COVID: AstraZeneca vaccine remains unpopular in Germany

 In Germany, everyone who wants a coronavirus vaccine should receive one by September. But this plan will only work if millions of people accept the vaccine produced by AstraZeneca.

Many Germans have reservations about the AstraZeneca vaccine

Six security guards are standing on the wide, empty road leading to the disused Tegel Airport in Berlin. Their yellow high-visibility vests are glowing in the sun. The men are guarding the entrance to a coronavirus vaccination centre, which has been set up in what was once Terminal C of the airport.

They don't have much to do. Between three and five vaccination candidates arrive every hour, a guard says when asked. "That's all."

At Tegel, only the vaccine produced by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is available. Because of a lack of studies into its effects on older people, the vaccine has been approved in Germany for people younger than 65. In this age group, vaccinations are currently only available for people with underlying health conditions and members of groups with an increased risk of infection because of their occupations.

AstraZeneca remains on the shelves

Doctors, nurses and other medical staff often reject AstraZeneca because the vaccine is believed to be less effective against coronavirus mutations than the mRNA vaccines from BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna. Nationwide, only 87,000 of the 736,800 AstraZeneca vaccine doses delivered to date have been used, according to Germany's disease agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

The sound of an engine disturbs the peace in front of the vaccination centre. A shuttle bus approaches and drops off three young women, medical assistants who work in a Berlin doctor's office.

"I was sceptical about getting vaccinated with AstraZeneca," says one of the women, who has to show the security guards her invitation to get a vaccine and her appointment confirmation. She says her boss then provided her with comprehensive information and also referred to the positive opinion of Berlin-based virologist Christian Drosten.

"That convinced me," she explains, before boarding the shuttle bus that will take her to the vaccination centre.

Terminal C of Berlin's disused Tegel airport has been turned into a vaccination centre

Poor communication

AstraZeneca is far better than its reputation, Drosten explained in a recent episode of his podcast "Coronavirus Update." He believes there has been a lot of misunderstanding and communication problems surrounding the vaccine.

Politicians such as health expert Kordula Schulz-Asche from the Greens have a similar view. The scepticism among the population is due to "really disastrous communication," Schulz-Asche told the German daily newspaper, Die Welt. Too little has been explained, and "horror stories" about the effectiveness of the vaccine are running rampant.

"To say that the AstraZeneca vaccine is the second rate is completely off the mark, both scientifically and in terms of actual effects," Carsten Watzl of the German Society for Immunology said in an interview with the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper. To improve acceptance of the vaccine, he suggested that those who receive AstraZeneca doses should be guaranteed a second shot with a different active ingredient.

"You can boost the immunity you triggered with the AstraZeneca vaccine again later with an mRNA vaccine without that causing any problems," he wrote.

Virologist Christian Drosten has said concerns about the ineffectiveness of AstraZeneca's vaccine are unfounded

Berlin abolishes freedom of choice

Klaus Reinhardt, president of the German Medical Association, has emphasized that AstraZeneca's vaccine prevents severe or fatal cases of COVID-19 "with similarly high efficacy" as those from BioNTech or Moderna. For physicians and nurses younger than 65 to insist on getting other vaccines is "inappropriate," he said. Those should be reserved for the elderly, given the overall vaccine shortage.

Until now, Berlin has been the only German state where people could choose their vaccine. But that has now changed.

"There is no freedom of choice about AstraZeneca," Dilek Kalayci, Berlin's top health official, said Wednesday. Different vaccines would still be issued in different vaccination centres, but people under 65 have no choice about which one they receive, she explained.

Kalayci's decision came after a recommendation by the commission on vaccination at the RKI. According to the institute, vaccines that are recommended only for people between 18 and 65 years of age should also be used "primarily" for these groups of people. However, this recommendation alone is unlikely to dispel scepticism about the British-Swedish vaccine and could lead to younger people being reluctant to be vaccinated at all.

Doctors also explain that side effects such as headaches and aching limbs or even fever are not uncommon after a COVID vaccination. In younger people, side effects occur more frequently because the immune system is still more active and reacts more aggressively to any vaccination than in older people.

Can the vaccination schedule still be maintained?

