Canada approves Pfizer vaccine for ages 12 and older India’s virus surge damaging PM Narendra Modi’s tailored image of competence Professor helps students craft online multilingual coronavirus brochures Follow more of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
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WOONSOCKET, Rhode Island CVS Health is now accepting walk-in customers for COVID-19 vaccinations at all 8,300 of its stores that are doling out shots.
The drugstore chain started accepting customers with no appointments this week. It also is offering same-day day appointments, which Walgreens started on Wednesday. Walgreens is also accepting walk-ins and expects to offer vaccines at all 9,200 of its U.S. stores by this weekend.
Reuters
COVID-19 cases are rising in some Southeast Asian nations, as Malaysia and Thailand on Wednesday reported record high virus-related deaths amid the spread of highly contagious variants in the region.
Malaysia on Wednesday logged its highest number of daily new COVID-19 infections since Jan. 31, the Philippines is bracing for a potential surge in cases after the double mutant Indian strain was discovered there a day earlier, and Thailand’s Department of Corrections said almost 3,000 inmates in two prisons tested positive.
“The Department of Corrections tested for COVID-19 among all officials and inmates and found 1,040 infected in the Women s Correctional Institution and 1,795 in the Bangkok Remand Prison,” the department’s press statement said.
BenarNews
A Thai court on Tuesday freed on bail two Thai pro-democracy activists charged with royal defamation, including Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak, who has been on a weeks-long hunger strike to protest being denied bail 10 times since his February arrest.
The court also released Chaiamorn “Ammy” Kaewwiboonpan, who was arrested in March for allegedly burning a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn in front of a jail during an anti-government protest. A bail hearing for a third activist, Panupong “Mike” Jadnok, also charged with defaming the monarchy, was delayed as they were waiting for results of his COVID-19 test, authorities said.
“The court examined the evidence at the hearing for a temporary release of Parit and Chaiamorn and considered that the circumstances of the cases have changed. Therefore, the court granted a temporary release of Parit and Chaiamorn,” the Criminal Court in Bangkok said in a statement, without elaborating on how the situation
Thailand fights to contain COVID-19 surge in Bangkok kwwl.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kwwl.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
[Reuters]
A Thai court ruled Wednesday that a senior government official can retain his cabinet post despite having served a prison sentence in Australia for heroin smuggling during the 1990s.
While Thai law bars drug offenders from holding public office, the overseas ruling is not binding in Thailand, the Constitutional Court said. Wednesday’s ruling in the case of Thammanat Prompao, the deputy minister for agriculture and cooperatives, drew swift condemnation from a political opposition leader and others who suggested that the court had allowed a convicted criminal to remain in the cabinet unpunished.
“Though the factual information convinced us that the accused [Thammanat] was convicted by New South Wales’ courts before he became a member of parliament, those were not Thai courts’ rulings. The accused is not prohibited by the Constitution of becoming a member of parliament nor serving in the ministry,” said Noppadon Theppitak, one of the nine-member judi