Category: Feature Stories

In the race against mutating coronavirus, manufacturers have presented what they see as positive clinical data on adapted vaccines. For example, Pfizer/Biontech and Moderna recently published results showing that their adapted boosters stimulate an efficient immune response even against the newer omicron sublines BA.4 and BA.5. However, it is essential to note that the new vaccines are not specifically tailored to these variants but to the BA.1 subline, which is no longer circulating in Germany. There is now a debate about whether the approval process should not be shortened so…

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After two years of Covid, a lot of vacation hunger has piled up. But many vacation destinations are currently struggling again with high Corona numbers. It is true that, just in time for the start of summer, popular vacation destinations such as Egypt, Morocco, and South Africa have relaxed their entry regulations again. Nevertheless, the new Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 could spoil the long-awaited break in no time. This is because several vacation destinations are currently struggling with high case numbers. Most of Europe’s corona infections are currently taking…

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Fifty-five percent support mandatory masks in public spaces. From Saturday to Sunday, 7,093 new Corona infections were recorded in Austria. While Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) still does not want to commit himself when the reintroduction of the mask obligation should take place. A survey conducted by OGM for the Austrian daily newspaper KURIER paints a clear picture. According to the survey, 55 percent of the 1,015 respondents favor reintroducing mandatory FFP2 masks in public areas such as supermarkets, shared offices, or public transportation. Forty percent are against it. Five…

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Microplastics are everywhere: on mountain tops, deep in the ocean – and already in our blood. We don’t see it, yet it could become a massive problem for us – and the planet. What is microplastic?Microplastic refers to plastic particles that are between five millimeters and 1000 nanometers in size. It comes from common plastic particles, for example, and has been scrubbed small over the years by wind and weather. The problem: carelessly discarded bags, bottles, or packaging do not decompose. Aging and decay processes create microplastics. It is in…

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Mainz-based pharmaceutical company Biontech and its U.S. partner Pfizer say they have developed an effective vaccine against the new variants of the coronavirus. Biontech said Saturday that data on the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of the two vaccines adapted to the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron variants are positive. The company is aiming for rapid approvalBased on the data, the companies are confident they have two “very strong” vaccine candidates in the fight against Omikron, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said. Biontech and Pfizer now plan to share the data with the…

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At a depth of almost 7000 meters, researchers have discovered the wreck of a U.S. warship sunk off the Philippine coast during World War II. The wreck of the “USS Samuel B Roberts” is the deepest wreck ever found, according to the US company Caladan Oceanic. For comparison: The wreck of the “Titanic” lies about 4000 meters in depth. The destroyer of the U.S. Navy had sunk on October 5, 1944, in a naval battle with the Japanese Navy off the Philippine island of Samar. The Philippines was a U.S.…

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The European Union is ordering 110,000 monkeypox vaccines in light of the current virus outbreak. An agreement to this effect has been reached with the Danish biotech company Bavarian Nordic. Delivery to EU states could start at the end of June, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said Tuesday on the sidelines of a meeting of EU health ministers in Luxembourg. According to Bavarian Nordic, it should start immediately. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) had recently said it was in talks with Bavarian Nordic, that could see approval of its smallpox…

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There are more and more detections of monkeypox worldwide. Europe is the hardest hit. “Human-to-human transmission is probably underestimated,” says WHO chief Ghebreyesus. Experts are now consulting in an emergency committee in Geneva. Worldwide, nearly 5000 monkeypox infections have been reported in humans this year. In more than 40 countries outside Africa, where monkeypox was virtually unknown until May, there were 3308 cases, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s in addition to about 1,600 suspected or confirmed cases in eight African…

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In the first year of the Corona vaccination, the vaccines reduced deaths from SARS-CoV-2 infections by about 20 million worldwide. That’s according to a model calculation by British experts now published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The scientists from Imperial College in London analyzed the period between Dec. 8, 2020 – the first day of availability of a Corona vaccine – and Dec. 8, 2021. Only a portion of Corona deaths recorded worldwideThis model calculation differs from the officially reported deaths due to the Corona pandemic. Previously, more than 540…

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