KAMPALA, UGANDA – Responding to a swell of global criticism, a senior Ugandan health official told Health Policy Watch that Uganda’s government is not paying unreasonably higher prices for it’s AstraZeneca vaccines, in comparison to other African countries – or Europe.  “You cannot compare prices directly between countries because there are many factors to consider. […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – Despite battling against a more infectious variant, South Africa seems to have ridden out its second and deadliest wave of COVID-19 infections.  And with new case counts declining, the government relaxed its most recent set of lockdown restrictions on Tuesday – reopening beaches, and easing night-time curfews and a ban on alcohol […] Continue reading ->
AstraZeneca has agreed to increase its COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to the European Union by 30% after a week of feuding over a shortfall in vaccine deliveries, announced by the pharma company after its manufacturing plants hit a number of snags.  By April or June, a series of manufacturing foul-ups reported by Pfizer as well as […] Continue reading ->
As the World Health Organization (WHO) led expert team on the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus began to conduct fieldwork at hospitals, research centers and markets in Wuhan, China, the WHO attempted to curb expectations, insisting that the mission will likely raise more questions.  “The plans and the visits that they have, provide detailed information…The […] Continue reading ->
Novavax has become the first  COVID-19 vaccine to show clinical efficacy against two major new SARS-CoV-2 virus variants now circulating worldwide – although the vaccine’s highest efficacy of 95.6% was against the COVID strain that had been predominant up until the end of 2020. The results of a UK-based Phase 3 clinical trial, which enrolled […] Continue reading ->
IBADAN – Five African countries have now confirmed cases of the SARS-CoV-2 501Y.V2 variant, which first appeared in South Africa, and there is concern that the variant is circulating undetected elsewhere on the continent. The Gambia and Nigeria have seen cases of the variant B.1.1.7, first identified in the United Kingdom, said WHO’s African Regional […] Continue reading ->
AstraZeneca has joined Pfizer in announcing delays in deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines to countries in Europe, leading furious EU officials to plan for a system of tighter monitoring of vaccine exports.  The British-Swedish pharma company that developed its COVID-19 vaccine with researchers at Oxford University, informed the European Commission on Friday that there would be […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to make its engagement with non-state actors (non-state actors) more meaningful and efficient with a new proposal to establish a number of NSA fora that would allow exchange with WHO and member state representatives outside of official meetings. The new proposal — which will be tested during the 74th […] Continue reading ->