COVID-19 vaccine shots offered to all kids over 12 in Germany

Aug 3 2021

Children and teenagers aged 12 and older in Germany will be offered COVID-19 vaccinations as top health officials reveal on Monday. German Health Minister Jens Spahn stated that the promise to give the vaccine to everybody who wants in summer will be kept as there are enough jabs for all age groups. In a meeting addressing the 16 German state health ministers, Spahn stated that children and teenagers can decide to receive the jab after a medical consultation and thus protect themselves and others.

The push by the German government to vaccinate the country’s youth follows the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommendation that the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer may be administered to 12 to 15-year-olds two months ago. Despite this, the country’s standing committee on vaccination, the Stiko, has expressed reluctancy to give the go-ahead for all youngsters.

The Stiko explicitly recommended the vaccination only for the age group between 12 and 16 if they suffer from specific chronic illnesses. The committee claimed that there not enough study results yet available to showcase any long-term effects of the vaccine on the younger population. Its stance may be updated once more data becomes available.

The urgency to vaccinate the age group comes as schools across the country are set for reopening. Given the vulnerability of the young unvaccinated youth and potential to spread the delta variant, politicians have lobbied to get the younger ones immunised in order to avoid school closure.

The vaccination will remain voluntary as for every age group, with 20% of those between 12 and 17-years of age having received at least on shot in Germany so far. 10% are fully vaccinated. Germany’s family minister stated how the decision is an important step in order to protect children and teenagers from the virus in the best possible way.

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Photo Source: Medscape

Fans go crazy over windsurfers Avatar haircut that helped him win gold

Aug 3 2021

Dutch windsurfer Kiran Badloe has recently gone viral because of his Avatar: The Last Airbender inspired haircut. The show is about Aang, a 12-year old kid who controls air and learns how to control other elements. Kiran told news outlet Reuters ‘It’s about a kid that controls the wind, and he needs to control all different kinds of elements of nature in order to do something great, and I’m doing the same here,’.

The haircut clearly gave Kiran some of Aang’s powers of controlling the wind, as he stormed off to a gold medal. Kiran is now the first windsurfer gold medalist, since it made it’s debut in the Olympics at Tokyo. The windsurfer, when asked if the haircut actually helped him win said ‘I have been able to piece something together in these Olympics races, so I think it worked in my favour.’

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A post shared by Kiran Badloe (@kiranbadloe)

The haircut that went viral on social media wasn’t the only Avatar themed look. Two Mexican artistic swimmers were spotted wearing Avatar inspired bathing suits. The show made a comeback to mainstream media since it’s addition to Netflix. The influence and fanbase the show has gathered has been insane over the past year, so much that the show has also reached the Olympics.

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Petition for immediate extension to paternity leave

Aug 3 2021

A petition signed by more than 2,000 to Malta’s parliament calls for the immediate extension of paternity and non-birthing parental leave. Mothers are entitled to 18 weeks of paid leave under Maltese law, whereas fathers and other partners are only given one day of paternity/birth leave. Both parents are then entitled to unpaid parental leave for a period of four months until the child reaches age 8.

The Work Life Balance Directive was green lit back in 2019 by the European Parliament. With all EU member states given until August 2022 to introduce the new rights, it calls for extension of paid paternity or birth leave to 10 days and introduces two months of paid leave for each parent that can be used until the child reaches 8-years-old.

‘Positive Birth Malta’, which is organised by midwives, women and childbearing community, created the petition and is now calling for the work-life balance measures to be implemented as soon as possible. Reaching up to 2,105 by last Sunday, it is estimated that about 4,000 births take place in a year.

This means these families will be missing out and suffering from not being able to spend time with their newly-forming family. It would also mean that the birthing parent would not receive the support from their partner/spouse, hence the call to implement the directive before the 2022 August deadline.

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Photo Source: The Guardian

Flights between Malta and Gozo?

Aug 3 2021

As part of their pledge to facilitate accessibility between Malta and Gozo, the Nationalist Party have proposed air services between the two sister islands. The Opposition’s Gozo spokesperson Chris Said, MP Joe Ellis and candidate Alex Borg revealed the party’s pledges for Gozo as they addressed a press conference on Monday. Air connectivity could be a possible solution to eradicate the hurdles for Gozitans to travel back and forth from Malta, with the Opposition expressing dissatisfaction with the far too few initiatives taken by the current government.

This could mean some form of air travel could be a possible alternative to the Gozo ferry and fast ferry. But that is not all, as the PN proposed an enlargement to the port of Mgarr in order to meet passenger needs, providing two new ships (one for passengers and another for dedicated cargo), ensuring the necessary studies to be carried out on the Malta-Gozo tunnel and even consult Gozitans through referendum about such issues if elected.

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Photo Source: No Destinations