Over 400 US organisations and 115 Members of the European Parliament declared their support this week for a waiver on intellectual property rights for COVID-19 products, due to be discussed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) General Council. Even so, WTO insiders said that consensus was more likely to build around a “third way” approach […] Continue reading ->
Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo, will be publicly vaccinated with the Oxford/AstraZeneca SARS-CoV2 vaccine on 2 March, signifying the start of the West African country’s vaccine rollout. On Wednesday, Ghana became the first country in the world to receive vaccines via the global vaccine access platform, COVAX, according to Health Policy Watch. The Ivory Coast is expected […] Continue reading ->
The largest peer reviewed study to date of some 1.193 million Israelis – half of whom received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine – confirms the vaccine’s efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 as well as serious cases and deaths – even after the first dose is administered. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, […] Continue reading ->
A new COVID-19 Oxygen Emergency Taskforce has been created in response to the dearth of sustainable oxygen supplies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) – and its critical importance for treatment of COVID-19.  Co-created by Unitaid and Wellcome Trust in partnership with the WHO and a range of other global public health agencies, the taskforce, […] Continue reading ->
The United Kingdom, Switzerland, Israel and Turkey are cautiously reopening businesses and relaxing limits on gatherings and travel as COVID-19 cases declined both globally and within these countries.   However, parts of France, the Czech Republic, and Sweden are preparing for harder lockdown measures as their cases surge in contrast to worldwide trends. As of 23 […] Continue reading ->
EXCLUSIVE – A series of recent leaks of emails and documents surrounding the EMA’s approval of the first COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer/BioNTech  highlight the  intense political pressures regulatory agencies are under during the pandemic – as well as an oft-forgotten aspect of vaccine approvals – the quality control of vaccines during the leap from clinical […] Continue reading ->
Rapid response platforms, particularly the messenger RNA (mRNA) platform, have changed the landscape of vaccine development, enabling the rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic, said Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) on Monday. Fauci, speaking at the opening of the Global Vaccine and Immunization Research Forum (GVIRF), […] Continue reading ->
More than a year into the world’s largest global health emergency, health diplomats have fought hard to ensure that every country across the globe secures access to lifesaving coronavirus health products, including vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics.   That has not happened yet, given that 80% of countries that are now rolling out vaccines are either high-income […] Continue reading ->
Despite Friday’s commitment by G-7 countries to donate another US$ 4.3 billion to a global COVID vaccine campaign, World Health Organization Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has accused high-income nations of still undermining equitable vaccine rollout by “doing deals” with manufacturers that deplete supplies available to the COVAX global vaccine facility.  Speaking at the […] Continue reading ->
The United States is donating an additional US$2 billion to the COVAX facility over the next two years to facilitate the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to low- and middle-income countries, while the pharma company Novavax will provide a total of 1.1 billion doses of its vaccine to COVAX – a gesture that could increase […] Continue reading ->