Author: Sellscien

Major winter storms, extreme cold and power outages shut down more than 2,000 vaccination sites and delayed delivery of 6 million vaccine doses in all 50 states last week, White House senior adviser Andy Slavitt said in a briefing with reporters Friday.Extreme weather has spread across large swaths of the United States since Feb. 14. Crippling snowfall and record-cold temperatures hit Oklahoma and Arkansas and triggered power outages across Texas.The storms set back the Biden administration’s efforts to ramp up vaccine delivery. Earlier in the month, more than 1.5 million doses per day were delivered on average. Preliminary data from last week show a steep drop-off, but full numbers are not yet available.The weather delayed President Joe Biden’s visit to a Kalamazoo, Michigian, plant producing vaccine from drugmaker Pfizer from Thursday to Friday.The weather is improving and deliveries are getting back on track, with 1.4 million doses shipping Friday, Slavitt said. But the backups will take time to clear.”We anticipate that all the backlog doses will be delivered within the next week, with most being delivered within the next several days,” he said.The weather caused disruptions all along the supply chain, Slavitt said.A plant packaging vaccines from pharmaceutical company Moderna was knocked offline by a winter storm.”Roads are being cleared for the workforce to leave their homes,” Slavitt said. “They are working today through Sunday to package the backlogged orders.”Road closures held up deliveries between manufacturing, distribution and shipping sites. And workers at all three major shipping companies, UPS, FedEx …

Argentina’s health minister has resigned after he reportedly gave preferential treatment to those with personal connections when authorizing coronavirus vaccinations.The Associated Press reported that President Alberto Fernández, through his chief of staff, asked for Minister of Health Ginés González García’s resignation Friday after a high-profile local journalist said he had been vaccinated after personally asking the minister.González García had led the country’s COVID-19 strategy.The journalist was one of at least 10 people reported to have been inoculated without following protocol.The scandal heightened concerns about corruption in the region, as well as access to limited doses of vaccines.Two Cabinet officials in Peru resigned earlier this month following reports of hundreds of Peruvian officials inappropriately receiving vaccine doses.Praise from WHOMeanwhile, the World Health Organization said it welcomed the recent pledges of coronavirus vaccines from several Western countries to the international health group that will help ensure an equitable allocation of vaccines around the world.FILE – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, speaks during a session of the Executive Board on the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Geneva, Jan. 21, 2021.“There is a growing movement behind vaccine equity, and I welcome that world leaders are stepping up to the challenge by making new commitments to effectively end this pandemic by sharing doses and increasing funds to COVAX,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said recently. COVAX is the mechanism WHO established for the global distribution of coronavirus vaccines.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday that the pandemic would not end until …

The World Health Organization says it welcomes the recent pledges of coronavirus vaccines from several Western countries to the international health group that will help ensure an equitable allocation of vaccines to countries around the world.“There is a growing movement behind vaccine equity, and I welcome that world leaders are stepping up to the challenge by making new commitments to effectively end this pandemic by sharing doses and increasing funds to COVAX,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, said recently. COVAX is the global mechanism WHO established for the global distribution of coronavirus vaccines.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday the pandemic will not end until the world is vaccinated. In remarks after the video conference of leaders of the G-7, the group of the largest, developed economies, she said Germany and other wealthy countries may need to give some of their own stock of vaccines to developing nations.French President Emmanuel Macron told the conference that Europe and the United States must quickly send enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to Africa to inoculate the continent’s health care workers or risk losing influence to Russia and China.The coronavirus death toll on the African continent surpassed 100,000 Friday, as African countries struggle to obtain vaccines to counteract the pandemic.South Africa alone accounts for nearly half of the confirmed deaths in Africa, with more than 48,000, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The country, which is facing its own variant of the virus, also accounts for nearly half the confirmed cases …

