A quick catch up on today’s top stories…
1) U.S. records eight heart inflammation cases among children who received COVID-19 jabs
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday it had received reports of eight cases of myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation, in children aged 5-11 years who received Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The CDC had previously said that reporting rates of myocarditis for boys aged 16 to 17 could be more than 69 cases per million second doses administered and around 40 cases per million second doses in boys aged 12-15 years old. The CDC did not say whether it believes there is a link between the myocarditis cases and the vaccine, or disclose the rate of myocarditis in the age group without vaccination.
2) One feared dead, 20 injured as lowbird truck ran into sprinter bus at Atwima Denkyemuoso
One person is feared dead while 20 others have sustained various degrees of injuries after the vehicle they were traveling in was involved in an accident at Atwima Denkyemuoso in the Kwadaso Municipality of the Ashanti Region.
The accident occurred on Thursday, December 16, 2021, after a Lowbird truck with registration number GS 5533- 19, carrying Caterpillar collided with a sprinter bus with registration number AW 5321-14 at about 3:00 p-m. Some eyewitnesses disclosed that the speeding sprinter bus collided with the Lowbird truck after using the wrong way.
3) Facebook exposes mercenary spy firms that targeted 50,000 people
Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc is calling out half a dozen private surveillance companies for hacking or other abuses, accusing them in a report published Thursday of collectively targeting about 50,000 people across its platforms.
Meta’s report said it was suspending roughly 1,500, mostly fake accounts run by seven organizations across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Meta said the entities targeted people in more than 100 countries. Meta did not provide a detailed explanation of how it identified the surveillance firms.
4) Miss World 2021 postponed as several positive COVID cases rock event
Miss World 2021 contest which was slated to take place in Puerto Rico, has been postponed after several contestants, including India’s Manasa Varanasi, were tested positive for Covid-19.
The organisers made the announcement just a few hours before the finale on Thursday.
“Keeping in mind the rising Covid cases amongst the contestants, the Miss World Organisation has taken the decision to postpone the Miss World finale,” the statement read. “The finale will be rescheduled at Puerto Rico Coliseum Jose Miguel Agrelot within the next 90 days,” the press release added.
5) UEFA move to launch player-targeted vaccine campaign
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has urged players across Europe to get vaccinated as soon as possible against COVID-19 but said it was still a personal choice, for now. UEFA is set to launch a video aimed at players featuring doctors explaining the benefits of vaccinations.
“For me, I believe in science and I got vaccinated,” Ceferin told a news conference on Thursday. “We have to be smart, we have to explain things, people are not stupid, people understand when you explain, in a nice way not judging them, but explaining why vaccinating is good.”
