Both doses of the vaccine are also highly effective against the new variant B 1.617.2 of the corona virus, which first appeared in India. A recent study by the Department of Health in the UK revealed this information. Public Health England (PHE) said on Saturday that both doses of the Pfizer-BioNotech vaccine were 88 percent and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine 60 percent effective against the B1.617.2 variant of the corona virus.

In the UK, this variant is categorized as Variant of Concern (VOC). However, according to the study, only one dose of a vaccine is only 33 percent effective against this variant. In India, the Serum Institute of India is making AstraZeneca’s vaccine under the name Covishield.

Britain’s Health Minister Matt Hancock said, “This new fact is important and proves how valuable the vaccination campaign launched to protect its odd people from the Corona epidemic.”

He said that the study also proves how important the second dose of vaccine is to protect against the corona virus. Therefore, it is urged to all people to have both doses of the vaccine. The study found that both doses of the vaccine are nearly as effective against the B1.617.2 variant, as against the B1.1.7 variant first encountered in Kent, UK. 

At a UN Security Council emergency meeting on Sunday amidst the fierce fighting between Israeli-Hamas militants, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the fight should stop immediately. Nearly two dozen delegates attended the meeting to create international pressure for the ceasefire. It is noteworthy that China holds the chairmanship of the Security Council this month. The meeting was chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. 

Guterres said that the latest round of violence has triggered a series of deaths and devastation. The conflict has dashed hopes of living together. This struggle should stop immediately. In the meeting, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh Malki criticized the US and other countries, who are supporting Israel by asserting that they have the right to defend themselves. He said that Israel is wiping out sleeping Palestinian families.

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s permanent envoy to the United Nations, denied Maliki’s accusations that it was not right to weigh Israel and Hamas with one scale. We protect our children with missiles while Hamas uses children to protect its missiles. US envoy Linda Thomas Greenfield said that US President Joe Biden has spoken to Israel and Palestinian leaders for the ceasefire. American foreigner Antony Blinken is also active on this issue. He immediately asked Hamas to stop the attack from the rocket. He also expressed concern over the communal riots in Israel.

The apprehension of an escalation of the conflict between Israel and Palestine has deepened. Turkey has raised its voice in support of Palestine and said that all Muslim countries should unite and respond against Israel. Meanwhile, the US has once again called the Israeli air strikes as legitimate, saying that they have the right to defend themselves. Different camps are now being divided in the fighting between these two countries. Russia has also supported Palestine, supporting Turkey. While the US, Britain and France have come out in support of Israel.

According to Reuters, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) of the world’s 57 Islamic countries has appealed to Israel to immediately stop the attack on Gaza. An emergency meeting of this organization was called on Sunday in which foreign ministers of several countries took part. The meeting also described East Jerusalem as its capital and its capital. Turkey has called on all Islamic countries to unite in view of the Israeli attacks. At the same time, he said that he should not believe in international laws at all, because he is not going to support them.

Significantly, this fight which broke out between the two countries has entered the eighth day (second week). Meanwhile, many civilians have died in the attacks being carried out from both sides. According to PTI, the attacks by Israel on Sunday also blew up the house of a top Hamas leader, including the office of an international media group in Gaza. According to AFP, more than 44 people have died in this attack. The OIC has called these Israeli attacks a cruel act. In a virtual OIC meeting, Israel’s actions to drive Palestinians out of the holy city of Jerusalem have also been strongly condemned.

Attending the meeting, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud appealed to the whole world to take the initiative to bring this fight to an end. He has said that the issues between the two should be resolved through dialogue. However, apart from the statement issued by the organization, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia have issued their statements on this issue separately. The ruler of Malaysia has called for an immediate meeting of the UN General Assembly in this regard. At the same time, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE have said to immediately ceasefire. According to the OIC, more than 1,200 people have died in Gaza in these attacks while around 200 have lost their lives.