A recent WHO estimate that there could be a 3 billion shortfall in COVID vaccine doses needed to vaccinate the world in the first quarter of 2022 – if high-income countries “aggressively” booster adults with third shots as well as immunizing children is not based on “valid, solid” data, charged pharma leader, Thomas Cueni on […] Continue reading ->
An overwhelming majority of people in Africa – 78% of people surveyed across 19 countries in the African Union – are willing to get vaccinated, according to new research from the Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19 (PERC). PERC – a public-private partnership consisting of organizations and institutions such as the African Union, Africa Centres […] Continue reading ->
Shortly after the release of research showing reduced efficacy of the two-jab Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine against Omicron infection, but better protection with boosters, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned that more research is still needed to draw definite conclusions about vaccine strategies in the face of the new variant wave.  A South African study released […] Continue reading ->
  The African Union has made steady progress to manufacture vaccines on the continent, but this is a complicated, expensive endeavour that required long-term commitment, Big Pharma companies warned. Welcoming delegates to the Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing (PAVM) reportback six months after it was set up, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said building pharmaceutical manufacturing […] Continue reading ->
A special session of the World Health Assembly is under way this week with just one item under consideration – Pandemic Treaty. Will a pandemic treaty be able to help address deficiencies in global solidarity, and improve access to essential lifesaving medicines, vaccines, and tools? The short answer is no. Not without the political will […] Continue reading ->
In a first face-to-face meeting in Geneva since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization’s 194 member states appeared set to adopt a landmark decision to negotiate a new treaty or framework convention governing pandemic response, dubbed “Our World Together”, and with over 100 countries now declaring co-sponsorship.   But from the start […] Continue reading ->
As pandemic treaty negotiations kick off again at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva this week, countries face a stark choice. Will they decide to move ahead on a new system that vests an independent entity with greater powers to monitor their own national alert and responses – in the name of faster pandemic […] Continue reading ->
Human rights lawyers have threatened legal action against the governments of Canada, Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom if they fail to support a waiver of the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement in relation to COVID-19 healthcare products. The waiver will be discussed at the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – A new COVID-19 variant with a “very unusual constellation of mutations” – currently referred to as B.1.1.529 – has been identified in southern Africa, South Africa’s Health Ministry announced on Thursday. On Friday, WHO dubbed the variant “Omicron”, adding it to its list of variants of concern – even as the European […] Continue reading ->