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 ->
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 ->
CAPE TOWN – Scientists are concerned that antibodies that could detect SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa’s first wave will be less effective against a virus variant that first emerged here and is known as 501Y.V2.  What’s worse, they still don’t know if brand new COVID-19 vaccines will work against the variant – which is deemed to […] Continue reading ->
The demands of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic are draining resources from global health research and development (R&D) programs and disrupting clinical trials and other work, presenting a potential post-pandemic scenario of a world more vulnerable to a host of infectious threats. That’s what our organization, the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), learned after conducting extensive, […] Continue reading ->
“Escalating bilateral deals” between pharmaceutical companies and World Health Organization (WHO) member states have complicated the global body’s vaccine delivery platform, the COVAX Facility, a number of top WHO officials told the WHO’s Executive Board yesterday in the opening day of the  EB’s 148th session, which focused largely on the pandemic. “Countries with bilateral deals […] Continue reading ->
Many areas of Brazil, particularly Manaus, are experiencing worsening COVID-19 outbreaks and extremely high levels of infections, amidst news of a new variant that is spreading in the country. Brazil joins countries around the world – including those in Europe, the Americas, and some parts of Africa – that are seeing spikes in cases and […] Continue reading ->
DELHI, INDIA – In the last week of December 2020, Chanda Devi heard a truck roll into her neighborhood in North Bhopal, Central India. Residents were called outside by a voice, booming through loudspeakers. They were eligible to collect Rs 750 (about US$10) to receive a “corona vaccine”. The people said that they were recruiters, […] Continue reading ->
Switzerland’s drug regulatory agency, Swissmedic, has authorized Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine for use – in a move that should helop accelerate its rollout of vaccines against the pandemic, The Swiss Federal Government has secured 7.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, with deliveries expected to begin next week from the Visp-based plant where most of […] Continue reading ->