A COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Pfizer and BioNTech has far exceeded expectations, showing a 90% efficacy rate so far among the tens of thousands of volunteers who were immunized in a clinical trial, the company said on Monday. “Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our […] Continue reading ->
This year’s 73rd edition of the World Health Assembly resumes virtually on Monday, after a two-day emergency huddle in May – against sharply rising COVID-19 infection rates in Europe and the United States, deep geopolitical divides – and calls for reform of the WHO that could strengthen its mandate but also may be resisted by […] Continue reading ->
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals suspended enrollment of critically ill and hospitalized patients in its COVID-19 antibody cocktail treatment clinical trial on Friday, due to what it said was a safety concern. The pharma company’s independent data monitoring committee (IDMC) recommended this pause “based on a potential safety signal and an unfavorable risk/benefit profile,” advising on the collection […] Continue reading ->
Third in a series – Cities are major drivers of public health and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought increasing and urgent necessity for effective, innovative leadership and collaboration within and between cities. “The COVID-19 pandemic has upended lives around the globe and nowhere has the impact of this virus been more evident than in urban areas, […] Continue reading ->
Second in a series– Cities that clean up their air quality, and promote other urban sustainability measures can help reduce residents’ risks during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as going forward, say a growing number of urban air quality and sustainability experts. That message was highlighted in two events last week and today, which were […] Continue reading ->
Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline, two drugmakers, announced that they would provide 200 million doses of their potential COVID-19 vaccine to the WHO and Gavi Alliance co-sponsored COVAX procurement facility, which more than 180 countries have joined. “To address a global health crisis of this magnitude, it takes unique partnerships. The commitment we are announcing today for […] Continue reading ->
At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of health systems – digital health technologies are playing a fast-expanding role – showing their revolutionary potential to address old and new needs and gaps, said participants on a Digital Health panel at the World Health Summit on Monday. “COVID-19 is the first pandemic […] Continue reading ->
Spain announced a state of emergency on Sunday and ordered a nationwide curfew just days after becoming the first Western European country to surpass one million confirmed cases. The curfew and restrictions on gatherings of more than six people has made Spain the latest country in Europe to toughen its guidelines, after France placed 46 […] Continue reading ->
In combatting COVID-19, many countries around the world are currently facing “house on fire moments,” as described by Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. However, the syndemic of COVID-19 and TB poses an even more deadly threat. TB and COVID-19 respiratory diseases affect mostly […] Continue reading ->
Current levels of public reluctance to be immunized with a forthcoming COVID-19 vaccine are so high that the resistance would in fact pre-empt many countries from reaching sufficient levels of “community” immunity, according to a new study of vaccine hesitancy among people in 19 of the most COVID-impacted countries around the world. The study of […] Continue reading ->