World
4.4M Americans roll up sleeves for omicron-targeted boosters
U.S. well being officers say 4.4 million People have rolled up their sleeves for the up to date COVID-19 booster shot. The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention posted the depend Thursday as public well being consultants bemoaned President Joe Biden’s current comment that “the pandemic is over.”
The White Home stated greater than 5 million individuals obtained the brand new boosters by its personal estimate that accounts for reporting lags in states.
Well being consultants stated it’s too early to foretell whether or not demand would match up with the 171 million doses of the brand new boosters the U.S. ordered for the autumn.
“Nobody would go taking a look at our flu shot uptake at this level and be like, ‘Oh, what a catastrophe,’” stated Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious illness epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg College of Public Well being. “If we begin to see a big uptick in circumstances, I feel we’re going to see lots of people getting the (new COVID) vaccine.”
A short lived scarcity of Moderna vaccine triggered some pharmacies to cancel appointments whereas encouraging individuals to reschedule for a Pfizer vaccine. The difficulty was anticipated to resolve as authorities regulators wrapped up an inspection and cleared batches of vaccine doses for distribution.
“I do anticipate this to select up within the weeks forward,” stated White Home COVID-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha. “We’ve been considering and speaking about this as an annual vaccine just like the flu vaccine. Flu vaccine season picks up in late September and early October. We’re simply getting our training marketing campaign going. So we anticipate to see, even if this was a robust begin, we really anticipate this to ramp up stronger.”
Some People who plan to get the shot, designed to focus on the most typical omicron strains, stated they’re ready as a result of they both had COVID-19 lately or one other booster. They’re following public well being recommendation to attend a number of months to get the total good thing about their present virus-fighting antibodies.
Others are scheduling pictures nearer to vacation gatherings and winter months when respiratory viruses unfold extra simply.
Retired hospital chaplain Jeanie Murphy, 69, of Shawnee, Kansas, plans to get the brand new booster in a few weeks after she has some minor knee surgical procedure. Curiosity is excessive amongst her neighbors from what she sees on the Nextdoor app.
“There’s fairly a bit of debate taking place amongst people who find themselves able to make appointments,” Murphy stated. “I discovered that encouraging. For each one naysayer there can be 10 or 12 individuals who leap in and say, ‘You’re loopy. You simply must go get the shot.’”
Biden later acknowledged criticism of his comment concerning the pandemic being over and clarified the pandemic is “not the place it was.” The preliminary remark didn’t trouble Murphy. She believes the illness has entered a gentle state when “we’ll get COVID pictures within the fall the identical as we do flu pictures.”
Consultants hope she’s proper, however are ready to see what ranges of an infection winter brings. The summer time ebb in case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths could also be adopted by one other surge, Dowdy stated.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, requested Thursday by a panel of biodefense consultants what nonetheless retains him up at night time, famous that half of vaccinated People by no means obtained an preliminary booster dose.
“Now we have a vulnerability in our inhabitants that can proceed to have us in a mode of potential disruption of our social order,” Fauci stated. “I feel that we’ve to do higher as a nation.”
Some People who obtained the brand new pictures stated they’re excited concerning the concept of concentrating on the vaccine to the variants circulating now.
“Give me all of the science you possibly can,” stated Jeff Westling, 30, an lawyer in Washington, D.C., who obtained the brand new booster and a flu shot on Tuesday, one in every arm. He participates within the fight sport jujitsu, so needs to guard himself from infections which will include shut contact. “I’ve no concern trusting of us whose job it’s to have a look at the proof.”
In the meantime, Biden’s pronouncement in a “60 Minutes” interview broadcast Sunday echoed via social media.
“We nonetheless have an issue with COVID. We’re nonetheless doing quite a lot of work on it. However the pandemic is over,” Biden stated whereas strolling via the Detroit auto present. “In the event you discover, nobody’s sporting masks. Everyone appears to be in fairly good condition. And so I feel it’s altering.”
By Wednesday on Fb, when a Kansas well being division posted the place residents may discover the brand new booster pictures, the primary commenter remarked snidely:
“However Biden says the pandemic is over.”
The president’s assertion, regardless of his makes an attempt to make clear it, provides to public confusion, stated Josh Michaud, affiliate director of worldwide well being coverage with the Kaiser Household Basis in Washington.
