As COVID patent war rages on, pharma group seeks fairer future access
London, UK Reuters An alliance of companies has pledged to ensure equitable access to vaccines and treatments for pandemics, as the friction around intellectual property rights for COVID-19 interventions between the pharmaceutical industry and developing nations endures. At the heart of the plan is a commitment to set aside part of the production of vaccines […]
COVID-19 vaccine scheme for world’s poorest pushes for delivery slowdown
London, UKReuters Leaders of the global scheme aiming to get COVID-19 vaccines to the world’s poorest are pushing manufacturers including Pfizer and Moderna to cut or slow deliveries of about half a billion shots so doses are not wasted. COVAX, the World Health Organization-led scheme, wants between 400 and 600 million fewer vaccines doses than […]
COVID-19 vaccines: Could Novavax win over some religious sceptics?
Novavax’s CEO has framed his company’s vaccine as an alternative for those who object to the use of fetal cell lines in the development of existing popular vaccines. JACK JENKINS, of Religion News Service, reports…
Thousands of Nicaraguans go to Honduras border for vaccines
Tegucigalpa, HondurasReuters Nearly 8,000 Nicaraguans received COVID-19 vaccines at two customs border crossings with neighbouring Honduras in recent days, Honduran health authorities said on Monday, as supplies of the inoculations in Nicaragua have run low. Promoting the vaccines for Nicaraguans, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez wrote in a post on Twitter that “the solidarity and […]
COVID-19’s pharma billionaires could vaccinate the world’s poor, charities say
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation COVID-19 vaccine profits have created at least nine billionaires whose combined wealth would be enough to inoculate all of the world’s poor, a coalition of charities and activists said on Thursday, calling for a more equitable distribution of jabs. The new billionaires – who include senior executives from US firm Moderna […]
Essay: Six important truths about COVID-19 vaccines
In an article first published on The Conversation, US-based pharmacist SARAH LYNCH and immunologist KANNEBOYINA NAGARAJU dispel some common myths about the COVID-19 vaccines…
Explainer: Can coronavirus vaccines reach developing countries?
Thomson Reuters Foundation Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is more stable than expected at temperatures that ordinary refrigerators can provide and can be distributed using existing cold-chain shipping and storage infrastructure. That opens the door for its early use in hard to reach places that might not be appropriate for Pfizer Inc’s vaccine which needs ultra-cold storage. Vials labelled “COVID-19 […]
Explainer – Where are we in the COVID-19 vaccine race?
Reuters India on Friday became the fourth country to approve a coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, authorising the vaccine’s rollout in coming weeks in the country with the second highest number of infections. The following is what we know about the race to deliver vaccines to help end the coronavirus pandemic, which […]
Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca: Which COVID-19 vaccine could reach developing countries first?
Thomson Reuters Foundation Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca as it battles a major winter surge driven by a new, highly contagious variant of the virus. Britain has already ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, and the government said it had […]
US authorises Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, elderly next in line for shots
New York City, US Reuters Moderna Inc’s coronavirus vaccine on Friday became the second to receive emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration, welcome news to a nation with a staggering COVID-19 death toll of over 307,000 lives lost. Millions of doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected to be added to the […]