GENEVA/LONDON, September 21 (Reuters): A total of 156 countries have joined the global COVAX scheme intended to ensure fair distribution of supplies of future vaccines against COVID-19, an alliance led by the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday. The list includes 64 wealthier, self-financing countries, and accounts for about two-thirds of the global population, a statement issued by the WHO and GAVI vaccine alliance said, after a deadline of last Friday to make bindi

New York, September 15 (IANS): Even as the world is rushing for solutions to fight Covid-19, developing and manufacturing vaccines will not end the pandemic quickly unless they are delivered equitably, warn Bill and Melinda Gates. According to a projection by Northeastern University, if rich countries buy up the first two billion doses of vaccine instead of making sure they are distributed equitably, then almost twice as many people could die from Covid-19. "Researchers are

HARARE, September 10 (Reuters): International donors have raised $700 million - less than half the target - to purchase future coronavirus vaccines for poor countries in a global initiative to ensure eventual vaccines do not go only to rich countries, a World Health Organization official said on Thursday. The COVAX Advanced Market Commitment has an initial target of $2 billion to buy the vaccines. "Up to today, what has been mobilised so far is $700 million ... So

WASHINGTON, September 8 (Reuters): Republican President Donald Trump, accused by Joe Biden of putting lives at risk in his handling of the coronavirus, on Monday called his Democratic rival "stupid" and demanded an apology for what Trump called anti-vaccine rhetoric. Trailing in national opinion polls as the U.S. death toll from the virus approaches 190,000, Trump unleashed a broad attack against both the former vice president, his opponent in the Nov. 3 election, and

TORONTO/CHICAGO, August 31 (Reuters): High-profile COVID-19 vaccines developed in Russia and China share a potential shortcoming: They are based on a common cold virus that many people have been exposed to, potentially limiting their effectiveness, some experts say. CanSino Biologics' vaccine, approved for military use in China, is a modified form of adenovirus type 5, or Ad5. The company is in talks to get emergency approval in several countries before completing large-sca

GENEVA/MANILA, August 18 (Reuters): Nations that hoard possible COVID-19 vaccines while excluding others will deepen the pandemic, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday, issuing a last-ditch call for countries to join a global vaccine pact. The WHO has an Aug. 31 deadline for wealthier nations to join the "COVAX Global Vaccines Facility" for sharing vaccine hopefuls with developing countries. Tedros said he sent a letter to t

BRUSSELS, August 14 (Reuters): The European Union has agreed to buy at least 300 million doses of AstraZeneca's potential COVID-19 vaccine in its first such advance purchase deal, which could weaken plans led by the World Health Organization (WHO) for a global approach. The European Commission, which is negotiating on behalf of all 27 EU member states, said the deal included an option to purchase 100 million additional doses from the British drugmaker should its vaccine prove sa

Moscow, August 10 (IANS):  Russia is reportedly going ahead with its plan to register the world's first Covid-19 vaccine this week before it starts mass vaccination in October, despite safety concerns raised from several quarters, including the WHO. Russia's Deputy Health Minister Oleg Gridnev recently revealed plans to register a Covid-19 vaccine on August 12, Sputnik news agency reported. Russia is the fourth worst-hit nation after the US, Brazil and India. The vac

GENEVA, JULY 27 (Reuters): Nurses and other health workers must be top priority for the first COVID-19 vaccines, especially as they are often left without enough protection against the virus in their frontline jobs, the International Council of Nurses said on Monday. An estimated 1.5 million health care workers have been infected, three times the number in early June, it said, citing figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the novel coronavirus which has infected so

Beijing, July 21 (IANS) A phase 2 trial of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate conducted in China has found that the vaccine is safe and induces an immune response, according to a new study published in the journal The Lancet. This comes barely 24 hours after on Monday The Lancet only published that a Covid-19 vaccine developed by scientists at the Oxford University produces strong immune responses in both parts of the immune system, showed results of Phase I/II trial. The results from

New Delhi, July 19 (PTI) At least seven Indian pharma companies are working to develop a vaccine against coronavirus as they join global efforts to find a preventive to check the spread of the deadly virus that has already infected more than 14 million globally.   Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute, Zydus Cadila, Panacea Biotec, Indian Immunologicals, Mynvax and Biological E are among the domestic pharma firms working on the coronavirus vaccines in India.   Vacc

Hyderabad, July 17 (IANS): Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech on Friday announced that the Phase-I clinical trials of India's first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin began across the country on July 15.   "This is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial on 375 volunteers in India," the company said in a brief statement.   The leading vaccine maker had announced on June 29 that it successfully developed Covaxin in collaboration wit

New Delhi, July 16 (PTI): India’s pharmaceutical industry will be able to produce Covid-19 vaccines not just for the country but also for the entire world, according to Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.   A lot of “very important things have been done” in India and its pharma industry is doing work “to help make the coronavirus vaccine building on other great capacities that they have used for other diseases”, said the Co-Chair