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 ->
A group of 18 prominent scientists, primarily based in the United States, have called for further investigations into the origins of the SARS-CoV2 virus, including that it could have been created in the Wuhan Institute of Virology lab, in a letter published on Thursday in the journal Science. The letter, organised by David Relman, Professor […] Continue reading ->
Though more than 114 million people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the Americas, the WHO Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has warned that the pandemic is far from over. Last week, the region reported more than 1.2 million new COVID-19 cases and nearly 34,000 COVID related deaths – nearly 40% of all global deaths […] Continue reading ->
IBADAN – The Nigerian government has decided to move ahead with a second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine for the nearly 2 million citizens who already received the vaccine – despite advice from Africa CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO), that vaccine-strapped African countries could also choose to administer just one vaccine dose – […] Continue reading ->
Italy is pushing for the Vatican – a steadfast opponent of sexual and reproductive health rights – to have an enhanced role and greater privileges at the WHO member state meetings of the World Health Assembly and its governing Executive Board, according to a copy of a draft resolution, seen by openDemocracy. A handful of […] Continue reading ->
The draft of a landmark resolution to establish a global “Pandemic Treaty” will be put to World Health Organization (WHO) member states this week in preparation for the World Health Assembly beginning 24 May, Jaouad Mahjour, WHO Assistant Director-General Emergency Preparedness, told a panel in Geneva Monday. The proposal for the Pandemic Treaty – […] Continue reading ->
In a far-reaching statement, WHO and the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) called on the pharma industry to provide much wider access to clinical data for all new medicines and vaccines approved, or under review, and even those that had been rejected. “Clinical trial reports should be published without redaction of confidential information […] Continue reading ->
Pfizer on Friday became the first pharma company to apply for full approval of its COVID-19 vaccine from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA. The announcement also followed the publication of two studies which found that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is highly effective against two major SARS-CoV2 variants of concern. Moderna plans to follow suit […] Continue reading ->
The Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine became the latest COVID-19 vaccine to receive an Emergency Use Listing from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday; experts said the vaccine showed an overall efficacy rate of 79% in preventing symptomatic and serious disease. The WHO approval positions Sinopharm to become a major player in the COVAX global facility. […] Continue reading ->
CAPE TOWN – The city is planning a vaccine outreach campaign aimed at encouraging an estimated 530,000 homeless people and migrants to get vaccinated. Cape Town is one of 18 cities that has been chosen by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ ‘Healthy Cities’ initiative for a grant of up to $50,000 to support vaccine distribution to reach high-risk […] Continue reading ->