Member countries will have an idea of how many COVID vaccine doses they will receive via the World Health Organization’s COVAX Facility and when they will arrive within the next day, WHO special advisor Dr Bruce Alyward has said. These “indicative allocations” would depend on when the WHO’s regulatory review of the specific vaccines that […] Continue reading ->
With ten of the world’s most infectious diseases not catered by drug firms, pharmaceutical giants remain unprepared to tackle future pandemics, a new report has said. The report, published on Tuesday, found that though current medicine and vaccine research and development is primarily geared towards the COVID-19 pandemic, there are next to no efforts to […] Continue reading ->
AstraZeneca has joined Pfizer in announcing delays in deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to countries in Europe, leading furious EU officials to plan for a system of tighter monitoring of vaccine exports.  The British-Swedish pharma company that developed its COVID-19 vaccine with researchers at Oxford University, informed the European Commission on Friday that there would be […] Continue reading ->
While global attention has fixated on the coronavirus, the forty-year long fight against HIV, which has claimed 33 million lives, is seeing new breakthroughs in preventive tools. New discoveries of “broadly neutralizing antibodies” as well as novel regimens of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), could strengthen the world’s toolbox to prevent the disease, announced the International AIDS […] Continue reading ->
The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is safe for most people including those with a wide range of underlying medical conditions, according to the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunizations. However, the vaccine is not recommended for pregnant women or children as it has not been tested on these groups, according to […] Continue reading ->
Discussions on WHO’s state of financing were addressed by member states during the on-going Executive Board meeting. As we reported last week, WHO is keen on defining independence and sustainability of its financing to be better prepared to address emergencies in the future. We spoke to Björn Kümmel, Deputy Head of Unit, Global Health, German Federal Ministry […] Continue reading ->
Michael Osterholm – a leading member of the United States President’s coronavirus transition team – has said he is “convinced” by data indicating the UK COVID-19 variant is more deadly, even as United Kingdom officials downplay the limited and “uncertain” evidence. Meanwhile, Moderna announced today that it will “test an additional booster dose of its […] Continue reading ->