People who received Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine may benefit from a booster dose of Pfizer or Moderna, preliminary results of a United States (US) study published Wednesday showed.The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was eagerly awaited in the US because it looked at the possibility of "mixing" vaccines – using a different vaccine than the initial doses for the booster shot – which is not currently allowed in the country.The study was co

Scientists have urged eligible people to have COVID booster shots after a major survey in England found evidence of “breakthrough infections” more than three months after full vaccination.Researchers at Imperial College London analysed more than 100,000 swabs from a random sample of the population and found that COVID infection rates were three to four times higher among unvaccinated people than those who had received two shots.But while full vaccination drove infection rates down substantial

Marc Van Ranst, a virologist famous in Belgium for providing expertise about the COVID-19 pandemic, was at home for his first afternoon off in months in May, unaware that his life was under threat and that he would soon be forced to go into hiding.Jurgen Conings, a soldier aligned with right-wing extremist movements who had stated his intent to harm Van Ranst was sitting in a car nearby armed with four rocket launchers. It wasn't until the following day Van Ranst learned he was

The World Health Organization (WHO) unveiled Wednesday a proposed team of scientists tasked with looking at new pathogens and preventing future pandemics – plus reviving the stalled probe into COVID-19's origins.The group of 26 experts will be charged with producing a new global framework for studies into the origins of emerging pathogens of epidemic and pandemic potential.

China is preparing to test tens of thousands of blood bank samples from the city of Wuhan as part of a probe into the origins of COVID-19, according to a Chinese official.

Myanmar's ousted president described on Tuesday turning down a deal to vacate his seat and save himself in the early moments of the February coup that snuffed out his country's short-lived democratic experiment, his lawyer said.Win Myint, who was detained along with civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, made the comments as he testified for the first time at his trial for incitement in a junta court.The 69-year-old recounted how two senior army officers entered his room in the early hou

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:Darkening Economic Prospects  The ongoing hit from the COVID-19 pandemic and the failure to distribute vaccines worldwide is worsening the economic divide and darkening prospects for developing nations, the IMF says. "The outlook for the low-income developing country group has darkened considerably due to worsening pandemic dynamics," IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said.Britain's Botched Response&am

Vaccination reduces the risk of dying or being hospitalised with COVID-19 by 90 percent, a French study of 22.6 million people over the age of 50 has found.The research published on Monday also found that vaccines appear to protect against the worst effects of the most prevalent virus strain, the Delta variant.“This means that those who are vaccinated are nine times less at risk of being hospitalised or dying from COVID-19 than those who have not been vaccinated,” the epidemiologist Mahmoud Z

A top aide to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to journalist and government critic Maria Ressa was proof that "press freedom is alive" in the country.Ressa, co-founder of news website Rappler, and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov were awarded the prize on Friday for their efforts to "safeguard freedom of expression".Since Duterte took power in 2016, Ressa and Rappler have faced a series of criminal charges and investi

The World Health Organization's (WHO) vaccine advisers on Monday recommended people with weakened immune systems should be offered an additional dose of all WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines.The United Nations (UN) health agency's experts also said over-60s fully immunised with China's Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines should be offered an additional third vaccine dose.The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) stressed it was not recommending an additional booste