The coronavirus death toll on the African continent surpassed 100,000 on Friday, as African countries struggled to obtain vaccines to counteract the pandemic.South Africa alone accounts for nearly half of the confirmed deaths in Africa with 48,859, according to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The country, which is facing its own variant of the virus, also accounts for nearly half the confirmed cases in the region, with more than 1.5 million. Total cases across the African continent are more than 3.8 million.The 54-nation continent of about 1.3 billion people reached the milestone of 100,000 deaths shortly after marking one year since the first coronavirus case was confirmed on the continent, in Egypt on Feb. 14, 2020.The actual death toll from the virus in Africa is believed to be higher than the official count as some who died were likely never included in confirmed tallies.Countries across the continent are only beginning to see the arrival of coronavirus vaccines, months after some wealthier countries are well under way in the process of vaccinating their most vulnerable populations.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that the global manufacturing capacity of coronavirus vaccines needs to double to meet global demand.In a virtual address to this year’s Munich Security Conference, he called for a global vaccination plan to ensure an equitable vaccine distribution and said the biggest world powers must work together.Backdropped by a national flag, a doctor waits to receive a dose of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V at the …

The United States has officially rejoined the Paris Agreement after the Trump administration abandoned the global climate pact saying it was too costly for business.  VOA’s Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports.Produced by:  Kimberlyn Weeks    …

U.S. President Joe Biden toured a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing plant Friday afternoon outside Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he touted his administration’s plans to distribute the vaccine to Americans, even as winter weather across the country caused delays.”We’re now on track to have enough vaccine supply for all Americans by the end of July. That doesn’t mean it’ll be in all Americans’ arms, but enough vaccine will be available,” Biden said.The president acknowledged that winter weather across much of the country is currently “slowing up the distribution,” but said his administration is on track to reach its goal of administering 100 million shots in its first 100 days.White House officials said earlier Friday that the winter storms in the Midwest and South had delayed the delivery of 6 million vaccines, which is impacting every state. The delayed doses of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines represents three days’ worth of shipments.Even the president’s trip to see Pfizer’s largest plant was delayed a day because of a storm affecting Washington.President Joe Biden speaks to the press after a tour of a Pfizer manufacturing site, Feb. 19, 2021, in Portage, Mich.During his tour of the Pfizer plant, Biden walked through an area called the “freezer farm,” where vaccine doses are stored in ultra-cold conditions. Wearing two face masks, the president spoke with some of the plant’s workers. He was joined by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients.Speaking before Biden, Bourla said Pfizer would more …

U.S. President Joe Biden pledged $4 billion to the World Health Organization’s COVAX plan designed to help provide COVID-19 vaccines for 92 low- and middle-income economies around the world. During Friday’s virtual G-7 and the Munich Security Conference, Biden championed U.S. involvement in international alliances. VOA’s Patsy Widakuswara has more.   …

Two South African medics are swapping their medical gear for oars as they train for a risky 4,000-kilometer (2,500-mile) journey by rowboat through the Arctic Northwest Passage.If the 14-member team finishes the trip — across the north of Canada to Alaska — they will make history, as all attempts to row the icy waters have failed. “Nobody conquers a passage there,” said Leven Brown, the expedition leader. ”The ocean allows you to pass. And there is a very important distinction there. We will be lucky to get through the Northwest Passage, to row from Pond Inlet at the top right-hand corner of Canada, to the top left-hand corner of Alaska, a place called Point Barrow.”  In decades past, travel through the icy, Arctic waters was only possible by large ships. Physical, mental toll   Reduced summer ice will allow the team to row the passage, but the journey — planned for next year — will still be a physical and mental challenge.   The South African team member, Daniel Lobjoilt, says such a long, confined journey will likely take a toll. “We are going to be out there, in the elements, by ourselves, essentially, and I think after a certain period of time of repetitive rowing, on and off for, you know, weeks on end. Pressure on my mind might be the biggest challenge I have to overcome. So, my fear is … is that encounter that I have to have with myself,” Lobjoilt said.  Gathering dataAlong the journey, Brown says the team will use scientific tools to gather data for climate change and wildlife studies.    “We hope to be the first modern-day expedition through the Northwest Passage, and to highlight, you know, what is happening with the environment and the climate. This is the sort of expedition that wouldn’t be, wouldn’t be possible, you know, 50 years ago,” he said.  Despite the history of failed attempts to …

