid-19 during the period, pushing up the death toll to 13,071, while the caseload reached 8,24,486 with the logging of the new cases.
Vaccination drive
So far, four vaccines – Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield), Sputnik-V, Sinopharm, and Pfizer-BioNTech – have got the approval for emergency use in Bangladesh.
Read: Week-long lockdown in Kushtia municipality areas to contain Covid spread
The country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India.
However, Bangladesh will get some 10.8 lakh doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine soon under the COVAX initiative, said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen Friday, adding that the source of this supply has not been disclosed to Bangladesh.
The country needs at least 15 lakh doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine immediately.
Global caseload above 173mn; UK wants to vaccinate the world in 18 months
With new variants of Covid-19 spreading rapidly, the global Covid-19 caseload on Monday crossed the grim milestone of 173 million.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count and fatalities now stand at 173,197, 944 and 3,726, 107, respectively.
The US, the world's worst-hit country in terms of cases and deaths, have recorded 33,362,471 cases with 597,627 fatalities to date, as per the JHU data.
Read: Indian cities unlocking after declining COVID-19 infections
Brazil continues to rank second in the world in number of deaths from the pandemic behind the United States and third in number of confirmed cases following the United States and India.
Brazil on Sunday registered another 873 deaths from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 473,404, Brazil's Ministry of Health reported.
It also reported a total of 39,637 new cases on Sunday, bring the total number of confirmed cases to 16,947,062.
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 28,809,339 on Sunday with 114,460 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, the lowest single-day increase in the past two-months, said the federal health ministry.
A total of 2,677 deaths since Saturday morning took the overall death toll to 346,759.
Meanwhile British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he will use the Group of Seven wealthy democracies’ summit next week to urge world leaders to commit to vaccinating the global population by the end of 2022.
Read: Increase in Covid-19 vaccine production in India to be 'game changer' beyond borders: US
Johnson is expected to stress the importance of a global vaccination drive when he meets with fellow world leaders on Friday in Cornwall, reports AP.
The meeting on England's southwestern coast will be the first face-to-face G-7 summit since the pandemic hit.
“The world is looking to us to rise to the greatest challenge of the postwar era: defeating COVID and leading a global recovery driven by our shared values,” he said in a statement Sunday. “Vaccinating the world by the end of next year would be the single greatest feat in medical history.”
Situation in Bangladesh
Amid the growing concern over the spread of the Delta variant, formerly known as the India variant, 38 more people died of Covid-19 in Bangladesh in the past 24 hours until Sunday, putting the death toll at 12,839.
Besides, 1,676 more people were found positive for the virus after testing 15,613 samples during the period, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 38 more deaths, 1,676 new cases
Bangladesh reported its first Covid cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
Lockdown extended
The government has extended the ongoing lockdown until June 16 as there has been no substantial improvement in the Covid-19 situation.
The Cabinet Division issued a circular in this regard on Sunday.
Keeping all the earlier directives and restrictions effective, the government has added some new restrictions, the circular says.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses bought from India's Serum Institute.
So far, four vaccines – Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield), Sputnik-V, Sinopharm, and Pfizer-BioNTech – have got the authorisation for emergency use in the country.
Read:7 cases of Indian Covid variant detected in Nawabganj: Doctor
Meanwhile, seven million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine reached Bangladesh, and the governments of India and China gave 3.2 million doses and 500,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine as gifts.
However, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India.
Amid brutal case surge, Afghanistan hit by a vaccine delay
Afghanistan is battling a brutal surge in COVID-19 infections as health officials plead for vaccines, only to be told by the World Health Organization that the 3 million doses the country expected to receive by April won’t be delivered until August.
“We are in the middle of a crisis,” Health Ministry spokesman Ghulam Dastigir Nazari said this week, expressing deep frustration at the global vaccine distribution that has left poor countries scrambling to find supplies for their people.
Nazari has knocked on the door of several embassies, and so far, “I’ve gotten diplomatic answers” but no vaccine doses, he said.
Over the past month, the escalating pace of new cases has threatened to overwhelm Afghanistan’s health system, already struggling under the weight of relentless conflict. In part, the increase has been blamed on uninterrupted travel with India, bringing the highly contagious Delta variant, first identified in India.
Also, most Afghans still question the reality of the virus or believe their faith will protect them and rarely wear masks or social distance, often mocking those who do. Until just a week ago, the government was allowing unrestricted mass gatherings.
Read:NATO chief says Afghan forces can cope alone
The Delta variant has helped send Afghanistan’s infection rate soaring, hitting 16 provinces and the capital Kabul the hardest. This week, the rate of registered new cases reached as high as 1,500 a day, compared to 178 a day on May 1.
Hospital beds are full, and it is feared rapidly dwindling oxygen supplies will run out. Afghan ambassadors have been ordered to seek out emergency oxygen supplies in nearby countries, Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar said in a tweet Friday.
By official figures, Afghanistan has seen a total 78,000 cases and 3,007 deaths from the pandemic. But those figures are likely a massive undercount, registering only deaths in hospitals, not the far greater numbers who die at home.
