LONDON: Approved COVID-19 vaccines are effective against the Indian variant (B.1.617.2), a study by scientists at Oxford University has found.
“It looks like the Indian variant will be susceptible to the vaccine in the way that other (variants) are,” Prof. Sir John Bell, emeritus professor of medicine at Oxford, told Times Radio in the UK.
“The data looks rather promising. I think the vaccinated population are going to be fine. And we just need to pump our way through this.”
The study, led by Oxford’s Prof. Gavin Screaton, looked at two vaccines Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca and found that both create sufficient antibodies to neutralize the Indian variant in enough incidences to drastically reduce hospitalizations and fatalities.
COPENHAGEN: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged all parties in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians to protect civilians and said the United States is working intensively to an end to the violence.
“We have been working around the clock through diplomatic channels to try to bring an end to the conflict,” Blinken said at a joint briefing with Denmark’s foreign minister in Copenhagen.
The fighting entered a second week on Monday as Israel bombed targets in Gaza and Palestinian militants fired rocket barrages at Israeli cities.
Gaza health officials put the Palestinian death toll since the hostilities flared at 198, including 58 children and 34 women. Ten people have been killed in Israel, including two children, Israeli authorities say.
Criticism of Tel Aviv has increased in recent days following a wave of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.
Prominent Democrats have urged Biden to limit military aid to Israel and put more pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cease operations.
Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Saturday: “I don’t care how any spokesperson tries to spin this, the US vetoed the UN call for ceasefire. If the Biden admin can’t stand up to an ally, who can it stand up to? How can they credibly claim to stand for human rights?”
Several members of the Democratic Party have described Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as similar to that of African Americans by various police departments.
DUBAI: Dubai’s Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management on Monday has updated precautionary measures for events and activities.
The revised protocols allow entertainment facilities and venues to have an increased capacity of 70 percent, while hotels can raise their occupancy ceiling to 100 percent.
The emirate will also allow live entertainment and activities in restaurants, cafes and shopping malls for a trial period of one month.
It noted that the latest precautionary measures must be observed, and performers and entertainers should be vaccinated against COVID-19. These updates are effective immediately.
The committee stressed that it remains mandatory for people attending events and activities to put on their face masks and apply physical distancing of two meters.
DUBAI: Harvey Nichols Kuwait announced this week that they will no longer be stocking Cult Gaia products after the Los Angeles-based brand’s founder, Jasmin Larian, made comments on Instagram that were deemed by many on social media to be “anti-Palestine.”
Her post, which she shared with her 28,200 Instagram followers read: “I am seeing so much misinformation on social… One-sided and spreading hate. Please educate yourself on the full story before reposting. I’m praying for everyone on both sides who are a victim of this violence.” She also reposted a photo depicting the words “I support Israel’s right to defend itself.”