YCLOAK

It has been 30 years or so since residents in New Mexico’s largest city last saw their stretch of the Rio Grande go dry. There’s a possibility it could happen again this summer. Federal water managers released their annual operating plan for the Rio Grande on Thursday, and it doesn’t look good. Flows have been meager so far this year because of below-average snowpack in the mountains along the Colorado-New Mexico border that feed the river. Spring precipitation has done little to fill the void. Reservoirs are at a fraction of their capacity and continue to shrink. There is no opportunity to replenish them because the provisions of a water-sharing agreement with Texas prevent New Mexico from storing water upstream. That means the drought-stricken state has no extra water in the bank to fall back on, as it has had in previous years. Matters are further complicated because of extremely low soil moisture levels. That, along with warm temperatures, means much of the melting snow will be absorbed or evaporate before it reaches the river. The Rio Grande flows just south of Bernalillo, N.M., April 13, 2021.”Just low dismal numbers all around,” Ed Kandl, a hydrologist with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, said during a virtual meeting that included representatives from municipalities, tribal governments, irrigation districts, state agencies and a rafting company.  The Rio Grande is one of North America’s longest rivers and a major water source for millions of people and thousands of square miles of farmland in New Mexico, Texas and Mexico. The Bureau of Reclamation warned Thursday that a stellar monsoon season would be the only saving grace, but the odds of that happening are slim.  The Pecos River, which delivers water to parts of eastern New Mexico and West Texas, is in a similar situation, and federal officials recently issued a report indicating that releases on the Colorado River — which feeds several Western states — will continue to be limited because of the lack of water flowing into Lake Powell. So aside from residents in Albuquerque seeing sandbars take over the Rio Grande, farmers in central and southern New Mexico will have a shorter growing season with less water for crops.  It also means less water for the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow. Plans already are being made for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to rescue fish from drying portions of the river. The rescue missions have become a regular practice in recent years. Near the small agricultural community of San Acacia, officials predicted that river drying would start in June and likely last through November, barring any relief from summer rains.  Last year was also tough, but officials said 2021 will likely mark one of the worst since the 1950s. They said the state’s largest reservoir — Elephant Butte in southern New Mexico — could drop to just 3% of capacity. Carolyn Donnelly, the bureau’s water operations supervisor for the area, said contractors will be monitoring the river for drying as far north as Albuquerque, and managers will try to stretch what little water they have as far as it can go. 
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Nigerian authorities are stepping up efforts to vaccinate more people against COVID-19 after a slow rollout blamed on misinformation. Authorities aim to vaccinate over 80 million Nigerians by year’s end but are running far behind schedule. Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja.
Camera: Emekas Gibson
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An independent panel of U.S. health experts is delaying a final decision about Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine as they get more information about it and possible links to a very rare but dangerous blood clot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization advisory committee held an emergency meeting Wednesday, one day after the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration issued a joint statement recommending a pause in the use of the one-dose vaccine after six women between 18 and 48 years old developed blood clots known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) within six to 13 days after being inoculated.  One of the women died, while another has been hospitalized in critical condition.    The six cases were among the more than 7 million people in the United States who have been inoculated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. FILE – A member of the Philadelphia Fire Department administers a COVID-19 vaccine, March 26, 2021.Dr. Beth Bell, a global health expert at the University of Washington, was one of the members who argued in favor of gaining more information.  But Bell called the blood clotting incidents “a very rare event” and insisted she didn’t want to send a message “that there is something fundamentally wrong with this vaccine.” Delays in EuropeBut the reports prompted the U.S. pharmaceutical giant Tuesday to announce it was delaying rollout in Europe, where vaccination efforts have been plagued by a shortage of vaccines and logistical problems, as well as the troubled rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has also been linked to cases of rare blood clots. Both the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines were developed by using so-called adenoviruses to carry DNA into human cells that generates the body’s immune system to ward off the coronavirus.    People wait to receive a dose of AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Fasano, Italy, Apr. 13, 2020.The issues with the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines led the European Union to announce Wednesday that 50 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine that it was initially slated to receive by the end of the year will be delivered by June, adding to the 200 million doses it was already expecting to receive by then.  