CIA now says COVID-19 “more likely” to have come from lab

New York, US Reuters The Central Intelligence Agency has assessed that the COVID-19 pandemic is “more likely” to have emerged from a lab rather than from nature, an agency spokesperson said on Saturday. The agency had for years said it could not conclude whether COVID-19 was the result of a lab incident or it originated […]
Fewer Australians will accept lockdowns in future pandemics, report says

Sydney, Australia Reuters Australians have lost trust in government and many are likely to resist drastic health measures in a future pandemic, the first review of the country’s COVID-19 response showed, while the cost of vaccine delays ran into $A31 billion. Rebuilding and maintaining trust was key to fighting future pandemics, the 877-page report released […]
UK refuses to sign global vaccine treaty, The Telegraph reports

Reuters Britain is refusing to sign the World Health Organization’s (WHO) pandemic accord because the country says it would have to give away a fifth of its vaccines, the Telegraph reported on Wednesday. According to a draft of the pandemic accord being negotiated at the WHO, richer countries should be asked to pull their weight […]
Essay: How faith leaders can get a grasp on the mental health crisis

Clergy can’t solve every congregant’s mental health problem, but Rabbi NICOLE GUZIK says, in an article first published on Religion News Service, that they can be a conduit of information and help…
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread “through air”

London, UK Reuters The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives. The Geneva-based UN health agency released a technical […]
Healthcare under pressure: WHO sees “incredibly low” COVID, flu vaccination rates as cases surge

JENNIFER RIGBY and JULIE STEENHUYSEN, of Reuters, report…
Scientists see risk of lost opportunity for long COVID research in China

Shanghai, China Reuters With more than a full year past since China eased restrictions and let COVID-19 sweep its households, scientists are worried a unique opportunity may be slipping away to study long COVID from possibly hundreds of millions of infections in that country. Global disease experts say little is known about China’s experience with […]
UK PM Sunak reportedly said “just let people die”, COVID inquiry hears

London, UK Reuters Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was quoted as saying the government should “just let people die” during the COVID-19 pandemic rather than impose a second national lockdown, the inquiry into how Britain handled the crisis heard on Monday. Patrick Vallance, who was the government’s chief scientific adviser during COVID, made a note in […]
Essay: Vaccine hesitancy is one of the greatest threats to global health – and the pandemic has made it worse

In an article first published on The Conversation, SIMON NICHOLAS WILLIAMS, a lecturer in psychology at Swansea University, looks at the growing problem of vaccine hesitancy…
COVID aftermath: Orphans face grief and poverty as world moves on

LIN TAYLOR, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports that while the global health emergency is over but the crisis has left behind millions of orphaned children, many in urgent need of help…