The use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been suspended in the Republic of Ireland.
The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) recommended the move following reports of serious blood clotting events in adults in Norway.
In a tweet, the Irish Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said it was a “precautionary step”.
The World Health Organisation has said there was no link between the jab and an increased risk of developing a clot.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said it was aware of the suspension in Ireland and was “closely reviewing reports”.
“But given the large number of doses administered, and the frequency at which blood clots can occur naturally, the evidence available does not suggest the vaccine is the cause.”
On Friday, the World Health Organisation said countries should not stop using the vaccine over fears it causes blood clots as there is no indication this is true.
More than 110,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered in Ireland, which is about 20% of all doses given to date.
Adele filed for divorce from her ex-husband Simon Konecki back in 2019 and more details are being released about the terms and conditions of their split.
Adele and her ex husband have now reached the end of the road with their divorce settlement and the Rolling in the Deep singer is not going to be paying him spousal support. Adele and Simon have joint custody of their eight-year-old son Angelo.
The majority of the divorce settlement is not public information so it is unknown if Adele might’ve paid a settlement amount to her ex-husband.
When Adele and Simon broke up, they said they would still be raising their son lovingly. The couple has kept their word and will be sharing custody of Angelo.
Nigerian mixed-martial arts fighter, Israel Adesanya, has been slammed with a six-month medical suspension following Saturday’s defeat to Jan Blachowicz in Las Vegas. Adesanya lost by unanimous decision after five rounds and the UFC middleweight champion’s bid become a two-division champion seems to have proved costly. Dubbed “The Last Stylebener, Adesanya reportedly suffered a foot injury in the five-round main event battle with UFC light heavyweight champion Blachowicz, which will keep him out for six months. According to the Chairman, Nevada Athletic Commission, Anthony A. Marnell III, “Adesanya must have left foot & ankle x-ray, if positive must have Orthopedic Dr clearance or no contest until 09/03/21; minimum suspension no contest until 04/21/21, no contact until 04/06/21.” As such, the 31-year-old would have to wait till September 2021 to get a clearance to fight from the official Association of Boxing Commissions.
The defeat on Saturday was Adesanya’s first career defeat after previously holding a 20-fight undefeated record in the middleweight category. The 31-year-old will also undergo X-rays on his left foot and ankle to determine the level of damage sustained before knowing when he will return. Meanwhile, the commission also announced that Blachowicz who bested Adesanya via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-45, 49-45) has also been suspended until 04/06/21.
Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, has said some Nigerians are the greatest problem of their country. In his weekly column, the presidential spokesman cautioned Nigerians against ” disintegration, destabilization and outright war”.
‘Despite challenges, Nigerian women breaking barriers’
Kidnappers Storm Kaduna School, Abduct Only Female Students
He said although the country is not perfect, many should do their best to make it work. Adesina criticised those who do nothing but find faults in the country, saying the repercussion of a crisis can better be imagined. “It’s often intriguing to hear eminent and well appointed Nigerians talk about disintegration, destabilization and outright war, as if it’s a picnic. War? Not a tea party, and not something you should wish even upon your enemy. Nigeria fought a war before, in which about two million people died. There was sorrow, tears and blood, till good sense prevailed, and we said there was no victor, no vanquished. The scars of that internecine conflict are still very evident in some parts of the land. “Why then do some newspaper columnists, public commentators, ethnic warlords, even academics, talk of war as something they long for, an affliction they want to inflict their country with? War? Is it a picnic or tea party? “I have seen enough to make me conclude that the greatest problem of Nigeria are Nigerians themselves. They seem to hate their country. There was that atheist who said on his death bed. “I hate everybody. I hate God. I even hate myself.” That seems to be the experience of a good number of Nigerians,” he wrote. Nigeria is not perfect The presidential spokesman said although the country is not perfect, wishing evil upon it is not the solution to the problems. “What