In a related matter, Denmark became the first country in the world on Wednesday to permanently stop administering the AstraZeneca vaccine because of the suspected blood clots, just a month after health officials suspended use of the two-shot regimen.   Tokyo Olympic Games   The world is nearing 3 million deaths from COVID-19 out of 138.2 million confirmed total cases, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.  Many nations are undergoing a new surge of the virus, which is throwing doubt and confusion over numerous planned events, including the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games.   Passersby walk past a screen showing a countdown to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games that have been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Tokyo, Japan, Apr. 4, 2021.Toshihiro Nikai, the secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Thursday during a televised interview the Olympics should be cancelled if the current wave of new infections grows out of control.  Nikai’s remarks came a day after Japan hit the milestone of  100 days before the July 23 official ceremony.   The Tokyo Olympics were scheduled for last July and August, but organizers and then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decided to postpone the event for a year as the novel coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the globe.  However, with Tokyo and other parts of Japan under a state of emergency to quell a surge of new infections, public opinion polls show an overwhelming majority of Japanese believe the games should be postponed again or canceled.   
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An independent panel of U.S. health experts is delaying a final decision about Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine as they get more information about it and possible links to a very rare but dangerous blood clot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization advisory committee held an emergency meeting Wednesday, one day after the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration issued a joint statement recommending a pause in the use of the one-dose vaccine after six women between 18 and 48 years old developed blood clots known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) within six to 13 days after being inoculated.  One of the women died, while another has been hospitalized in critical condition.    The six cases were among the more than 7 million people in the United States who have been inoculated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. FILE – A member of the Philadelphia Fire Department administers a COVID-19 vaccine, March 26, 2021.Dr. Beth Bell, a global health expert at the University of Washington, was one of the members who argued in favor of gaining more information.  But Bell called the blood clotting incidents “a very rare event” and insisted she didn’t want to send a message “that there is something fundamentally wrong with this vaccine.” Delays in EuropeBut the reports prompted the U.S. pharmaceutical giant Tuesday to announce it was delaying rollout in Europe, where vaccination efforts have been plagued by a shortage of vaccines and logistical problems, as well as the troubled rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has also been linked to cases of rare blood clots. Both the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines were developed by using so-called adenoviruses to carry DNA into human cells that generates the body’s immune system to ward off the coronavirus.    People wait to receive a dose of AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine in Fasano, Italy, Apr. 13, 2020.The issues with the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines led the European Union to announce Wednesday that 50 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine that it was initially slated to receive by the end of the year will be delivered by June, adding to the 200 million doses it was already expecting to receive by then.  In a related matter, Denmark became the first country in the world on Wednesday to permanently stop administering the AstraZeneca vaccine because of the suspected blood clots, just a month after health officials suspended use of the two-shot regimen.   Tokyo Olympic Games   The world is nearing 3 million deaths from COVID-19 out of 138.2 million confirmed total cases, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.  Many nations are undergoing a new surge of the virus, which is throwing doubt and confusion over numerous planned events, including the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games.   Passersby walk past a screen showing a countdown to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games that have been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Tokyo, Japan, Apr. 4, 2021.Toshihiro Nikai, the secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said Thursday during a televised interview the Olympics should be cancelled if the current wave of new infections grows out of control.  Nikai’s remarks came a day after Japan hit the milestone of  100 days before the July 23 official ceremony.   The Tokyo Olympics were scheduled for last July and August, but organizers and then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decided to postpone the event for a year as the novel coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the globe.  However, with Tokyo and other parts of Japan under a state of emergency to quell a surge of new infections, public opinion polls show an overwhelming majority of Japanese believe the games should be postponed again or canceled.   
