Globalization

A flight carrying 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine has arrived in Ghana as part of a global effort to immunise the world's poorest people. The delivery comes eight months after the launch of the COVAX initiative - the World Health Organisation's (WHO) sharing scheme which is aimed at ensuring global vaccine equity. The shots will be used to kick-start a vaccination drive that will prioritise frontline health workers and others at high risk, according to a plan presented by Ghanaian health officials. Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world "This is a momentous occasion, as the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines into Ghana is critical in bringing the pandemic to an end," Anne-Claire Dufay of UNICEF Ghana, and WHO country representative, Francis Kasolo, said in a statement. Advertisement "These 600,000 COVAX vaccines are part of an initial tranche of deliveries." They added the shots paid for by the scheme … [Read more...] about COVID-19: Ghana receives 600,000 free vaccine doses as part of global scheme

Ghana on Wednesday became the first country to receive vaccines as part of the United Nations-led COVAX program, which is set to deliver tools to fight the coronavirus pandemic to 92 low and medium-income nations, funded by the rest of the world. Thousands of kilometers away, Germany's coronavirus vaccination drive is now accelerating after a slow start and a series of production delays by producers BioNTech-Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca. The new momentum should mean that Europe's No. 1 economy can ease its tough curbs on public movement within weeks rather than months . The West is, however, again facing accusations of vaccine nationalism as wealthy nations prioritize their domestic inoculation drives amid a race to reopen tens of thousands of businesses that were forced to close and are on the brink of bankruptcy. In Germany, the pressure is even more intense in an election year after a 5% economic contraction in 2020. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) called on … [Read more...] about COVAX: How vaccines for all will help the global recovery

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian economist and former finance minister, has been appointed to head the World Trade Organization, becoming the first African and woman to helm the global trade body. Okonjo-Iweala takes over as the global trade body struggles to remain relevant amid growing protectionism and trade tensions and an economic crisis unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic. From reviving WTO's dispute settlement process to policing China, the new director-general has her task cut out as she looks to restore global faith in the trade body. "What it [the WTO] needs is someone who has the capability to drive reform, who knows trade and who does not want to see business as usual. And that is me," she said. Okonjo-Iweala said her top priority would be to deal with the economic and health fallouts of the pandemic. WTO members should accelerate efforts to lift export restrictions on medical supplies and vaccines. "The WTO can contribute so much more to helping stop the … [Read more...] about Daunting challenges await WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

BioNTech's boss has said he is confident the company's vaccine will be effective against the new coronavirus variant. Ugur Sahin said, however, that more tests were needed before he could be completely sure of the efficacy of the drug. The Pfizer/BioNTech jab is the only vaccine approved for use in the UK so far. It is also being rolled out in the US. Latest coronavirus updates from the UK and around the world Mr Sahin said that the company had "scientific confidence" that the vaccine would be effective, as the new form of COVID-19 shares 99% of the proteins with the previous iterations. Advertisement "The likelihood that our vaccine works... is relatively high," he added. But he acknowledged more research was needed into the mutation, which is prevalent in London and the southeast of England. More from Covid-19 Reading and Leeds festivals will go ahead in August, organisers confirm COVID vaccine side-effects, … [Read more...] about COVID-19: BioNTech boss confident coronavirus vaccine will work against new variant

England's deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has appeared on Sky News to answer some questions from the public on the coronavirus crisis. He shared his perspective on the public's queries and concerns on topics including the vaccine rollout, vaccine hesitancy and lifting the lockdown. Below are some of the key things from the Q&A, followed by a short analysis from science correspondent Thomas Moore , who offers his insight on each answer. 1. Since we hit the first 15 million jabs target there has been a drop-off in the daily vaccination numbers. Why? "That's really very simple to explain. There are always going to be supply fluctuations. These are new vaccines and by and large the manufacturers have never made them or anything like them before," Professor Van-Tam said. Advertisement Using one of his now-famous analogies Prof Van-Tam compared the manufacture of vaccines to beer-making. He said you set the equipment up and let … [Read more...] about Vaccine side-effects, fertility and jab shortages – Van-Tam answers your questions