AstraZeneca

A group of heavily armed bearded men are shown riding in the back of a police pickup truck.

The Taliban continue crackdown on protests

Top of The World

Top of The World: Demonstrators took to the streets of Kabul Wednesday in defiance of the Taliban. And, A new study by Oxford University in the UK has found that two of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines weaken within three months. Also, a powerful blast in Pakistan has killed at least three people and wounded around 50 others.

A stadium is set up as a vaccination drive site in France.

French citizens can choose a preferred jab. Some say ‘vaccine shopping’ leads to waste.

Health & Medicine
Female health worker wearing mask prepares syringe to vaccinate a patient.

Official: EU agency to confirm AstraZeneca blood clot link

COVID-19
A person receives a jab from a health worker wearing white gloves

AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine 79% effective, US trial shows

Top of The World
Two long rows of tables are shown covered in white cloth with officials dressed in suits on either side.

A tense start to US-China talks in Alaska

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A man is shown with his left sleeve raised and a medical professional injecting a syringe into his arm.

More countries halt use of AstraZeneca vaccine

Top of The World

Top of The World: Germany has joined France, Italy and Spain in suspending its use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine over concerns of blood clots in some recipients. And, with a rise in the number of migrants getting apprehended at the US-Mexico border, US President Joe Biden — once critical of Trump-era deterrence policies — is now facing criticism from all sides.

A cloudy, gray day is shown from one end of the Charles Bridge, with several stone statues on either side and a man walking in the distance.

Lessons from Europe’s third coronavirus wave

Europe is facing a dangerous, new surge of COVID-19 cases, just as Italy, France and Germany suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Dr. Barry Bloom, former dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, talks with The World’s Marco Werman about what lessons the surge might offer US scientists and public health officials devising strategies to beat the new variants.

Two researchers are shown through large windows wearing full medical garments in a white laboratory.

AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine study paused after illness

COVID-19

Late-stage studies of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate are on temporary hold while the company investigates whether a recipient’s “potentially unexplained” illness is a side effect of the shot.

Several EU leaders are shown sitting around a long rectangular table.

Tempers flare over EU coronavirus stimulus deal; Oxford vaccine shows promise; Latina artist says goodbye to Goya

Top of The World

European Union leaders’ negotiations extended into a fourth day on Monday as they try to hammer out a deal to revive economies battered by the coronavirus pandemic. Also, a potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by scientists at Oxford University shows strong immune response and no early safety concerns. And in Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro said that lockdown measures used to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus “kill” and have “suffocated” the country’s economy.

A medical researcher is shown wearing a face mask, protective glasses and a hair covering.

UK coronavirus vaccine prompts immune response in early test

COVID-19

Scientists at Oxford University say their experimental coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot.