BALTIMORE (WJZ) Notre Dame of Maryland announced that they will require students returning to campus to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
We are looking forward to the University resuming more normal operations this fall. Our plans are grounded on continuing effective public health strategies, said Sr. Sharon Slear, Provost. While the pandemic in the U.S. seems to be on a downward trajectory, NDMU continues to closely monitor and adhere to CDC, State, and local health and safety guidance. As the pandemic evolves, NDMU will continue to respond accordingly.
University officials said that all students coming or returning to campus will have to be vaccinated against COVID beginning this upcoming fall semester. Unvaccinated students will be required to submit a COVID-19 pre-arrival test and participate in random surveillance testing.
Officials said exceptions will be granted for medical or religious reasons. The university is encouraging all staff and faculty to get vaccinated, however, it is not required as of now.
CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) In efforts to get as many people as possible vaccinated for COVID-19, people can now get the shot while taking a leisurely camping trip.
Some might not think Chief Logan State Park would be the ideal place to get vaccinated, but Governor Jim Justice asked community leaders work together to get the job done.
As the numbers continue to come down, were really trying to get out to the people and meet them where they are and make it really convenient for them if they have not gotten vaccinated to date, Kristin Dial, who works at Coalfield Health Center said.
If someone is confined and they cant get out, we offer to go out and give the vaccine and return date. We go back and give them the second vaccine, Cindy Adams, Paramedic Supervisor at the Ambulance Service in Logan County said.
Many people are still looking for ways to have fun and still social distance.
Camping is really trending up and its really popular. Everyone seems to be buying a camper these days and we have a really nice campground, Michael Ward, Park Superintendent of Chief Logan State Park said.
This is the Logan County medical staffs second day giving out vaccinations. Although the weather has been a hindrance, they expect more people to come for vaccinations Monday.
Its unlimited. We have supply so we have back supply so anyone that shows up can get a vaccine this weekend, weve done more than 13,000 in Logan County to date, Dial said.
Staff will be giving out vaccinations tomorrow outside the museum inside Chief Logan State Park from 9 a.m to noon.
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KALAMAZOO, MI When Kalamazoo resident Bessie Lacks and her grandson Jermaine Jackson received their COVID-19 vaccines earlier this spring, both were overwhelmed with emotion.
Not just because they were being vaccinated or because they were receiving the Pfizer vaccine which was developed in Kalamazoo County but because of an even closer connection. The Pfizer vaccine never would have been developed as it is without the use of cells taken from Lacks sister-in-law in 1951, before Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
Her family was left in the dark for 25 years that Henriettas cells, the first discovered immortal cell line, were being used daily in scientific research and they never saw a cent until more than 60 years later.
Even so, there was a sense of pride that washed over Bessie Lacks when she received her shots.
Personally, I just thank God her cells are still being used and that they are doing so much. Its really wonderful, Lacks said. I was telling everybody, the vaccine was, in part, because of my sister-in-law I just hope everyone can respect what it is and know that part of that family is still around.
Henrietta Lacks died in 1951 of cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Her cells, taken without her or her family's knowledge prior to have her death, have lived on for 70 years and counting, helping lead from one scientific discovery to the next. (Photo provided by the Lacks Family)
Lacks, who was married to the brother of Henrietta Lacks husband, said she has great appreciation for all of the work the researchers have done over the years, using the HeLa cells to first develop the polio vaccine, develop AIDS and chemotherapy treatments and develop drugs from everything from Parkinsons disease to sexually transmitted diseases, and much more.
Like other members of the Lacks family, there is a degree of resentment in how things were handled as Henriettas cells were taken without permission and the family was left in the dark until the mid-1970s, when doctors asked for blood samples to aid in ongoing research.
It would be the turn of the century before Henrietta Lacks family began to understand the full scope of the importance of Henriettas cells, and another 10 years before they saw any form of compensation. That is when author Rebecca Skloot set up the Henrietta Lacks Foundation to help individuals who made important contributions to scientific research without personally benefitting from those contributions.