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Matchbox is launching a new series of toy cars based on real-life electric and hybrid vehicles, in a bid to make its miniatures more sustainable and to raise awareness among children of the environmental impact of motoring.The first model off the production line is a scaled-down version of the Tesla Roadster, which will be joined by toys based on cars made by Nissan, Toyota and BMW. Electric charging stations will also go on sale this year.”We are unveiling a concept car, just like the real car industry does,” said Nuria Alonso, head of Matchbox marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa.She added that it would be the first die-cast model made of 99% recycled materials.”We wanted to work with Tesla to inspire kids as the future drivers of tomorrow. We think their parents will love to see how their kids play with cars that encourage environmental consciousness, like electric cars.”The launch is part of an overhaul in Britain and Europe at Matchbox, which is owned by toymaker Mattel.The Matchbox brand was created nearly 70 years ago and sells more than 40 million die-cast vehicles each year. 
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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Denis Mukwege warned Wednesday that the scourge of sexual violence and rape in all conflicts is now “a real pandemic” and without sanctions and justice for the victims these horrific acts won’t stop.The Congolese doctor told the U.N. Security Council in a video briefing that “we are still far away from being able to draw a red line against the use of rape and sexual violence as a strategy of war domination and terror.”Mukwege appealed to the international community “to draw a red line against the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war.” And he stressed that the “red line” must mean “blacklists with economic, financial and political sanctions as well as judicial prosecutions against the perpetrators and instigators of these egregious crimes.”Mukwege founded the Panzi Hospital in the eastern Congo city of Bukavu, and for more than 20 years has treated countless women who were raped amid fighting between armed groups seeking control of some the central African nation’s vast mineral wealth. He lamented that sexual violence and impunity continue.He shared the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize with activist Nadia Murad, who was kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery by Islamic State militants in 2014 along with an estimated 3,000 Yazidi girls and women.Mukwege said there has been progress in international law, and the greatest challenge today is to transform commitments into obligations, and Security Council resolutions into results. Accountability and justice “are the best tools of prevention,” he said, and without punishment and sanctions, rapes and sexual violence in conflicts will continue.Mukwege spoke at a council meeting on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ latest report on sexual violence in conflict that said the COVID-19 pandemic led to a spike in gender-based violence last year. It focused on 18 countries where the U.N. said it has verified information that 52 warring parties are “credibly suspected” of patterns of “rape and other forms of sexual violence” in conflicts on the council agenda. The majority of the parties are opposition, rebel and terrorist groups — so-called “non-state actors” — and over 70% “are persistent perpetrators.”In the latest example, Pramila Patten, the U.N. special representative on conflict-related sexual violence, told the council that right now in Ethiopia’s remote, mountainous regions of north and central Tigray, where fighting continues between the government and the region’s fugitive leaders, “women and girls are being subjected to sexual violence with a level of cruelty beyond comprehension.””Health care workers are documenting new cases of rape and gang-rape daily, despite their fear of reprisals and attacks on the limited shelters and clinics in operation,” Patten said, noting that the report records allegations of over 100 rape cases since fighting began in November but it may take months to determine the full scale and magnitude of the atrocities.She said the report documents “over 2,500 U.N.-verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence committed in the course of 2020,” including in Congo, Central African Republic, Libya and South Sudan’s western Darfur region.”Each of these cases cries out for justice,” Patten said. “It is time to write a new social contract in which no military or political leader is above the law, and no woman or girl is beneath the scope of its protection.”Caroline Atim, director of the South Sudan Women with Disabilities Network who represented non-governmental organizations focused on women, peace and security, became the first deaf person to brief the Security Council. She used sign language for her remarks, which were voiced by an interpreter.Despite a 2018 peace deal, Atim said, “South Sudan remains engulfed by intercommunal, ethnic, political and armed conflicts where gender-based violence is deliberately used as a tool of humiliation against women and girls.””More than 65% of South Sudanese women have experienced sexual or physical violence, a figure that is double the global average and among the highest in the world,” she said, echoing calls for a halt to sexual violence, a survivor-centered approach for victims, and accountability for perpetrators.
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Kurdish officials in northeast Syria are expressing concerns over a sharp increase in coronavirus cases in their region, calling on international health organizations to intervene to prevent a “humanitarian catastrophe.”
 
