Hard Numbers: Cameroon rolls out kids malaria vaccine, Gaza death toll hits grim milestone, Deadly winter weather grips US, Massive earthquake hits China, Benito the giraffe migrates south
250,000: Cameroon began rolling out the world’s first malaria vaccine program for children on Monday. The country aims to vaccinate roughly 250,000 kids throughout 2024 and 2025. The WHO-approved vaccine, Mosquirix, is 30% effective and requires four doses. But it’s being portrayed as an important new safeguard against the mosquito-borne illness, which infects roughly 250 million people in Africa each year.
25,295: At least 25,295 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since fighting between Hamas and Israel broke out on Oct. 7, and roughly 63,000 have been injured, the territory’s health ministry said Monday. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said three of its soldiers were killed in southern Gaza on Monday, bringing the IDF’s death toll in the war so far to 198.
95: There have been at least 95 weather-related deaths across the United States in the past week as winter storms slammed several states. At least 25 weather-related deaths were recorded in Tennessee alone, as well as 16 in Oregon.
7.1: A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit a mountainous, remote part of China’s Xinjiang region early on Tuesday morning, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, and the tremors were felt as far away as Delhi, India. Limited damage has been reported thus far.
1,200: A giraffe named Benito embarked on a 50-hour journey on Monday in search of better weather – and perhaps even love (a new mate). Benito will journey 1,200 miles south from the colder border climes of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to Africam Safari park in the state of Puebla, where he will find three female giraffes waiting for him. !Buena suerte, Benito!