Ghana becomes first country to approve Oxford malaria vaccine R21/Matrix-M

The sign-off is said to be the first time a major vaccine has been approved in an African country ahead of rich nations – and it could end up saving countless lives. Ghana has become the first country in the world to approve a new malaria vaccine developed by Oxford University. R21/Matrix-M was shown to be up to 80% effective in a trial involving 400 children in Burkina Faso, published in September. Malaria kills more than 600,000 people each year, most of them children in Africa, and the search for a vaccine…

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Prezzo to shut 46 restaurants putting 810 staff at risk – full list of sites closing

The Italian restaurant chain says the closures will affect sites that have not recovered from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic as quickly as hoped. Prezzo will close 46 loss-making restaurants as it struggles with soaring energy and food costs. The move will put around 810 workers at risk of redundancy, the Italian restaurant chain said, although it will try to redeploy “as many staff internally as possible”. The private equity-owned business said the cuts will affect sites where “the post-COVID recovery has proved harder than we had hoped”. After…

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Coronation will include invite to public to swear allegiance out loud to King Charles

People watching the ceremony will be invited to say the words: “I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law – so help me God.” Millions of people will be asked to say a pledge of allegiance to the King when he is crowned on Saturday. For the first time in history, the public will be given an active role in the coronation, with the Archbishop of Canterbury calling on those watching or listening to the event to take part…

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