COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers are expected to produce 12 billion doses by the end of the year – almost half made by China – and there could be a vaccine surplus by mid-next year. In addition, by the end of this month, around 500 million doses should be ready for “redistribution” from wealthy to low-and middle-income […] Continue reading ->
Monkey Pox, Lassa Fever, Yellow Fever, Cerebrospinal Meningitis, and COVID-19 are some of the epidemics that Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu has addressed as head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). Now, however, Ihekweazu’s repertoire of disease experience is about to expand exponentially, following his appointment as the head of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) […] Continue reading ->
Although the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued technical guidelines for the development of digital COVID-19 ‘vaccine certificates’, it has stressed that these should not be a prerequisite for international travel. At the release of the technical guidelines last Friday (27 August), the WHO stated that it “does not support the requirement of proof of […] Continue reading ->
Johnson & Johnson has joined other vaccine producers in advocating for a booster shot for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, which is being rolled out particularly in low-income African countries that had hoped to only vaccinate citizens once. The company made the announcement on Wednesday, following the results of interim data from two Phase 1/2a studies […] Continue reading ->
Global health security is dangerously underfunded, making the world vulnerable to a “prolonged COVID-19 pandemic with repeated waves affecting all countries” and future pandemics, Singaporean Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told a World Health Organization (WHO) media briefing on Wednesday. Shanmugaratnam, who co-chairs the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness […] Continue reading ->
As the Delta variant spreads across Africa and with the anticipation of a fourth COVID-19 wave later this year, the World Health Organization’s Africa head has called out rich countries that are now offering booster vaccine shots – even as much of the continent’s population waits for their chance at the first shot. WHO regional […] Continue reading ->
In a milestone event that was also long-awaited, The United States Food & Drug Administration issued a final authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID19 vaccine – the first such vaccine to receive permanent FDA approval status – following the receipt of an Emergency Use Listing on 11 December. The definitive FDA approval is expected to bolster […] Continue reading ->
The Delta variant is finding fertile ground to spread – and claim lives – around the Middle East and North Africa. The New Humanitarian, a nonprofit newsroom covering crises around the world, provides a snapshot of COVID-19 across the region. After months of relative calm, COVID-19 has again been coursing through much of the Middle […] Continue reading ->
COVID cases across most countries of South America are now declining, after months in which the region was the epicenter of the pandemic. But in the seesawing trends that the pandemic continues to see, infections are rising again throughout central and North America – as well as the Caribbean – where earthquake torn Haiti faces […] Continue reading ->
US Health officials confirmed on Wednesday that the country will begin to offer a third COVID ‘booster’ vaccine, beginning the week of September 20, to Americans who were vaccinated earliest in the vaccination rollout. It’s now “very clear” that immunity starts to fall after the initial two doses, and with the dominance of the Delta […] Continue reading ->