COVID-19 infections fell significantly – by 65% percent – after a first dose of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in a study of more than 373,000 British residents who received one of the two jabs. The first in a series of two new studies, published by the University of Oxford, found that the […] Continue reading ->
Islamabad, Pakistan: Even as Pakistan faced an intense third wave of COVID-19, health authorities ‘silently’ suspended vaccination registration for its frontline Healthcare Workers (HCWs) for more than a month – ostensibly because of low registration and concerns about fake registrations. But following queries by Health Policy Watch on Monday, Ministry of Health officials suddenly did […] Continue reading ->
There is a “possible link” between the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and very rare cases of blood clots, but the benefits of the single-dose vaccine outweigh the risks, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has announced. In a statement released on Tuesday, the EMA safety committee said that the rare, but serious blood clot disorders, […] Continue reading ->
DELHI – In a twin bid to get ahead of a surging COVID-19 epidemic, the Indian government said that it will make “advance payments” totally some US$ 550 million to domestic COVID-19 vaccine makers – as well as opening up the market to private sector import and sales of other approved COVID-19 vaccines. Under the […] Continue reading ->
The European Union (EU) today pledged €100 million towards a humanitarian fund that will assist with COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in Africa. The initiative was announced today at a press briefing addressed by Dr John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa CDC and Janez Lenarčič, European Commissioner for Crisis Management. According to the EU, the new fund […] Continue reading ->
The risk of developing a rare brain blood clot is eight to ten times higher in people infected with COVID-19 than those who get a vaccine, a new study has found. The study by Oxford University last week reported that the risk of the rare blood clotting known as cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) following COVID-19 […] Continue reading ->
As the world quickly approaches the highest weekly rate of infection recorded since the start of the pandemic over a year ago, several countries that have largely held COVID-19 at bay so far are seeing surges in infections. Papua New Guinea (PNG), a small Pacific island state that successfully shielded itself from the SARS-CoV2 virus […] Continue reading ->
Despite growing awareness of the urgent threat of antibiotic resistance, the world is still failing to develop needed antibacterial treats, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO). Of the 43 antibiotics and 27 non-traditional antibacterial agents in the current clinical antibacterial pipeline, none is sufficient to tackle the challenge of increasing […] Continue reading ->
In a vital step forward that will help accelerate global access to COVID-19 vaccines, Gavi, the vaccine alliance raised some $400 million in donations at a high-level event on Thursday, just a week after the global COVAX facility reached 100 countries with almost 40 million vaccine doses. The event was hosted by US Secretary of […] Continue reading ->
Growing Consensus Emerging At WTO – Strengthen Supply Chain & Tech Transfer To Expand Vaccine Access
A growing consensus seems to be emerging out of this week’s high-level WTO meeting that glaring inequities in access to vaccines can be remedied by strengthening supply chains, avoiding export bans across borders, and ensuring that big pharma voluntarily transfers its vaccine technologies to poorer countries so they can produce their own vaccines. “The significant […] Continue reading ->