Skloot, who worked closely with Bessie Lacks niece Deborah Lacks, while authoring the best-selling The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, helped put a face and the story behind the Black woman who, for nearly 60 years, almost no one knew a thing about. That book later became a movie, with a character based on Skloot and Oprah Winfrey playing Deborah Lacks.
But it was the book, upon its release, that turned a world of what felt like nothing more than science fiction into reality for Jackson, who is an assistant librarian with Kalamazoo Public Libraries as well as a Kalamazoo Public Schools board member.
Reality not science-fiction
I was told all my life, and of course it sounded like a fictional story, but our grandmother was always telling us about her sister-in-law and what her cells contributed to the world, said Jackson, 45. Of course, because it wasnt mainstream media it wasnt gospel, we thought it was a fictional story.
But when the book came out and his grandmother called him at work and asked him to put the book on reserve, he picked it up and began reading.
I was completely flabbergasted, Jackson said. To see that this woman who died in 1951 of cervical cancer and had her cells taken from her without her consent, and her cell line created a medical breakthrough that hadnt been seen in the history of medical science.
Jackson, inspired by the reality of his own family history, conversed with his cousins to learn more. He ultimately designed a four-themed exhibit for the Barnabee Art Gallery in the Kalamazoo Public Libraries Alma Powell Branch, located in Kalamazoos Douglas neighborhood.
The exhibit highlights the family history of Henrietta Lacks, the scientific wonders her cells are tied to and the controversy that surrounds the taking of her cells. It also features artwork from more than a half-dozen artists depicting the legacy of Henrietta Lacks.
A new arrival to the exhibit of Henrietta Lacks by Artist Jamari Taylor of Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Photo of artwork provided by Jermaine Jackson)
The exhibits purpose is to both educate and to humanize the great aunt he never met, Jackson said.
Jackson, who initially intended the exhibit to be a one-time thing in 2017, later developed it into a virtual presentation that has been shown to middle and high school students over the past year. As the pandemic winds to a close, he hopes to hit the road with it, taking it to college campuses, schools, churches, community organizations and museums across the country.
While it is a joy, Jackson said, knowing his great aunt lives on through medical science and to know that anyone who is a cancer survivor or received AIDS treatment or the Coronavirus vaccine has been touched by her the injustices felt by the family and many Black people, he said, are very real.
Trust in the Black community
Even donating organs is a scary thing, still, for a lot of Black people, he said. Many of us think there is a greater possibility if we sign on as organ donors, that they may just let us die in order to use that organ to save another life. Theres still trust issues. There have been for years.
Dr. (Martin Luther) King said, Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane. So, when we see rallying and picketing and protests over policing issues in this country, thats stuff everybody is conscious of with the videos and the media, but medical injustices are unseen.
For Bessie Lacks, the biggest injustice was that she felt there should have been some compensation for the family members who didnt even know Henrietta Lacks cells were being sold and distributed to laboratories across the world.
They were just a normal family with something tragic that happened, and their dad he had to raise the kids on his own, she said. They grew up poor. He did the best he could, but he had to work and hed pay somebody else to watch the kids. They couldnt afford their own medical care.
Yet their mothers cells were providing care for people across the world.
There wasnt anything anyone could do because thats just the way it was, Bessie Lacks said. Ive got the sense to know that was the kind of setup that we had in America at that time. We didnt have the laws and the amendments that we have now to make things different.
If something like that happened now you could do something about it, but Im sure there isnt even a doctor or nurse still alive that had nothing to do with that.
Now that the years have passed and understanding has grown, Lacks said, some family members have begun to feel different and Henriettas grandchildren and great-grandchildren have a sense of pride knowing what their grandmothers cells have contributed.
For Bessie Lacks, her own cancer treatments and her COVID vaccine have some extra significance.
I know it did it a lot, she said. But it wasnt me; it was my sister-in-law. We were just married to two brothers.
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The vaccines being used in the United States and other parts of the world are safe and effective in preventing severe cases of COVID-19.
How long that protection lasts is still not fully understood both the virus and the vaccines against it are relatively new.
Breakthrough infections those occurring in people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 are happening. So far, though, they are largely occurring without major problems. Most people are asymptomatic, and their cases are discovered only during routine testing.