Meanwhile, the German Central Institute for Statutory Health Insurance (ZI) is concerned that reservations about the AstraZeneca vaccine could considerably set back the vaccination schedule in Germany. Currently, the federal government expects that everyone who wants will be able to get a vaccination offer by the end of September. The ZI calculates that this schedule could be pushed back by up to two months if AstraZeneca's vaccine is not more widely accepted.

Meanwhile, in front of Berlin's Tegel vaccination centre, the shuttle bus taking the three medical assistants to their appointment has left. A second bus appears on the other side of the street, bringing two people back who have already been vaccinated.

The driver gets out, stands in the sun and lights a cigarette. He has time to spare. There are no new passengers with vaccine appointments in sight.

This article has been translated from German.

105-Year-Old COVID Survivor Credits Longevity to Gin-Soaked Golden Raisins

New Jersey resident Lucia DeClerck has lived through the 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak and coronavirus pandemic.

Lucia DeClerck is an absolute marvel. The 105-year-old New Jersey resident lived through the devastating 1918 Spanish Flu outbreak and now she has not only survived the second global pandemic of her lifetime, but she powered through her own case of COVID-19. 

"I'm very fortunate," she told 6ABC from her residence at Mystic Meadows Rehab and Nursing Center in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. "I'm feeling wonderful." The outlet reports that DeClerck never displayed any symptoms of the respiratory illness, even after testing positive for coronavirus. (But she did spend 14 days in the COVID unit at Mystic Meadows.) 

When pushed for her 'secret' to her longevity—and her successful recovery from COVID—DeClerk initially shrugged the question off, and said that all she did was pray. "And [I] don't eat junk food," she added. 

But her granddaughter, Shawn Laws O'Neil, said that maybe there was something that helped DeClerk's lifespan stretch past the century mark: a daily serving of gin-soaked golden raisins. "She said it kept her free of disease," O'Neil said. "She's never had cancer. She has all her own teeth." According to The New York Times, DeClerck starts every day with a serving of nine of the alcohol-enhanced raisins, and the recipe couldn't be easier. "Fill a jar," she said. "Nine raisins a day after it sits for nine days."

DeClerck's daughter-in-law Lillie Jean Laws said that, during the decade that DeClerck lived with them, she also downed a mysterious drink that was kept in the back of the refrigerator. Laws didn't know everything that was in the "root-beer-looking" beverage, but it seemed to be a combination of aloe vera juice, apple cider vinegar, ginger, and "a little bit of gin." 

"I would watch her and I would just shudder when she drank this stuff," Laws told NJ.com. "When she got older, I started asking her, what did she put in that stuff? She was lasting better than we were."

DeClerck has two surviving sons (she has outlived one of her sons), five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren. A little over a year ago, her family got together to celebrate her 104th birthday, but they postponed the party for her 105th until it is safer for them to be together. 

Mystic Meadows' oldest—and now possibly the most famous—resident has received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and we're among those who hope that she won't have to wait another year to blow out her birthday candles. We're also among those who will be buying a bottle of gin and a box of golden raisins on our next shopping trip. 

Zendaya & Tom Holland Are Done Lying To Us Now

 Now that we're fully in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the superhero franchise is speeding towards the release of its first film in the highly-anticipated action slate, which just happens to be another film about our friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. Rumours have flown about the cast and the plot of the upcoming Spidey project, but at least we now know its actual title — Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon broke the news on Twitter with a hilarious short clip in which they bemoaned the secrecy of the MCU, likely based on their leading man's past 

"They gave us a fake name again," sighs Holland after leaving director Jon Watts' office. "I just don't understand why he keeps doing this!"

"Really? You don't understand?" quips Zendaya.

"I think it's pretty obvious that you spoil things," Batalon chimes in.

The bickering trio pass by a whiteboard with scribbles all over, featuring a presumed brainstorm about the title of the third film. This reveal comes after Holland and the cast tricked fans with alternate titles on social media, sharing images with names like Spider-Man: Phone Home and Spider-Man: Homewrecker. (Personally, I liked Spider-Man: Homeslice, but I can understand why they went in another direction.)

