NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials on Friday offered more evidence that vaccinations offer better protection against COVID-19 than immunity from a prior infection. Unvaccinated people who had been infected months earlier were 5 times more likely to get COVID-19 than fully vaccinated people who didn’t have a prior infection, the Centers for Disease Control […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barring an unforeseen breakthrough, intelligence agencies won’t be able to conclude whether COVID-19 spread by animal-to-human transmission or leaked from a lab, officials said Friday in releasing a fuller version of their review into the origins of the pandemic. The paper issued by the Director of National Intelligence elaborates on findings released […]

NEW YORK (AP) — One in six New York City municipal workers remained unvaccinated after Friday’s deadline to show proof they’ve gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the city said Saturday. A last-minute rush of jabs boosted the vaccination rate to 83% among police officers, firefighters, garbage collectors and other city workers […]

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Friday that its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is running unopposed for a second five-year term. Tedros, the first African to head the U.N. health agency, has overseen its complex response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has overshadowed his tenure. Trained in biology and infectious diseases with a […]

NEW YORK (VINnews) — The former head of the Afghan government’s Gender Department and a prominent activist for human rights and in particular women’s rights, Kawsar Habibi, is now on the run trying to escape from the Taliban. Habibi moves from hiding place to hiding place, never staying more than a few days and has […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — ‘Whoever gladdens a bride and groom is akin to one who rebuilt one of the ruins of Jerusalem’. This metaphor took on a new meaning at an emotional wedding which took place at the Shaarei Tzedek hospital this week. A Rishon Letzion resident, E, married his sweetheart after spending 60 days in […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Ten years ago, Alex Clare, a budding young British singer, was given an ultimatum by his record label: Either commit yourself fully to music or follow your faith. Clare, who was gradually deepening his connection to his Jewish roots, chose to follow his faith and was duly dumped by the label, Island […]

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — At least 59,000 meatpacking workers became ill with COVID-19 and 269 workers died when the virus tore through the industry last year, which is significantly more than previously thought, according to a new U.S. House report released Wednesday. With workers standing shoulder-to-shoulder along production lines, the meatpacking industry was one of […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Binyamin Wurzberger was a young prisoner in a concentration camp, carrying heavy rails with his frail hands. After a few hours of excruciating work, the Nazis threw the Jews a miserable meal. Binyamin rushed to get some morsels together with his famished brethren. A Nazi looked at him in disgust and said: […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A tragic holocaust story reached its bitter end this week after 80 years. The Bishop of Jaffa, who was born to a Jewish family from Zamosc and miraculously survived the holocaust by hiding with gentiles, died and was flown to be buried in the mass grave where his parents perished. During the […]