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Despite being developed to fight the original COVID-19 strain, a third dose of mRNA vaccine boosts the immune system substantially to better fight infections caused by the Omicron variant relative to the standard 2-dose primary series, according to two new studies in Nature and JAMA Network Open.

New Jersey will start selling recreational marijuana on April 21, about a year and a half after voters overwhelmingly approved a measure to legalize it.The newest industry in the Garden State has an estimated 800,000 potential recreational customers, and roughly 800,000 more potential marijuana "tourists," the commission regulating the state’s cannabis sales reported. Neighboring Pennsylvania has medical cannabis but not recreational, and New York won’t start recreational sales until later this year.In the 10 years since Colorado and Washington voters became the first in the nation to approve recreational marijuana use, 16 other states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational cannabis.

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PHILADELPHIA - As inflation and rising costs of goods make things more difficult for American consumers, one local church is doing its part to help those facing financial strain. Dare to Imagine Church in Philadelphia is hosting a free gas giveaway on Wednesday. In a post on the church's website, leaders said "As the war in Ukraine continues, we continue to feel its impact, as gas prices continue to climb. Dare to Imagine Church wants to relieve some of that financial strain for our neighbors by hosting this Free Gas Giveaway." The Dare to Imagine Church in Philadelphia is giving away free gas on Wednesday afternoon.RELATED: Biden to allow higher ethanol fuel blend this summer in bid to lower gas pricesThe event will be from 12 pm - 3 pm at the Sunoco gas station at 5801 E Roosevelt Boulevard in Oxford Circle. Each car will get up to $30 worth of free gas, according to the church. An undated file photo of a gas pump.

XE variant has gained prominence in last few weeks the complete details for the new variant are yet unknown," said Dr Sachin Kandhari, Senior Neurosurgeon and Managing Director of IBS Hospital. 

A new variant of coronavirus initially detected in Finland last month appears to be spreading with reports of more cases found in two more countries. The 'XJ' variant has seen two strains of the virus combine.

tax revenues in the financial year that ended on 31 March touched an estimated ₹27.17 trillion, surpassing the revised estimates for that year presented in the 1 February budget by ₹3.1 trillion. The overall collections are about 17% higher than in 2020-2021, driven by a 22% growth in direct taxes comprising corporate and income tax.  What has driven direct tax collections, and is the pace of growth durable or a flash in the pan?

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variant (XE) is that it is not a point of concern," Kang was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway has spoken about the toll that caring for her husband Derek Draper is taking on their relationship. During Wednesday's episode (April 6) of the BBC series Your Body Uncovered, Kate detailed how his ongoing battle with Covid had put a strain on their relationship.

KATE Garraway was left emotional as she opened up about the huge "loss" & strain on her relationship amid Derek Draper’s health battle. The 54-year-old GMB presenter was joined by guest Paul, on BBC's Your Body Uncovered with Kate Garraway, who had a stroke three years ago.

new variant, which was first reported in the UK, appears to be 10% more transmissible than the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron, the WHO said.

According to Airbnb, guests will stay at a private property neighborhood the Sonoma Hills Farms. (Tim Coy)SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. - Airbnb has partnered with a California cannabis farm to offer guests a getaway in more ways than one.According to the vacation home rental website, the Sonoma Hills Farm is "an idyllic Northern California farmstead that produces world-class cannabis alongside a spacious culinary garden using regenerative farming practices." Guests, who are 21 years and older, will be offered a one-night stay at a neighboring property hosted by Aaron Keefer, the farm’s cannabis cultivator, between April 30 and May 3 at $60 per night. Bookings will start on April 20. RELATED: Medical marijuana delivered to your door in a dayAccording to the listing, guests will not have access to or interact with marijuana on the farm due to federal regulations.

long-term care facility who recently worked 10 12-hour shifts in 13 days.That span only involves picking a few additional shifts, but it weighs on her after working through the pandemic for so long, especially in a rural area.“Quite often we were so short that we didn’t have a second nurse, so I had no (licensed practical nurse),” she said,“So I was the only (nurse) for 30 people.”She said the lack of staffing is especially bad because she works in a rural area — Cut Knife, Sask., a town of about 600 people roughly 50 km east of North Battleford.The entire medical staff at the facility consists of about seven people.That means one or two people from that team needing to isolate with COVID-19 puts everyone back in the overtime situation.Speaking to Global News a few days after the stretch of shifts, Sawatzky said she is feeling better.But she said she noticed an effect it had on her. COVID-19: 1,196 new cases in Saskatchewan, 20 deaths “I do know that my stamina and my energy levels are not much up to par.

