This week, the Africa Center for Disease Control (Africa CDC) will be launching a continent-wide antibody study to measure the true extent of the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, where reported coronavirus cases are much lower than initial dire predictions. Africa CDC Director John Nkengasong announced the study at a regular Thursday press briefing. Just a […] Continue reading ->
Russia’s speedy approval of a COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday has drawn widespread criticism from Health Ministers, researchers, and even a Russian pharma industry group.  However, it has also spurred interest and offers to collaborate on testing the new vaccine in other countries, including from quarters as farflung as Israel and the Philippines. The Russian COVID-19 […] Continue reading ->
More than US $100 billion will be required just to scale-up manufacturing and ensure worldwide distribution of a coronavirus vaccine, said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in prepared remarks at a WHO press conference on Monday. He said that the World Health Organization’s ACT Accelerator consortium has received only 10% of the funding that […] Continue reading ->
To facilitate equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines, WHO launched the COVID-19 Access Accelerator (ACT) in April. COVAX is the vaccine component of this initiative. It is led by WHO, the Oslo-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Geneva-based Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI). Heidi.news spoke with Gavi’s Executive Director, Seth […] Continue reading ->
A World Health Organization spokesperson on Friday said that the Organization is not well-positioned to make specific recommendations about when, where, and how travelers should be tested or quarantined for COVID-19 as countries reopen aviation, deferring the policy question to national governments. “Some of it is really dependent on what your national authorities ask of […] Continue reading ->