am I saying? Is Nigeria in a perfect state, nirvana, a Utopia? By no means. We all see things that exasperate us about our country. So, is cutting off the head the cure for headache? Is death wish for the country through the constant craving for war the way out, couched as warnings by some interest groups? For really, that is what they would wish to see, if only to have the morbid satisfaction of saying: we warned, they didn’t listen. “We have our grouses with Nigeria. The President often talks of missed opportunities, and yes, this country has missed many, over the decades. But he adds that those of them who have fought to keep this country together would never open their eyes and see Nigeria dismembered. Loving the unloveable. That is what Nigerians need, if we would eventually get the country we desire. William Cowper, English writer, who lived between 1731 and 1800, said: “England, with all thy faults, I love thee still-my country.” “That is one thing we find lacking. We have not got to the point that we can say, Nigeria, with all thy faults, I love thee still-my country. “The Good Book says love covers a multitude of sins. And it does. But does it happen in respect of our country? Don’t Nigerians carry around giant-sized grudges against themselves, against their leaders, against the next ethnic group, and against their own very land… They seem to hate their country. There was that atheist who said on his death bed. “I hate everybody. I hate God. I even hate myself.” Many reasons to love Nigeria “The need of the hour is love for Nigeria, warts and all. Yes, there are many reasons not to love this land. But it’s the only one we have. We would be second class citizens anywhere else. Nigeria we hail thee. Our own dear native land. The fault lines are many: ethnicity, suspicion of domination, religious differences, language, centrifugal forces. But, Nigeria, with all thy faults, I love thee still-my country. “Do you know that some Nigerians actually gloat when things go wrong in the country? They rejoice at wanton killings, massive insecurity, prostrate economy, decrepit inter-ethnic relationships, and the like. They want things to fall apart in the ‘zoo.’ But Nigeria will survive. The singer, Veno Marioghae, said it long ago. Nigeria is like the testicles of a ram. It may sway from side to side as the ram runs, but it will never fall off. “It’s time we began to have a Nigerian agenda, instead of sectional agenda. It’s time we began to see the big picture, and wish our country well. Enough of wars and rumours of war. Can we cavil less about our country? Can we emphasize less on things not done, and focus more on things being achieved? And I tell you, the Buhari government has stories to tell. Of rice pyramids, roads, rail, bridges, airports, massive infrastructure everywhere. “Just on Thursday, the 13 Floor, Twin Tower ultra-modern Headquarters Building of the Niger Delta Development Commission was commissioned, about 26 years after it was conceived. And many of such projects abound. Let’s wail less, and appreciate more. Nigeria, with all thy faults, I love thee still-my country.”
The recent hike arrives after the federal government promised that it has no plans to increase the pump price of petrol. Nigeria’s federal government, through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has increased the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly referred to as petrol.
The retail price for a liter of petrol will be between N209.61 and N212.61, the PPRA announced late Thursday.
The price adjustment from N170 to above N200arrives 11 days after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which regulates the oil sector in Nigeria and which is the sole importer of refined crude, promised that it has no plans to increase the pump price of petrol for the month of March.
“The corporation is not contemplating any raise in the price of petrol in March in order not to jeopardize ongoing engagements with organized labour and other stakeholders on an acceptable framework that will not expose the ordinary Nigerian to any hardship,” the NNPC said in a statement signed by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Kennie Obateru.
Ending the subsidy regime
The President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government has repeatedly announced that it has no money to continue paying for subsidies on petrol, adding that the petroleum sector has now been deregulated, with pump prices set to be determined by market forces of demand and supply periodically.
There was always the possibility that the pump price of the product would be adjusted upwards as the price of crude oil in the international market rebounds.
Brent crude now sells for around $70 a barrel, from a peak pandemic low of around $20 a barrel. Petrol dispensing stations across Nigeria have been hoarding the product in anticipation of the latest increase, causing an artificial scarcity.
The recent increase will lead to even more inflation and economic hardship for Nigerians, in an economy where prices of foodstuff, goods and services have been spiralling out of control every other day.
Mrs. Oluwakemi Ayoola; wife to the former commissioner of environment in Oyo; Kehinde Ayoola, has died barely 10 months after the demise of her husband. Oluwakemi, a vibrant professor at the Obafemi Awolowo University’s Institute of Agriculture, Research and Training, IAR&T, Apata, Ibadan, was said to have breathed his last Monday night.
It was learnt she had been sick for a while, especially after the death of her husband, who died while serving as Environment commissioner under the Seyi Makinde admin The late husband had died 14th May, 2020, two weeks to the one-year anniversary of the incumbent administration.
President Biden will sign his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal on Thursday afternoon, the White House announced, a day earlier than expected.
The White House issued an updated guidance on Thursday saying Biden would sign the American Rescue Plan, which passed the House on Wednesday in a party-line vote, in the Oval Office at 1:30 p.m. Vice President Harris is expected to attend but no additional guests are expected.
White House chief of staff Ron Klain tweeted that the relief bill arrived on Wednesday night, earlier than planned, and that the signing had been moved up as a result.
Once the bill is signed, the Biden administration will race to implement its numerous provisions, including sending out relief checks to tens of millions of Americans and aid to states and localities. The signing comes just three days before enhanced unemployment benefits are due to expire.
Biden is slated to deliver a primetime address Thursday evening to mark one year since the coronavirus lockdowns in the United States. He is expected to reflect on the sacrifices Americans have made and the lives lost and discuss his administration’s efforts to ramp up vaccine production, according to a White House official.
Biden also plans to “lay out the next steps he will take to get the pandemic under control, level with the American people about what is still required to defeat the virus and provide a hopeful vision of what is possible if we all come together,” according to the official.
President Joe Biden
The speech will also present an opportunity for Biden to take a victory lap following his first legislative accomplishment with the passage of his coronavirus relief plan.
The bill includes funding for $1,400 direct payments to Americans who qualify, funding for vaccines and school reopenings, an expansion of the child tax credit, relief for small businesses, assistance for state and local governments, among other measures.
The House approved the bill in a 220-211 vote on Wednesday afternoon. No Republicans backed the bill and one Democrat voted against it. The Senate approved the bill over the weekend.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki indicated Wednesday that it would take time for the bill text to reach the White House. She said it was expected to arrive sometime on Thursday and that Biden would sign the bill on Friday, a schedule that has now been moved up.
The bandits suspected to be loyalists of the slain criminal kingpin, Terwase Akwaza, popularly known as ‘Gana’, stormed the rural area at about 4:00 am and started shooting sporadically even as they set ablaze the station with explosives and carted away arms and ammunition.
Gunmen suspected to be bandits have attacked a police station in Tse Harga community of Katsina-Ala Local Government Area in Benue State.
The bandits suspected to be loyalists of the slain criminal kingpin, Terwase Akwaza, popularly known as ‘Gana’, stormed the rural area at about 4:00 am and started shooting sporadically even as they set ablaze the station with explosives and carted away arms and ammunition.
They also set ablaze several buildings and a police pick-up van. A source told SaharaReporters that some policemen on duty engaged the hoodlums in a gun battle, which resulted in the death of one policeman while others fled with bullet injuries.
Police Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Catherine Anne, confirmed the killing of a policeman in the affected area.
She however said details of the attack were still sketchy.
Prince William defended Britain’s monarchy Thursday against accusations of bigotry made by his brother, Prince Harry, and sister-in-law, Meghan, insisting the family is not racist.
In comments made during a visit to an east London school, William became the first royal to directly address the explosive interview broadcast Sunday in the U.S. that Harry and Meghan gave to Oprah Winfrey.
“We’re very much not a racist family,” he said as his wife, Kate, walked by his side.
