New York City – Echoing a message issued by WHO’s Geneva office today, WHO officials in the Agency’s Americas Regional Office stressed that stronger public health measures are desperately needed, alongside vaccines, to reduce transmission and the risk of even more variants emerging.  “The vaccine is not a silver bullet. The vaccine will not stop […] Continue reading ->
A World Health Organization expert group has recommended the use of the AstraZeneca two-dose COVID-19 vaccine for use in countries worldwide – and among groups including people over the age of 65.  The sweeping recommendation by WHO “Strategic Advisory Group of Experts” (SAGE) marks what WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan described as an “important milestone” […] Continue reading ->
The COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University offers similar levels of protection against the new, more contagious variant first discovered in the UK when compared to previous variants, Oxford researchers said in a paper released on Friday.  The new variant of SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.7, emerged as the dominant cause of COVID-19 infection in the […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) investigative team in Wuhan, China, visited the biosafety laboratory that has been at the centre of numerous conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday, making it the most controversial site for the team’s fieldwork so far.  The team of 13 experts spent three-and-a-half hours at the Wuhan Institute of […] Continue reading ->
News of the successful trial results of the Russian Sputnik vaccine, published on Wednesday by The Lancet has shored up the prospects of quick vaccine access for dozens of countries that have pinned their hopes on Russian or Chinese vaccine alternatives – as rich countries buy up the bulk of supplies of high-tech vaccines and […] Continue reading ->

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Switzerland has become the first European country to reject an application by AstraZeneca for regulatory approval. Meanwhile, half a dozen other European countries have now said that data on the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine so far is insufficient to permit its use among people over the age of 65 – with Belgium being the latest.  “The data […] Continue reading ->
The world’s first mix-and-match COVID-19 vaccine trial, sponsored by Oxford University, is currently recruiting volunteers to investigate the efficacy of alternating between Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines. Meanwhile, the British GlaxoSmithKline and CureVac, a German pharmaceutical company, announced their new €150 million agreement to jointly develop a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, attempting to address multiple emerging variants in […] Continue reading ->
Fulfilling the legacy of its pioneering name, the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, was over 91% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 cases and 100% effective in preventing severe COVID, according to results published Tuesday in The Lancet.  Globally, that means that the Sputnik vaccine joins the club with just two other coronavirus vaccines that have demonstrated […] Continue reading ->