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XE could be the most transmissible variant yet. It is estimated to spread 10% more easily than BA.2, which itself was more transmissible than the original omicron famous for its ease of penetration. 

Covid strain has been found in the UK – but boffins say it’s too early to say exactly how transmissible it really is.Top scientists at the UK Health Security Agency warned they were studying the new XE variant.They say it is a mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains, meaning it is a “recombinant” as it is a combination of two other viral sources.But experts currently don’t know if it is more transmissible than previous strains that have previously wreaked havoc across the UK.There were 637 cases with the XE strain in England as of March 22, the health agency said.It means it would make up just a small fraction of cases reported with the latest data showing almost 70,000 people in England were positive for the virus on April 2.The health agency said initial growth rates showed that XE was not dissimilar from BA.2, according to Wales Online.It added: "As this estimate has not remained consistent as new data have been added, it cannot yet be interpreted as an estimate of growth advantage for the recombinant."Numbers were too small for the XE recombinant to be analysed by region.”Top government boffin Sir Patrick Vallance admitted the next Covid variant could be worse than Omicron.He said it would be a “mistake” to think the more the virus evolves, the less deadly it would become. Stay in the loop with all the latest news from the Daily Star by signing up to one of our free newsletters here. Although Covid cases may have peaked, there will be more hospitalisations and deaths to come from this current wave, Sir Patrick added.He told MPs that despite the vaccination programmes success at preventing deaths, it was not a "credible" strategy to give people booster jabs every four months.But it isn’t all doom and gloom for

With the BA.2 Omicron subvariant now the dominant strain in the U.S., there are concerns of another COVID-19 surge this spring. Jackson Proskow looks at the push to get Americans to take a fourth dose of the vaccine.

recombinant strains, an UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) study revealed that two different combinations of Delta and BA.1 are XD and XF. The third is XE.

A new mutant strain of Covid is being monitored, according to scientists.

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA - MARCH 19: Manager Joe Girardi #25 of the Philadelphia Phillies enjoys a pregame ceremony prior to the Spring Training game against the Toronto Blue Jays game at BayCare Ballpark on March 19, 2022 in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo b CLEARWATER, Fla. - Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi says he thinks pitching around the majors in April will be a battle of attrition following the shortened spring training.The Phillies open the regular season at home on April 8 against the Oakland Athletics, the first of 13 straight days of games."I think that’s a pretty good way of putting it, you know," Girardi said Monday before the Phillies played Baltimore in spring training.

UKRAINE - Russian forces in Ukraine appear to have shifted their focus from a ground offensive aimed at Kyiv, the capital, to instead prioritizing what Moscow calls liberation of the contested Donbas region in the country's industrial east, officials said Friday, suggesting a new phase of the war.It appeared too early to know whether this meant President Vladimir Putin had scaled back his ambitions in Ukraine, but Russian military moves this week indicate a recognition of the surprisingly stout Ukrainian resistance.Putin's forces are under great strain in many parts of the country, and the United States and other countries are accelerating their transfer of arms and supplies to Ukraine. In recent days, U.S.

The highly transmissible Delta and Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variants caused triple and 10 times the rate of COVID-19 infections in pregnant women compared with other strains, with most cases among unvaccinated mothers and their newborns, finds a prospective study yesterday in JAMA.University of Texas researchers studied the outcomes of pregnant

pilot feeding program designed to reduce starvation issues amongst Florida manatees will soon conclude as experts say warmer waters are helping to disperse the population to their summer habitats, lessening the strain on natural resources.The first of its type feeding effort was started by state and federal agencies in December because seagrass, the mammal’s natural food, was in short supply, especially in their winter habitat zones.During the four-month pilot program, it’s estimated the animals ate more than 160,000 pounds of lettuce, but there were questions during the multi-agency effort on whether the aquatic herbivores would eat the human-provided supplements.HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER ON TV"I’m pleased to say that virtually all of it was eaten since we started this effort in mid-December. There were three weeks or so in there when we were still trying to get animals over to the site and to get them interested.

Health Matters March 23: The University of Alberta is leading a national research network that’s studying glycomics – and how the science can accelerate drug discovery. Also, Alberta Health confirms the Omicron subvariant BA.2 is now the dominant COVID-19 strain in the province.

