US President Joe Biden welcomed the announcement that US regulators authorised a third Covid-19 vaccine.
The Food and Drug Administration said on Saturday that it granted an emergency-use authorisation for the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for people 18 and older.
But Mr Biden issued a warning that the country could not become complacent.
"This is exciting news for all Americans and an encouraging development in our efforts to bring an end to the crisis," he said.
"But we cannot let our guard down now or assume that victory is inevitable."
The FDA announcement came after the US reported 500,000 Covid-19 deaths and at a time when health officials are raising concerns that a recent decline in new cases may be stalling.
The Johnson & Johnson shot is highly effective at preventing severe Covid-19, with no serious side effects, agency staff said in a report on Wednesday.
On Friday, a committee of outside advisers to the FDA voted unanimously that the vaccine's benefits outweigh any risks. Johnson & Johnson is prepared to ship between three million and 4 million doses across the US.
“We’re in a race between the virus mutating, new variants coming out that could cause further disease, and stopping it. We need to get this vaccine out,” said Jay Portnoy, director of the division of allergy, asthma and immunology at Children’s Mercy Hospital, who supported an emergency authorisation.
The shot is expected to be easier to distribute and administer than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the Moderna shot, which were cleared by the FDA late last year.
To reach full effectiveness, those shots require two doses to be given several weeks apart. They must also must be kept at very cold temperatures, while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can be stored in a fridge for long periods of time.
The inoculation drive in the US accelerated in recent weeks, with more than 70.5 million doses given as of Friday. However, Mr Biden said the rise of new variants still posed a threat.
"As I have said many times, things are still likely to get worse again as new variants spread, and the current improvement could reverse," Mr Biden said on Saturday.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one of the few tested in clinical trials against a variant and it had a 64 per cent efficacy rate at preventing moderate-to-severe disease in South Africa.
The company said on Friday that it was developing a second-generation vaccine that would focus on the South African variant and would be ready to start Phase 1 trials this summer.
Its current vaccine uses a common cold virus known as adenovirus type 26 to introduce coronavirus proteins into cells in the body and trigger an immune response.
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are based on new messenger RNA technology, showed higher efficacy rates in their pivotal trials when tested using two doses versus J&J's single-shot vaccine.
But experts cautioned against close comparisons because the trials had different goals and the Johnson & Johnson trial was conducted while the more contagious new variants were circulating.
The company is testing a two-dose version of its vaccine, with results expected this summer.
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
FIXTURES
Nov 04-05: v Western Australia XI, Perth
Nov 08-11: v Cricket Australia XI, Adelaide
Nov 15-18 v Cricket Australia XI, Townsville (d/n)
Nov 23-27: 1ST TEST v AUSTRALIA, Brisbane
Dec 02-06: 2ND TEST v AUSTRALIA, Adelaide (d/n)
Dec 09-10: v Cricket Australia XI, Perth
Dec 14-18: 3RD TEST v AUSTRALIA, Perth
Dec 26-30 4TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Melbourne
Jan 04-08: 5TH TEST v AUSTRALIA, Sydney
Note: d/n = day/night
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