Harry and Meghan’s allegations of racism and mistreatment have rocked the royal family, and Buckingham Palace sought to respond to them in a 61-word statement Tuesday, but it has failed to quell the controversy.
William, second in line to the throne after his father Prince Charles, says he hadn’t yet spoken to Harry in the aftermath of the interview, “but I will do.’’
Meghan, who is biracial, said in the interview she was so isolated and miserable as a working member of the royal family that she had suicidal thoughts. She also said Harry told her there were “concerns and conversations” by a royal family member about the color of her baby’s skin when she was pregnant with their son, Archie.
Hers and Harry’s comments have touched off conversations around the world about racism, mental health and even the relationship between Britain and its former colonies.
William and Kate toured School21 in Stratford, east London as children returned to classes. The visit was also meant to mark the rollout to secondary schools of a mental health project Kate launched in primary schools in 2018.
The man who invented popular “audio cassette” tape has given up the ghost.
Lou Ottens, the Dutch engineer credited with inventing the audio cassette tape, has died aged 94.
An estimated 100 billion cassette tapes have been sold around the world since they were introduced in the 1960s.
Ottens’ invention transformed the way people listened to music, and there has even been a resurgence of the cassette in recent years.
The engineer died in his hometown of Duizel last weekend, his family announced on Tuesday.
Lou Ottens
Ottens became head of Philips’ product development department in 1960, where he and his team developed the cassette tape.
In 1963, it was presented at the Berlin Radio electronics fair and soon became a worldwide success.
Ottens struck a deal with Philips and Sony that saw his model confirmed as the patented cassette, after a number of Japanese companies reproduced similar tapes in a number of sizes.
Cassette tapes have experienced an unlikely surge in popularity in recent years. A number of artists including Lady Gaga and The Killers have released their music on them.
The Prime Minister of Ivory Coast, Hamed Bakayoko, has died in a hospital in Germany, authorities say.
Bakayoko, who was receiving treatment for cancer, passed away on Wednesday, just days after his 56th birthday.
He was appointed prime minister in July, following the sudden death of his predecessor Amadou Gon Coulibaly.
President Alassane Ouattara described Mr Bakayoko as a “great statesman, an example to young people and a man of exemplary loyalty”.
PM Bakayoko
“Our country is in mourning,” said President Alassane Ouattara on Twitter. “I have the immense sorrow to announce to you the death of Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko this Wednesday, 10 March, in Germany following cancer”, Ouattara said, adding, he was “a great statesman, a model for our youth, a personality of great generosity and exemplary loyalty ”.
A transfer to Turkey, where there was talk of the Ivorian Prime Minister undergoing an emergency transplant, had also been considered for last Thursday. But doctors said he was no longer operable.
Bakayoko received treatment in France on February 18. In recent months, he had contracted coronavirus and malaria.
During his first stay in Paris at the end of January, he had performed a series of medical tests at the American Hospital without any precise diagnosis. Alassane Ouattara went to his bedside visited the prime minister on March 3 in Paris. During a dinner with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, the Ivorian president expressed concern about the health of his prime minister.
A former media executive who turned to politics, he played a prominent mediation role in Ivory Coast’s civil war during the first decade of the century.
“He was a key player in the political game and a major player in reconciliation. It’s a true shame,” Issiaka Sangare, spokesman for the opposition Ivorian Popular Front told AFP news agency.
Aside from his role as prime minister, Mr Bakayoko was also the country’s defence minister.
Patrick Achi has been appointed as interim prime minister, while Tene Birahima Ouattara, a younger brother of the president, has been named interim defence minister.
Mexico’s lower house has approved a bill that would legalise the recreational use of cannabis.
It will now go to the Senate for a final vote, which President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s party is confident will pass.
Cannabis plant ☘️
This would make Mexico one of the world’s largest regulated markets for cannabis.
Mexico has struggled with a bloody war against powerful drug cartels, with violence killing thousands yearly.
