New York City – Echoing a message issued by WHO’s Geneva office today, WHO officials in the Agency’s Americas Regional Office stressed that stronger public health measures are desperately needed, alongside vaccines, to reduce transmission and the risk of even more variants emerging. “The vaccine is not a silver bullet. The vaccine will not stop […] Continue reading ->
The United States Centers for Disease Control has issued new guidance for “tight fit” or “double masks” that it says can filter out over 90% of SARS-CoV2 viruses – much higher averages than if either mask were worn loosely or on its own. The guidance, issued as the US along with other countries face an […] Continue reading ->
A World Health Organization expert group has recommended the use of the AstraZeneca two-dose COVID-19 vaccine for use in countries worldwide – and among groups including people over the age of 65. The sweeping recommendation by WHO “Strategic Advisory Group of Experts” (SAGE) marks what WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan described as an “important milestone” […] Continue reading ->
In her first major public statement since the United States signaled that it would approve her candidacy for Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala highlighted the need for rich countries to step up their financial contributions to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 tools. Okonjo-Iweala was the keynote speaker on Tuesday at the […] Continue reading ->
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) recorded its first case of Ebola on Sunday in Butembo – a city that was one of the epicenters of the last Ebola outbreak – since its last outbreak ended in June 2020. A woman with Ebola-like symptoms was detected in Butembo, a city in North Kivu Province, […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO)’s expert group on immunisations remains confident in the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine’s efficacy against severe SARS-CoV2 disease – despite the enormous worldwide concerns triggered by a small South African study that showed it had little effect in stemming mild disease from the B.1.351 variant first identified in that country. “It is very […] Continue reading ->
Civil society organizations, pharmaceutical industries, and other stakeholders support the ratification of the AMA Treaty. On the two-year anniversary of the establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA) Treaty, over 40 patient and civil society organizations, health and pharmaceutical industries, and product development partnerships called upon African Union member states to ratify the Treaty. Rapidly […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – The failure of the Oxford/ AstraZeneca SARS-COV2 vaccine to protect against the COVID-19 variant identified in South Africa has serious implications for massive African vaccine rollouts planned by both the WHO co-sponsored COVAX vaccine facility as well as the African Union’s dedicated African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT). The bulk of Africa’s […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) expects to make a decision next week on whether to issue emergency use licenses for the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine being produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and South Korea’s SK Bioscience on 15 February, according to Dr Mariangela Simão, the organisation’s assistant director general of Drug Access, Vaccines […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University offers similar levels of protection against the new, more contagious variant first discovered in the UK when compared to previous variants, Oxford researchers said in a paper released on Friday. The new variant of SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.7, emerged as the dominant cause of COVID-19 infection in the […] Continue reading ->