No Way Home will see Holland returning as the eponymous superhero along with Zendaya and Batalon. But the cast of the upcoming film is also rumoured to be jam-packed with a number of unexpected actors. The MCU's youngest Avenger is said to be crossing paths with the Spider-Men that came before him, including Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Holland's Spidey will also be joined by Jamie Foxx and Alfred Molina, who played baddies Electro and Doctor Octopus in the 20th Century Fox universe.

Doctor Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) has also been confirmed to star in No Way Home, which is probably a very big hint about the plot of the upcoming MCU blockbuster. As the Sorcerer Supreme and protector of the Time Stone, Doctor Strange's whole deal is that he's able to traverse dimensions and, likely, universes. If the storyline reunites Peter with two different versions of Spider-Man, their villains, and Doctor Strange, No Way Home is most likely a story of travelling through the multiverse.

Then again, you never know with Marvel. Either way, as the first film in the fourth phase, No Way Home is going to be essential viewing for anyone wondering how unique stories like The Eternals and the Blade remake fit into the MCU. It doesn't make sense now, but it will...maybe in like, 2024?

My husband wanted quick money so he used my son for 'sika duro'- Ghanaian mom reveals

 - Single mother of three, Rita Tetteh Korkor, has recounted how her husband used their son for money ritual 

- She revealed their son fell seriously ill as a result, so she reported the situation to her family

 - According to Tetteh Korkor, her husband told her he wanted quick money.

Rita Tetteh Korkor, a single mother of three kids, has given a chilling account of how her husband used their first child for money rituals known as 'sakawa.' In an interview with DJ Nyaami of SVTV Africa, Tetteh Korkor disclosed her husband told her about his plan to go in for money rituals but she vehemently advised against it. According to her, she stood against it because she knew the ritual would demand a human sacrifice and she did not want any part of it.

''He came home with an item, hanged it in the room, and warned us not to touch it,'' she said. Subsequently, their son fell seriously ill and she came to realise the ritual was the cause. Fearing for the outcome of the unknown, Tetter Korkor left their home. ''When my son fell ill, I realised he used my son for the money ritual. So I told my parents about it, and sought help for my son.'' For being a protective mother, her husband labeled her a witch for disrupting the ritual process. Tetter Korkor revealed that her husband was not supposed to inform anyone about his dealings, else, the money ritual would not yield results.

https://youtu.be/uReetcrLa4k

Six Ghanaians arrested in America for laundering more than $50 million in cyber fruad

- Six Ghanaians have been arrested in the United States of America for their involvement in cyber fraud

 - The six have been charged for laundering more than $50 million

 - They were arrested in different states at different times

Six Ghanaians have been arrested in the United States of America for their involvement in cyber fraud. The six; Farouk Appiedu, Fred Asante, Celvin Freeman, Lord Aning, Sadick Edusei Kissi, and Faisal Ali have been charged for laundering more than $50 million. The Federal Bureau of Investigation,(FBI) says four of the accused had between them controlled more than 45 bank accounts in which more than $50 million had been deposited.

The $50 million had been deposited between 2013 and 2020. According to a report sighted by BISA.com.gh, the six were arrested in different states at different times. Freeman and Ali were arrested in New Jersey, Asante and Aning arrested in Virginia, Appiedu was arrested in Queens, while Kissi was arrested in Fargo, North Dakota.

Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and a host of others announced the arrests of the six for charges in connection with their roles in a fraud and money laundering conspiracy based in Ghana involving the theft of tens of millions of dollars. The crimes perpetrated by the Enterprise consisted of frauds, business email compromises, romance scams, and fraud schemes related to the novel coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. The court document added that the objective of the Enterprise’s fraud scheme was to trick and deceive businesses into wiring funds into accounts they controlled. This was easier as members of the Enterprise created slight variations of email accounts used by employees of a victim company or third parties engaged in business with a company to impersonate them. A vast majority of the deposits consisted of large wire transfers and cheque or cash deposits from various US-based individuals and entities, the statement added.

What is love?

 Love is a set of emotions and behaviours characterized by intimacy, passion, and commitment. It involves care, closeness, protectiveness, attraction, affection, and trust.

     

 Love can vary in intensity and can change over time