Category: Feature Stories

In a study published today, AGES determined the effectiveness of COVID vaccines licensed in Austria: The mRNA vaccines showed the best protection against infection across all age groups, even against the delta variant. In the over-60s, AstraZeneca’s efficacy was nearly equal, beaten by J&J. “This current study shows once again that vaccination works,” emphasized Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein (Greens). In Austria, the mRNA vaccines (from BioNTech and Pfizer as well as Moderna) as well as AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have been used so far. For the entire study period…

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As before, the effectiveness of the Covid vaccination is the dominant topic in vaccine-critical circles. On Facebook, for example, it is said that the number of vaccination breakthroughs in Austria is massively increasing. The same development had been shown in Israel. The fact that the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” is nothing but an advertising slogan can also be seen in the number of vaccinated people in Tyrolean hospitals. It is suggested that these data are evidence of insufficient vaccination effectiveness. But the data do not show that the Covid vaccination…

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Corona vaccination is very effective in protecting against severe disease progression – even in the case of the delta variant – according to a new French study.“Vaccinated people have a nine times lower risk of being hospitalized or dying from covid-19 than unvaccinated people,” said epidemiologist Mahmoud Zureik, head of the Epi-Phare scientific group, which published the results of its study Monday. Data from 22 million people studiedThe scientists examined data from 22 million people over the age of 50 in the period from Dec. 27, 2020, to July 20.…

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Everyone knows the Adriatic Sea, but there is much more hidden beneath it – researchers from the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland have discovered a lost continent. The land masses of the earth have looked quite different before, that is well known. Because the continents that we know today as Africa, Europe, Australia and Co. have shifted and changed over time. Researchers at the University of Utrecht have taken a closer look at ancient tectonics using a new method – and discovered a continent that lies between Europe and Africa. Greater…

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Study: The pandemic challenges many people. Increasing depression and anxiety disorders are the result. The number of mental illnesses has increased tremendously worldwide due to the Corona pandemic. In Covid year 2020, there were about 53 million additional cases of major depressive disorder and 76 million additional cases of anxiety disorder attributable to the viral crisis, according to a recent estimate. That would represent a global increase of 28 percent and 26 percent, respectively, warn researchers from Australia’s University of Queensland and the University of Washington in the journal The…

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“This is the hour of shame” – this is how Pope Francis reacted in Rome to the report on child abuse in France. Addressing the more than 300,000 victims in Wednesday’s general audience, he expressed “sorrow and pain” in light of the trauma they have suffered. In addition, he spoke of shame, “vergogna,” the word can also be translated as shame: “my shame, our shame, my shame,” that the Church has been unable for too long to place the victims of abuse at the center of its concerns. Francis has…

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On Monday evening, the platforms were unavailable for more than five hours, and only around midnight the services slowly started working again.Around six hours without Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram: An unusually long total outage affected billions of users of the online network on Monday. While Facebook did not initially comment on the causes of the disruption, experts tipped a configuration error in the network infrastructure that made all Facebook services inaccessible. Founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg apologized in a short Facebook post. Facebook’s technical team tweeted, “To the vast…

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The EU medicines agency EMA has approved booster vaccinations against coronavirus using the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine. Booster vaccination with the corona vaccine would be eligible for people aged 18 and older, the EMA said Monday. The third vaccination should be given no earlier than six months after the second dose is administered, it said. Austria had previously begun offering a third prick to early first-time vaccinated people – but did so without approval, meaning off-label. The booster vaccination will be given in this country with the mRNA vaccines from BioNTech/Pfizer and…

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After long negotiations, the federal government under the People’s Party (ÖVP) and Greens has now agreed on an eco-social tax reform. The key points are in place, but the details are still being worked out. The majority of the measures will take effect on July 1, 2022. In total, the government coalition promises to reduce taxes by 18 billion euros by 2025. Environmentally damaging behavior will be charged a price on CO2 emissions, and there will be a climate bonus to compensate for this. Wage and income tax will be…

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