NEW YORK (VINnews/Agudath Israel) — In a major victory for religious freedom, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today issued a decision in two cases, Agudath Israel of America v. Cuomo and Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, upholding challenges against New York State’s restrictions on attendance at houses of […]

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today issued an alert to warn New Yorkers about potential scams offering early access to a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. While New York has begun the process of vaccinating nursing home residents, nursing home staff who regularly interact with patients, and high-risk medical workers, the vaccine […]

NEW YORK (VINnews) — A courageous 7-year-old boy entered his burning Tennessee home and saved his toddler sister from the fire . “I didn’t want my sister to die,” he said. "I got her, Dad." 7-year-old boy rescues his baby sister from a fire that destroyed his family's home. pic.twitter.com/I3mXUT3e4H — CNN Early Start (@EarlyStart) […]

BROOKLYN (JTA) – When David first saw the advertisement on his local Long Island community Whatsapp group inviting people like him and his wife, both over 65, to sign up to get the COVID-19 vaccine, he was skeptical. The ad linked to a nondescript Google form that asked him to answer a few questions and […]

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israelis began a third lockdown of indeterminate length Sunday night as the country battles yet another steep wave of COVID-19 infections. The lockdown comes as the country aggressively works to vaccinate its citizens, allowing anyone over 60 to get the vaccine, along with health care workers and soldiers, and letting some vaccination […]

NEW YORK (JNS) – Rabbi Herschel Schachter, a leading Modern Orthodox rabbi who received a COVID-19 vaccine Thursday at a clinic now under investigation for improperly administering the vaccine, said he was led to believe that the vaccination was above board. Schachter and Rabbi Mordecai Willig, both head teachers at Yeshiva University and major authorities […]

PARIS (AP) — While governments across Europe kicked off their virus vaccination plans this weekend with fanfare, France took a more low-key approach because of widespread skepticism among it citizens around the vaccines. After the first shots were injected Sunday into the arm of 78-year-old Mauricette, a woman in a long-term care facility near Paris, […]

BNEI BRAK (VINnews) — During a protest Sunday by the Jerusalem Faction over the arrest of a draft dodger yeshiva student, a policewoman was seen punching a Chareidi protester repeatedly in the face during the course of his arrest. אגרופים לפנים, טייק 2. pic.twitter.com/I46IwswWkZ — אריאל אלחרר (@ariel_elharar_) December 27, 2020 The demonstration also saw […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials believe the coronavirus mutation that set off alarms in parts of Britain is no more apt to cause serious illness or be resistant to vaccines than the strain afflicting people in the United States but it still must be taken “very seriously,” the government’s top infectious disease expert said […]

LONDON (AP) — The head of drugmaker AstraZeneca, which is developing a coronavirus vaccine widely expected to be approved by U.K. authorities this week, said Sunday that researchers believe the shot will be effective against a new variant of the virus driving a rapid surge in infections in Britain. AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot also […]