World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Ghebreyesus has called on China to cooperate with the ongoing investigation into the origin of Covid-19 amid renewed calls for further probe. Tedros made these remarks after taking part in the G7 summit by video conference on Saturday, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
“As you know, we will need cooperation from the Chinese side,” he said. “We need transparency to understand or know or find the origin of this virus… after the report was released, there were difficulties in data sharing, especially with raw data.”
American President Joe Biden has also ordered a fresh US intelligence inquiry into the origin of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, a fleet of 60 drones has been deployed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou to keep people indoors and remind those going out to wear masks. Six new cases were reported in Guangzhou over the previous 24 hours, raising the number in the outbreak to more than 100.
Ditch AZ jab: EMA official
A top official at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it might be worth abandoning AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for all age groups where alternatives are available, in an interview published on Sunday.
Marco Cavaleri, the EMA’s head of vaccine strategy, also told Italy’s La Stampa newspaper that the Johnson & Johnson jab should be preferentially used for the over 60s.
Both so-called viral vector vaccines are authorised for everyone over 18, but have been dogged by reports of rare blood clots. The EU has also authorised two mRNA vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