Lawmakers voted in favour of the bill by 316 votes to 129. It had already been approved in the Senate in November but another vote is needed following some alterations by the lower house.
The legislation would let users with a permit carry up to 28g and grow as many as eight plants at home for personal use. At present, it is illegal to carry more than five grams.
It would also allow for other licences for the cultivation, transformation, research and export or import of cannabis, Reuters news agency reports.
Mr López Obrador has argued that the bill could help tackle the country’s powerful drug cartels.
One lawmaker from his Morena party told AFP news agency that the law would help to achieve peace.
However critics have argued that the bill could make marijuana more accessible to children. Others have questioned why Mexicans would be able to buy as much alcohol as they like, yet be liable for prosecution if they grow more than eight cannabis plants.
Should the bill be approved, Mexico would become the third country in the world, after Uruguay and Canada, to legalise cannabis for recreational use nationwide.
A number of foreign cannabis-growing companies from Canada and California are said to be interested in tapping into the market opportunity presented by the legislation.
Brazil has recorded 268,370 fatalities since the pandemic began
Brazil has exceeded 2,000 Covid-related deaths in a single day for the first time, as infection rates soar.
The country has the second highest death toll in the world, behind the US, with a total of 268,370 fatalities. Wednesday’s total was 2,286.
Experts warn the transmission rate is made worse by more contagious variants.
On Wednesday, former leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hit out at President Jair Bolsonaro’s “stupid” decisions made during the pandemic.
Mr Bolsonaro, who was pictured wearing a mask for the first time in a month on Wednesday, has consistently sought to downplay the threat posed by the virus. Earlier this week he told people to “stop whining”.
The surge in cases has put health systems in most of Brazil’s largest cities under immense pressure, with many close to collapse, Brazil’s leading public health centre Fiocruz warns.
Margareth Dalcolmo, a doctor and researcher at Fiocruz said the country was “at the worst moment of the pandemic”.
“2021 is still going to be a very hard year,” she told AFP news agency.
The latest deaths mean Brazil has a rate of 128 deaths per 100,000 population – 11th highest amongst 20 of the worst affected countries in the world. The highest rates are in the Czech Republic with 208 deaths per 100,000 people and the UK with 188 deaths per 100,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University in the US.
Thursday is the anniversary of a pandemic being declared by the World Health Organization. Worldwide more than 118 million cases of the virus have been recorded, and more than 2.6 million deaths.
What’s the situation in Brazil?
On Wednesday, the country recorded 79,876 new cases, the third highest number in a single day. A surge in cases in recent days has been attributed to the spread of a highly contagious variant of the virus – named P1 – which is thought to have originated in the Amazon city of Manaus.
A total of 2,286 people died with the virus on Wednesday.
Reports say the capital Brasilia has now reached full ICU capacity, while two cities – Porto Alegre and Campo Grande – have exceeded capacity.
In its report, the institute warned that figures point to the “overload and even collapse of health systems”.
Brazilian epidemiologist Dr Pedro Hallal told the BBC’s Outside Source TV programme: “If we do not start vaccinating the population here very soon, it will become a massive tragedy.”
Dr Hallal, who works in Rio Grande do Sul, said people felt “abandoned by the federal government”.
Mr Bolsonaro has belittled the risks posed by the virus from the start of the pandemic. He has also opposed quarantine measures taken at a regional level, arguing that the damage to the economy would be worse than the effects of the virus itself.
Preliminary data suggests the P1 variant could be up to twice as transmittable as the original version of the virus.
It also suggests that the new variant could evade immunity built up by having had the original version of Covid. The chance of reinfection is put at between 25% and 60%.
image captionThe new coronavirus variant first detected in Brazil has led to a surge in deaths in the country
Last week, the Fiocruz Institute said P1 was just one of several “variants of concern” that have become dominant in six of eight states studied by the Rio-based organisation.