Pharmaceutical partners Pfizer and BioNTech said Friday a new study the companies conducted indicates their COVID-19 vaccine can remain effective when stored in standard freezers for up to two weeks. In a statement posted on Pfizer’s website, the companies say they have submitted the new data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration demonstrating their COVID-19 vaccine is stable when stored at -25°C to -15°C, temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers and refrigerators.  The new data would be a significant development. One of the initial drawbacks of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was that it was required to be stored in ultra-low temperature freezers not commonly found in standard clinics and pharmacies. The requirement added considerable expense to transporting the vaccine and storing and distributing it in less developed areas.  The company said it submitted the data to the FDA to support a proposed update to the U.S. Emergency Use Authorization. BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said in the statement the companies’ top priority has been to make their vaccine safe, effective and available to the most vulnerable people in the world. He said it is their hope the new data will give pharmacies and vaccination centers greater flexibility. FILE – Israelis receive a Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine from medical professionals at a coronavirus vaccination center set up on a shopping mall parking lot in Givataim, Israel, Feb. 4, 2021.A separate study done in Israel indicates the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 85 percent effective after the first dose.  The study, published Thursday in the British medical …

Regional officials on the northeastern Indonesian island of Madura said Friday at least 45 pilot whales that stranded themselves on a beach there have died, while rescuers managed to push three back out to sea. East Java Provincial Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who was at the scene, told reporters that volunteers began arriving Thursday when news of the stranding first broke. He said they initially were able to push some of the whales back out to sea, but they returned.The governor said there will be an investigation into the stranding and samples from dead whales will be sent to a regional university for study. He said the rest of the whales will be buried Saturday once the tide recedes and excavators can be used. People try to save a short-finned pilot whale beached in Bangkalan, Madura island, Feb. 19, 2021.There were a series of high-profile pilot whale strandings last year in the south Pacific, including incidents in New Zealand and on the Australian island of Tasmania, where hundreds of whales died. It is not fully understood why the whales beach themselves, but they are known to be highly social and travel in large groups known as pods. They will often follow a leader and sometimes come to the aid of an injured or distressed member of their pod. Whale Stranding Indonesia, a nongovernmental organization, says in 2020 more than 70 marine mammals were found stranded, including dugongs, which are medium-sized marine mammals that are related to manatees.    …

Investigations are now under way into the Peruvian coronavirus vaccination scandal, in which hundreds of people, many well-connected, were given shots although they did not participate in trials for the Sinopharm vaccine to determine its efficacy.Heath Minister Oscar Ugarte said 3,200 vaccines were given, including 1,200 that went to the Chinese Embassy. He said of the other 2,000 doses, investigators are looking into where they are and who was vaccinated.The state-run Andina news agency reported Peru’s Congress also launched a committee to investigate the scandal, amid a public uproar over how privileged people were able to jump ahead of front-line health workers for vaccinations.Fernando Carbone, the head of the commission investigating those benefiting from the shots is guaranteeing impartiality in the probe, with a threat of sanctions against those involved.Carbone spoke publicly about not being compromised after the Peruvian Medical College called for him to step aside, citing his association with former Health Minister Pilar Mazetti, who was among those improperly receiving vaccinations.Peru’s foreign minister Elizabeth Astete resigned Sunday after revealing she had received the vaccine before health care personnel.The public anger over the scandal has been exacerbated by Peru having one of the highest coronavirus tallies in Latin America, with more than 1.2 million infections and more than 44,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. …

