The African Union (AU) Special Envoy on COVID-19 has bluntly blamed the WHO co-sponsored COVAX facility for the dire vaccine shortage on the continent, saying that it had failed to disclose its vaccine supply problems early enough. Strive Masiyiwa, AU Special Envoy and head of the African COVID-19 Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT) said that […] Continue reading ->
African Union and WHO/African Region officials on Thursday sharply criticized the European Union decision to not grant the Indian version of AstraZeneca’s “Covishield” vaccine, distributed by the global COVAX facility, recognition in the new EU “Digital Green Pass programme” – amidst a growing chorus of global protests over the double standard. In a related statement, […] Continue reading ->
Travellers who are fully vaccinated with vaccines authorised in the European Union (EU) “should” be allowed entry for non-essential travel – even if these vaccines were not “produced in facilities covered by the marketing authorisation in the EU”, a European Commission spokesperson for health, food safety and transport told Health Policy Watch on Wednesday.   At […] Continue reading ->
The aviation sector is unlikely to recover before 2024, as new variants, stringent quarantines and costly COVID-19 tests continue to confound international travel – but airline officials have appealed for global cooperation to simplify travel requirements. In 2020, the global aviation industry lost about $430 billion, according to Kamil Alawadi, the International Air Transport Association […] Continue reading ->
As World Trade Organization (WTO) members continue to negotiate on ways to streamline and adapt intellectual property rules in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we bring you this interview with the European Union’s ambassador to the WTO, João Aguiar Machado. He discusses the different strands in the EU’s overall strategy on trade and health […] Continue reading ->
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to strengthen the delivery of healthcare and move the world closer towards universal health coverage, but ethical considerations and human rights must be central to the design, development, and deployment of AI technologies, according to a new report released on Monday. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Ethics and Governance […] Continue reading ->
ISLAMABAD – Thousands of Pakistani migrant labourers fear that they might lose their jobs after the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) banned entry for Pakistanis vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines produced in China. Meanwhile, Europe’s digital ‘Green Pass’ is not available to those vaccinated by the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the […] 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 ->