As variants of the novel coronavirus continue to spread and mutate, researchers are monitoring how the vaccines perform and whether booster shots will be needed to maintain meaningful immunity.
Right now, experts say its too early to speculate whether well need booster shots like some routine vaccines.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, says its premature to predict whether COVID-19 boosters will be needed and, if so, at what intervals.
To me, the threshold for boosters would be to see fully vaccinated individuals getting breakthrough infection severe enough to land them in the hospital, Adalja told Healthline. We have not crossed that threshold.
However, the CEO of the companies whose COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed in the United States say their shots may need to be given annually, like a flu shot. They told Axios those boosters could come as early as September.
Data shows Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, which both use the same mRNA technology to create immunity against the novel coronavirus, remain effective after 6 months. Still, Pfizer officials in February said they are testing a booster shot up to a year after a person receives their first two doses.
AstraZenecas vaccine which hasnt received approval to be used in the United States has been tested with a booster or a second shot after 12 weeks. Still, it doesnt appear to offer any more meaningful protection than doses given closer together.
An international team of researchers published a paper in the journal Nature Medicine in January that looked at what was next for COVID-19 vaccinations beyond their phase 3 trials.
Additional booster doses might be necessary to extend the duration of protection, they wrote. We do not know whether primary series and booster doses can or should be different.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States leading voice on infectious diseases, told a Senate subcommittee last week that he doesnt anticipate that the durability of the COVID-19 vaccine protection is going to be infinite.
Its just not, he said. So I would imagine we will need, at some time, a booster.
When that booster is needed, Fauci said, remains to be seen. Researchers are continuing to see when the current vaccines protections begin to fade.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends boosters for other common vaccines.
For example, a booster for the vaccine that protects against tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, or Tdap, is recommended every 10 years. People who travel in countries with high levels of hepatitis A are advised to get a booster shot 12 months after their first doses.
A team of Australian researchers published research in March that used predictive modeling to see how well COVID-19 vaccine protection lasted by examining titer or the concentration of protective antibodies. They found the decay of protection 250 days after immunization predicted a significant loss in protection, although protection from severe disease should be largely retained.
And thats the whole point of vaccines: To protect from serious infection that could result in hospitalization or even death.
Dr. Stephen Russell, CEO and co-founder of Imanis Life Sciences a Rochester, Minnesota, company that makes COVID-19 antibody tests says its possible a fully vaccinated person could remain protected for more than a year. That protection could also drop off as quickly as 3 months.
The appropriate timing of booster shots is therefore very difficult to determine without specific information about the peak neutralizing antibody titer and its rate of fall in a given individual, he said.
Russell also says the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines appear to generate the highest neutralizing antibody titers, followed by the AstraZeneca and the Johnson & Johnson vaccines. But, he said, different vaccines work differently, and its still possible that a vaccine might be developed for COVID-19 that gives lasting immunity.
The common childhood vaccines such as measles, mumps, and rubella that most of us have had typically result in lifelong immunity, Russell said, but they use live replicating viruses, which may persist much longer than mRNA vaccines and are therefore able to drive a better, more lasting immune response.
For now, theres not enough evidence to suggest that the current vaccines cant keep up with the current versions of the novel coronavirus.
The UK has recorded another six coronavirus-related deaths as more than 25 million people have now received two vaccine doses, latest government figures show.
It comes as another 3,240 coronavirus cases were recorded and the latest statistics showed 39,259,168 people have had a first dose of a COVID vaccine.
A total of 25,332,851 have had two jabs.
There have now been a total of 4,484,056 cases and 127,781 deaths throughout the pandemic in the UK.
On Friday, 4,182 cases were reported which was the highest daily total since 1 April - and came on the back of news that coronavirus infections in England are growing by up to 3% every day.
The latest coronavirus R (reproduction) number is estimated to be between 1.0 and 1.1 - up from between 0.9 and 1.1 last week.
This means that, on average, every 10 people infected with COVID will infect between 10 and 11 other people.
The government is now considering making COVID vaccinations compulsory for NHS workers, while an expert has warned there still remains "an awful lot of uncertainty" over whether England can proceed with its planned relaxation of COVID restrictions on 21 June.