Venezuela began its immunization program against the COVID-19 virus by vaccinating front-line health care personnel Thursday, less than a week after receiving the first batch of 100,000 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.”Fortunately, the strategic cooperation between Russia and Venezuela has allowed us to have access to one of the best vaccines in the world, with an efficacy of 91.6%,” Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said.Venezuela participated in trials of the Sputnik V vaccine trials before signing a purchase agreement with Russia in December.The Latin American country hopes to begin vaccinating the general public in April.Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said officials aim to vaccinate 70% of the population this year in order to achieve herd immunity.Venezuela has so far confirmed more than 134,000 COVID-19 cases and 1,297 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. …

People the world over have questions about the COVID-19 vaccines. Most have heard rumors about their safety. Even some health workers and members of the U.S. military have opted out of getting immunized. VOA’s Carol Pearson helps debunk some common myths about the COVID vaccines. …

The COVID-19 pandemic has erased more than a decade of improvements in life expectancy in the United States and widened racial and ethnic inequalities, Chart shows the change in estimated life expectancy in the U.S. from 2019 to 2020The new CDC data put the United States in line with estimates from England, Wales and Spain, which also calculated about a one-year drop in life expectancy.France projected a half-year decline for men and four-tenths for women. Swedish men also lost an estimated half a year, and women, three-tenths.U.S. life expectancy already “lags substantially behind virtually all of the high-income countries,” Goldman noted. “Now, we’ll just be even further behind.”These estimates look at cases where COVID-19 is listed as the cause of death. But “it’s definitely true that the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting other causes of death indirectly,” said University of Oxford demographer José Manuel Aburto, co-author of the study on life expectancy in England and Wales.He said people have delayed treatment for other diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, out of fear of going to the hospital, which may lead to higher death rates.Experts do not expect life expectancy to snap back to normal when the pandemic ends.For many COVID-19 patients, the disease has worsened existing health problems or created new ones that persist long after the virus is gone.Plus, the social and economic impacts of the pandemic “have been terrible on a large segment of the population that will translate into poorer health and ultimately poor survival,” Goldman said. “And …

Humans are making Earth a broken and increasingly unlivable planet through climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, so the world must make dramatic changes to society, economics and daily life, a new United Nations report said.Unlike past U.N. reports that focused on one issue and avoided telling leaders what actions to take, Thursday’s report combined three intertwined environment crises and told the world what must change. It called for changing what governments tax, how nations value economic output, how power is generated, the way people get around, fish and farm, as well as what they eat.FILE – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech during a meeting of the German federal parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Dec. 18, 2020.”Without nature’s help, we will not thrive or even survive,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. “For too long, we have been waging a senseless and suicidal war on nature. The result is three interlinked environmental crises.”Thus the 168-page report title is blunt: “Making Peace With Nature.””Our children and their children will inherit a world of extreme weather events, sea level rise, a drastic loss of plants and animals, food and water insecurity, and increasing likelihood of future pandemics,” said report lead author Sir Robert Watson, who has chaired past U.N. science reports on climate change and biodiversity loss.”The emergency is in fact more profound than we thought only a few years ago,” said Watson, who has been a top-level scientist in the U.S. and British governments.This year “is a make-it …

NASA’s Perseverance probe landed safely and on time on Mars, at 3:55 p.m. EST, Thursday, marking another success for the U.S. space agency.The nuclear-powered probe made its way through a harrowing landing process, deemed by some engineers as “seven minutes of terror” because it involves parachutes, powered descent and a “sky crane” that gently lowers Perseverance onto a challenging, rocky area of Martian surface. After a confirmed safe landing, members of the probe’s Mission Control erupted in applause and cheers. NASA has now successfully landed nine of 10 probes sent to the Red Planet. Minutes after touching down, Perseverance beamed back a black-and-white image from the surface as more applause broke out at Mission Control.Safe on Mars. https://t.co/heoYjkwfty— NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) February 18, 2021The probe is equipped with a microphone, which should have recorded its descent. Perseverance, and its helicopter-like companion drone, Ingenuity, began the 300-million mile journey in July. Ingenuity will test if powered flight can be done in Mars’ thin atmosphere. The six-wheeled Perseverance, which looks like the other four rover probes that have landed on Mars, set down in Jezero Crater, which is believed to be an ancient lakebed and a potential source for remnants of ancient life.  Determining if Mars once hosted life is the primary goal of the probe’s two-year mission. During its search, the probe will take samples from the Red Planet’s surface and store them in its 43 sample tubes. NASA plans to send another mission to Mars to retrieve the tubes sometime in the early 2030s. Before …