“Individuals aren’t certain when is the correct time to get boosted. ‘Am I eligible?’ Individuals are typically confused about what the correct alternative is for them, even the place to seek for that data,” Michaud stated.
“Any time you might have blended messages, it’s detrimental to the general public well being effort,” Michaud stated. “Having the blended messages from the president’s remarks, makes that job that a lot tougher.”
College of South Florida epidemiologist Jason Salemi stated he’s anxious the president’s pronouncement has taken on a lifetime of its personal and will stall prevention efforts.
“That soundbite is there for some time now, and it’s going to unfold like wildfire. And it’s going to present the impression that ‘Oh, there’s nothing extra we have to do,’” Salemi stated.
“If we’re pleased with 400 or 500 individuals dying each single day from COVID, there’s an issue with that,” Salemi stated. “We will completely do higher as a result of most of these deaths, if not all of them, are completely preventable with the instruments that we’ve.”
New York Metropolis photographer Vivienne Gucwa, 44, obtained the brand new booster Monday. She’s had COVID twice, as soon as earlier than vaccines have been accessible and once more in Could. She was vaccinated with two Moderna pictures, however by no means obtained the unique boosters.
“After I noticed the brand new booster was capable of deal with omicron variant I believed, ‘I’m doing that,’” Gucwa stated.
“I don’t need to take care of omicron once more. I used to be type of thrilled to see the boosters have been up to date.”
___
AP Medical Author Lauran Neergaard and AP White Home Correspondent Zeke Miller contributed. ___
The Related Press Well being and Science Division receives assist from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Division of Science Schooling. The AP is solely chargeable for all content material.
World
Trump Rants About Kimmel’s Oscars Joke — a Whopping 5 Weeks Later, and Amid His Criminal Trial
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World
Canadian police say 9 people will be charged after $20 million worth of gold was stolen last year from airport
Police said nine people are facing charges in what authorities are calling the biggest gold theft in Canadian history from Toronto’s Pearson International airport a year ago.
Peel Regional Police said Wednesday that 6,600 gold bars worth more than 20 million Canadian dollars ($14.5 million) and CA$2.5 million ($1.8 million) was stolen and the gold was melted down and used to purchase illegal firearms.
Those charged include a Air Canada warehouse employee and a former Air Canada manager who gave police a tour of cargo of the facility after the theft. A jewelry store owner is also charged.
TORONTO AIRPORT HEIST: $15M CONTAINER OF GOLD, VALUABLE ITEMS STOLEN FROM CARGO FACILITY
“This story is a sensational one and which probably, we jokingly say, belongs in a Netflix series,” Peel Regional Chief Nishan Duraiappah said.
Peel Reginal Detective Sgt. Mike Mavity said the gold bars, weighing 419 kilograms (923 pounds), and foreign currency, ordered from a refinery in Zurich, Switzerland, were transported in the haul of a Air Canada flight on April 17 last year.
He said that late afternoon a truck driver arrived at the airline’s cargo warehouse with a fraudulent bill that was provided to a airline warehouse attendant.
Mavity said a bill for seafood that was picked up the day before was used to pick up the gold. The duplicate bill was printed off at the Air Canada warehouse, he said.
“They needed people within Air Canada to facilitate this theft,” Mavity said in front of the truck police say was used in the theft.
Mavity said police are searching for the Air Canada manager who gave police a tour of the facility in the days after the theft. He said that manager left his job last summer and said they have an idea of where he is.
Mavity said some of the suspects were known to police and some were not. He said they seized six crudely made bracelets made of gold.
“I don’t think I ever imagined they would have to deal with the largest gold heist in Canadian history,” said Patrick Brown, the mayor of Brampton, Ontario. “It’s almost out of an ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ movie or CSI.”
Air Canada employee Parmpal Sidhu, 54, from Brampton, Ontario, jewelry store owner Ali Raza, 37, from Toronto, Amit Jalota, 40, a Oakville, Ontario resident, Ammad Chaudhary, 43, from Georgetown, Ontario and Prasath Paramalingam, 35, from Brampton are among those that have been arrested. Mavity said they have been released on bail conditions and will be in court at a later date.
