The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that coronavirus variants are moving faster than the global vaccine rollout, urging leaders to increase the pace or risk being overwhelmed. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, noted that the highly contagious Delta variant, first identified in India, is “outpacing” vaccinations, …
Read More »Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines Likely to Produce Lasting Immunity, Study Finds
Immune cells are still organizing to fight the coronavirus months after inoculation, scientists reported. The vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna set off a persistent immune reaction in the body that may protect against the coronavirus for years, scientists reported on Monday. The findings add to growing evidence that most …
Read More »Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to receive Iranian-made vaccine in next few days – medical academy chief
Iran’s supreme leader will receive the domestically-developed COVIran Barakat coronavirus vaccine in the near future, the country’s top doctor has said.
Read More »COVID19 – Iraq teetering on the brink of a third wave
Iraqi Ministry of Health and environment warned, on Thursday, of the third wave of COVID-19 that may be more severe than the previous two waves. “Covid-19 epidemic is still affecting people…, the third wave began in our country, in neighboring countries and globally despite the high number of vaccinated people,” …
Read More »A warning will be issued about rare heart inflammation related to Pfizer, Moderna vaccines, says FDA
The US Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday it plans to move quickly to add a warning about rare cases of heart inflammation in adolescents and young adults to fact sheets for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
Read More »AstraZeneca vaccine effective against COVID-19 variants identified in India
AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine is effective against Delta and Kappa variants, which were first identified in India, the company said on Tuesday, citing a study.
Read More »India’s vaccinations hit record with free COVID shots
India gave out a record 7.5 million vaccine doses on Monday under a federal campaign to inoculate all adults for free after weeks of criticism that a chaotic rollout had worsened a second wave that killed hundreds of thousands.
Read More »World economy back at pre-pandemic level: Data firm
The global economy has surpassed its pre-pandemic peak, data survey firm IHS Markit said Monday, as the recovery accelerates thanks to vaccination and the end of pandemic-related restrictions.
Read More »India’s Modi government starts free COVID shots for all adults
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday began no-cost COVID-19 vaccinations for all citizens over 18 years old — about 940 million people. It also took over vaccine procurement from the states, which had been struggling to arrange doses for their own vaccination programs.
Read More »US triples COVID vaccines for Taiwan amid tensions with China
A senior US administration official says Washington will ship 2.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan, more than tripling America’s previous allocation of shots for the island, amid increasing tensions with China. Washington is competing with Beijing to deepen geopolitical clout through so-called “vaccine diplomacy”, according to Reuters. The vaccines …
Read More »Palestinians reject 90K doses of Israel’s ‘about-to-expire’ Pfizer vaccines
The Palestinian Authority (PA) says it has scrapped an agreement with Israel on the transfer of one million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines from the regime to Palestinians in exchange for a similar number of doses from Palestinians later this year, saying Israel’s first batch of vaccines are unusable …
Read More »Delta COVID variant becoming globally dominant, WHO official says
The Delta variant of COVID-19, first identified in India, is becoming the globally dominant variant of the disease, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist said on Friday. Soumya Swaminathan also voiced disappointment in the failure of CureVac’s (5CV.DE) vaccine candidate in a trial to meet the WHO’s efficacy standard, in …
Read More »COVID-19: +5,000 new cases and 30 deaths in Iraq today
Iraq logged 5,189 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said today, Thursday. The daily epidemiological report on the COVID-19 situation stated that 30 COVID-19 deaths were registered today. On the other hand, 3,930 patients achieved full recovery. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in Iraq, …
Read More »Japan to ship 1 mln COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam
Japan will send 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Tuesday, as Vietnam seeks to accelerate its vaccine procurement drive to tackle a more stubborn wave of infections. The shipment of AstraZeneca PLC vaccines produced in Japan is due to arrive in Vietnam on …
Read More »Novavax COVID-19 vaccine more than 90% effective in US trial
Novavax Inc on Monday said its COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective, including against a variety of concerning variants of the coronavirus in a large, late-stage U.S.-based clinical trial. The study of nearly 30,000 volunteers in the United States and Mexico puts Novavax on track to file for emergency …
Read More »WTO head hopes for deal by July on vaccine-sharing
The head of the World Trade Organization said on Monday she hoped that members could reach an agreement by July on improving access to COVID-19 vaccines after months of talks on waiving drug firms’ intellectual property rights. “It’s going to be tough because there are still differences but we hope …
Read More »South Korea eases COVID-19 restrictions on concerts, sports games
South Korea began easing restrictions on large concerts and sports events on Monday after announcing last week it would loosen a series of coronavirus curbs as the country pushes ahead with its vaccination drive. Up to 4,000 people will be allowed to attend K-Pop concerts and other cultural shows from …
Read More »Russia tests COVID-19 vaccine as nasal spray for children: Agencies
Russia has tested a nasal spray form of its COVID-19 vaccine that is suitable for children aged 8-12, and plans to launch the new product in September, the scientist who led the development of the Sputnik V vaccine said on Saturday. Alexander Gintsburg, who heads the Gamaleya Institute that developed …
Read More »UK PM Johnson likely to delay England’s final stage of reopening-media
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to delay lifting the remaining coronavirus restrictions in England as data show a further rise in cases of the rapidly spreading Delta variant, British media reported. Johnson is due to announce on Monday whether the planned lifting of restrictions, which would see an …
Read More »Venezuela accuses US of blocking its access to Covax vaccines with sanctions
Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has stated that US sanctions are preventing the South American nation from accessing Covid vaccines by blocking a $10 million payment to the global Covax scheme. The statement made by the Venezuelan government official during a televised broadcast claimed that the US is blocking “resources …
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