Dr Mike Tildesley, from the University of Warwick and a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M) government advisory panel, was asked on LBC if the country was on track to reopen by that date.
He said: "I think at the moment there's quite a lot of uncertainty around that.
"We are starting to see signs of course that cases are going up, but at the moment we're still obviously reporting hospital admissions and deaths at very low levels."
Pharma firms Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline say they will begin production of another potential vaccine against COVID-19 within weeks
ByThe Associated Press
May 27, 2021, 9:45 AM
2 min read
PARIS -- Production of another potential vaccine against COVID-19 will begin within weeks, its developers Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline said Thursday as they launched a large trial enrolling 35,000 adult volunteers in the United States, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The study will test vaccine candidate formulas against the original coronavirus that spread from Wuhan, China, and against the variant first seen in South Africa, the pharmaceutical firms said.
If the trial is successful, regulators could approve the vaccine for use in the last three months of the year, the drugmakers said in a statement.
Manufacturing will begin in the coming weeks to enable rapid access to the vaccine, should it be approved, they said.
Their statement quoted Thomas Triomphe, who leads vaccine research and development at Sanofi Pasteur, as saying: We are encouraged to see first vaccinations starting to take place in such an important, pivotal Phase 3 study."
Earlier this month, the firms said their vaccine candidate triggered strong immune responses in all adult age groups in preliminary trials after an earlier setback, boosting optimism the shot may join the fight against the pandemic this year.
After two doses of the vaccine candidate, participants showed antibodies in line with those found in people who had recovered from the disease, according to results of the previous, smaller trial.
Regulators have already authorized a number of COVID-19 vaccines, though experts say more are needed as public health authorities around the world race to vaccinate their residents amid a pandemic that has already killed more than 3.4 million people and caused economic havoc.
Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
Actor Nick Offerman wants you to get the coronavirus vaccine. So much that he testified while under oath to Congress on Wednesday about vaccine hesitancy and the importance that all Americans act, not as individuals, but as a good neighbor.
The actor, who is also a professional woodworker and small-business owner, addressed members of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations at a Wednesday hearing titled, A shot at normalcy: Building COVID-19 vaccine confidence. A panel of medical and health care experts followed Offerman with their own testimonies.
The subcommittee hearing comes as coronavirus vaccination rates in the county have leveled off this last month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Offerman who played government bureaucracy skeptic Ron Swanson on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation told House subcommittee members that, as an actor, author and woodworker he would not be offering medical advice, but would address the subcommittee as a medically ignorant representative of feet on the ground, hands in the dirt, people across our country whose lives and livelihoods have taken a pounding from this pandemic, according to an official recording of the hearing that was later uploaded to YouTube. He added that he was also speaking from his personal perspective as a small-business owner and proud Midwesterner.
He understands why people have called the vaccine a miracle, given the speed of development and success the vaccine, but said calling it a miracle wasnt quite accurate, Offerman said.
Offerman told the subcommittee, that like many Americans, his work as an actor was temporarily halted during the pandemic and only resumed because actors and crews of those shows listened to the doctors and we thought about each other.
His business, the Offerman Woodshop, and partnered nonprofit Would Works which trains and employs homeless Los Angelinas were only able to reopen after development of the vaccine, he said.
The actor and woodworker also blamed disinformation from social media platforms with no oversight for the mask and vaccine hesitancy hes seen in his own family in Illinois. He again encouraged people to follow the science and success of the vaccine.
Later in the hearing, Offermam called on Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine, not just for their own health, but as a member of a community, or as a good neighbor, or a good citizen.
You can watch all of Offermans testimony, and those of the panel of medical professionals, here: A Shot at Normalcy: Building COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence
And, if like Ron Swanson youd prefer to skip the congressional bureaucracy at the beginning of Wednesdays panel, Offerman begins his testimony around 34:30 into the hearing.
The second wave of the pandemic has taken our country by surprise. Beauty and personal care has alwaysbeen a very important part of our lives and now it is riding the new wave of change in the face of apandemic. What matters now is glowing, protected skin and mental balance. Corona Virus 2(SARS-Cov-2) causes severe acute respiratory syndrome. This is associated with severe red rash all over the body (morbilliform rash). It is also associated with multiple hypersensitivity reactions like urticaria. Many patients who have recovered observed the redness of palms and soles.Here are few tips recommended by experts from VLCC:Start your day with herbs infused tea, soup with a hint of spices like rosemary, shakes and smoothiesmight add variety and work as an appetiser.
