Johnson & Johnson has joined other vaccine producers in advocating for a booster shot for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, which is being rolled out particularly in low-income African countries that had hoped to only vaccinate citizens once. The company made the announcement on Wednesday, following the results of interim data from two Phase 1/2a studies […] Continue reading ->
Global health security is dangerously underfunded, making the world vulnerable to a “prolonged COVID-19 pandemic with repeated waves affecting all countries” and future pandemics, Singaporean Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told a World Health Organization (WHO) media briefing on Wednesday. Shanmugaratnam, who co-chairs the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness […] Continue reading ->
As the Delta variant spreads across Africa and with the anticipation of a fourth COVID-19 wave later this year, the World Health Organization’s Africa head has called out rich countries that are now offering booster vaccine shots – even as much of the continent’s population waits for their chance at the first shot. WHO regional […] Continue reading ->
One billion children – almost half the world’s children – live in 33 countries that are at an “extremely high-risk” from the impacts of climate change including heatwaves, cyclones, air pollution, flooding and water scarcity. This is according to UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index (CCRI) which provides the first global comprehensive view of children’s exposure […] Continue reading ->
In a milestone event that was also long-awaited, The United States Food & Drug Administration issued a final authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID19 vaccine – the first such vaccine to receive permanent FDA approval status – following the receipt of an Emergency Use Listing on 11 December. The definitive FDA approval is expected to bolster […] Continue reading ->
KABUL – As the Taliban blitzed through towns and villages of Afghanistan finally capturing Kabul August 15, the war-ravaged country’s fragile health system was also crumbling, leaving the sick and vulnerable in despair. Over the past week, the health ministry’s previously daily updates of coronavirus infections, vaccinations and other key updates on public health have […] Continue reading ->
The Delta variant is finding fertile ground to spread – and claim lives – around the Middle East and North Africa. The New Humanitarian, a nonprofit newsroom covering crises around the world, provides a snapshot of COVID-19 across the region. After months of relative calm, COVID-19 has again been coursing through much of the Middle […] Continue reading ->
COVID cases across most countries of South America are now declining, after months in which the region was the epicenter of the pandemic. But in the seesawing trends that the pandemic continues to see, infections are rising again throughout central and North America – as well as the Caribbean – where earthquake torn Haiti faces […] Continue reading ->
US Health officials confirmed on Wednesday that the country will begin to offer a third COVID ‘booster’ vaccine, beginning the week of September 20, to Americans who were vaccinated earliest in the vaccination rollout. It’s now “very clear” that immunity starts to fall after the initial two doses, and with the dominance of the Delta […] Continue reading ->
WHO Rolling Out Emergency Aid in Afghanistan – Stresses Importance of Retaining Women Health Workers
WHO has affirmed that it is staying in Afghanistan and providing emergency aid to the tens of thousands of recent victims of conflict and displacement – even as staff in some NGOs go into hiding or desperately seek to leave the country for fear of their lives. “The World Health Organization (WHO) is committed to […] Continue reading ->