NASA and the United States have successfully landed the Perseverance on Mars after the rover left the company of spacecrafts from the UAE and China in orbit. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports, challenges for the rover – and potentially a treasure trove of discoveries  – await.Produced by:  Arash Arabasadi …

The World Health Organization said Thursday it is sending 11,000 doses of Ebola vaccine and more than 100 experts to Guinea to address an Ebola outbreak in the West African nation.     Speaking in a virtual news conference from her headquarters in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, WHO Africa Director Matshidiso Moeti said officials are also expecting an additional 8,600 doses of vaccine from the United States, for a total of nearly 20,000 shots. She expects them to arrive by Sunday and Ebola vaccinations to begin by Monday.   Health officials in Guinea declared an epidemic Sunday after three cases were detected in Gouécké, a rural community in N’Zerekore prefecture. At least one victim there has died. It is the first Ebola outbreak in Guinea since 2016 when a large one was brought under control.   Moeti said the WHO released $1.25 million to support the response in Guinea and to show its “readiness” in the neighboring countries of Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone. She said the epicenter of the outbreak was in the border area, so the entire sub-region is on high alert.   Meanwhile, the WHO said there four confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including two deaths. The agency has around 20 experts supporting national and provincial health authorities in the DRC.   The United Nations announced it is releasing $15 million from its emergency relief fund to help fight the outbreaks in both Guinea and the DRC.   Ebola …

The World Health Organization (WHO) Thursday launched its 2021 COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP) designed to help all nations fight the pandemic and is seeking nearly $2 billion in donations to fund it.This is the second such initiative, coming just over a year after the first one was announced.  At a news conference in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the 2020 strategic plan raised $1.58 billion from WHO members and other donors.Tedros said those funds were allocated to nations and regions throughout the world, helping those at the front lines of the pandemic.He said this year’s COVID-19 SPRP will have six objectives: suppressing transmission of the virus, reducing exposure, countering COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation, protect the vulnerable, reduce death and illness, and accelerate equitable access to new tools to fight the virus — including vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics.The WHO chief said the agency needs to raise $1.96 billion to meet those objectives. He said most of that funding — $1.2 billion — would go into WHO’s Access to COVID –19 Tools (ACT) accelerator program, designed to equitably distribute medicines, treatments and technology to all nations.Tedros urged donors to contribute, saying it was more than just charity.“Fully funding the SPRP is not just an investment in responding to COVID-19, it’s an investment in the global recovery and in building the architecture to prepare for, prevent and mitigate future health emergencies,” he said. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. …

Pushed to the back of Gen Z anxieties by the COVID-19 pandemic, a looming stressor for many people younger than 30 remains climate change, say experts.    “Natural disasters precipitated by climate change, including hurricanes, heatwaves, wildfires, and floods can lead to … increased rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and other mental health disorders,” according to researchers at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University in Canada, and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. FILE – Firefighters battle the Morton Fire as it burns a home near Bundanoon, New South Wales, Australia, Jan. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)  The authors label the fear “eco-anxiety, climate distress, climate change anxiety, or climate anxiety,” writing in the respected British medical and science journal, The Lancet Planetary Health.    In other words, the future is not looking bright from the perspective of many people under 30.    Xiye Bastida, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, has been fighting the climate crisis since her hometown in Mexico flooded when she was 13. She calls it a pivotal moment in her environmental activism.    “Sometimes we don’t realize when we actually start caring about something and acting upon it,” she said.    Mexican-Chilean Bastida is one of the founding members of the New York City chapter of Fridays for Future, a strike movement that pressures public officials about climate change by protesting outside schools and government offices. She is also the co-founder of Re-Earth Initiative, which seeks to educate the public about climate …

