UK STUDY SAYS AZ, PFIZER VACCINES EFFECTIVE AGAINST B.1.617.2 VARIANT Lava in their neighbourhood

A new study by health officials in England shows for the first time that two doses of Covid-19 vaccines are “highly effective” against the B.1.617.2 variant of the coronavirus that was first identified in India.

Public Health England (PHE) has said that while the Pfizer-biontech vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic Covid-19 from the B.1.617.2 variant of concern (VOC) two weeks after the second dose, the Oxford-astrazeneca vaccine was 60% effective against symptomatic disease from the same variant.

However, the effectiveness from both types of vaccines was found to be only 33% against the VOC first found in India after just one dose of either jab.

“This new evidence is groundbreaking and proves just how valuable our Covid-19 vaccination programme is in protecting the people we love,” said UK health secretary Matt Hancock. “It’s clear how important the second dose is to secure the strongest possible protection against Covid-19 and its variants. I urge everyone to book in their jab when offered,” he said. LONDON:

AP People show up and take selfies in front of molten lava from the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo in Buhene on the outskirts of Goma city in DR Congo in the early hours of Sunday. The volcano erupted for the first time in nearly two decades on Saturday evening, turning the night sky a fiery red and sending lava onto a major highway as panic-stricken residents began to flee Goma, a city of nearly 2 million. The lava flow eventually halted just on the outskirts of Goma.