Testing is woefully inadequate. In only the past month, the percentage of positive COVID tests has jumped from about 8% to 60% in some parts of the country. By WHO recommendations, anything higher than 5% shows officials aren’t testing widely enough, allowing the virus to spread unchecked.
At most only 3,000 tests a day are carried out, as Afghans resist testing, even after the country dramatically ramped up its capabilities to 25,000 a day.
Only recently, the government tried to take steps to clamp down to contain the surge. It closed schools, universities and colleges for two weeks. It also shut down wedding halls, which had been operating unhindered throughout the pandemic.
But it is rare to see anyone wearing a mask in the streets, and even where masks are mandatory, like in government offices, it’s rarely enforced. As many as 10 flights arrive daily from India, packed with Afghans, particularly students and people who had gone to India for medical treatment.
Read: Afghans who helped the US now fear being left behind
Nazari said banning flights was not an option since many Afghans cannot afford to be stranded in India and the government cannot prevent citizens from re-entering their own country.
For vaccines, Afghanistan so far has relied on a donation of AstraZeneca doses from India and then purchases of Sinopharm from China. About 600,000 people have had at least one dose, about 1.6% of the population of 36 million. But the number who have gotten a second dose is minute — “so few I couldn’t even say any percentage,” Nazari said.
Last month, the ministry received a letter from WHO saying the expected shipment of 3 million vaccine doses will not arrive until August due to supply problems, Nazari said. With just 35,000 vaccine doses remaining in the country, the authorities were forced to stop giving first jabs to use remaining supplies to give second jabs, he said.
Poor countries around the world have been pleading for vaccines even as developed nations have been able to inoculate significant portions of their populations. COVAX, set up with U.N. help to try to prevent vaccine inequities, has struggled to fill the gap. It faced a major setback when its biggest supplier, the Serum Institute of India, announced last month that it would not export any vaccines until the end of the year because of the surge in that country.
“Honestly speaking, I lost my faith in COVAX,” Nazari said.
“Unfortunately, there are countries who vaccinated more than their 50% or 60% percent of the population ... and there are countries who did not receive vaccines to even vaccinate 1% of their population.”
At the Afghan-Japan Communicable Disease Hospital, Kabul’s only hospital dedicated solely to COVID treatment, all 174 beds are full. The Health Ministry opened roughly 350 more beds for coronavirus patients in another three hospitals, but they too quickly filled up. This week, people were being turned away.
Read: Death toll soars to 50 in school bombing in Afghan capital
Each day three or four people die of COVID at the Afghan-Japan Hospital, said hospital administrator Dr. Zalmai Rishteen.
Doctors struggle with the public’s refusal to take precautions and follow safety protocols. “Our people believe it is fake, especially in the countryside,” Rishteen said. “Or they are religious and believe God will save them.”
In the hospital’s intensive care unit, Dr. Rahman Mohtazir said that only makes it more dangerous for him as he does his job. “I am afraid I will catch it, but I am here to help,” he said. “I listen to people and they say it’s fake. Then they come here.”
The Health Ministry has recruited clerics, prominent religious figures and local elders to encourage vaccination and anti-coronavirus precautions.
The worsening COVID situation prompted the U.S. Embassy on Thursday to issue a health alert warning of shortages of supplies, oxygen and beds at hospitals and urging American citizens to “to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible.”
Global Covid deaths top 3.7 million
With the Covid-19 situation worsening around the world by the day, the global death toll from the virus surpassed 3.7 million on Saturday.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count and fatalities currently stand at 172,449,514 and 3,708,280, respectively.
Besides, a total of 2,043,089,118 vaccine doses have been administered across the world to date, as per the university data.
READ: Global Covid cases near 172 million
The US, which remains the world’s worst-hit hit country in terms of deaths and cases, has so far logged 33,343,073 cases and 597,001 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.
Brazil on Friday registered 1,454 new deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours, raising the total tally to 470,842, the health ministry said.
A total of 37,936 new infections were detected during the period, pushing up the country's total caseload to 16,841,408, the ministry said.
Brazil has the world's second-highest Covid-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third-largest caseload after the United States and India.
The pandemic continues to ravage India. The neighbouring country registered 132,364 new Covid cases on Friday, the federal health ministry said.
India's Covid tally currently stands at 28,574,350, according to the ministry.
Besides, 2,713 deaths have been reported since Wednesday morning, raising the nationwide death toll to 340,702.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh on Friday logged 1,887 new cases in 24 hours, after health authorities tested 18,151 samples. The fresh cases has raised the country's total case count to 807,867.
Also, the daily infection rate rose to 10.40% from Thursday's 9.94%, while the mortality rate remained static at 1.58%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
READ: Global Covid cases top 171 million
Meanwhile, the country confirmed 34 more deaths during the same period, pushing up the fatality figures to 12,758.
Lockdown in districts
Due to the recent rise in Covid infections in frontier districts, authorities have imposed lockdown in Rajshahi, Khulna, Satkhira and parts of Naogaon districts to curb the transmission of the virus.
The district administrations have been given the authority to enforce lockdown in areas under their jurisdiction if the Covid-19 situation worsens.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses bought from India's Serum Institute.
