IBADAN – African countries are hosting a large conference in April to discuss the local production of vaccines, as key players in Africa’s public health sector try to address the continent’s vaccine shortages. Circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine production and distribution had necessitated this conversation, William Kwabena Ampofo, Chairperson of African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative, said […] Continue reading ->
Previous infection with COVID-19 protects most people against reinfection for over six months, but those over the age of 65 are more likely to get infected again, found a peer reviewed study published in The Lancet. In the world’s first large-scale study of COVID-19 reinfections, researchers from Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom discovered that […] Continue reading ->
Papua New Guinea (PNG), a country that has largely avoided the SARS-CoV2 virus, is now facing an outbreak that could cause the country’s health system to collapse, while Australia is being chided by a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) official for its opposition to a World Trade Organization (WTO) patent waiver that MSF says would have opened […] Continue reading ->
The European Commission has released a proposal establishing a framework for a “Digital Green Certificate”, clearing the way for a vaccine certificate system to be set up by the summer. The proposal comes as many European countries are witnessing a third wave of infections and as the region’s vaccination campaign is lagging from vaccine shortages […] Continue reading ->
South Africa’s vaccination programme for health workers is inching forward, fuelled by small deliveries of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine every two weeks. However, overall supplies remain far short of the needs – even for the health sector. The country has an estimated 1.25 million health workers in public and private health to serve its […] Continue reading ->
Kenya has officially announced a third wave of the COVID-19 outbreak this week, while the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Africa region reported a “slight uptick in cases and an upward trend in 12 countries, including in Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Cameroon.” Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, during the weekly press conference said […] Continue reading ->
Not many places resemble the pre-pandemic world more than Taiwan. Residents do wear masks, and the ways in which people use public spaces have changed. But in a locked-down world of damaged economies, Taiwan’s institutions are functioning; its classrooms, tourist sites and restaurants carry on. TAIPEI – One year after COVID-19 was declared to be […] Continue reading ->
One year after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on 11 March 2020, a new report by the Foundation for Geneva has traced the success and the failures of the WHO and other international Geneva organisations in their response – as well as the implications for the future of multilateralism. […] Continue reading ->
With the European Union Medicines Agency (EMA) approval Thursday of Johnson and Johnson’s one-shot COVID-19 vaccine, it now remains to be seen which countries and regions will be the first in line for distribution of the one-jab vaccine. Along with its comparatively low-cost, and ease of storage, the one-shot vaccine could be particularly important to […] Continue reading ->
NAIROBI – Kenya is one of the leading African countries yet to ratify the African Medicines Agency Treaty (AMA) – but a senior official in the Ministry of Health has said that the move should come soon. According to Susan Mochache, the country’s Principal Secretary in the Ministries of Health (MoH), Kenya has already undergone […] Continue reading ->