“This information is an atomic bomb,” said Roberto Kraenkel, of the Covid-19 Brazil Observatory, told the Washington Post newspaper.
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has described the situation in Brazil as “very concerning” and warned of a possible regional spillover.
Throughout Myanmar’s month-long demonstrations against the resumption of military rule, artists have helped shape how the protests are expressed visually, from moving illustrations of demonstrators who have died, to huge murals, roadside artworks and satirical protest signs mocking coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing.
…But the most permanent form of protest is, perhaps, the tattoo.
From big cities like Yangon and Mandalay, to Shan state’s Nyaung Shwe, a small town near the popular tourist spot of Inle Lake, protesters are getting inked for democracy.
China and Russia have announced plans to build a lunar space station.
Russian space agency Roscosmos says it has signed an agreement with China’s National Space Administration to develop research facilities on the surface of the moon, in orbit or both.
A statement from both countries’ space agencies says it will be available for use by other nations.
It comes as Russia prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its first-ever manned space flight.
The International Scientific Lunar Station will carry out a wide range of scientific research including exploration and utilisation of the moon, a statement from both agencies said.
“China and Russia will use their accumulated experience in space science, research and development and use of space equipment and space technology to jointly develop a road map for the construction of an international lunar scientific research station,” the statement (in Mandarin) said.
It added that both Russia and China will collaborate in the planning, design, development and operation of the research station.
Chen Lan, an analyst who specialises in China’s space programme, told AFP news agency that the project was a “big deal”.
“This will be the largest international space cooperation project for China, so it’s significant,” he said.
China is a relatively late bloomer when it comes to the world of space exploration but last December its Chang’e-5 probe successfully brought back rock and “soil” it picked up from the moon. At the time it was seen as another demonstration of the country’s increasing capability in space.
Russia, which pioneered space exploration, has been eclipsed by China and the United States in recent years. Last year it lost its monopoly on taking astronauts to the International Space station following SpaceX’s successful launch.
The US has announced plans to return to the moon by 2024. The programme, called Artemis, will see a man and woman step on the lunar surface in what would be the first landing with humans since 1972.
Two giraffes died in a fire at a zoo in Virginia on Monday, according to the zoo and the local fire department. Roer’s Zoofari said in a Facebook post that staff were “devastated” by the loss of their “beloved giraffe” named Waffles and his new companion that had not yet been named.
“Waffles was a favorite with our visitors and our team. We are heartbroken,” owner Vanessa Roer said in a statement on the zoo website. “We are so grateful that no person or other Zoofari animals were injured or lost. And we deeply appreciate the firefighters who came so quickly to help extinguish the fire.”
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department said in a Facebook post that the two giraffes were found deceased after the fire at the zoo on Hunter Mill Road in Vienna was brought under control. No other animals were injured, the department said. The Zoofari owner received a call around 5:30 p.m. that the barn was on fire, according to the post from the zoo. The zoo website said the fire occurred after the zoo had closed for the day.
Zoom founder Eric Yuan has transferred about 18 million of his shares worth more than $6bn (£4.4bn), according to a regulatory filing.
Mr Yuan, who is also chief executive of the video-conferencing platform, moved roughly 40% of his stake in the company last week.
The shares were shown as gifts to unspecified beneficiaries last week.
Mr Yuan has seen his personal wealth rocket as Zoom became a household name during pandemic lockdowns.
An increasing number of students and professionals connected online boosting the fortunes of Zoom and its founder.
Mr Yuan started Zoom in 2011 and listed it on the US stock market in 2019, making him a billionaire. He is currently worth $13.7bn, according to Forbes.
A Zoom spokesperson said the transfers were related to Mr Yuan’s estate planning practices. “The distributions were made in accordance with the terms of Eric Yuan and his wife’s trusts.”
Zoom’s shares have nearly tripled in the past 12 months and the company has a market valuation of around $100bn.