READ: Global Covid cases top 172 million
So far, four vaccines – Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield), Sputnik-V, Sinopharm, and Pfizer-BioNTech – have got emergency use authorisation in the country.
However, the country, the prime recipient of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India.
IEDCR study
Delta, the coronavirus variant first found in India, turned out to be 80% of some 50 genomes sequenced in Bangladesh since May 16 by IEDCR. There is also evidence of community transmission of the variant, according to research jointly carried out by IEDCR and IDSHI.
The study also identified one "unknown variant" and found eight of the samples (16%) to be infected with the South African variant.
IEDCR and IDSHI collected and analysed 50 samples from across the country, including border districts and the capital since May 16.
The research also found 40 out of the total 50 cases as Delta variant, known as Indian variant, in samples collected from Chapainawabganj, Gopalganj, Khulna, Dhaka, Dinajpur, Gaibandha, Bagerhat, Jhenaidah and Pirojpur.
Heart reaction probed as possible rare vaccine link in teens
Health authorities are trying to determine whether heart inflammation that can occur along with many types of infections could also be a rare side effect in teens and young adults after the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
An article on seven U.S. teen boys in several states, published online Friday in Pediatrics, is among the latest reports of heart inflammation discovered after COVID-19 vaccination, though a link to the vaccine has not been proven.
The boys, aged 14 to 19, received Pfizer shots in April or May and developed chest pain within a few days. Heart imaging tests showed a type of heart muscle inflammation called myocarditis.
Read:US to swiftly boost global vaccine sharing, Biden announces
None were critically ill. All were healthy enough to be sent home after two to six days in the hospital and are doing ’’doing pretty well,” said Dr. Preeti Jaggi, an Emory University infectious disease specialist who co-authored the report.
She said more follow-up is needed to determine how the seven fare but that it’s likely the heart changes were temporary.
Only one of the seven boys in the Pediatrics report had evidence of a possible previous COVID-19 infection and doctors determined none of them had a rare inflammatory condition linked with the coronavirus.
The cases echo reports from Israel in young men diagnosed after receiving Pfizer shots.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention alerted doctors last month that it was monitoring a small number of reports of heart inflammation in teens and young adults after the mRNA vaccines, the kind made by Pfizer and Moderna.
Read:Vaccine maker Serum seeks indemnity protection in India
The CDC hasn’t determined if there’s really a link to the shots, and continues to urge that everyone 12 and older get vaccinated against COVID-19, which is far riskier than the vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine is available to those as young as 12; the Moderna shot remains cleared only for adult use.
This kind of heart inflammation can be caused by a variety of infections, including a bout of COVID-19, as well as certain medications -- and there have been rare reports following other types of vaccinations.
Authorities will have to tease out whether cases following COVID-19 vaccination are occurring more often than that expected “background rate.”
For now, the CDC says most patients were male, reported symptoms after the second dose, and their symptoms rapidly improved.
“I think we’re in the waiting period where we need to see whether this is cause-and-effect or not,” said John Grabenstein of the Immunization Action Coalition, a former director of the Defense Department’s immunization program.
Read: Free beer, other new incentives for Biden’s ‘vaccine sprint’
A Pediatrics editorial noted that among U.S. children under age 18, there have been over 4 million COVID-19 cases, more than 15,000 hospitalizations and at least 300 deaths.
It said the heart inflammation cases warrant more investigation but added that ’’the benefits of vaccination against this deadly and highly transmissible disease clearly far outweigh any potential risks.”
Editorial co-author Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, head of an American Academy of Pediatrics infectious diseases committee, is involved in Pfizer vaccine studies, including a COVID-19 vaccine study in children.
Forecast: 40% chance Earth to be hotter than Paris goal soon
There’s a 40% chance that the world will get so hot in the next five years that it will temporarily push past the temperature limit the Paris climate agreement is trying to prevent, meteorologists said.
A new World Meteorological Organization forecast for the next several years also predicts a 90% chance that the world will set yet another record for the hottest year by the end of 2025 and that the Atlantic will continue to brew more potentially dangerous hurricanes than it used to.
For this year, the meteorologists say large parts of land in the Northern Hemisphere will be 1.4 degrees (0.8 degrees Celsius) warmer than recent decades and that the U.S. Southwest’s drought will continue.
The 2015 Paris climate accord set a goal of keeping warming to a few tenths of a degree warmer from now. The report said there is a 40% chance that at least one of the next five years will be 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than pre-industrial times — the more stringent of two Paris goals. The world is already 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times.
Read:Carbon storage offers hope for climate, cash for farmers
Last year, the same group forecasted a 20% chance of it happening.
The doubling of the odds is due to improvements in technology that show it has “actually warmed more than we thought already,” especially over the lightly-monitored polar regions, said Leon Hermanson, a climate scientist at the United Kingdom’s Met Center who helped on the forecast.
“It’s a warning that we need to take strong action,” Hermanson said.
Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann, who wasn’t part of the report, said he is “almost certain” the world will exceed that Paris warming threshold at least once in the next few years. But he said one or two years above 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) isn’t as worrisome as when the overall trend of temperatures stays above that level.
Mann said that won’t happen probably for decades and could still be prevented.