WHO issued a stiff warning to Covid-skeptics who have been saying that in the absence of a vaccine, policies that let the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread freely would lead to eventual “herd immunity” , and that might be preferable to continued containment and social-distancing measures.  “Herd immunity is a concept used for vaccination, in which a […] Continue reading ->
China has announced that it will join the WHO co-sponsored COVAX vaccine procurement pool, along with the Republic of Korea. WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros described it as a major boost to the global effort to manufacture and distribute 2 billion vaccines worldwide equitably by the end of 2021. “This week, China and the Republic […] Continue reading ->
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has been awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts in fighting hunger in a year when food supplies for millions of people have been disrupted by COVID-19, destroyed by flooding and devoured by unprecedented locust swarms spreading across Africa and beyond. In Friday’s announcement, the Oslo-based […] Continue reading ->
Moderna, Inc., developer of one of the four front-running COVID-19 vaccine candidates, announced on Thursday that the the company would “not enforce” its COVID-19-related patents against other companies making vaccines to combat the pandemic – and would also be willing to license intellectual property for their COVID-19 vaccines for the post pandemic period.  “We feel […] Continue reading ->
With fires from crop stubble burning spreading across northern India heralding the beginning of Delhi’s winter air pollution season, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has pledged to take pre-emptive action – announcing a ‘war on pollution,’ led from a ‘war room’ that he will personally command. His arsenal includes a seven-point action plan that will […] Continue reading ->
The United States on Tuesday gave conditional praise for the “progress made” by an independent oversight committee examining the response of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme to the COVID-19 pandemic – asking for more updates in November and early 2021. The report by the Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee (IOAC) to WHO’s Health Emergencies operations […] Continue reading ->
A hail of criticism has followed US President Donald Trump’s drive-by to wave at supporters outside of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, including by a doctor at Walter Reed who said the president put the Secret Service at great risk. President Trump was hospitalized on Friday, after testing positive for SARS-CoV2 hours earlier. […] Continue reading ->
The United States appears to be walking back on threats to withdraw from the World Health Organization – just as US President Donald Trump is reported to be recovering from a bout with COVID-19 in Washington, DC.  Speaking at the first formal meeting of WHO’s Executive Board governing body to be convened since May, US […] Continue reading ->
The CEO of Pfizer, one of the frontrunners in the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, has lambasted US President Donald Trump’s politicization of the vaccine approval timeline, declaring in an open letter that the company is “moving at the speed of science” and will not “succumb to political pressure” to prematurely rush its product […] Continue reading ->