Assessment scheme

The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is 85 percent effective 15-28 days after just one dose, according to a new Israeli study, helping bolster the case for possibly delaying the second dose of vaccine to cover more people. The study of health care workers at Sheba Medical Center in Israel, published in the journal The Lancet, found the vaccine was 85 percent effective in preventing symptomatic cases of COVID-19. When asymptomatic cases were included too, the figure was 75 percent. Those are promising results for just one dose of the vaccine. The Pfizer clinical trials were conducted with a two-dose regimen, which found 95 percent effectiveness. ADVERTISEMENT Some experts have been pushing for delaying the second dose in an effort to vaccinate more people faster. The United Kingdom has controversially adopted such a strategy. A limitation of the study, though, is that it does not determine how long the protection from just one dose will last. Some experts are also worried that … [Read more...] about Pfizer vaccine 85 percent effective after first dose, Israeli study finds

WASHINGTON - The Islamic State terror group appears to be exploiting security gaps across Syria and Iraq to reposition its forces and help fuel an increase in violence that is reenergizing fighters and supporters. Officials with U.S.-backed forces in northeastern Syria tell VOA the recent surge in violence across the region, including attacks on civil servants and execution-style killings at the al-Hol displaced persons camp, are linked to an influx of operatives from areas nominally under the control of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as well as from neighboring Iraq. The assessment of U.S. partners on the ground is consistent with Washington’s own findings in recent months, which warn that IS fighters and operatives enjoy freedom of movement across much of Syria while finding ways to shape the environment to the terror group’s advantage. “ISIS is not finished yet,” Mazloum Abdi, the general commander of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), told VOA’s Kurdish … [Read more...] about Islamic State Fuels Syria Violence, Re-energizing Fighters and Supporters

China’s economic recovery is notable, some analysts say, after suffering serious pandemic-driven setbacks for the majority of last year. By most accounts, China’s economic numbers at the start of its lunar new year in early February was more significant than those put out by governments in other developed countries. “China’s policy to control the pandemic was very strict. Also, the capillarity of the Communist Party made the implementation of these strict measures easier than in other parts of the world,” Lourdes Casanova, director of Cornell’s Emerging Markets Institute, told VOA. The situation has been different in many democratic countries that found it difficult to use harsh measures to control the spread of the disease and impose lockdown as a tool to enforce social distancing. China’s gross domestic product expanded by 6.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020. The economy grew 2.3% in 2020, according to Chinese government data. The turnaround has surprised economists because … [Read more...] about China Posts Impressive Economic Recovery, but Can Growth Continue?

TAIPEI - Uighur rights groups are urging multinational corporations that have agreed to sponsor the Beijing Winter Olympics, to boycott what they call the “Genocide Games” and use their platforms instead to educate the world about China’s persecution of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province ahead of the 2022 event. So far none of the big-name sponsors have endorsed the Uighur campaigners’ calls for justice. Observers who spoke to VOA say that’s because companies haven’t felt the political pressure, which they expect to build as the games draw closer. “Here we are 12 months before the games begin. The fact that some companies are not yet talking about the boycott, I think it’s because they haven’t felt the political pressure or the effect of the boycott on their own products. But they will. You’ll see increasingly that happens,” Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Northampton, Massachusetts-based Smith College told VOA. “Every company is going to assess the state of … [Read more...] about Uighur Rights Groups Pressure Corporate Sponsors to Boycott 2022 Beijing Olympics

close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for February 25 Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Two Air Force pilots were hospitalized in Florida Thursday after their jet crash-landed at Tyndall Air Force Base , authorities said. "At approximately 11:25 a.m. this morning a Mirage F1B aircraft contracted through Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) crashed off the end of the flight line," Col. Gregory Moseley, the 325th Fighter Wing commander, said in a statement. "First responders were dispatched to the scene immediately, and both pilots were taken to a hospital in Panama City, Fla., to assess injuries sustained during the crash." ATAC told Military.com that one of the pilots ejected before the crash. ALABAMA MILITARY PLANE CRASH LEAVES 2 DEAD "Our thoughts and prayers are with the pilots and their families," Moseley said. 90th Fighter Squadron F-22 Raptors from … [Read more...] about Florida’s Tyndall Air Force Base sees jet crash land; pilots hospitalized