In the next two weeks, distribution of millions of doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca SARS-COV2 to health workers across Africa will get underway, said the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control in a joint press briefing with the WHO Regional Office for Africa on Thursday.  CDC Director John Nkengasong told Health Policy Watch that […] Continue reading ->
Weak medicine regulators in Africa mean the continent is vulnerable to falsified COVID vaccines being circulated. Sources at international anti-crime agencies argue that Africa’s strong trade routes with China and India are going to allow criminals to introduce shipments of falsified vaccines into supply chains. The World Health Organisation says the global market for substandard […] Continue reading ->
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 ->