The hoarding of more than 870 million excess doses of COVID-19 vaccines in just 10 high-income countries is likely to deprive hundreds of millions of healthcare workers and vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries of the opportunity to get even a first vaccine dose, according to a new report by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that is possible to get 70% of the world vaccinated against COVID-19 by June – but only if wealthy countries redirect their doses and orders to poorer countries that are lagging behind. Eleven billion vaccines are needed to reach the 70% target, said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus […] Continue reading ->
Discussions over a controversial World Trade Organization waiver on intellectual property related to COVID vaccines, treatments and other tools, have become more “constructive” said a senior WTO spokesman on Thursday, in a press briefing on the first day of the WTO’s two-day General Council meeting.  There has been a “subtle shifting in the direction of […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has given the go-ahead for children to get the first-ever malaria vaccine in areas where there is a high to moderate risk of infection. The vaccine, known as RTS,S, is the first to have been approved against a parasitic disease. It has been tested on 800,000 children in Ghana, Kenya […] Continue reading ->
Following news that Sanofi, a French pharma company, will abandon its promising mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) called for the corporation to transfer the vaccine technology and know-how to the WHO-led COVID-19 mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in South Africa. Despite the existence of two approved mRNA vaccines and 13 candidates in advanced stages […] Continue reading ->
New statistics from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance show that routine immunisation programmes have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the latest data shows that there is extraordinary resilience in immunisation systems, with governments’ efforts to keep childhood vaccinations going despite the impact of the pandemic paying dividends. In the face of the pandemic, […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization published the latest edition of its Model Lists of Essential Medicines (EML) on Friday, making a sweeping move this time to include long-lasting insulin analogues as essential drugs that national health systems should incorporate into their services.  The decision reverses the EML Expert Committee’s 2019 decision, rejecting the inclusion of insulin […] Continue reading ->
IBADAN – Following new travel policies that discriminate against vaccinated travellers from African countries, as compared to their European, Asian and Middle Eastern counterparts, African health officials have demanded clarifications, and accused the UK government of potentially festering vaccine hesitancy on the continent. A British government’ plan to drop a 10-day quarantine requirement for fully-vaccinated […] Continue reading ->