The World Health Organization (WHO) has not listed the SARS-CoV2 C.1.2 variant discovered in South Africa as either a variant of interest or of concern, and it does not appear to be increasing in circulation. This follows an alert about the variant that was issued on Monday by the South African National Institute for Communicable […] Continue reading ->
Johnson & Johnson has joined other vaccine producers in advocating for a booster shot for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, which is being rolled out particularly in low-income African countries that had hoped to only vaccinate citizens once. The company made the announcement on Wednesday, following the results of interim data from two Phase 1/2a studies […] Continue reading ->
Global health security is dangerously underfunded, making the world vulnerable to a “prolonged COVID-19 pandemic with repeated waves affecting all countries” and future pandemics, Singaporean Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told a World Health Organization (WHO) media briefing on Wednesday. Shanmugaratnam, who co-chairs the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness […] Continue reading ->
As wealthy countries opt to give third COVID-19 vaccine booster doses to vulnerable citizens, some researchers have called instead for “fractional doses” to stretch the scarce resources. “If you have two million doses of vaccine, you can give that as two doses to one million people. But what about if you gave fractional doses?” asked […] Continue reading ->
While the US was contending with the COVID-19 pandemic, huge wildfires that swept across the country in 2020 may have contributed to thousands of COVID cases and deaths, according to a US study on fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) air pollution from wildfires and COVID-19. The study, conducted by researchers at the Harvard Chan School […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called on China to provide it with access to raw data so that the global search for the origins of SARS-CoV2 can move forward. The WHO made the call on Thursday while asking member countries for nominations to the Scientific Advisory Group for Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO). While […] Continue reading ->
As the Delta variant continues to fuel COVID-19 cases and deaths across the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is becoming more proactive in procuring vaccines for its members. PAHO announced this week that its Revolving Fund, which provides access to vaccines at affordable prices, is now open for requests from member states for […] Continue reading ->
Three medicines currently being used to treat malaria, cancer and immune deficiencies are being tested on hospitalised patients with COVID-19 to see whether they can be repurposed to address the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday. “These therapies – artesunate, imatinib and infliximab – were selected by an independent expert panel for […] Continue reading ->
Much more global attention needs to be paid to developing early therapeutics to protect patients with COVID-19 from “hospitalisation, intensive care, or worse”, according to a report from Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) released on Thursday. In addition, the few innovative treatments that exist are mostly available in high-income countries, and DNDi warns that […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for a moratorium on COVID-19 vaccine boosters until at least the end of September to enable a minimum of 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated. Making the appeal at the WHO’s COVID-19 media briefing on Wednesday, Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Gheybreysus said support for […] Continue reading ->