Covid-19 variant amid fears there could be more than one type of deltacron hybrid. Deltacron was first identified in France last month, but within weeks scientists had identified more than 60 genetic sequences of the variant. Although the Omicron variant didn’t prove to be as devastating as some had originally feared, an expert has warned that we might not be so “lucky” next time, reports Wales Online.

An expert has warned that there may be a number of ' Deltacrons ' in circulation across the globe.

CP Rail trains could stop rolling across the country early Sunday morning and that would be yet another blow to farmers in Canada’s western provinces. About 3,000 rail workers have served notice that they plan to go out on strike, hours after the railways said it was prepared to lock them out.

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COVID-19 wastewater numbers show the amount of virus in two cities remain relatively unchanged and decreased in a third.But they also show the more transmissible BA.2 strain of the Omicron variant is spreading.The new strain now accounts for 70 per cent of all detected COVID-19 RNA in North Battleford wastewater, up from just below 50 per cent the week prior. China battles multiple COVID-19 outbreaks, driven by ‘stealth omicron’ variant In Saskatoon, BA.2 accounts for 42.5 per cent, up from 19 per cent.And in Prince Albert BA.2 now makes up 13.6 per cent of detected COVID samples, which increased from around five per cent.Almost all of the remaining detected virus in Prince Albert and North Battleford is BA.1, the original Omicron strain.A little more than 15 per cent of the virus RNA in Saskatoon’s wastewater is neither BA.2 or BA.1.Toxicologist John Giesy, who runs the University of Saskatchewan Global Institute for Water Security, which measures the amounts in the three cities, said it’s likely Alpha or Delta, though he couldn’t be sure.He also couldn’t say how the strain may affect Saskatchewan residents and hospitals, because the lack of timely government data and public health orders, combined with a largely vaccinated population, makes it harder to determine patterns.

LOS ANGELES - Rideshare drivers have been hit hard with the recent spike in gas prices and soon rideshare customers could be impacted as well. The recent surge in gas prices has prompted Uber to add a fuel surcharge in order to help drivers and couriers struggling with the recent financial burden. "Beginning Wednesday, March 16, consumers will pay a surcharge of either $0.45 or $0.55 on each Uber trip and either $0.35 or $0.45 on each Uber Eats order, depending on their location—with 100% of that money going directly to workers’ pockets," Uber wrote in a press release. "We know that prices have been going up across the economy, so we’ve done our best to help drivers and couriers without placing too much additional burden on consumers. Over the coming weeks, we plan to listen closely to feedback from consumers, couriers and drivers.

Deltacron has now officially been declared a COVID-19 strain. Concerns about a mutation combining features of both the Delta and Omicron variants first arose earlier this year, following an investigation that took place in a Cyprus lab. Virologists in Paris have now confirmed its existence.

"Deltacron" has been officially identified as a coronavirus variant.

coronavirus that appears to be a hybrid of the Omicron and Delta variants.The worrying discovery comes after multiple false alarms over the last few months, with many preempting fears that the two hugely disruptive strains would combine to create the dreaded 'Deltacron'.Virologists from L’Institut Pasteur in Paris announced their findings after sequencing genomes in positive Covid samples taken from several regions across France.They now believe that the variant could have been circulating since early January. Commenting on the findings, Aris Katzourakis, a professor of evolution and genomics at the University of Oxford said: "This one is legit."“[It is] one to keep an eye on.”Other similar clusters are also said to have been found in Denmark and the Netherlands, but have not been confirmed yet.Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds, said that while the new variant "doesn’t seem to have taken off as a dominant strain yet", this may only be because of a "very slow start" based on the number of initial cases.But he added that "fact it persists in the fact of Omicron" could suggest that its ability to transmit "can’t be too shoddy".No conclusive data has yet shown whether Deltacron can be considered to be more infectious or deadly than its 'root' variants, Delta and Omicron.Covid technical lead Maria van Kerkhove from the World Health Organisation revaled on Thursday that her team had been “tracking and discussing” the new variant.

An investigation led by Canadian Food Inspection Agency scientists has identified a new and highly divergent lineage of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in white-tailed deer (WTD) in that country. The findings, which are not peer-reviewed, are published as a preprint study on bioRxiv.The divergent strain was seen in samples from On

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#COVID19 cases, 26,988 recoveries, and 302 deaths in the last 24 hours.Active case: 1,34,235 (0.31%)Daily positivity rate: 1.28%Total recoveries: 4,22,46,884Death toll: 5,13,226Total vaccination: 1,76,86,89,266 pic.twitter.com/kPbKxRCBzk

Omicron coronavirus strain is not more severe than the original, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.

