Hong Kong leader says fifth COVID wave has ‘overwhelmed’ city’s capacity

HONG KONG, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam said on Monday that the “onslaught” of coronavirus infections in the global financial hub has dealt a heavy blow and overwhelmed its capacity to deal with the epidemic as daily cases surge to record highs. Daily infections have multiplied 13 times over the past … Read more

Germans pin hopes on Novavax moving the needle among anti-vaxxers

BERLIN, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Benedikt Richter, a 40-year-old teacher in the southwest German city of Kaiserslautern, long held out against getting vaccinated against COVID-19. He felt uneasy about the novelty of the mRNA technology used in two of the most commonly administered shots. It did not help that his sister-in-law was hospitalized with heart … Read more

Swiss reject ban on animal testing in referendum

Pharmaceutical industry opposed testing ban Tobacco advertising more restricted to protect youngsters Proposals on equity tax and media funding rejected ZURICH, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Swiss voters rejected a proposal by animal rights activists to make Switzerland the first country to ban medical and scientific experiments on animals, but approved tougher restrictions on cigarette advertising … Read more