The majority of Finnish citizens can get the COVID-19 certificate easily from My Kanta Pages. However, still last week, some certificates of recovery were not produced, but the situation is now significantly better due to technical updates. In July, a total of 420 400 people have retrieved the EU Digital COVID Certificate from My Kanta Pages.

A vial with a potential coronavirus, Covid-19, vaccine. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

In a new study assessing the potential of a single-dose, intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, a team from the University of Iowa and the University of Georgia found that the vaccine fully protects mice against lethal COVID-19 infection. The vaccine also blocks the animal-to-animal transmission of the virus.

The findings were published in the journal Science Advances.

The preliminary World Robotics data for China released by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) shows a sales increase of industrial robots by 19% in 2020.

"The outlook for the robotics industry is optimistic", says Milton Guerry, President of the International Federation of Robotics. "In China, where the coronavirus lockdown came into force first, the robotics industry started to recover already in 2020. In total 167,000 industrial robots were shipped."

An Algerian medic helps an elderly man get a COVID-19 vaccine dose at an inoculation site in front of the El-Kebir mosque in the capital Algiers, on July 9, 2021. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

A new laboratory study from Oregon Health and Science University suggests that older people appear to have fewer antibodies against the novel coronavirus.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Antibodies are blood proteins that are made by the immune system to protect against infection. They are known to be key players in protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

A unique study of ancient diamonds has shown that the basic chemical composition of the Earth's atmosphere which makes it suitable for life's explosion of diversity was laid down at least 2.7 billion years ago.

Volatile gases conserved in diamonds found in ancient rocks were present in similar proportions to those found in today's mantle, which in turn indicates that there has been no fundamental change in the proportions of volatiles in the atmosphere over the last few billion years.

Whether you are planning a vacation or a staycation, be sure to practice sound holiday hygiene

Summer is finally here. Tourist spots are opening up and the school year is drawing to a close.  As the vaccination programs proceed and countries “turn green” one after each other, airlines and tour operators are rebooting their activities. One thing is certain: the travel industry will never be the same.

Reduced mobility induced by the COVID-19 restrictions had only minor influence on particulate pollution levels according to atmosphere studies in the Po Valley region of northern Italy. Eventually computer simulations indicated that the change in air quality led to an increase in secondary aerosol formation.

Infectious disease specialists have observed that the unvaccinated people are posing a danger to everyone amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

According to the experts, those who are not vaccinated are at major risk to people if they become infected with coronavirus, reports CNN.

Google will now be telling its users when search results are rapidly changing around a breaking story, with some searches bringing up a warning that "it looks like these results are changing quickly," and a subheading that will explain "if this topic is new, it can sometimes take time for results to be added by reliable sources."

According to The Verge, in a blog post, the company suggested that users might want to check back later when it's found more results.

LEHTIKUVA / AFP

The second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine induces a powerful boost to a part of the immune system that provides broad antiviral protection, according to a study led by investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The findings published in the journal Nature strongly supports the view that the second shot should not be skipped.

Germany on Friday recommended that people mix AstraZeneca COVID vaccines with Pfizer or Moderna to enhance immune responses against coronavirus and shorten the interval period between the two shots.

The German government advised people to choose either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for their second jab, reported NHK World.

COVID-19 patients suffer from cognitive and behavioural problems two months after being discharged from hospital, a new study presented at the 7th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) has found.

Issues with memory, spatial awareness and information processing problems were identified as possible overhangs from the virus in post-COVID-19 patients who were followed up within eight weeks.

A nurse wearing protective gear conducts a Covid test at Rushcutters Bay, an eastern suburb of Sydney. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

A new study led by the US Geological Survey outlines a means to better estimate COVID-19 occurrence and trends in populations.

Currently, COVID-19 testing is primarily limited to self-selected individuals, many of whom are symptomatic or have had contact with someone who is symptomatic. While these tests are useful for individual medical treatment and contact tracing, they do not provide health officials with a complete picture of the disease across the population.

A healthcare worker administers a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to a man at a vaccination center in Lisbon. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

Coronavirus vaccines remain effective in spite of the virus mutations, said an official of the St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology on Friday.

TASS reported quoting, deputy director of the St. Petersburg Pasteur Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Vladimir Dedkov that in spite of the virus mutations COVID-19 vaccines remain effective.

The nitrogen present in agriculture, vehicle emissions and industry gets deposited in the soil via the air and impacts vegetation- to the detriment of the butterflies, as researchers at the University of Basel have discovered.

In the journal Conservation Biology, the research team reports a connection between this unintentional fertilization and the low diversity of butterflies in Switzerland.