Month: February 2022

In a White House statement on Monday, the US President informed that America presented in detail the full nature of Russia’s threat to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity…reports Asian Lite News

The United States Senators are nearing a deal on legislation to sanction Russia over its actions on Ukraine, including some measures that may take effect before any invasion, media reported.

Senators Bob Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and James Risch, its top Republican, hoped to move forward on the bill this week.

They said Senate is on the verge of approving “the mother of all sanctions” against Vladimir Putin, warning there would be no appeasement as the Russian president contemplates an invasion of Ukraine, according to a report from The Guardian.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said on Monday said that the US and its allies are ready to engage with Russia in good faith if the latter is sincere about addressing their security concerns, adding, “If the country chooses to walk away from diplomacy and attack Ukraine, Moscow will face swift and severe consequences.”

In a White House statement on Monday, the US President informed that America presented in detail the full nature of Russia’s threat to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“And we made clear to the international community the full implications of that threat — not just for Ukraine, but for core tenets of the UN Charter and the modern international order,” he said.

“If Russia is sincere about addressing our respective security concerns through dialogue, the United States and our Allies and partners will continue to engage in good faith. If instead Russia chooses to walk away from diplomacy and attack Ukraine, Russia will bear the responsibility, and it will face swift and severe consequences,” Biden further said in the statement.

He said that the US and its allies continue to prepare for every scenario.

“The world must be clear-eyed about the actions Russia is threatening and ready to respond to the risks those actions present to all of us. Today’s Security Council meeting is a critical step in rallying the world to speak out in one voice: rejecting the use of force, calling for military de-escalation, supporting diplomacy as the best path forward, and demanding accountability from every member state to refrain from military aggression against its neighbours,” Biden said.

In recent developments, the head of states and governments of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia met on January 26 in Paris under the Normandy format and called for an unconditional ceasefire in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

The officials reaffirmed that the Minsk agreements signed in 2014 are the basis of the work of the Normandy format, the four-party diplomatic group which was set up to resolve the conflict in the Donbas region.

The UNSC meeting on the Ukraine conflict was held today with Norway chairing the Security Council. (with inputs from ANI)

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Spikevax meets the FDA’s rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality required for approval…reports Asian Lite News

Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine has received full approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The vaccine, named Spikevax, is approved for use in people ages 18 and older, Xinhua news agency reported.

Spikevax meets the FDA’s rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality required for approval, said the agency in a statement.

“While millions of people have already safely received Covid-19 vaccines, we recognize that for some, the FDA approval of a vaccine may now instill additional confidence to get vaccinated,” said Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock.

“Today’s milestone puts us one step closer to altering the course of this pandemic in the US,” she said.

Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine is the second one in the US to receive full approval from the FDA. Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, was fully approved for use in people ages 16 and older in August 2021.

Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine has been available under the FDA’s emergency use authorization for individuals 18 years of age and older since December 18, 2020.

Moderna had earlier began clinical trials of a booster dose of a vaccine designed specifically to combat the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

CNN reported that the trials will involve a total of 600 adults, which will take place at up to 24 sites in the US. Some participants will have already received two doses of Moderna’s vaccine, and some will have received a booster shot.

“We are reassured by the antibody persistence against Omicron at six months after the currently authorized 50 mg booster of mRNA-1273. Nonetheless, given the long-term threat demonstrated by Omicron’s immune escape, we are advancing our Omicron-specific variant vaccine booster candidate and we are pleased to begin this part of our Phase 2 study,” CNN citing CEO Stephane Bancel’s statement reported.

“We are also evaluating whether to include this Omicron-specific candidate in our multivalent booster program,” it added.

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Nearly two million of these cases have been added in the past two weeks…reports Asian Lite News

Over 3.5 million child Covid-19 cases were reported in the US in January, marking “a dramatic spike” during the Omicron variant surge, according to a new report.

The report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association released on Monday said that more than 11.4 million children in the country have tested positive for Covid-19 since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, Xinhua news agency reported.

Nearly two million of these cases have been added in the past two weeks.

For the week ending January 27, over 808,000 additional child Covid-19 cases were reported in the country, said the AAP, adding child cases this week remained “extremely high”, triple the peak level of the Delta surge in 2021.

This marked the 25th week in a row child Covid-19 cases in the US were above 100,000.

Since the first week of September 2021, there have been almost 6.4 million additional child cases, according to the AAP.

Meanwhile, the global coronavirus caseload has topped 377.8 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 5.67 million and vaccinations to over 9.97 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Tuesday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 377,891,211 and 5,672,065, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 9,979,718,255.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 74,938,767 and 886,668, according to the CSSE.

The second worst hit country in terms of cases is India (41,302,440 infections and 495,050 deaths), followed by Brazil (25,360,647 infections and 627,150 deaths).

The other countries with over 5 million cases are France (19,266,496), the UK (16,582,263), Russia (11,547,333), Turkey (11,526,621), Italy (10,925,485), Spain (9,779,130), Germany (9,776,648), Argentina (8,335,184), Iran (6,344,179) and Colombia (5,871,977), the CSSE figures showed.

The nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Russia (323,452), Mexico (305,762), Peru (205,347), the UK (156,222), Italy (146,149), Indonesia (144,303), Colombia (134,079), Iran (132,424), France (131,937), Argentina (120,988)), Germany (117,734), Ukraine (106,793) and Poland (105,161).

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