WHO tells countries to improve COVID-19 response instead of waiting for a vaccine
MANILA, Philippines — The World Health Organization urged governments to focus on improving their response to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease instead of waiting for a vaccine to be developed and distributed.
Scientists around the world are racing to produce vaccines against the coronavirus—which could help end the health crisis—at unprecedented speed. But doctor Takeshi Kasai, WHO Western Pacific regional director, viewed the speed of vaccine development with optimism and caution.
“Even if they can really manage and develop safe and effective vaccine, the production capacity would not really meet the demand coming from the entire world,” Kasai said in a media briefing Tuesday.
“I think what is important is that we continue to improve our response and not just hope for the vaccine,” he added.
For President Rodrigo Duterte, the country’s hope of returning to normalcy rests on the development and distribution of a coronavirus vaccine. In a speech Monday, he said a vaccine is the “only salvation available to humankind.”
Duterte earlier asked China to give the Philippines priority access to coronavirus vaccines it is developing.
Last week, Malacañang said the Philippines was scheduled to start the clinical trials for Sputnik V, Russia’s coronavirus vaccine, in October. If the trials are successful, it may be registered with the country’s Food and Drug Administration by April next year.
Moscow claimed Sputnik V works even it has not undergone widespread clinical trials.
Doctor Socorro Escalante, WHO Essential Medicines and Health Technologies coordinator, said all candidate vaccines going to production should adhere to safety and efficacy standards.
“WHO on global level continues to coordinate and contact scientists and experts as well as the national regulatory authorities in Russia and we hope to get response in terms of evidence of this new vaccine,” she said.
‘Improve capacity’
The WHO regional director said it was “not important” the Philippines accounted for the most number of virus cases in the Western Pacific region, noting the focus should be on preventing the country’s health system from getting overwhelmed.
Two weeks ago, dozens of doctors’ groups warned the country was losing the coronavirus fight and called for a two-week lockdown in Mega Manila so the government can improve its pandemic response.
Kasai also said the country has been “continuously improving [its] capacity” in testing, contact tracing and health services.
“I think it is very important for the government to continue improving capacity and very important for government to continue [to] communicate with people to encourage them to maintain healthy behavior,” Kasai said. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
Pharma giants Sanofi and GSK said on July 29, 2020, that they have agreed to supply Britain with up to 60 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The agreement covers a vaccine candidate developed by France's Sanofi in partnership with the UK's GSK and is subject to a "final contract."
This thread collects some of the major developments in the search for a vaccine to ease the new coronavirus pandemic. (Main photo by AFP/Joel Saget)
As negotiations towards a new pandemic treaty pick up pace, observers warn of watered-down efforts to ensure equitable access to the medical products needed to battle future Covid-like threats.
Shaken by the pandemic, the World Health Organization's 194 member states are negotiating an international accord aimed at ensuring countries are better equipped to deal with the next catastrophe, or even prevent it altogether.
The process is still in the early stages, with the aim of reaching an agreement by May 2024.
But critics warn that revisions being made to the preliminary negotiating text are weakening the language -- notably in a key area aimed at preventing the rampant inequity seen in access to vaccines and other medical products during the Covid pandemic.
"I think it is a real step backwards," Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, told AFP. — AFP
Africa's first mRNA vaccine hub is ceremonially launched on Thursday to acclaim from the UN's global health chief, who hailed it as a historic shift to help poor countries gain access to life-saving jabs.
The facility was set up in the South African city of Cape Town in 2021 on the back of the success of revolutionary anti-Covid vaccines introduced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
"This precious project... will bring a paradigm shift in addressing the serious problem we faced, the equity problem, during the pandemic, so (that) it's not repeated again," World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tells a media briefing to mark the inauguration. — AFP
China has approved its first locally developed messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine against Covid-19, its manufacturer said Wednesday, months after the relaxation of strict Covid-zero regulations sparked a surge in cases.
The vaccine, developed by CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd, has been approved for "emergency use" by Beijing's health regulator, the company said in a statement.
It showed high efficacy in a trial in which it was used as a booster shot for people who have been given other types of vaccines, the company added, without offering further details. — AFP
COVID-19 vaccine maker Novavax raises doubts about its ability to continue its business, announcing plans to cut spending after struggles in rolling out its coronavirus jab.
Shares of Novavax plummeted 25 percent in extended trading, after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.
While the firm should have enough money to fund operations, the situation is "subject to significant uncertainty," it says in a statement. — AFP
The protection against Covid-19 from being previously infected lasts at least as long as that offered by vaccination, one of the largest studies conducted on the subject says.
Ten months after getting Covid, people still had an 88% lower risk of reinfection, hospitalisation and death, according to the study published in the Lancet journal.
That makes this natural immunity "at least as durable, if not more so" than two doses of Pfizer or Moderna's vaccines, the study says.
The authors nevertheless emphasized that their findings should not discourage vaccination, which remains the safest way to get immunity. — AFP
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