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While many low- and middle-income countries have received by far insufficient supply of vital COVID-19 vaccines so far, vaccine inequity has been most striking in Africa. Of the nearly 6 billion doses administered globally, only 2% have been in Africa. And less than 3.5% of people in Africa have been fully vaccinated till date. In contrast, 54% of the total population in the U.S. is fully vaccinated. After approving booster shots for the immunocompromised people, on September 22, the U.S. FDA greenlighted booster shots for people older than 65 years, adults between 18 and 64 years who are at high risk of severe disease and those at high risk of getting infected and at high risk of serious complications of COVID-19 including severe disease. Facilitating manufacture With attempts by the African Union to buy vaccines being unsuccessful, the continent has to wait for donations. It is to correct this anomaly and ensure that low- and middle-income countries can have easy access …

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The nation is in the throes of a devastating and escalating addiction epidemic. Last year, over 93,000 individuals died of a drug overdose , setting a grim new record. More than 20 million Americans struggled with addiction in 2019 — yet less than 20 percent of them received treatment . Science and clinical practice have shown that properly treated addiction is not an intractable illness — it can be prevented, and it can be managed. Yet, over the past decade, we have made little progress in ending the overdose and addiction epidemics. A major reason for this is that the addiction treatment system is not equipped to properly treat the illness of addiction because it was built before we knew that addiction was an illness at all . It was built on a poor foundation — and like the infrastructures for so many of our important energy, transportation and communication needs, the addiction treatment infrastructure is now antiquated and crumbling under the weight of the crisis. As …

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When German voters head to the polls on Sunday, a familiar name will be absent from the ballot. After serving 16 years as German chancellor, Angela Merkel is not running for reelection. Instead, voters in the European Union 's strongest economy and most populous country will be deciding what a post-Merkel Germany looks like. And the race for her successor, which is shaping up to be a close contest, may not be decided until days or weeks after Sunday’s contests. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON GERMANY Here are four things to know about the German elections. It’s the end of an era Merkel’s departure is no surprise. The chancellor first announced in 2018, after setbacks for her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in regional elections, that she wouldn’t seek reelection at the end of her current term. Merkel grew up in what was then communist East Germany. She earned a doctorate in chemistry and worked as a research scientist …

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I don’t remember exactly when I found out Carmen Schentrup was dead. Carmen and I became friends in middle school. We had science together. I got my period one day and didn’t have a pad, and Carmen gave me one — I found out she was dead on Feb. 15. I think it was the 15th — that’s when The Miami Herald released the names of those who had been killed the day before in the shooting at my high school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, in Parkland, Fla. I’d thought she’d only been injured. I remember thinking that very clearly; she has only been injured, don’t worry about her. On the 16th, I was asked to speak at a gun control rally by a woman on the school board. For what seemed like the first time, adults were treating me and my peers as though they cared about what we had to say. I started writing my speech and didn’t stop until I got up to the lectern. I My friend Cameron Kasky called after I gave my speech and asked if I wanted to join the movement. He was getting a group of students …

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Good morning. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state’s most aggressive steps since March to head off the coronavirus pandemic, saying it will impose sweeping stay-at-home orders region by region when hospitals become overburdened. With cases and hospitalizations rising sharply in the state, Mr. Newsom portrayed the move as a final push to get through a difficult winter before vaccines arrive . “This is the final surge,” he said in a news conference. “This is the most challenging moment since the beginning of this pandemic.” The new orders will take effect when the intensive care units in a region’s hospitals fill to more than 85 percent of capacity. None of the state’s five regions have reached that threshold yet, but some are expected to this week, officials said. [See which counties are in each region , and find out which activities are exempted here.] Residents will be required to stay home except for essential tasks and outdoor exercise. Most businesses …

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The atmosphere in Gaza is always febrile, but I’ve rarely witnessed anything like this. Fear has torn through ordinary life here: cafes closed, weddings cancelled, markets shut down. Friends and colleagues speak of little else. While 2 million people wait in dread, those who can are working tirelessly to avert disaster. We’ve been watching as Covid-19 has spread around the globe, overwhelming well-equipped healthcare systems. Then, a week ago, we received devastating news: the first confirmed cases of coronavirus in Gaza. Two men, recently returned from Pakistan, tested positive after arriving in Gaza via the Rafah crossing with Egypt . More than 2,000 people are now in quarantine, with 12 cases confirmed. Meanwhile, authorities, NGOs and health workers are in a race against time to contain the spread. We can’t do it alone. We need international support to help contain the virus, equip our medical teams and end the human rights violations that have undermined …

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A 99-year-old army veteran has raised more than £1m for the NHS by taking part in a walking initiative in the lead-up to his 100th birthday. Captain Tom Moore, from Keighley, Yorkshire, recently announced that he had taken on the commitment of walking 100 lengths of his back garden before he turns 100 at the end of the month. The captain’s aim was to inspire people to donate money towards the NHS as he carries out his fundraising campaign while healthcare workers continue to work hard throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Captain Moore’s initial target was to raise £1,000, a goal that was realised within 24 hours on Friday 10 April. The target was subsequently increased to £100,000, steadily rising to £500,000 as more people got involved. Recommended Tracking the coronavirus outbreak around the world in maps and charts When can we really expect coronavirus to end? Everything you need to know on supermarket delivery slots …

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A video featuring black and minority ethnic key workers reading a powerful poem has been circulated widely on social media. The poem, titled “You Clap For Me Now”, highlights the important role essential workers from black and minority ethnic backgrounds are playing during the coronavirus pandemic as they continue working as doctors, teachers and delivery drivers, among other professions. The verse, which was written by illustrator and typist Darren James Smith , implores members of the public to continue supporting key workers once the worst of the pandemic is over. The video was produced by creative director Sachini Imbuldeniya and includes several key workers from black and minority ethnic families making statements such as: “Don’t say go home. Don’t say not here. You know how it feels for home to be a prison. You know how it feels to live in fear.” Recommended Tracking the coronavirus outbreak around the world in maps and charts …

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Inquests into the deaths of NHS workers have been discouraged from examining the role of government policy and the PPE shortage. The guidance was issued by the chief coroner of England and Wales, despite mounting evidence that the government ignored warnings to stockpile PPE even as Covid-19 spread nationwide. If this sets a precedent for all coronavirus inquests, it could obscure the role of government failures in the deaths, not only of hundreds of NHS workers, but tens of thousands of patients. As a bereaved relative going through an inquest myself, I know what this means for the families in mourning. Grief changes us all. It can shatter families, destroy lives, scar communities. Finding peace is a privilege more accessible to some than others. Grieving a premature death, a preventable death, is another thing altogether. How do you move on when you still don’t know what really happened? When the responsible party goes on as normal, unaccountable and unapologetic? How do …

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9am. An exhausted company gathers outside the stage door of the National Theatre to board the coach to Nottingham. Ten out of the 18-strong party have a gruelling schedule at the moment, rehearsing The Machine Wreckers by day and performing Richard II most evenings. 12am. We arrive at the Stocking Weavers Museum in Ruddington, a village on the outskirts of Nottingham. The museum comprises several weavers' cottages, a workshop with stocking frames, outhouses for pigs and coal and the manager's house. It was built in 1829 and stopped operating as a factory at the turn of the century. The main industry, connected with the weavers and therefore with the Luddites in Nottinghamshire, was lace- making and stocking-weaving. The workshop that houses the frames is long with windows lining the outside wall. The frames were bunched tightly together, restricting the movement of the operators. A tart and witty woman, Mandy Wilson, who once worked at the museum, tells us that most of …

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