The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has officially authorized expanded capacity in three new vaccine manufacturing facilities on the continent producing AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines – a move that the agency says should also help pharma suppliers ramp up their deliveries of now scarce vaccines to European Union bloc countries.  At the same time, a […] Continue reading ->
European Parliament members (MEPs) expressed overwhelming support for a coronavirus-related “Digital Green Certificate” to ease travel within the European Union, voting by a more than two-thirds majority to accelerate approval by the summer.   But parliamentarians also warned that all efforts to recover from COVID-19 will be void unless Europeans are vaccinated more quickly.  “We need […] Continue reading ->
A new study published by a consortium of UK-based airline industry interests suggested that administration to travelers of a rapid antigen test upon arrival at their destination, may be just as effective as quarantine requirements, to stop imports of COVID-19 cases. The study, which reviewed case studies of airport testing procedures elsewhere, claims that a […] 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 ->
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 ->
Papua New Guinea (PNG), a country that has largely avoided the SARS-CoV2 virus, is now facing an outbreak that could cause the country’s health system to collapse, while Australia is being chided by a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) official for its opposition to a World Trade Organization (WTO) patent waiver that MSF says would have opened […] Continue reading ->
In just one year, COVID-19 has undone more than a decade’s progress in the fight against tuberculosis (TB), health experts said on Thursday. While COVID-19 fatality numbers are decreasing worldwide, TB-related deaths remain steady at 4000 cases a day – an occurrence experts partly attribute to limited access to TB treatment services during COVID lockdown […] Continue reading ->
The European Commission has released a proposal establishing a framework for a “Digital Green Certificate”, clearing the way for a vaccine certificate system to be set up by the summer.  The proposal comes as many European countries are witnessing a third wave of infections and as the region’s vaccination campaign is lagging from vaccine shortages […] Continue reading ->