DELHI, INDIA – In the last week of December 2020, Chanda Devi heard a truck roll into her neighborhood in North Bhopal, Central India. Residents were called outside by a voice, booming through loudspeakers. They were eligible to collect Rs 750 (about US$10) to receive a “corona vaccine”. The people said that they were recruiters, […] Continue reading ->
IBADAN, NIGERIA – So far the continent has been obliged to look on as developed countries vaccinate millions of their citizens against SARS-CoV-2, but now African countries may also soon gain access to COVID-19 vaccines. In a striking show of political unity, the African Union (AU) has secured provisional commitments to procure some 270 million […] Continue reading ->
Johnson & Johnson is set to release its Phase 3 COVID-19 clinical trial results in two weeks and immediately file for emergency authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – an announcement that is likely a harbinger of positive results.  This news on the development of the first one-shot COVID-19 vaccine, accompanied by […] Continue reading ->
NEW YORK/ GENEVA. The World Health Organization, UNICEF and two leading international health and humanitarian civil society organizations announced on Tuesday the establishment of a global Ebola vaccine stockpile to ensure rapid response to future outbreaks. Establishment of the stockpile was led by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision, which also includes the […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has “outsourced” its role in vaccine access and sidelined member states by leaving the running of the COVAX vaccine procurement facility to GAVI, The Vaccine Alliance and CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Initiative), Third World Network’s Sangeeta Shashikant told a civil society forum on Tuesday. “Disparity in access is the […] Continue reading ->
A US$40 million research consortium has been created to repurpose existing medicines for hepatitis, tuberculosis and malaria into long-acting treatments that can benefit low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where people often have trouble accessing medicine over and over again, Unitaid experts told Health Policy Watch. The consortium on Tuesday launched the new Centre of Excellence […] Continue reading ->
Switzerland’s drug regulatory agency, Swissmedic, has authorized Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for use – in a move that should helop accelerate its rollout of vaccines against the pandemic, The Swiss Federal Government has secured 7.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, with deliveries expected to begin next week from the Visp-based plant where most of […] Continue reading ->