A sweeping proposal by India and South Africa to suspend the protection of intellectual property (IP) related to COVID-19 health products is set to come before the The World Trade Organization’s TRIPS Council this week.  The closed door discussion lays the groundwork for what could prove to  be the most significant public debate over […] Continue reading ->
A study confirming the first case of a person reinfected with COVID-19 in the US and the fifth such confirmed case of reinfection worldwide was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal on Monday. The findings suggest that protected immunity conferred by infection with SARS-CoV2 – a phenomenon that is not well understood yet – […] Continue reading ->
WHO issued a stiff warning to Covid-skeptics who have been saying that in the absence of a vaccine, policies that let the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread freely would lead to eventual “herd immunity” , and that might be preferable to continued containment and social-distancing measures.  “Herd immunity is a concept used for vaccination, in which a […] Continue reading ->
Acting on the advice of experts, the United States Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued new safety-focused guidelines for approval of new COVID-19 vaccines, that would almost certainly delay their emergency approval until after the November Presidential elections. Just hours after the rules were issued, United States President Donald Trump accused the FDA of […] Continue reading ->
The United States appears to be walking back on threats to withdraw from the World Health Organization – just as US President Donald Trump is reported to be recovering from a bout with COVID-19 in Washington, DC.  Speaking at the first formal meeting of WHO’s Executive Board governing body to be convened since May, US […] Continue reading ->
The CEO of Pfizer, one of the frontrunners in the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, has lambasted US President Donald Trump’s politicization of the vaccine approval timeline, declaring in an open letter that the company is “moving at the speed of science” and will not “succumb to political pressure” to prematurely rush its product […] Continue reading ->
WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus joined the chorus of world leaders wishing United States President Donald Trump and his wife a speedy recovery from COVID-19 – while the US presidential campaign entered uncharted waters, with the cancellation of campaign rallies and fears that other White House Staff and political allies who had accompanied […] Continue reading ->