Africa could start producing its own cutting-edge COVID-19 vaccines within a year via an mRNA technology transfer hub that is being set up in South Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday. But the speed at which the new hub may be able to swing into full-scale vaccine production depends on whether pharmaceutical […] Continue reading ->
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 ->
The World Health Organization (WHO) and its COVAX partners are hosting a summit next week with governments and pharmaceutical companies to address the bottlenecks in COVID-19 vaccine production and delivery. This follows a spectacular start in the past week for COVAX, the global vaccine delivery platform, which delivered more than 20 million doses of COVID-19 […] Continue reading ->
More than a year into the world’s largest global health emergency, health diplomats have fought hard to ensure that every country across the globe secures access to lifesaving coronavirus health products, including vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics.   That has not happened yet, given that 80% of countries that are now rolling out vaccines are either high-income […] Continue reading ->
A series of new COVID-19 drug and vaccine funding commitments worth just over US$300 million were announced on Thursday by the Gates Foundation, France and the European Commission – amidst a quickening pace of anticipation that at least one, if not two, COVID-19 vaccines may soon become available.  Appearing at the Paris Peace Forum, Melinda […] Continue reading ->
With overwhelming support, the World Health Assembly (WHA) on Tuesday approved a resolution to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, which represents the strongest commitment yet from the global community to international cooperation in fighting the pandemic as well as ensuring access to COVID-19 treatments and future vaccines. The final text also called for an independent evaluation […] Continue reading ->
World Health Organization member states were close to an agreement Wednesday evening on a European Union-led draft resolution on global COVID-19 response to the upcoming World Health Assembly. If approved, it would pave the way for coordinated planning by the global health community to ensure wide and equitable access by people worldwide to COVID-19 medicines […] Continue reading ->