“Zoom founder Eric Yuan’s decision to transfer more than a third of his stake will raise some eyebrows,” Edward Moya, at trading firm Oanda, told the BBC.
“While a Zoom spokesperson noted that the transfer is consistent with the Yuans’ typical estate planning practices, investors will be nervous until we find out who is the recipient of the stock,” he added.
“Yuan is only 51, married and has three children, so the distribution of his wealth could be viewed as rushed.”
An MP from Angela Merkel’s party has stepped down from Germany’s parliament over a scandal about the purchase of face masks during the pandemic.
Nikolas Löbel announced he would leave the CDU party after it emerged that his firm had earned around €250,000 ($300,000) from the sales.
He initially planned to continue as an MP but said on Monday he was stepping down with immediate effect.
Another lawmaker is facing pressure over a similar case.
The news comes just a week before regional elections in two German states, including Mr Löbel’s constituency of Baden-Württemberg, where the sales took place.
As reports of the deal emerged last week, Mr Löbel said he would carry on as a lawmaker until elections in September.
However, he soon faced calls from senior politicians, including the leaders of the CDU and its Bavarian sister party the CSU, to resign his seat in parliament.
MP Lobel
“In order to avoid further damage to my party, I am resigning my parliamentary mandate with immediate effect,” Mr Löbel, 34, announced on Monday.
Another MP involved in a similar scandal about the purchase of face masks, Georg Nüsslein of the CSU, has also announced he is leaving the party and is also facing pressure to leave his seat in parliament.
The controversies come in a key election year for the CDU, with parliamentary elections scheduled for September and Chancellor Angela Merkel set to step down after more than 15 years in office.
However, a poll carried out for the Bild newspaper over the weekend found that support for the CDU/CSDU bloc had fallen to 32% – the lowest figure since the pandemic hit Germany last year.
While Germany was initially praised for its response to the pandemic, the country has struggled to contain a second wave and has been affected by the slow pace of vaccine roll-out across the EU.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that fully vaccinated Americans can return to some sense of normalcy.
Those who have received the required jabs can visit with other vaccinated people and some unvaccinated people, according to the new guidelines.
People are considered protected two weeks after they take the final dose of their vaccine, the CDC said.
Over 30 million Americans have been fully vaccinated thus far.
Health officials announced the new safety guidelines at Monday’s White House coronavirus task force briefing.
The recommendations say fully vaccinated Americans can:
Meet indoors with other fully vaccinated people without masks or social distancing
Meet indoors with unvaccinated people from a single household, if they are at low risk for severe illness from the virus
Skip testing or quarantine when exposed to Covid-19, unless symptoms appear
“We’ve begun to describe what a world looks like as we move beyond Covid-19,” senior adviser Andy Slavitt told reporters. “As more and more people get vaccinated… the list of activities will continue to grow.”
Those who are vaccinated are still required to follow other basic safety measures, like wearing masks and socially distancing in public as well as avoiding large crowds and travel.
The guidelines also call for masking and distancing from those who are unvaccinated and who may be at an elevated risk of serious Covid-related complications.
The US has seen a recent uptick in the number of jabs per day. Over 90m vaccines have been administered to date. The approval of the third vaccine, Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose jab, has also helped boost supply.
But health officials also warned that Covid-19 is still a serious concern.
“Over 90% of the population still has not been vaccinated,” CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky said.
“Our responsibility is to make sure, in the context of 60,000 new cases a day, that we protect those who are vulnerable.”
The US has reported over 29 million virus cases and 525,000 deaths.
Dr Walensky added that the guidance will continue to be updated “as more people get vaccinated and science and evidence expands”.
Mr Slavitt said it was a “very hopeful morning but with continued warning signs for the future”.
Later on Monday, the White House announced that President Joe Biden will deliver his first primetime address this Thursday to mark one year under Covid-19 lockdown measures.
Last week, Mr Biden said the US will have enough coronavirus vaccines for every adult by the end of May.
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