A 10-day curfew went into effect Tuesday in an attempt to curb the spread of the deadly virus in the semiautonomous region, which is home to nearly 5 million people, including thousands of internally displaced people, refugees and prisoners of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, also known as ISIS or its Arabic acronym, Daesh.
 
“The situation is getting out of control,” said Jowan Mustafa, co-chair of the Health Department at the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES), a governing body affiliated with the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
 
“In the past few weeks, we have witnessed a growing rate of COVID-19 cases in our region,” he told VOA by phone. “We need immediate assistance from international health organizations to stop a potential humanitarian catastrophe.”
 
On Wednesday alone, 248 new cases and five deaths were reported, bringing the total number of coronavirus infections in northeast Syria to 13,004, including 437 deaths.
 
Local health officials said the actual number of those infected with the virus could be much higher.
 
“Our testing capacity is very limited, and our hospitals and health facilities are overwhelmed,” said Mustafa, adding that “many people carrying the virus are staying at home without reporting to us.”
 Al-Hol camp
 
One in four COVID-19-related deaths confirmed on Tuesday occurred in al-Hol camp, where over 60,000 people reside, including thousands of families of IS foreign fighters.
 
Sheikhmous Ahmed, head of the Refugee Affairs Office at the AANES, said overpopulation and poor health infrastructure make camp residents more susceptible to the coronavirus, also known as SARS-CoV-2, the viral strain that causes COVID-19.  
 
“Given the current high number of COVID cases outside the camp, its spread could be much more rapid inside the camp,” Ahmed told VOA.
 
He said medical teams at al-Hol don’t have enough resources to contain a sudden outbreak of the virus.FILE – A member of Kurdish internal security stands guard at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, in northeastern Syria, Jan. 28, 2021.Philippe Nassif, Middle East and North Africa advocacy director at Amnesty International, said “in Syria, where over half the population has been displaced and tens of thousands remain in IDP camps in the northeast, the pandemic has taken a particularly heavy toll.”
 
“This includes prisons holding ISIS fighters, their families and other detainees creating a crisis within a crisis,” he said.
 
In addition to those held in al-Hol and other detention camps, the SDF says it holds more than 10,000 IS fighters, including about 2,000 foreign nationals.
 
“Amnesty International has profound concerns for the well-being of those held in detention, and for the hundreds of thousands of refugees and IDPs scattered across Syria and the region,” Nassif told VOA. “The world needs an urgent plan to help these vulnerable populations get vaccinated immediately.”
 Call for help  
 
Mustafa of AANES said the organization has reached out to international health bodies, including the World Health Organization, to take immediate action in this part of the war-ravaged country.  
 
“The WHO has said it would deliver a small number of vaccines to northeast Syria in April, but even that hasn’t happened yet,” he said, noting that “if we don’t receive immediate assistance from the WHO, then other non-governmental health groups should step in to help us stop this crisis.”  
 
 WHO said last month it will run a coronavirus vaccination campaign in Syria, with the goal of inoculating 20% of the country’s population by the end of 2021.  
 
WHO representative to Syria Akjemal Magtymova recently said only one of 16 public hospitals in the region is fully functioning, and three are partially functioning.
 
