Due to the bad news that usually dominates the front page of NU.nl, the good news sometimes gets snowed under. That is why we take stock of the positive and cheerful news of the past week every Saturday.
Women can be safely vaccinated against COVID-19
On Friday, an expert panel from the Federation of Medical Specialists (FMS) advised that women can be vaccinated with confidence. For safety reasons, the advice was first to vaccinate only vulnerable pregnant women with underlying serious conditions. But a study of 90,000 pregnant women in the United States had promising results, so the FMS advises all women to get a shot.
Successful first round of testing for potentially revolutionary malaria vaccine
A malaria vaccine from the British University of Oxford has been shown to be 77 percent effective in the first human trials. The vaccine could be a huge breakthrough in the fight against the disease that kills 400,000 every year, most of them children from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Group immunity in the European Union is in sight
According to the European Commission, EU member states will have enough corona vaccines to achieve herd immunity in July. When 70 percent of the adult population is vaccinated, the epidemic could die out, according to experts.
The brave army dog Leuk receives a posthumous award
A French army dog received a bravery award from a British animal charity on Friday. The dog Leuk served with the commandos in Mali and saved lives by cornering militants of a terrorist group during an operation.
Special birth in Beekse Bergen Safari Park
A special monkey cub was born in Safaripark Beekse Bergen at the beginning of April. It is the only crested mangabey baby in the world that can be seen in an animal park. The mother is very protective, so the monkey is not yet visible. Even the animal care of the safari park does not know whether the newborn is male or female. The monkey is now about three years old.
Successful helicopter flights on another planet
NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity made its first test flight on Mars on Monday afternoon (Dutch time). The small helicopter rose to three meters, where it hovered for about 40 seconds. Then he landed in the same spot again. It is the first time that a helicopter flew on another planet.
Just a few days later, the Marshelicopter made a second successful flight. On Thursday, the aircraft flew longer and higher than during the first test.
Record number of bees counted in the National Census
More than 170,000 bees were counted at the fourth National Bee Census on 17 and 18 April. That is a record number. Last year the number was 130,000 bees. More than nine thousand people took part in the census. In the Netherlands, half of all 358 bee species are endangered.
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