US MARINE ARRESTED IN TEXAS AFTER STEALING OVER $500,000 IN JEWELRY, AUTHORITIES SAY
Mavity said the truck driver that allegedly picked up the gold, Durante King-Mclean, a 25-year-old from Brampton, is currently in custody in the U.S. on firearms and trafficking related charges.
Police are searching for former Air Canada manager Simran Preet Panesar, 31, from Brampton as well as Archit Grover, 36, from Brampton and Arsalan Chaudhary, 42, from Mississauga Ontario.
Peel Regional Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich said only CA$90,000 ($65,00) of the more than CA$20 million has been recovered.
U.S. ATF Special Agent, Eric DeGree, said King-Mclean, was arrested in Pennsylvania after a traffic stop and that led to the seizure of 65 illegal firearms that were allegedly destined to be smuggled into Canada. DeGree said he tried to flee after police discovered the firearms in his rental car.
Brinks, an American cash handling company, arrived at the airport cargo facility the night of April 17 to pick up the gold and were told the gold and currency was missing after a search.
Brinks sued Air Canada over the theft last year. According to the company’s filing last year, a thief walked away with the costly cargo after presenting a fake document at an Air Canada warehouse on April 17.
In a Nov. 8 statement of defense, Air Canada rejected “each and every allegation” in the Brink’s lawsuit, saying it fulfilled its carriage contracts and denying any improper or “careless” conduct.
CANADIAN POLICE WARN THAT POSTING VIDEOS OF ALLEGED PACKAGE THIEVES COULD BE ‘VIOLATION’ OF THEIR PRIVACY
The country’s largest airline also said Brink’s failed to note the value of the haul on the waybill — a document typically issued by a carrier with details of the shipment — and that if Brink’s did suffer losses, a multilateral treaty known as the Montreal Convention would cap Air Canada’s liability.
In Federal Court filings that claim breach of contract and millions of dollars in damages, Brinks said an “unidentified individual” gained access to the airline’s cargo warehouse and presented a “fraudulent” waybill shortly after an Air Canada flight from Zurich landed at Pearson.
The statement of the claim says the staff then handed over 400 kilograms of gold in the form of 24 bars plus nearly $2 million in cash to the thief, who promptly “absconded with the cargo.”
DeGree said dozens of firearms authorities were seized, including two fully automatic weapons and five guns that were untraceable.
“I’m proud to say that we successfully put an international gun trafficking operation out of business. We kept 65 firearms off the streets of Canada and prevented them from being used in any number of crimes,” DeGree said.
Mavity said that “we believe they melted down the gold and with the profits they got from the gold they used to purchase illegal firearms.”
World
'You are a criminal!' Heckler blasts von der Leyen's stance on Israel
A speech by Ursula von der Leyen was briefly interrupted on Wednesday by a man who accused her of being a “criminal” over her support for Israel.
The European Commission President was about to deliver a speech at the European Defence and Security Summit when she was abruptly interrupted by a man who stood up and directed accusations at her.
“Mrs von der Leyen, this is a citizen’s arrest! You are charged with aiding genocide in Gaza!” the man is heard saying.
“You have expressed total support for Israel at the beginning of this genocide! The blood of Palestinian children is on your hands!”
At that moment, another person approached the man, who continued shouting while he was removed from the room.
“You are a criminal, Mrs von der Leyen! You should be at the Hague! You should not be here. You should not be looking for a second term! You are war — you are a criminal!”
“Free Palestine! Free Palestine!” he added, as his voice faded away.
Von der Leyen, who stood still and showed no reaction during the unexpected occurrence, then began her intervention by thanking her hosts for the invitation.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a pleasure to be here,” she said.
The President proceeded to deliver a wide-ranging speech about the need for Europe to strengthen its security and defence as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Since the 7th October attacks launched by Hamas against Israel, von der Leyen has emerged as one of Europe’s staunchest advocates of the Jewish nation, a support she underscored in a closely-watched visit to Jerusalem in the immediate aftermath.
However, her support quickly backfired as the death toll in the Gaza Strip caused by the Israeli offensive began mounting and the devastation turned into a humanitarian catastrophe.
Although she never backtracked on her stance, von der Leyen gradually adapted her narrative to position herself as a leading actor in the provision of emergency aid to Gaza, travelling to Cyprus last month to announce a maritime corridor.
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