China: jailed Wuhan reporter is missing
Zhang Zhan, a journalist imprisoned for reporting the truth about the early days of the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan, has gone missing after her scheduled release from Shanghai women’s prison. She served a…
AstraZeneca withdraws Covid-19 vaccine worldwide
AstraZeneca has announced the global withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine, Vaxzevria, citing a surplus of newer vaccines targeting emerging virus variants. The company previously halted its marketing authorization in the European Union in…
36 million people across the European Region may have developed long COVID over the first 3 years of the pandemic
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 36 million people in the European region may have developed long COVID during the first three years of the pandemic. This condition, characterised by…
Covid jab skipped by 44%, study finds
A study published in the Lancet, focused on the summer of 2022, highlights that over 7,000 hospital admissions related to Covid-19 could have been prevented if the population had been fully vaccinated as…
Up to 167,000 people caught Covid in hospital in second wave
A study suggests that 95,000 to 167,000 people in England may have contracted Covid-19 in hospitals during the second wave of the pandemic, from June 2020 to March 2021. Researchers from Oxford University…
Levels of death still as in pandemic
During lockdown newspapers reported thousands dying weekly. But last week 1,082 more people died than would be expected. These ‘excess deaths’ have averaged 1,000 for 15 weeks this year: they are not Covid…
North Korea: over a million Covid cases
Last week we prayed for North Korea after Covid reached it. The World Council of Churches (WCC) has now warned of a major humanitarian crisis. There are rising Covid cases (currently 1.2 million)…
UK churches mark two-year anniversary of lockdown
Churches across the UK have marked the second anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown with walls of reflection and remembrance in cathedrals and churches as people brought photos, prayers and memories to honour…
Covid infections rising again across UK
Covid infections are increasing across the UK with about one in 25 people infected, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In Scotland, 300,000 people - one in…
A call to churches to help orphans
The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and World Without Orphans (WWO) are calling on churches to help in a crisis. The ‘Lancet Child and adolescent health modelling report’, by national and international government and…