Dietary changes that include easy digesting, nutritious food and breathing as well as light exercisesas per the guidance of physiotherapists are mandatory as part of the daily regime.
Ayurvedic home remedies like neem and haldi (turmeric) soap, eucalyptus oils in diffuser to alleviatethe mood as well as for purification of air.
Sleep inducing oils like clary sage can be added in pillow cover if someone is suffering frominsomnia.
Natural remedies like turmeric milk also work as excellent anti inflammatory and induce sleep.Before sleep, an under eye cream can help revive those raccoon eyes effectively.
The patient might experience severe hair loss after 8 to 12 weeks of the infection. Sulphate free hairwash and Crescina for root care, GFC treatment is advised as after care to promote new hair growthpost recovery. If hair loss is severe, biotin supplements should be considered.
Healthy diet and supplements not only improves the immunity of the body but skin as well. Regularzinc and vitamin C supplements with topical application of vitamin C serum, night cream with AcaiBerry & Nutmeg oil further help in enhancing the skin brightening effortlessly.
Moisturiser with hyaluronic acid is a good option to consider.
Further excessive use of sanitizers can lead to dryness of palm. It has also caused eczema (crackingof palms, redness, scaling of skin). To avoid this moisturising skin is utmost important as alcoholbased sanitizers cause severe dryness which further leads to various skin disorders.
If any severe rash over palms formed, it should be treated by a dermatologist.
Prevention: Use gloves to avoid sanitising hands again and again when in contact with an outsideforeign object or surface. Clean hands with mild wash, pat it dry and use an emollient meant forextreme hydration designed for hand and foot care , as the skin is different.
Constant use of masks has led to mask acne and multiple rashes over the face; this can be preventedby changing the mask at regular intervals. Not only do masks irritate the skin by rubbing on it, theyalso create a warm, moist environment for P.acne bacteria causing breakouts to thrive in an inflamed
Above all, it isn't because public, hard, tested evidence is growing at pace.
The theory instead seems to persist mostly because of several massive coincidences.
Firstly, Wuhan, where the disease almost certainly began in China, is home to China's major biosafety level 4 laboratory, the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). It, and two other laboratories in Wuhan, were doing research on coronaviruses, some of it in bats. The WIV sequenced the genetic code of the closest-known ancestor in bats to SARS-CoV-2, a virus called RatG13. It is 96.2% of the way identical to the novel coronavirus that caused the pandemic. One of the WIV's leading researchers, Shi Zhengli, is called the "Bat Lady."
Finally, there's a third coincidence. The Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, key to virus prevention and detection, moved its laboratory in Wuhan on December 2, 2019. The WHO report, written in conjunction with Chinese officials, notes this fact and says it could have been disruptive to a laboratory's operations. It also notes the lab moved to a location near the Huanan Seafood Market, the exotic animal trade center thought to have played a major role in the virus' early spread. The move happened just six days before the first patient experienced Covid-19 symptoms, according to China's account. (He is, the WHO report said, an accountant working for a family company, with no known history of attending crowded events, animal "wet market" contact, or exotic trips to the wilderness. These facts suggest he may have got it in the city, perhaps from another person).
These three pretty huge coincidences foster the lab-leak theory, and mean it has not yet gone away. Western intelligence officials CNN has spoken to say they cannot "disprove" the idea -- or prove it. These coincidences are perhaps why it sits in this hinterland -- never permanently debunked, never proven. Their solution is like "Occam's razor" -- the idea that the simplest explanation is the most likely.
But none of it is solid or even compelling evidence that a lab leak occurred. That evidence may exist, and be super-classified within the government that possesses it. But as it is not public, we can't presume it exists to confirm a bias that China is hiding something terrible.