“It is a massive challenge to ensure the adequate number of hospital beds in intensive care units, in the wake of the third wave of COVID-19 in Syria,” she said in a statement, noting that “access to COVID-19 vaccines to reduce ongoing transmission is yet another mammoth task for Syria.” 
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South Africa’s health minister says the nation will still hit its COVID-19 vaccination targets, even as it pauses the use of the Johnson & Johnson shot amid concerns over blood clots. South Africa’s mass-inoculation campaign was dealt the setback following word that six women in the United States developed a blood clotting disorder after receiving the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. One person died. Nearly 7 million doses have been administered in the United States.    This is now the second time that South Africa has had to shift gears in its vaccination campaign. In February, just days after receiving its first shipment of vaccines, authorities jettisoned plans to use the AstraZeneca product amid reports that it did not protect against the variant of the coronavirus that is most prevalent in South Africa. The coronavirus causes the COVID-19 respiratory disease.    And now this, said Dr. Zweli Mkhize, the nation’s health minister. So far, he said, more than 290,000 South African health workers have been given the vaccine, with no reported blood clots. Nevertheless, he told officials, South Africa will pause the program until everyone is sure the vaccine is safe.       As COVID-19 Epicenter, South Africa to Receive 41 Million Vaccine DosesSouth Africa lauds arrival of tens of millions of doses; announces alcohol ban over major holiday weekend “Based on their advice, we’ve determined to voluntarily suspend our rollout until the causal relationship between the development of clots and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is sufficiently interrogated,” he said to parliamentarians via webinar on Wednesday. “… I call for calm and patience as we ensure that we continue to be properly guided by science and ensuring the safety of our people as we roll out the vaccine campaign.”     Mkhize says he hopes deliberations on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine’s safety will last only a few days and will not lead to complete withdrawal of the product.   He says the news about the vaccine is disappointing as mortality rates from the coronavirus appear to be declining, and South Africa will soon receive a total of 30 million doses of the two-shot Pfizer vaccine. South Africa has more than 1.5 million confirmed cases, giving it the highest burden on the continent.    But, he said, the bigger battle — the one he hasn’t been able to discuss until now — is the behind-the-scenes fight South African officials have waged with pharmaceutical giants. Both Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, he said, have asked for what he described as “difficult and unreasonable” guarantees from South Africa and other nations.    “I can also assure you that we have not been sleeping on the job,” he said. “The fact that we previously did not disclose before parliament the blow-by-blow details of the intense negotiations is because we’re prioritizing the closing of those agreements in order to secure the vaccines we require for us to reach population immunity.” 
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European Commission President Urusula Von der Leyen Wednesday announced the European Union has reached a deal with pharmaceutical partners Pfizer-BioNTech for 50 million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine, to be delivered in the coming months.
At a news briefing in Brussels, Von der Leyen said the new deal means the EU will have obtained 250 million doses. She said the bloc is negotiating a third contract with the partners for 1.8 billion doses to be delivered in 2022 and 2023.  
She said the deal will “not only include the production of vaccines, but also the essential components. All of that will be based in the European Union.”
Von der Leyen said 100 million doses have been administered in the 27-nation EU bloc already, saying this is “a milestone we can be proud of.”   
But, noting issues with AstraZeneca, and this week, the Johnson & Johnson shots, the European Commission president said many factors can disrupt the planned delivery schedules of vaccines.
 
She said, “It is therefore important to act swiftly, anticipate, and adjust whenever it is possible, and we are doing everything in our power to support Europe’s vaccination rollout.”
Several European nations suspended administering the AstraZeneca vaccine after reports of rare cases of blood clots. Tuesday, U.S. health regulators recommended pausing inoculations with Johnson & Johnson’s product because of similar reports.
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Health care workers in Cameroon say they are reluctant to take the coronavirus vaccines donated by China because they doubt the drug’s efficacy. On Sunday, 200,000 Sinopharm doses arrived in Cameroon’s capital. Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute accepted the vaccine donation on behalf of President Paul Biya at Yaounde’s international airport, in a ceremony that was broadcast live on state radio and television.  However, the same day in Beijing, a Chinese official said Chinese vaccines provide low protection against the coronavirus and officials are looking for ways to boost the efficacy by mixing them, according to the Associated Press.  FILE – Empty vials of China’s Sinopharm vaccine sit in a cup at a public hospital in Lima, Peru, Feb. 10, 2021.In Cameroon, some health care workers are skeptical the Sinopharm vaccine is effective. “The government should have given more time for trials to be made to see if the side effects on Cameroonians are bearable or not,” said Honorine Aza, a nurse at the Messassi government hospital in Yaounde. “What is the need rushing with a vaccine to Cameroon on Sunday and asking health workers to be vaccinated immediately? I prefer other preventive methods like washing of hands with soap and water, wearing face masks, social distancing and avoiding overcrowded places.” Clementine Ndjock, 34, is the leader of the Association of Female Traders in Douala. She says several local news organizations like Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV, Canal 2 and Star FM have reported cases outside Cameroon of potentially serious side effects after taking the vaccine. She wants Cameroon and China to prove that the vaccine is safe. Cameroon Health Minister Manaouda Malachie was the first to get injected with the vaccine. He says the vaccine is safe and is encouraging everyone to get it voluntarily. While he says he understands that some people are scared because of reports that fake vaccines were discovered in China, he stressed that the vaccines in Cameroon were taken directly from the factory making them in China. Malachie says although there may be side effects, there is no scientific evidence of a death being causally linked with the coronavirus vaccine.  On Monday, Cameroon’s Medical Council said about 400 people — including 90 health workers — had received the Sinopharm vaccine.  The government had projected at least 1,000 to be vaccinated 24 hours after the doses arrived. 
 
