Six weeks after receiving 1.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from COVAX, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) finally started to vaccinate people on Monday. The delay followed concerns about the safety of the vaccine amid reports about possible links between the vaccine and blood clotting. In a bid to build public confidence, […] Continue reading ->
The risk of developing a rare brain blood clot is eight to ten times higher in people infected with COVID-19 than those who get a vaccine, a new study has found. The study by Oxford University last week reported that the risk of the rare blood clotting known as cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) following COVID-19 […] Continue reading ->
People are “likely” to need a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine within 12 months of getting the first two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said during a recent interview. The third booster jab could be necessary “somewhere between six and 12 months” after the second one and possibly even annually, […] Continue reading ->
A real-time COVID-19 data dashboard, celebrities and athletes sharing information about COVID-19 and vaccine hesitancy, rapid response task teams and public communications campaigns have formed part of response strategies to help two major cities fight the pandemic. The Partnership for Healthy Cities – supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the World Health Organization and Vital Strategies— on […] Continue reading ->
As the world quickly approaches the highest weekly rate of infection recorded since the start of the pandemic over a year ago, several countries that have largely held COVID-19 at bay so far are seeing surges in infections. Papua New Guinea (PNG), a small Pacific island state that successfully shielded itself from the SARS-CoV2 virus […] Continue reading ->
NAIROBI – Kenya has developed an ambitious COVID-19 vaccination rollout plan – but it has only received enough doses for a million of its 50 million citizens, and dispensed slightly more than half of these – 565,000 – to health workers. Kenya is currently in the third wave of the pandemic and estimates that 4 […] Continue reading ->
In a vital step forward that will help accelerate global access to COVID-19 vaccines, Gavi, the vaccine alliance raised some $400 million in donations at a high-level event on Thursday, just a week after the global COVAX facility reached 100 countries with almost 40 million vaccine doses. The event was hosted by US Secretary of […] Continue reading ->
IBADAN – The Africa CDC has expressed concerns over the disruption of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in Africa saying it was preventing many Africans who have received the first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine may not be able to receive the second dose 12 weeks after the first dose as recommended in the vaccination guideline. […] Continue reading ->
This past few weeks has seen a flurry of open letters from academics, politicians and NGOs dispatched to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden and other heads of state, urging their governments to support a proposal to the World Trade Organization to for a proposed “waiver” suspending intellectual property (IP) rights, and […] Continue reading ->
Two studies published by The Lancet Infectious Disease and The Lancet Public Health report that the United Kingdom’s dominant strain of the virus is not linked to more severe disease or death, and that there was no apparent increase in reinfection rate from the variant. The variant of SARS-CoV-2 2, B.1.1.7, emerged as the dominant […] Continue reading ->