British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca may have included outdated information from their COVID-19 vaccine trial, the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said in a statement released Tuesday.  The NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health, urged AstraZeneca to work with the US  Data Safety and Monitoring Board (DSMB) to review the […] Continue reading ->
In news that should be reassuring for skeptics, the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was found to be 79% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% effective against severe disease and hospitalization in results of a late-stage clinical trial, published today by the pharma company. What’s more, analysis of safety results by an independent board found no […] Continue reading ->
Developers of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine have entered into a partnership with Stelis Biopharma, an India-based drugmaker, to produce 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Stelis is now the latest addition to the global production network for Sputnik V.  The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the company responsible for marketing the Sputnik vaccine abroad, […] Continue reading ->
Mayors from three capital cities in the global south have appealed for speedy “technology transfer” to enable them to produce their own COVID-19 vaccines at Friday’s World Health Organization (WHO) bi-weekly COVID-19 media briefing. The mayors’ appeal comes on the eve of a meeting next week between WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and […] Continue reading ->
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 ->