Prevent spread of covid 19

The U.S. government on Saturday authorized Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, enabling millions more Americans to be vaccinated in the coming weeks and setting the vaccine up for additional approvals around the world. The J&J vaccine is the third authorized in the United States, following ones from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, both of which require two doses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the emergency use authorization of the J&J vaccine for adults aged 18 and older following Friday’s unanimous endorsement by the agency’s panel of outside experts. Shipments to vaccination sites are expected to begin Sunday or Monday. President Joe Biden hailed the move but cautioned Americans against celebrating too soon. “Things are still likely to get worse again as new variants spread,” he said in a statement, urging people to continue washing their hands, wearing masks, and maintaining social distancing. “There is light at the end of the tunnel, but we cannot let our guard down now or assume that victory is inevitable,” he said. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are based on new messenger RNA technology, showed higher efficacy rates in pivotal trials that used two doses versus J&J’s single-shot vaccine. Direct comparison, however, is difficult because the trials had different goals and J&J’s was conducted while more contagious new variants of the virus were circulating. “We believe that people should take the vaccine they are able to access,” the FDA’s acting commissioner, Dr. Janet Woodcock, said in a call after the authorization, noting the three vaccines had not been studied head-to-head. “We feel that each of these vaccines will be effective, will prevent hospitalization, deaths and should be used,” she said. In J&J’s 44,000-person global trial, the vaccine was found to be 66% effective at preventing moderate-to-severe COVID-19 four weeks after inoculation. It was 100% effective in …

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Phuc Khanh Pagoda in Hanoi conducted a prayer for the Lunar New Year on February 25, or the 14 th day of the first lunar month. The ceremony will go online to bring followers together during COVID-19. This has also been done at other religious places. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic in some localities, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha experimented with an online prayer scheme during the spring festival season in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The scheme is being piloted at 12 pagodas to mark the start of the new lunar year. It is hoped that the trial will meet the demands of the people, as they traditionally head to pagodas and temples in the early spring to pray for health, happiness, and good fortune in the year ahead. According to monks, performing online practices retains the message from the religion. Amid the complex developments of the pandemic, it is also a good way to protect community health./. VNA …

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The Hanoitimes - Relevant agencies have been asked to exert efforts in ensuring safety for students when they resume going to schools, and enforce strict measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Hanoi students are set to come back to school on March 2 after one-month break and online classes to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a dispatch issued by the municipal People’s Committee on February 27. The date applies for students from kindergarten to high school levels, while colleges and centers for vocational training and continuing education will reopen a week later. Students at Le Quy Don Secondary School in Hanoi wear masks in class and practices mild social distancing. Photo: Van Trong University student schedules would be determined by the schools themselves, though the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control recommended that they should reopen on March 15 to ensure social distancing measures. Relevant agencies have been asked to exert efforts in ensuring safety for students when they resume going to schools, and enforce strict measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. To ensure safety for students, this weekend, schools have disinfected their campuses and prepare materials for the epidemic prevention, in addition to having a clear approach to managing students. Schools have also regularly disinfected areas, especially those being constantly touched, and vehicles used to carry students. As on-site classes resume, parents need to take their children's body temperatures at home, prepare them masks and personal items so they would not have to share them with classmates to avoid infection, the municipal authority said. Previously, Hanoi students started staying home on February 1, about a week earlier than the expected beginning of the Tet break due to a new wave of Covid-19 sweeping nationwide and new cases of locally-transmitted cases were reported in the city. After the one-week …

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