Malawi will reopen schools on Monday (Feb 22), five weeks after President Lazarus Chakwera suspended classes due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. Malawi’s Presidential Task-Force on COVID-19 determined it is safe to resume classes after a drop in the rate of infection.Co-Chairperson of the Presidential Task-Force on COVID-19 Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said in a televised address Wednesday night the infection rate is at 16%, down from 30% in January, when classes were suspended.She said, “Actually what we wanted is that once we reopen the schools our children should be safe because we know that when we were closing the schools, some teachers were COVID-19 positive and were on quarantine.  So we wanted to give them enough time to recover.”However, Kandodo Chiponda, who is also minister of health, said some schools will require students to produce COVID-19-negative certificates to be allowed into class.She asked parents to comply with such a requirement, saying the government has enough COVID-19 test kits in all public hospitals in the country.She said, “I would like to ask schools with such a requirement not to suspend learners with positive COVID-19 results but reverse their places and give them enough time to recover.”Critics say the decision to resume classes has been rushed and many schools, especially in rural areas, are not ready to reopen.They say unmet requirements include on-the-campus water sources for hand washing and enough classrooms for proper social distancing when learning.   But Education Minister Agness Nyalonje says everything is set and that the ministry has allocated …

A new study shows the new Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the South African variant of the virus, although it generates a slightly lower immune response.   In a report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers with Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch created a version of the virus that carried the same mutations found in the South African variant dubbed B.1.35.1.  They tested the engineered virus against blood samples from people who had received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.  FILE – A Walgreens pharmacist prepares a syringe with COVID-19 vaccine in Coral Gables, Fla., Jan. 12, 2021.The results found the vaccine’s ability to produce antibodies was reduced by two-thirds, compared with its effect on the most common version of the virus. In a separate letter published in the NEJM, U.S. drugmaker Moderna says it has discovered similar results with its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine in fighting the B.1.35.1 variant.  Pfizer and BioNTech issued a statement saying they were making the necessary investments and talking with regulators in anticipation of developing an updated version of the vaccine or a booster shot.   FILE – A staff member works during a media tour of a new factory built to produce a COVID-19 vaccine, at Sinovac, in Beijing, China, Sept. 24, 2020.Hong Kong OKs Sinovac’s vaccineMeanwhile, Hong Kong has formally granted emergency use authorization to Chinese-based Sinovac’s coronavirus vaccine.The drug’s approval came after the city’s special advisory panel on COVID-19 vaccines recommended its use despite the fact the …

The latest NASA probe to Mars is set to land Thursday after a journey that began last July.Perseverance’s entry into the Martian atmosphere was set to start at 3:55 p.m. EST, starting a seven-minute process that scientists hope will be successful. During the landing, NASA has no ability to control the probe.The elaborate landing process involves parachutes, powered descent and a “sky crane,” which is expected to lower Perseverance onto the Martian surface using cables.”I can tell you that Perseverance is operating perfectly right now, and that all systems are go for landing,” Jennifer Trosper, a NASA deputy project manager for the rover mission, said during a press briefing Tuesday.Perseverance is targeting a landing in Jezero Crater, which is believed to be an ancient lakebed. There, it will search for signs of ancient life.The terrain around the landing site is rocky, making landing difficult, but NASA said the probe is up to the challenge.“When the scientists take a look at a site like Jezero Crater, they see the promise, right?” said Al Chen, who is in charge of the entry, descent and landing team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, according to The Associated Press. “When I look at Jezero, I see danger. There’s danger everywhere.”NASA has successfully landed eight of nine probes on Mars.Perseverance is similar in appearance to other Mars rovers, but it carries a helicopter-type drone, Ingenuity, which will test if powered flight on Mars is possible. …

President Joe Biden’s administration has pledged to improve the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. This week, the first federally supported mass vaccination sites opened in California. Matt Dibble reports. Camera: Matt Dibble     Producer: Matt Dibble …