Shock election win by the far right worries academics in the Netherlands

If Geert Wilders’s party can form government, it could restrict international students and scrap key climate policies. Science Magazine Last week, a day after voters in the Netherlands delivered a surprise victory to far-right parties that have vowed to restrict immigration, Vinod Subramaniam, a nanoscientist and president of the board at the University of Twente, sent a letter to students and employees. “We are concerned about the effects of these results on higher education in general, and about the feelings

Lees verder

It is not in your head – some people develop long covid like symptoms after their shot

Investigation: Rare adverse reactions after Covid vaccinations After the introduction of the Covid vaccinations, an international community evolved consisting of patients who developed serious, Long-Covid like complaints after their shot. Doctors and scientists are slowly seeing these injuries. "Someone has to stand up for these people." De Groene Amsterdammer (Dutch national weekly), february 2, 2023 / Images: Milo   Cardiologist Bernhard Schieffer had planned to take it easy during his final years leading up to his retirement. The professor and

Lees verder

Get your coronavirus test, join the party: Experimental mass events in the Netherlands draw fire

Science Magazine, 29-4-2021 / online 27-4-2021 The Eurovision Song Contest, known best for its over-the-top performances and outrageous costumes, has a new feature this year: It will be the site of a massive field experiment to see whether concerts and other events can be held safely in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine rehearsals and televised shows, staged 18–22 May in Rotterdam, Netherlands, will each be attended by 3500 visitors who will have to show a recent negative SARS-CoV-2

Lees verder

Suspicions grow that nanoparticles in Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine trigger rare allergic reactions

Science Magazine   Severe allergy-like reactions in at least eight people who received the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech over the past 2 weeks may be due to a compound in the packaging of the messenger RNA (mRNA) that forms the vaccine’s main ingredient, scientists say. A similar mRNA vaccine developed by Moderna, which was authorized for emergency use in the United States on Friday, also contains the compound, polyethylene glycol (PEG). PEG has never been used before

Lees verder

Is New Zealand ‘a particular case’ or does it show what would have been our best bet?

"I thought everyone would be going down the elimination path and follow the success of Asia." Reporters Online Exclusive While populations across Europe and North America are preparing for a harsh winter and the most austere Christmas in ages, their fellows in a country far away are in an entirely different situation. Early in the pandemic, New Zealand decided to go for elimination of the coronavirus. At just 100 cases and zero deaths, the experts ascertained they were - just

Lees verder

More people are getting COVID-19 twice, suggesting immunity wanes quickly in some

The growing group of people who get sick twice suggests protection can wane relatively quickly. Or something else might be happening. Science Magazine In late June, Sanne de Jong developed nausea, shortness of breath, sore muscles, and a runny nose. At first, she thought it might be lingering effects from her COVID-19 infection in the spring. De Jong, 22, had tested positive on 17 April and suffered mild symptoms for about 2 weeks. She tested negative on 2 May—just in

Lees verder

“Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said no one will be intentionally exposed to this virus.”

Global Public Health Professor Devi Sridhar What should we do to save and improve WHO? What has made the difference between the strategy in countries such as England, Sweden and the Netherlands and many others across Europe? And what lessons from the first months should we apply now? I asked Devi Sridhar, professor of Global Public Health. Reporters Online exclusive interview It’s quite a miracle that in between all her other duties, Devi Sridhar found the opportunity to talk to

Lees verder

Corona: Why the Western world is so reluctant to learn from Asia

The corona crisis painfully exposes the vulnerabilities of the usually dominant West. Not the virus itself, but society will determine how we get out of this. (Translation of article published in De Groene Amsterdammer on May 27th 2020) On Tuesday May 20th, a remarkable situation occurred during the technical briefing on the coronavirus in the Dutch House of Representatives. In reaction to messages from the attentive twitterer Edwin Veldhuizen, Jaap van Dissel (Director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Control

Lees verder

Why the corona crisis did not eradicate antivax sentiments

The corona crisis shows us what a virus can do when no vaccine is available. What does this do to the sentiments around vaccination? It’s early February and the first son of Frederike and Peter is born: Tim. As far as Peter is concerned, Tim gets his vaccinations when the time is right. But Frederike has doubts. She’s surrounded by people who are ‘fiercely anti’ and, to a certain degree, she understands them. But she also calls herself rational, not

Lees verder

Not the virus will determine our future, but the way society is dealing with it

Anthropologist Agustin Fuentes emphasizes COVID-19 is not just a biological event For months, we’ve been obsessed by the virus. But according to Agustin Fuentes, COVID-19 is about our social, economical, political and health infrastructures. We should no longer regard COVID-19 as a biological event. At least, that’s what anthropologist Agustin Fuentes of Notre Dame University in Indiana, argues. Of course, he recognizes the virus SARS-CoV-2 is a biological entity, and COVID-19 is characterized by significant morbidity and mortality. But we

Lees verder