Category: Health

France moves to end free Covid tests to promote vaccination campaign

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France moves to end free Covid tests to promote vaccination campaign

France is to end subsidised Covid testing from mid-October in a bid to encourage the country’s vaccination drive. However people who have already been vaccinated will still be allowed to get tested free of charge. From 15 October, the date on which Covid-19 screening tests will no longer be systematically free, PCR tests will cost €44 for unvaccinated adults without a prescription. The antigenic tests will be charged €22 euros if they are carried out in a laboratory, with pharmacies charging €25 euros. Self-testing kits at €5.20 will no longer…

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Finland joins Sweden and Denmark in limiting Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine

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Finland joins Sweden and Denmark in limiting Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine

Finland has joined other Nordic countries in suspending or discouraging the use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in certain age groups because of an increased risk of heart inflammation, a rare side effect associated with the shot. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare said Thursday that authorities won’t give the shot to males under age 30. They will be offered the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine instead. The government agency said it found that young men and boys were at a slightly higher risk of developing myocarditis. The move by Finland followed similar…

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COVID: UK RECORDS HIGHEST DAILY DEATH TOLL SINCE MARCH – CORNWALL TOURISTS URGED TO ‘STAY AWAY’ AS CASES RISE

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COVID: UK RECORDS HIGHEST DAILY DEATH TOLL SINCE MARCH – CORNWALL TOURISTS URGED TO ‘STAY AWAY’ AS CASES RISE

ritain has reported another 174 coronavirus-related deaths, the highest number of fatalities recorded in one day since 175 were recorded on March 12, according to official figures. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 131,854. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test. Another 30,838 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 6,555,200, Xinhua reported. Meanwhile, data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS)…

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U.S. to begin offering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots in September

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U.S. to begin offering COVID-19 vaccine booster shots in September

The U.S. government said on Wednesday it plans to make COVID-19 vaccine booster shots widely available starting on Sept. 20 as infections rise from the coronavirus Delta variant, citing data indicating diminishing protection from the vaccines over time. U.S. officials are prepared to offer a third shot to Americans who completed their initial inoculation in two-dose COVID-19 vaccines made by Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and by Pfizer Inc(PFE.N) and BioNTech AG (22UAy.DE) at least eight months ago, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement. Initial booster doses…

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DAILY DEATHS TOP 1,000: War over masks deepens in South where COVID-19 cases are highest

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DAILY DEATHS TOP 1,000: War over masks deepens in South where COVID-19 cases are highest

Florida’s largest school district on Wednesday imposed a mask mandate in defiance of the state’s governor, the latest chapter in the coronavirus political battle in the southern United States where new infections are highest. At a day-long meeting that grew contentious at times, the Miami-Dade County School Board voted to require most of the district’s 360,000 students, as well as staff, to wear face coverings when classes begin on Monday. Governor Ron DeSantis previously placed a ban on local mask mandates. “While I am a very, very strong advocate, and…

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Children hospitalized with COVID-19 in U.S. hits record number

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Children hospitalized with COVID-19 in U.S. hits record number

The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States hit a record high of just over 1,900 on Saturday, as hospitals across the South were stretched to capacity fighting outbreaks caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant. The Delta variant, which is rapidly spreading among mostly the unvaccinated portion of the U.S. population, has caused hospitalizations to spike in recent weeks, driving up the number of confirmed and suspected pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations to 1,902 on Saturday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services….

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Should children get COVID-19 vaccines? What science says

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Should children get COVID-19 vaccines? What science says

At a time when much of the world is still struggling to access COVID-19 vaccines, the question of whether to vaccinate children can feel like a privilege. On 19 July, vaccine advisers in the United Kingdom recommended delaying vaccines for most young people under 16, citing the very low rates of serious disease in this age group. But several countries, including the United States and Israel, have forged ahead, and others are hoping to follow suit when supplies allow. Since the early days of the pandemic, parents have been taking…

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The artificial intelligence system that can identify cancer-causing mutations

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The artificial intelligence system that can identify cancer-causing mutations

A team of Spanish scientists, led by Núria López-Bigas, has developed a system based on artificial intelligence that can identify the mutations that cause cancer in different kinds of tumors. Known as BoostDM, it uses self-teaching algorithms and is capable of searching through the mutational profiles of 28,000 genomes in 66 types of cancer and is now available for doctors and scientists the world over to incorporate into their investigations free of charge. López-Bigas, who heads up the Biomedical Genomics Research Group at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in…

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How Science Is Helping Female Sportsperson to Train In the Coming Era

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How Science Is Helping Female Sportsperson to Train In the Coming Era

Until a few years ago, elite Colorado track and field athlete Annie Kunz used to feel fatigued — even during her warmups. And then there was the constant hunger: Sometimes her stomach would growl in the middle of practice. She felt like she was always thinking about food, always restricting what she ate, avoiding whole categories — such as carbohydrates — completely, because she thought they were unhealthy. Add to that awful, debilitating cramps when she got her period. Kunz, who is representing the U.S. Olympic team in the women’s…

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Denmark: 4 million people receive Covid-19 vaccination

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Denmark: 4 million people receive Covid-19 vaccination

More than four million people in Denmark have begun vaccination against Covid-19, according to a latest update from the country’s health authorities. The exact figure of 4,018,508 Denmark residents who have received at least the first dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus was released by the Ministry of Health on Thursday. That corresponds to 68.67 percent of the country’s population, according to the ministry. Denmark’s national vaccination programme uses only the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, both of which require two doses. The Johnson & Johnson vaccines, for which a…

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