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Hours after U.S. federal health officials urged a pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine after it was linked to a rare but dangerous blood clot, the U.S. pharmaceutical giant announced Tuesday it was delaying rollout of the single-dose vaccine in Europe.“We have been working closely with medical experts and health authorities, and we strongly support the open communication of this information to healthcare professionals and the public,” the company said in a written statement.Syringes with AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines are prepared in Fasano, Italy, Apr. 13, 2021.The delay strikes a major blow to Europe’s already sluggish vaccination efforts, which has been plagued by logistical problems and a shortage of vaccines. The continent’s vaccination campaign has also been hindered by the troubled rollout of the vaccine developed by British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, which has also been linked to cases of rare blood clots.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said six women between 18 and 48 years of age who had received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine developed blood clotting known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) within six to 13 days after being inoculated. One of the women died, while another has been hospitalized in critical condition.Dr. Jane Woodcock, the acting commissioner of the F.D.A., told reporters Tuesday during a joint virtual briefing the pause is expected to last only “a matter of days” as both agencies investigate the matter. The CDC is holding an emergency meeting of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Wednesday to review the cases.CDC Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat said people who received the vaccine more than two weeks ago have very little to fear. Those who received the vaccine within the last week or so who develop symptoms such as severe headache, abdominal or leg pain, or shortness of breath, should contact their health care provider.They note the six cases occurred out of more than 6.8 million doses of the vaccine administered.FILE — In this Feb, 17 2021 file photo, health care workers look through a window at a hospital in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa during the rollout of the first batch of Johnson and Johnson vaccines in the country.South Africa also followed suit Tuesday by suspending use of Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.Both the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines were developed using so-called adenoviruses to carry DNA into human cells that generates the body’s immune system to ward off the coronavirus.Better news on the COVID-19 vaccine front came Tuesday from Moderna. The U.S.-based pharmaceutical company said data from its late-stage clinical trials shows its two-dose vaccine is more than 90% effective against a coronavirus infection, and 95% effective against severe disease up to six months after the second dose. Moderna is currently testing its vaccine among young people between 12 to 17 years of age.A new study conducted by U.S.-based health care provider Kaiser Permanente found that a lack of physical activity poses a greater risk of severe COVID-19 infection and death. The study, published Tuesday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, covered nearly 50,000 people in the United States who had been diagnosed with the coronavirus. The researchers say those physically inactive for at least two years before the pandemic were twice as likely to be hospitalized as those who engaged in regular exercise.Scientists say the previous risk factors for severe COVID-19 infection includes advanced age, being male and having such pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, obesity or cardiovascular disease.  
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The U.N. Population Fund called on nations Wednesday to respect bodily autonomy as a universal right, saying too many women and girls are denied this basic power over their own bodies.“The right to autonomy over our bodies means that we must have the power and agency to make choices without fear of violence or having someone else decide for us,” UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem told reporters.Natalia Kanem, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, gives a press conference in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on March 22, 2021.Those other decision-makers include partners, family members, society and government.In a new report, “My Body is My Own,” UNFPA reviewed data from nearly 60 countries, representing about a quarter of the world’s population. It found that nearly half of the women lack the power to make their own decisions about their health care, whether or not to use contraception, or to have sexual intercourse with a partner.“A woman who has control over her body is more likely to have power in other spheres of her life,” Kanem said.
But when they are denied this power, she said it reinforces inequalities and perpetuates violence arising from gender discrimination, which is at the root of the problem.“When control rests elsewhere, autonomy remains perpetually out of reach,” the report notes.Crimes and practices that violate a woman’s bodily autonomy include “honor” killings, forced and early marriage, “virginity” tests and female genital mutilation. Forced pregnancy or abortion also violate a woman’s power to make decisions concerning her body.“Some violations, such as rape, may be criminalized, but then not always prosecuted and punished,” Kanem said. “Other violations go unchallenged altogether because they are reinforced by community norms, practices and laws.”Despite constitutional guarantees of gender equality in many countries, the report says on average, women globally enjoy only 75% of the legal rights of men.Kanem said COVID-19 has worsened the situation for millions of women, increasing sexual violence, especially during lockdowns, creating new barriers to access to health care, and job and education losses.The report notes that bodily autonomy is an issue for other often marginalized groups, including unmarried women, LGBTI communities and persons with disabilities.No country has achieved total gender equality, but among those with the best track record are Sweden, Uruguay, Cambodia, Finland and Netherlands.“A diversity that shows you that this aspirational value doesn’t really depend on culture or location,” Kanem said, noting that the same is true at the bottom of the scale.She said governments have a lead role to play by fulfilling obligations under human rights treaties and altering social, political, institutional and economic structures that reinforce gender inequalities.
