After a rocky second wave with COVID-19, Switzerland has turned a corner and is witnessing a decline in cases and deaths and the easing of restrictions, opening the country for tourism and large events. Switzerland has been praised for its response early in COVID-19 and for its economic policy throughout the pandemic. “Switzerland has navigated […] Continue reading ->
The much-trumpeted European Union COVID Digital Green Pass, which launches 1 July and is meant to vastly ease travel to Europe for vaccinated and recovered passengers is being rolled out with one important hitch. Anyone vaccinated with an AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India would not be qualified to get the pass […] Continue reading ->
WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebryesus called on leaders of the G7 Group of the world’s most industrialized nations to share at least 100 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses with low- and middle-income countries in June and July and 250 million doses by September. His appeal, at a WHO press conference Monday, added to […] Continue reading ->
In preparation for the next pandemic, the COVAX global vaccine facility “needs a pot of money, where they can be early movers” in competing for, and securing, vaccine doses. That could help scenarios like the ones seen recently, in which rich countries cornered the market on the first available COVID-19 vaccines, leading to severe shortages […] Continue reading ->
Italian prosecutors in the city of Bergamo, the epicentre of the country’s first COVID wave, are reportedly investigating Ranieri Guerra, a senior World Health Organization advisor, for misleading testimony and his role in the suppression of a WHO report into Italy’s coronavirus response “An Unprecedented Challenge“- which contained critical material about the Italian government’s […] Continue reading ->
The European Medicines Agency is reviewing the cases of four people who developed blood clots after receiving Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine, the regulator announced on Friday. “Four serious cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets have been reported post-vaccination with COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen. One case occurred in a clinical trial and […] Continue reading ->
Following a second meeting of the EMA’s safety committee in as many weeks, the European Medicines Agency said that there appears to be a link between receipt of the AstraZeneca vaccine and very rare cases of blood clots being seen in some people – mainly younger women – within two weeks of their jab. The […] Continue reading ->
European countries are experiencing soaring COVID-19 infection and death rates. With a third wave sweeping across Europe, hospitals are at risk of becoming overwhelmed and governments are facing increasing public opposition to continued lockdowns and social distancing restrictions. The WHO European Region, which includes 53 member states, has recorded an upward trend in cases for […] 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 ->
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 ->