Boris johnson today (February 21) said that the response to the pandemic would be "vaccine led" as he announced that all lockdown restrictions will be ending by Thursday. Speaking after he announced all remaining Covid restrictions will be axed, the PM said there "may be significant resurgences" and "it's very possible that those will be worse than Omicron".Whitty said at a Downing Street press conference that new strains were to be expected and while some "will just disappear" others could escape vaccines and result in a fresh wave in hospitalisations.Prof Whitty said: “Some of those new variants will just disappear, but some of them will cause us significant problems and they could be either more vaccine escaping but as severe as Omicron, but the net effect would be actually more people end up in hospital because a lot of our protection is from vaccination, or it could be more intrinsically severe, because Omicron came from a much earlier variant.”He added we “could certainly end up with something which is more likely to lead to hospitalisations than Omicron”, adding that winters are expected to be “tricky” even in the absence of significant new variants due to the combination of Covid, flu and other respiratory problems.The Chief Medical Officer also urged Brits who test positive for Covid to self-isolate, even though they will no longer be forced to do so under law.“As we look at the next weeks, we still have high rates of Omicron and I would urge people in terms of public health advice, and this is very much the Government’s position, that people should still if they have Covid try to prevent other people getting it and that means self-isolating," he said.

#COVID19 is a vivid demonstration that health & the economy are closely intertwined, therefore closer collaboration between health & finance sectors is essential. I thank

iPhones always work like a dream when we buy them. Then, like any other device, it starts slowing down.However, following one simple advice can help improve your iPhone’s performance, make sure it operates for longer and even increase its worth if you choose to resell it later.All you need to do is preserve your phone’s battery health. This is a common piece of advice that most iPhone users have probably heard but taken for granted often.Here are eight handy tips you can incorporate into your daily routine to ensure that your iPhone battery remains healthy and efficient for longer.

JIM THORPE, Pa. - A woman has died after she fell while hiking with a group on a scenic trail that was closed by the state three years ago due to safety concerns.State police were called to a site near the Glen Onoko Falls in Carbon County around 10:30 a.m. Sunday. They were met there by several emergency responders who had carried the 72-year-old woman down the mountain from near the first of three waterfalls at the site, a trip officials said was made over "treacherous, steep, ice-covered terrain."The woman, whose name has not been released, suffered a head injury and was taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead there a short time later.

WASHINGTON - The White House is urging Americans to leave Ukraine in next "24 to 48 hours," warning U.S. won't rescue civilians if Russia invades.The White House has expressed increasing alarm about the prospects of a war, and Biden has been looking to solidify support among European allies for economy-jarring sanctions against Russia if it moves further with an invasion.KHARKIV REGION, UKRAINE - FEBRUARY 10, 2022 - Soldiers operate a military vehicle during the drills of the Ivan Sirko 92nd Mechanised Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Kharkiv Region, northeastern Ukraine.

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Omicron sub-lineage in Saskatoon.John Giesy, a toxicologist leading the University of Saskatchewan COVID-19 Wastewater Surveillance project, said it seems only a few people likely have the new subvariant, based on the small number of samples they spotted, but that’s enough to confirm it is in the city.“Bottom line is, it’s here,” Giesy said in an interview.“And in the next few weeks, I’m sure we’ll pick up more of the bad news.” BA.2 in Canada — Tam says officials are watching new Omicron subvariant ‘very closely’ Early research from Denmark and the U.K. shows the sub-lineage may be around 33 per cent more transmissible than the already very infectious Omicron variant.Giesy said scientists around the world are working to determine if the BA.2 strain will be more severe or if it will be better able to escape immunity, though he stressed it’s very new and so it’s hard to know what impact it will have.But, given how transmissible it is, he said there’s a good chance it will replace BA.1, the dominant variant that accounts for nearly all detected COVID-19 in Saskatoon, Prince Albert and North Battleford, just as Omicron replaced the Delta variant in two weeks.“We still find Delta, it’s still there,” Giesy said.“But its percentage is so low it hardly shows up.

Nicola Sturgeon yesterday confirmed that a sub-variant of Omicron has been found to be in circulation in Scotland.

Covid has packed its bag for good another new strain comes along. Scientists have revealed they've found a sub-variant of Omicron that's even more infectious than the last and have dubbed it 'stealth Omicron'.The sinister nickname actually has a scientific reason behind it.