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Several U.S. states have temporarily stopped providing Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines in line with federal guidance after six people who received the shots developed rare blood clots. Meanwhile, several countries have suspended the AstraZeneca vaccines after reports it, too, may be linked to blood clots. White House correspondent Patsy Widakuswara reports. 
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U.S. health officials have pressed pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after a handful of people developed a rare but serious blood-clotting disorder following vaccination. Six cases have been reported so far, out of nearly 7 million doses given. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine makes up a small proportion of the U.S. vaccine supply, so the setback may be relatively minor. But experts say the problem may make more people reluctant to get vaccinated. The six cases occurred among women between 18 and 48 years old, between six and 13 days after vaccination. The patients developed an unusual combination of blood clots and low platelet counts. One woman died, and one was hospitalized.  Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
A Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is administered at the Banning Recreation Center in Wilmington, Calif., April 13, 2021. The site switched from its original plan to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to the Pfizer vaccine.The symptoms of a serious clotting problem include severe headaches, abdominal or leg pain, and shortness of breath. Patients who experience those symptoms should tell their doctor if they have been vaccinated recently because treating these kinds of clots requires different treatment than normal, and standard treatment can be harmful, officials said. Vaccination drive continues Pausing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine “will not have a significant impact on our vaccination program,” White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters Tuesday. He said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine accounts for less than 5% of the shots delivered so far. The Biden administration had secured enough Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to immunize 300 million adults by the end of July, he added.  “The bottom line is, the vaccines that are now being administered are clearly safe and are saving lives,” Zients said. “Every American should get vaccinated when it’s their turn.” The fact that regulators spotted a one-in-a-million adverse event is, in a way, a good sign, noted vaccine expert Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.”You can be reassured that the other vaccines don’t have that rare side effect or else it would have also been picked up,” he said. The adverse reactions appear very similar to a small number of cases of serious blood-clotting problems linked to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Europe and Britain. People arrive at the Javits Center mass vaccination location amid the coronavirus pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, April 13, 2021.Those patients appear to have developed an immune response to a protein that platelets produce, according to a new study.The same thing may be happening with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.  “I think it’s a rare phenomenon, but I think it’s real,” Offit said. ‘Very wise’ Bad news about the vaccines will likely make it harder to get enough people vaccinated to stop transmission of the virus, experts say. “I think there’s no doubt that it will make hesitant people even more hesitant, which will mean that we have a bigger job to do to reach out to them, whatever the results of the investigation are,” said infectious diseases professor William Schaffner at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Schaffner called the pause “very wise,” adding it “actually reinforces the notion that we have an excellent, comprehensive and very transparent vaccine safety system in the United States.” Experts have been cautioning that these kinds of one-in-a-million problems tend to pop up as the vaccines move from clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people to large-scale use among hundreds of millions.  “That’s what happens when there’s very widespread implementation of any new therapy,” said Jeffrey Kahn, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. “We just haven’t experienced this before, where we have a set of brand new vaccines that we’re trying to effectively vaccinate everybody in the world with.”  Thirteen other countries and the World Health Organization have authorized the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. It is favored for harder-to-reach populations because it requires just one shot and can be stored at refrigerator temperatures. The Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines require two doses, and the Pfizer and Moderna shots need ultra-cold storage.  VOA’s Patsy Widakuswara contributed to this report.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday she is asking Parliament for temporary powers that would allow her federal government to implement nationwide coronavirus lockdowns to curb a third wave of the pandemic in the country.
 
