In DR Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak, the two people with confirmed cases are dead and response is focusing on identifying and vaccinating contacts – because of insufficient doses to conduct a mass vaccination campaign in the outbreak area. Meanwhile, public health officials are trying to reboot Africa’s mainstream immunization programmes, which saw setbacks during the […] Continue reading ->
On the occasion of World Immunization Week, influential global health figures share lessons learned in the global fight against two age-old diseases, malaria and polio – and more recently, COVID-19 – and how we should tackle existing and future pandemics.   While COVID-19 surprised and shocked the world, it should not have. For decades, infectious […] Continue reading ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended Paxlovid, the antiviral medicine produced by Pfizer, for patients with COVID-19 at high risk of developing severe disease – but it is concerned about limited access to the life-saving medicine. Friday’s WHO recommendation is aimed at “patients with non-severe COVID-19 who are at highest risk of developing severe […] Continue reading ->
Only 10 of Africa’s 54 countries have vaccinated more than a third of their citizens, although the continent has administered over two-thirds of the vaccine doses it has procured. The top 10 vaccinators are Seychelles (81%), Mauritius (76%), Rwanda (64%), Morocco (63%),  Cape Verde (55%), Botswana (54%), Tunisia (53%), Mozambique (43%), São Tomé and Príncipe […] Continue reading ->
Some 42% of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean is fully vaccinated, but only five of the 22 member states have met the global goal of vaccinating 70% of their populations despite enough vaccine stocks being available, according to a media briefing on Wednesday. WHO Region Director for Eastern Mediterranean, Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, ascribed […] Continue reading ->