Vaccinated mothers during pregnancy could protect babies from COVID-19

Feb 16 2022

A US government study released Tuesday has suggested that COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy could protect babies after they are born, leading to fewer hospitalised infants. This study is the first to show potential benefits to infants born to people who received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna jabs during pregnancy.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention researchers said during a briefing that it was already known that antibodies developed by the vaccine transfer to the foetus through the umbilical cord. How that might affect infants after birth was uncertain.

Dr. Dana Meaney-Delman, an obstetrician and CDC researcher, said that until this study, ‘we have not yet had data to demonstrate whether these antibodies might provide protection for the baby against COVID-19.’ During surges of Delta and Omicron, infants in the study were treated at 20 hospitals in 17 states between July 2021 and mid January. Researchers did not examine infection rates in infants.

They instead looked at data on 176 children under 6 months who were hospitalised with COVID-19 and 203 in the hospital for some other condition. The vaccination status of all the babies’ mothers were also taken into account. Vaccination rates were much lower among mothers of the COVID-19 infants than among those whose infants were hospitalised with some other disease – 16% compared with 32%. The researchers said that the results offer yet another reason for pregnant people to get vaccinated.

Around two-thirds of pregnant people in the US are fully vaccinated, with most getting the shot before pregnancy. Other shots such as for flu and whooping cough given in pregnancy are known to protect mothers and infants.

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29 new vehicles issued onto Malta’s roads everyday

Feb 16 2022

According to latest data by the National Statistics Office (NSO), Malta has seen 29 new vehicles issued onto its roads on a daily basis last year.At the end of 2021, there were more than 413,000 licensed vehicles on Maltese roads, with 75% of these being passenger vehicles.

Almost 14% of these cars were commercial vehicles whereas motorcycles and scooters made up around 9% of the vehicles. Less than 1% were buses, coaches and/or mini buses. Statistics also revealed that six out of every ten vehicles are powered by petrol and almost 38% by diesel. Only 1.6% are electrically powered or hybrid vehicles, despite the emphasising of incentives towards a sustainability switch for Malta’s transport.

Traffic has always been deemed a problem for Malta’s roads, with new projects seeking to address this issue. However, road works have also been pointed at for jamming car queues in several localities. Back in November, Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia revealed that the government aims to have up to 65,000 electric cars on the road by 2030. This is also part of Malta’s plan to reduce carbon emissions to 19% by 2030, which is set to cost €2 billion to achieve.

The turn to a greener approach when it comes to transport has seen many new charging points installed in several localities. Public transport was also made free of charge as of October 2022 to push for more usage.

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Thousands of baptisms invalid because priest was saying it wrong

Feb 16 2022

An Arizona priest has resigned from his post of around 20+ years after learning that he had been incorrectly performing baptisms wrong. Having baptised thousands of babies throughout his service, Rev. Andres Arango would say ‘We baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’

This was however deemed incorrect as the Vatican instructs priests and pastors to say ‘I baptise you’ instead of ‘we baptise you’. All the baptisms Father Arango performed in this manner are thus considered incorrect.Arango released an apology statement saying that he regrets the error and it saddens him to learn that he performed invalid baptisms throughout his ministry by ‘regularly using an incorrect formula.’

Church leaders investigated and determined last month that Father Arango incorrectly performed baptisms in Phoenix, as well as his previous parishes in Brazil and San Diego. This has spurred many to doubt other instances where a wrong word might have been used in other ceremonies such as marriages.

And since baptism is the first of the sacraments, some people will need to repeat other sacraments according to the diocese webpage for frequently asked questions. The diocese has now set up a website for anyone who believes they had an invalid baptism, with some having already taken place.

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Malta Marathon cancelled due to disagreement over route

Feb 16 2022

The Malta Marathon Organising Committee revealed in a statement on Tuesday that a national marathon has been cancelled after organisers and authorities disagreed over which route was to be taken.

The race was meant to be held on the 6th March of 2022, but a decision taken following a meeting with Transport Malta earlier on Tuesday officially cancelled the event.

‘Whilst we fully respect Transport Malta’s authority, we cannot adopt a route that has been declared as unacceptable by Mater Dei’s Emergency Department, the Malta Red Cross and the Malta Traffic Police due to safety concerns.’

‘Another factor forcing the cancellation of the Malta Marathon is the Mandatory Standard for mass sports events (Covid), which although updated last Friday, still precludes the Malta Marathon from being held. As already stated, application and transport fees paid to the MMOC will be refunded in due course and in the shortest time possible.’

The cancellation was met with much criticism online, with some even revealing that they planned to travel to Malta to participate in the race. The Nationalist Party too expressed disappointment that the marathon was cancelled, insisting on an immediate solution for the event.

Last week, several comments on social media suggested that the Intersport La Valette Malta Marathon was being given preferential treatment as it was given the green light to take place on the 24th of April. These claims were denied by organisers of the race, saying that they have the utmost respect for Malta Marathon.

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