Health

Covid-19: WHO extends call for a moratorium on booster doses until year end

The World Health Organization (WHO) has extended its call for a moratorium on Covid-19 booster doses until at least the end of the year.

Published

1 week ago

Sep 08, 2021 11:48 PM

Faisal Ali Ghumman

Covid-19: WHO extends call for a moratorium on booster doses until year end

The WHO previously urged world leaders to hold off on booster doses until the end of September.

“There has been little change in the global situation since then, so today I am calling for an extension of the moratorium until at least the end of the year to enable every country to vaccinate at least 40% of its population,” WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a briefing Wednesday.

About 5.5 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, but 80% have been administered in high or upper-middle income countries, according to the WHO.

“I will not stay silent when the companies and countries that control the global supply of vaccines think the world’s poor should be satisfied with leftovers,” Tedros said.

Almost 90% of high-income countries have vaccinated at least 10% of their population, and 70% of high income countries have vaccinated at least 40% of their population. “Not a single low income country has reached either target,” Tedros said. “That’s not their fault.”

“High income countries have promised to donate more than 1 billion doses, but less than 15% of those doses have been materialized,” Tedros said. “Manufacturers have promised to prioritize COVAX and low income countries.”

The director general said that WHO has been calling for vaccine equity since the beginning of the vaccine rollout, and that it was not supposed to happen after the richest countries have been taken care of.

“We don’t want any more promises, we just want the vaccines,” Tedros said. “We have the tools, it’s clear what needs to happens, now is the time for true leadership, not empty promises.”

SOURCE: CNBC

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Faisal Ali Ghumman

Faisal Ali Ghumman is a senior editor at GNN, known for writing top quality content which garner very high readerships and has been covering every field of journalism, including politics, media, sports and scholarly articles. Faisal Ali Ghumman is nothing less than a Veteran Editor and has been writing for GNN for the past 3 months.

Pakistan

Pakistan's COVID-19 death toll crosses 27,000 mark

Islamabad: Pakistan is presently experiencing the fourth wave of coronavirus which is said to be deadlier and more contagious than previous three COVID waves.

Published

5 days ago

Sep 16, 2021 08:43 AM

Mehak Javed

Pakistan's COVID-19 death toll crosses 27,000 mark

According to National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), around 3,012 cases of coronavirus were reported while 66 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 27,004.

The total number of cases has reached 1,215,821.

As many as 1,112,236 patients have recovered from the disease with 5,039 critical cases.

Punjab

The number of patients swelled to 418,196 in the province with 12,319 causalities.

Sindh

The number of infections has surged to 447,678 in the province, while the death toll has reached 7,210.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The confirmed cases have surged to 169,972 in the province with 5,329 casualties.

Balochistan

There are 32,671 confirmed cases while 344 patients have died from the infection so far.

AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan

There are 33,551 coronavirus cases in the AJK while the death toll has reached 727. On the other hand, there are 10,204 cases in GB with 182 coronavirus deaths.

Islamabad

There are 103,549 cases in the capital city while 893 people have lost their lives.

Sports

Australia to cancel Afghan test if Taliban ban women's sports

Canberra: Cricket Australia Thursday issued an official notification, stating that they would cancel Test match against Afghanistan unless Taliban lift the reported ban on women’s sports.

Published

1 week ago

Sep 09, 2021 01:16 PM

Mehak Javed

Australia to renounce Afghan test if Taliban ban women's sports

On its official twitter handle, Cricket Australia said that it will not host Afghanistan planned Test match in Hobart starting November 27, if news reports of Taliban views on the women’s game were true.

"If recent media reports that women's cricket will not be supported in Afghanistan are substantiated, Cricket Australia would have no alternative but not to host Afghanistan for the proposed Test match due to be played in Hobart," said Cricket Australia in its statement.

An update on the proposed Test match against Afghanistan ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/p2q5LOJMlw
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) September 9, 2021

The Taliban, banned sports for women in the country saying, they don't think women will be allowed to play cricket as it’s not necessary for them to participate.

According to SBS, Ahmadullah Wasiq, deputy head of the Taliban's cultural commission said, “In cricket, women might face a situation where their face and body will not be covered”.

“Islam does not allow women to be seen like this," he stressed.

Meanwhile, players from Afghanistan women’s soccer team are among dozens of athletes who were given visas to live in Australia and have been undergoing quarantine amid coronavirus pandemic.

However, it is a move that could cost Afghanistan its status as a Test-playing nation.

Afghanistan has a national women's cricket team — but its status has been thrown into question along with every other woman in the country after the Taliban ousted the U.S.-backed government.

In August, Taliban allowed men’s cricket to continue and gave approval for the men’s national team to travel to Australia for a test match in November.

Pakistan

Pakistan's COVID-19 positivity rate drops to 4.22%

Pakistan is presently experiencing the fourth wave of coronavirus which is said to be deadlier and more contagious than previous three COVID waves.

Published

1 day ago

Sep 20, 2021 08:37 AM

Mehak Javed

Pakistan's COVID-19 positivity rate drops to 4.22%

Islamabad: Pakistan's coronavirus positivity ratio decreased to 4.22% from more than 11% a couple of weeks ago.

Pakistan is presently experiencing the fourth wave of coronavirus which is said to be deadlier and more contagious than previous three COVID waves.

According to National Command and Operations Center (NCOC), around 2,167 cases of coronavirus were reported while 40 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 27,246. The daily Covid-19 positivity rate in Pakistan is at 4.22%.

The total number of cases has reached 1,226,008.

As many as 1,135,038 patients have recovered from the disease with 4,840 critical cases.

Punjab

The number of patients swelled to 422,790 in the province with 12,407 causalities.

Sindh

The number of infections has surged to 450,787 in the province, while the death toll has reached 7,270.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The confirmed cases have surged to 171,388 in the province with 5,412 casualties.

Balochistan

There are 32,769 confirmed cases while 344 patients have died from the infection so far.

AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan

There are 33,787 coronavirus cases in the AJK while the death toll has reached 729. On the other hand, there are 10,245 cases in GB with 182 coronavirus deaths.

Islamabad

There are 104,242 cases in the capital city while 902 people have lost their lives