Merkel spoke to reporters after her Cabinet approved a draft of legislation that would give her government the power to impose pandemic-related restrictions, including curfews and school and business closings in areas with high infection rates.
 
The chancellor said the measures are needed to “break the third wave of the pandemic and stop the rapid rise in infections” in those areas where infection rates are more than 100 per 100,000 residents for three consecutive days within a week.
 
Earlier this year, when laying out a plan for reopening the nation and lifting restrictions, Merkel mentioned the need for what she called “an emergency brake” should infections rise.  
 
Merkel said it is clear that emergency brake is overdue. Citing daily figures from the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, she said the latest daily infection rate is at nearly 11,000 new cases, and nearly all the nation’s intensive care unit beds are in use. Merkel said she hoped Parliament would swiftly debate and pass the bill.
 
She again asked for Germans to show patience and noted the vaccine program has been “building momentum every day,” with the recent start of vaccinations in doctors’ offices.
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U.S federal health officials Tuesday said “out of an abundance of caution” they are recommending an immediate pause in the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after six cases of blood clots were reported in the United States.
At a joint virtual news briefing, officials of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the pause would last “a matter of days” while the agencies investigate the cases of blood clotting, known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), which occurred in women between 18 and 48 years old within six to 13 days after receiving the one-dose vaccine.  
They note the six cases occurred out of more than 6.8 million doses of the vaccine administered.
 
CDC Principal Deputy Director Anne Schuchat said people who received the vaccine more than two weeks ago have very little to fear. Those who received the vaccine within the last week or so who develop symptoms such as severe headache, abdominal or leg pain, or shortness of breath, should contact their health care provider.
The officials said they are working to reschedule those people who had appointments to receive the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Schuchat said the decision is not a mandate, and people who, after discussions with their physicians, feel they can safely take it, will be allowed to do so.
In a statement Tuesday, White House COVID-19 Response Team Coordinator Jeff Zients said the decision to pause the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will not have a significant effect on the nation’s vaccine program, as it made up less than five percent of the vaccine administered to date. Zients says the U.S. has secured enough doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for 300 million people.
The New York Times is reporting that one woman has died and another woman in the state of Nebraska has been hospitalized in critical condition.   
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the second one linked to potential blood clots. Several nations have issued new guidelines on the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after the European Union’s medical regulator announced a link between the vaccine and rare, possibly fatal blood clots.   
Meanwhile, a new single-day record of COVID-19 cases has pushed India into second place, behind the United States, as countries with the world’s largest number of confirmed coronavirus infections.
The South Asian nation’s 168,912 new COVID-19 cases posted on Monday gives India 13,527,717 total cases, compared to Brazil’s 13,517,808 total cases, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. 
The new surge coincides with an acute shortage of vaccine in some Indian states, along with the annual Kumbh Mela, or pitcher festival, on the Ganges River, where millions of Hindu devotees bathe to seek absolution, raising fears it could evolve into a superspreader event. 
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Scientists with the U.S. space agency, NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) say the much-anticipated first flight of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars has been delayed again while scientists make some software modifications.
 
Scientists had hoped to perform the first controlled powered flight of an aircraft on a planet other than Earth as early as Sunday. Problems encountered last week, though, when high-speed tests on the rotors were performed switching from “pre-flight” means the helicopter won’t be attempted as planned Wednesday.
 
A statement issued by JPL  Tuesday said they identified a software solution to the problem, but that it would take some time to implement.  They said it is not clear at this point when the tiny helicopter will make its first brief flight, but it likely will be next week sometime.
 
They scientists say all other systems on the Ingenuity helicopter are working as designed.  
 
Ingenuity, weighing a mere 1.8 kilograms, was stowed away on the Perseverance rover probe when it landed on Mars in February.  It was unfolded and dropped from the rover a bit more than a week ago to prepare its launch.  
 
The helicopter is considered by NASA to be a technology demonstration, designed to test a new capability – in this case, flight in the thin Marian atmosphere – for the first time. It has specially designed rotors that spin much faster than they would have to on Earth to achieve flight. It also has innovative batteries and solar cells for recharging.
 
But aside from cameras, Ingenuity carries no scientific instruments. If successful, Ingenuity will pave the way for other more ambitious future robotic projects.
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