America’s most-respected public health guru, Dr Anthony Fauci, said Wednesday that he is “cautiously optimistic’ that at least one COVID-19 vaccine will prove to be safe and effective later this month or next.   While warning that “one can never guarantee a safe and effective vaccine… we are cautiously optimistic that we will have one based […] Continue reading ->
The World Bank will make available up to $12 billion in “fast-track financing” that low- and middle-income countries can access to procure vaccines against Covid-19 – as soon as one is approved, said the Bank’s president David Malpass, on Wednesday. The announcement at a United Nations high-level panel on the pandemic that also included commitments […] Continue reading ->
The ‘infodemic’ is one of the “most concerning” governance challenges of our time, undermining trust in science in the midst of the pandemic, and threatening people’s physical and mental health, warned United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steimer.  While the overabundance of misinformation – or ‘infodemic – is not new, it has blown out […] Continue reading ->
While the COVAX Facility, a global initiative to pool procurement of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, has been gaining momentum, another global initiative to pool intellectual property rights for tools to combat the pandemic has been moving at a much slower pace. Only three more countries have signed on to support the COVID-19 Technology […] Continue reading ->
Against the backdrop of Thursday’s G-20 Health and Finance Ministers meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic, UN and Global health leaders were escalating their pleas to the world’s industrialized countries and global financial institutions for billions of dollars in immediate funding to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The calls echoed statements issued earlier this week by the […] Continue reading ->
As the 75th United Nations General Assembly opened in an unprecedented virtual session on 15 September, WHO issued a plea to the world’s leaders for funding to fight the COVID-19 pandemic – saying that US$ 35 billion is needed to fast-track development, procurement and distribution of 2 billion vaccine doses, treatments and tests over the […] Continue reading ->