Online
\nWASHINGTON
\nPresident Donald Trump\u2019s controversial coronavirus adviser resigned Monday, while hopes for a first wave of vaccinations before the end of 2020 received a further boost with an announcement from US firm Moderna.
\nScott Atlas, a favored coronavirus adviser of the US president, who tweeted in October \u201cMasks work? NO,\u201d has submitted his resignation, effective as of December 1, Fox News reported.
\nLacking relevant experience or qualifications in public health or infectious disease, he also called in November for people in Michigan to \u201crise up\u201d against Covid-19 measures.
\nAtlas stepped down as hopes rose for a first wave of vaccinations before the end of the year after Moderna said it was filing for emergency authorization of its vaccine in the United States and Europe.
\nAfter top US scientists warned Americans to brace for a \u201csurge superimposed on the surge,\u201d Moderna reported full results had confirmed a high efficacy estimated at 94.1 percent.
\nIt was set to join American pharmaceutical maker Pfizer and Germany\u2019s BioNTech, which applied for similar approvals last week, and have predicted their vaccine could be greenlit in the US shortly after December 10.
\nIf the US Food and Drug Administration agrees Moderna\u2019s product is safe and effective, the first of the drug\u2019s two doses could be injected into the arms of millions of Americans by the middle of December.
\nHealth Secretary Alex Azar told CBS News: \u201cWe could be seeing both of these vaccines out and getting into people\u2019s arms before Christmas.\u201d
\nCo-developed with the US National Institutes of Health, the jabs were generally well tolerated, with the most common side effects including injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain and headache.
\nModerna expects to have approximately 20 million doses of the vaccine available in the US by the end of 2020, and between 500 million to a billion doses globally in 2021.
\nThe news came after leading US scientist Anthony Fauci voiced his fears as millions of travelers returned home after the Thanksgiving holiday.
\nThe United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 267,000 Covid-19 deaths, and the Trump administration has issued conflicting messages on mask-wearing, travel and the danger posed by the virus.
\n\u201cWhat we expect, unfortunately, as we go for the next couple of weeks into December is that we might see a surge superimposed on the surge we are already in,\u201d Fauci said Sunday.
\nMore than 1.4 million people have died worldwide since the outbreak in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by media.
\nThe World Health Organization (WHO) insisted Monday it was doing everything possible to find the animal origins of the virus, although it hasn\u2019t yet sent a full team of expert investigators to China.
\nObservers have voiced concern the agency has bowed to Chinese pressure and dragged its feet over the investigation, but WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hit back and urged critics to stop \u201cpoliticizing\u201d the issue.
\nAt a briefing, Tedros added he was alarmed over a rapid worsening of the Covid-19 situations in Brazil and Mexico, urging them to be \u201cvery serious\u201d about halting the spread.
\nEurope meanwhile is still battling to lower the daily toll of death and infection with a variety of curbs, lockdowns and tests after fatalities topped 400,000 at the weekend.
\nTurkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a total weekend lockdown and a curfew for the rest of the week.
\nIn Asia, Hong Kong on Monday announced social distancing measures at some of the strictest levels in the city since the start of the pandemic, as authorities battle a fourth wave of infections.
\n\u201cThis new wave of Covid-19 has hit Hong Kong very quickly,\u201d chief executive Carrie Lam said.
\nAnger over rising infection numbers sparked a riot in a Sri Lankan prison where guards shot dead eight inmates and wounded at least 71 others.
\nHowever, Australia\u2019s success against the pandemic saw international students arrive for the first time since it shut its borders in March, with a charter flight touching down in Darwin on Monday.
\nThe situation in former global epicenter New York remains precarious, with Governor Andrew Cuomo warning small gatherings are now responsible for 65 percent of the spread.
\n\u201cWe are now worried about overwhelming the hospital system,\u201d Cuomo said, warning a new lockdown could be needed.
\nCalifornia Governor Gavin Newsom said his state\u2019s hospital intensive care units could be overloaded in just a couple weeks.
\nCovid risk across most of the US is now considered \u201ccritical\u201d and more than 93,000 people are hospitalized, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
\nScientists estimate around 70 percent of the population will need to be vaccinated to bring an end to the outbreak, and this may not be achievable until the second half of next year.
\nAmid signs of growing global vaccine skepticism, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies president Francesco Rocca warned Monday: \u201cTo beat this pandemic, we also have to defeat the parallel pandemic of distrust.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Online WASHINGTON President Donald Trump\u2019s controversial coronavirus adviser resigned Monday, while hopes for a first wave of vaccinations before the end of 2020 received a further boost with an announcement from US firm Moderna. Scott Atlas, a favored coronavirus adviser of the US president, who tweeted in October \u201cMasks work? NO,\u201d has submitted his resignation, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n