But the likelihood China is hiding something is of no help either. (Even the WHO team, whose report Chinese officials helped author, admits they would like access to more material and better information -- to hospital blood bank samples from the time of the outbreak, and to raw data across Hubei about possible cases in October and November. Despite making that clear months ago, they have yet to receive it).
This "spillover idea" is messier, and also hard to definitively prove. The WHO investigators share the conclusion of most specialists in this field: that the disease most likely came from bats, via another species, known as an "intermediary animal," and then infected humans.
Why bats? One theory is that because they flap their wings very fast to fly, they have a high average body temperature. When we humans get a virus, we get a fever, which is the body raising our temperature slightly to kill the intruder. Viruses in bats learn to deal with a higher temperature as standard. So if they cross into humans, our basic defense of raising our temperature doesn't work. It also means bats are a reservoir of robust viruses that have learned to survive.
Some scientists think it's possible SARS-CoV-2 could have crossed from bats straight into humans. Most experts -- and the WHO report -- conclude it went via an "intermediary animal," another species that was infected before passing the virus on to humans.
It is in this "intermediary animal" where things could have got even more complicated. The closest bat virus we know of to the novel coronavirus in humans is the RatG13 virus, which the WIV found. Scientists think one way it could have become SARS-CoV-2 is through a "recombination event."
This is where a virus takes something from another virus it meets: a bit like fitting better wheels to a car. It can improve the virus's effectiveness. Finding out where and when this happened is a task of nightmarish complexity. China was regularly screening 69 types of animal looking for rare viruses, it told WHO, during 2019 and likely before. Any one of them -- or many other species not tested -- could have been the place where a recombination event formed SARS-CoV-2.
The Lab Leak theory has a spin-off conspiracy here. It suggests the RatG13 virus could have been turned into SARS-CoV-2 through deliberate human manipulation, called "gain of function" research. Scientists do this by altering viruses in a laboratory, to learn more about how viruses infect and impact humans. It can be dangerous, and was put on pause in the US briefly under the Obama administration. Some scientists say attributing virus changes to "gain of function" research is an easy explanation often misused to explain any change in a virus that could have occurred through natural, complex processes. These scientists discount its role in forming SARS-CoV-2.
Tracing the virus back to the animal where it was first created is extremely hard in an open, permissive environment. It is harder still in China, where a plethora of useful data has not been handed over to the WHO team by the Chinese government.
These issues all complicate the 90-day intelligence review that US President Joe Biden has ordered. On one side of the argument is a ton of circumstantial evidence and coincidence pointing to a lab leak. (US investigators will need hard evidence a leak occurred, and to assess if China even knew it had taken place). On the other side of the argument, supporting the virus' transfer or spillover in nature, is the vast preponderance of scientific research on the subject to date. Yet it too is infuriatingly inconclusive.
Amid all the blame, counter-accusations, suspicions and cover-ups, one problem remains for us humans as a species. We really need to know how and why this virus came to be, so we can stop it from happening again.
A 3D-printed coronavirus model is seen in front of a world map and the words "CoronaVirus Disease (Covid-19)" on display in this illustration taken March 25, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
The World Health Organization's (WHO) top emergency expert said on Friday the search for the origin of the coronavirus was being "poisoned by politics", days after U.S. President Joe Biden ordered aides to find answers.
Since the virus outbreak that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019, scientists have been trying to solve the puzzle of where the virus originated.
"We would like for everyone out there to separate, if they can, the politics of this issue from the science. This whole process is being poisoned by politics," Mike Ryan told reporters.
A WHO-led team spent four weeks in and around Wuhan with Chinese researchers and said in a report in March that the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal.
It said that "introduction through a laboratory incident was considered to be an extremely unlikely pathway". read more
But many politicians and a number of scientists are not satisfied. read more
Biden on Wednesday ordered aides to find answers to the virus' origin, saying U.S. intelligence agencies were pursuing rival theories, potentially including the possibility of a laboratory accident in China. read more
The United States on Thursday called on the WHO to carry out a second probe.
"Every country and every entity is free to pursue their own particular theories of origin, it's a free world," Ryan said. "WHO is a member state organisation and we seek to work with all of our member states to seek answers collectively."
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's technical lead on COVID-19, added that the issue required multiple missions and would take time.
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