IBADAN – Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, has officially exhausted all the doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine it received in March from COVAX, according to Dr Faisal Shuaib, CEO of Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA). Twenty-one African countries have seen COVID-19 cases rise by over 20% for at least two weeks running, […] Continue reading ->
Biodiversity sits at the heart of the simultaneous fight against both COVID-19 and the climate crisis, said experts during a Wednesday event hosted by the Society for International Development (SID).  At the event, ‘The Vaccine for Biodiversity’, panelists discussed re-focusing attention on the current health and climate crisis, and how new pandemics should and can […] Continue reading ->
An estimated 1.5 million children worldwide have lost a parent, grandparent, or caregiver due to COVID-19, according to a new study published in The Lancet on Tuesday.  The study, which was conducted by international researchers, including scientists from the World Health Organization (WHO), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the University of […] Continue reading ->
The World Food Program (WFP) and World Health Organization (WHO) launched a health emergencies project, INITIATE2, on Monday. The joint INITIATE2 project will gather health emergency actors, research and academic institutions, and international and national partners to facilitate knowledge sharing and skills transfer to improve emergency health responses.  The project will develop innovative solutions to […] Continue reading ->
The isolation of COVID-19, especially during the early stages of the pandemic, has forced many people to turn to alternative methods of communication and engagement, such as video games, speakers noted during a Thursday event, organized by video games industry associations. At the event, panelists discussed the role of video games on health and well-being, […] Continue reading ->
Africa experienced a 43% week-on-week increase in COVID-19 deaths, as the Delta variant accelerated infections for the eighth week in a row, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported at its weekly Africa press briefing. Hospital admissions increase rapidly and countries face shortages in oxygen and intensive care beds, as the Africa hit six million cumulative […] Continue reading ->
Though new COVID-19 cases are down nearly 20% from last week in the Americas, many countries are experiencing a resurgence in infections, officials from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) announced at a press briefing on Wednesday.  Over 962,280 new cases were reported in the region in the past week, according to data from the […] Continue reading ->
The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, is set to begin producing Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in September, paving the way to scale up globally available COVID vaccines.  The Sputnik V vaccine, produced by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute and marketed abroad by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), is a two-dose […] Continue reading ->