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Scientists tackle vaccine safety, efficacy and access at global R&D forum
More than 2,800 scientists from 130 countries gathered on Friday (January 15) in a virtual forum hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to identify knowledge gaps and set research priorities for vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
They discussed the safety and efficacy of existing vaccines and new candidates, ways to optimize limited supply, and the need for additional safety studies.
“The development and approval of several safe and effective vaccines less than a year after this virus was isolated and sequenced is an astounding scientific accomplishment,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, in his opening remarks. “The approval of the first few vaccines does not mean the job is done. Far from it. More vaccines are in the pipeline, which must be evaluated to ensure we have enough doses to vaccinate everyone.”
Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce join Covid-19 vaccination project to record immunisation status
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January 16, 2021 Microsoft, Oracle, and Salesforce have established a way of maintaining the database of the people who have been inoculated with Covid-19 vaccine shots. The new model will let users resume work, play, and travel as soon as possible, ZDNet reported.
The project, called the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI), will maintain a digital “Health Wallet” of people administered with Covid-19 vaccine and their immunisation history can be found on the app itself.
People who do not have a smartphone can avail the paper version of the model. The paper version will come with a QR code, scanning which authorities can access the health history of people.
Crestwood schoolâs leaders havenât decided yet when elementary students will return to in-person classes, which the state recommended for the second semester that starts Feb. 1.
âWe will have an an announcement shortly,â Superintendent Bob Mehalick said Thursday during a committee meeting with the school board. âThere are a lot of things we are still working through. Our goal, our motivation is to get our kids back to some form of in-person instruction.â
If students return, Mehalick will recommend they spend a few days a week in classrooms and study from home on other days, as they did before Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, a resurgence of the virus led all classes to meet virtually. Buses and some classes would be too crowded for students to keep 6 feet apart if they returned five days a week, Mehalick said after board member James Costello asked how many days a week students would attend. If elementary students return a few days a week, Costello re
Good news for the bigger-bottomed: Danish researchers have revealed that thin thighs may be hazardous to health. The findings, revealed last week, indicate that premature death and heart disease were highest amongst people with the slimmest thighs, which could be bad news for supermodels.
2,800 people in the ‘middle-aged’ bracket were surveyed over the course of the last decade, with findings suggesting that people with thin thighs have a greater mortality rate and chance of heart disease. Researchers from the Institute of Preventative Medicine in Copenhagen have concluded that the risk is doubled for those with the smallest thighs, pointing out that thigh measurement, not waistline, was the studied area.