The COVID-19 pandemic delayed plans to vaccinate more than 50 million African children with doses of MenAfriVac, a vaccine designed for the African meningitis belt. That could undo the progress in controlling a lethal form of meningitis in Africa, the World Health Organization warns. Until 12 years ago, meningitis type A made up 90% of […] Continue reading ->
In an effort to prevent the spread of monkeypox, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) signed an agreement with Bavarian Nordic to obtain 100,000 vaccine doses for Latin America and the Caribbean. That will allow PAHO to start delivering the doses to the 12 countries that requested them in September. The agreement will make the […] Continue reading ->
Authorities in China’s southwestern city of Chengdu are sticking to the nation’s “zero-COVID” policy demanding a lockdown on the city’s 21 million inhabitants even in the face of a major earthquake that has killed at least 66 people in the region. Chengdu, the capital of China’s Sichuan province, has been beset by a heatwave and […] Continue reading ->
The Ethiopian ambassador to the European Union has spoken sharply against World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, calling his criticisms against the Ethiopian government and its role in the Tigray conflict in northern Ethiopia “unprofessional” and that he was using his position “degrading” and “abusing”. “The way he’s handling the matter is completely […] Continue reading ->
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to two Omicron-targeting booster vaccines on Wednesday as it anticipates the potential rise of COVID-19 cases in its fall and spring. The boosters, one by Moderna and the other by Pfizer-BioNTech, are bivalent vaccines, or “updated boosters”, that are designed to protect against […] Continue reading ->
MAHANDRI, Pakistan – The village of Mahandri was once a scenic stopover for tourists visiting the valley of Kaghan in Pakistan’s northernmost province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but recent flash floods have destroyed most of its infrastructure. The monsoon floods have killed about 14 people, washed away five restaurants, all 30 shops in the local market […] Continue reading ->
Another COVID rerun: WHO and Africa CDC officials lament the complete lack of access to monkeypox vaccines on the continent where the virus is endemic – as well as often more deadly than elsewhere. Meanwhile, Mozambique and Malawi have seen a total of six wild poliovirus cases, although WHO officials continue to insist that since […] Continue reading ->
The global number of weekly new cases of monkeypox reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) declined by 21% for the first time since the infection that has been endemic to central and west Africa began to appear around the world earlier this year. Cases continued rising sharply in the Americas, however, in contrast to […] Continue reading ->
A first-of-its-kind survey examining the side effects of the monkeypox vaccine in Israel found that the majority of recipients had no general symptoms. “Most of the side effects reported by the vaccinated are local and mild, which in most cases pass within one to three days,” said Miri Mizrahi Reuveni, Deputy CEO and Head of […] Continue reading ->
Ethiopia’s Tigray region suffers from “the worst catastrophe on Earth” due to a devastating mix of factors such as government neglect, drought, and racism, World Health Organization Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press briefing Wednesday. Tedros grew emotional at the end of the briefing as he described the humanitarian crisis facing […] Continue reading ->