Health

UK’s Johnson says people without COVID-19 boosters ending up in hospital

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people to come forward to have a COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, saying the overwhelming majority of people in intensive care in hospital with the disease had not received their booster.

Johnson also said people should celebrate on New Year’s Eve cautiously after he decided not to bring in tougher restrictions to limit the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant of the virus.

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“I’m sorry to say this, but the overwhelming majority of people who are currently ending up in intensive care in our hospitals are people who are not boosted,” he told reporters on a visit to a vaccine center. “I’ve talked to doctors who say the numbers are running up to 90 percent of people in intensive care.”

“The omicron variant continues to cause real problems, you’re seeing cases rising in hospitals, but it is obviously milder than the delta variant.”

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.