Health

Oman detects first two cases of COVID-19 variant omicron

Oman’s Ministry of Health has announced its first two cases of COVID-19 omicron variant, according to a state news agency report.

This comes on the day British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed the first patient had died after contracting the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

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Israeli researchers said on Saturday they found that a three-shot course of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine provided significant protection against the new Omicron variant.

The findings were similar to those presented by BioNTech and Pfizer earlier in the week, which were an early signal that booster shots could be key to protect against infection from the newly identified variant.

Two weeks into the Omicron outbreak: Where to from here?

Israeli study finds Pfizer COVID-19 booster protects against Omicron

Health

Nigeria first country to introduce ‘revolutionary’ meningitis vaccine

Nigeria has become the first country to roll out a “revolutionary” five-in-one vaccine against meningitis, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement on Friday.

Health

Hepatitis killing thousands daily, WHO warns in new report

The number of lives lost due to viral hepatitis infections is increasing and already accounts for 3,500 deaths daily, according to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) released on Tuesday.

Health

Gaza: ‘Systematic dismantling of healthcare must end’ says WHO

With the largest hospital in Gaza largely destroyed and out of action, access to healthcare has now become “totally inadequate” following six months of brutal fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday.