Tag: COVAX

India resumes surplus vaccine exports after meeting domestic demand

Frank

INDIA – After a seven-month break, India, one of the world’s largest Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, has resumed bilateral vaccine exports after two-thirds of its adult population has received their first dose. Over the last week, Delhi has exported approximately four million doses of domestically manufactured vaccines to Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar – all developing countries suffering from vaccine shortages. Last month, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced that India will resume the supplies abroad, an it has rolled out the vaccine export program by giving preference to the neighbouring…

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WHO “deeply concerned” over Emergency Use Listing vaccines row

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UNITED NATIONS – The World Health Organization has state that it is “deeply concerned” that Covid-19 vaccines, which have proven to be effective and have been approved by the global health body for emergency use, are not being recognized in all countries. Addressing a press briefing, Dr Bruce Aylward, Senior Advisor to WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the organisation again calls on “all countries to ensure the recognition of vaccines proven to be efficacious and safe and certainly that meet WHO Emergency Use Listing criteria.” On the…

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Emirates SkyCargo clinches global milestone transporting pharma products

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DUBAI – Emirates SkyCargo, the world leader in temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical air transport, has achieved a remarkable operational milestone having moved over 400 million kilos of pharmaceuticals in just five years. Emirates SkyCargo has raised the bar in the air cargo industry for the safe and efficient transport of pharmaceuticals in September 2016 by launching its dedicated GDP certified pharma handling facility at Dubai International Airport and unveiling its three-tiered specialized product – Emirates Pharma. Emirates SkyCargo launched the pharma corridors initiative across select destinations on its network in response to…

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IAVG concerned about the evolution of the pandemic

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SWITZERLAND – The Independent Allocation Vaccine Group (IAVG), which was established by the WHO in January 2021 and is taked to review and assess Vaccine Allocation Decision (VAD) proposals generated by the COVAX Facility Joint Allocation Taskforce (JAT) has expressed concerns about the evolution of the pandemic. The body, which deliberates on the volumes of vaccines that should be allocated to each participant under COVAX within a given time frame, is fearful of the health, social and economic impacts of the pandemic and is raising awareness of governments, manufacturers and…

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Increase in local vaccine production prompts India to resume exports

Frank

INDIA – Indian government officials have announced that the nation will resume COVID-19 vaccines exports next month, a move likely to help developing nations that have struggled to vaccinate their populations after the Asian nation halted overseas shipments. India’s health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, said that the vaccines production will likely increase in the coming weeks and would help fulfill the nations commitment to COVAX- a United Nations-backed vaccine sharing initiative. He said that India will produce over 300 million vaccine doses in October and hit a target of at least…

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Africa glares at an insurgence of variants due to vaccines shortfall

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AFRICA – The goal of vaccinating 40 percent of Africa’s population against coronavirus by December appears elusive as the continent grapples with cutbacks on doses supplied through multilateral platforms, the WHO has said. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said the continent faces a nearly 500 million vaccine shortfalls, as the COVAX facility slashes 150 million doses that were slated for delivery this year. Only 17 percent of the continent’s population will now be vaccinated by the end of this year, compared with the 40 percent target set by…

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India repudiates Covishield supplies to COVAX as BioNTech seeks vaccine approval for kids

Frank

INDIA – India has decided not to share Covid vaccines with the rest of the world through the international vaccine alliance spearheaded by the World Health Organization and Gavi, Covax, till all the adults are immunized in the country. In March, India imposed a hold on all major exports of Covid vaccines affecting deliveries to the Covax facility and slowing down vaccination exercises in Africa. Yet, last month, COVAX had raised hopes that the Asian country would soon resume supply of locally manufactured Covid-19 vaccines as the country experienced rising…

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COVAX cuts vaccine delivery forecasts to developing world by 25%

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AFRICA – Covax has slashed its forecasts for Covid-19 vaccine deliveries to the developing world by about 25 per cent this year after India’s export ban, manufacturing problems and delays in approvals of new shots knocked the programme off track.  Deliveries under the scheme to provide vaccines to low- and middle-income countries are ramping up, with 1.1bn doses set to be available for the rest of the year. However, the World Health Organization-backed programme will fall short of its target of delivering 2 billion vaccines this year, with a total…

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Liberia’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign receive major boost with over 300,000 doses

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LIBERIA – Liberia has marked a significant milestone in the fight against COVID-19 as they launched the vaccination campaign of 302,400 doses of the Johnson and Jonson (J&J) COVID-19 Vaccine donated by the United States Government through the COVAX facility. The West African country received the vaccine donation from the United States Government through the COVAX facility; a partnership of CEPI, GAVI, UNICEF and WHO to expand the COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the country. The country had halted its vaccination campaign after the 96,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that…

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Health officials concerned about expiry date of vaccines resulting in wastages

Frank

AFRICA – With millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses expected to be available to African countries in the coming weeks, public health officials are worried about the short expiration dates. Covax has allocated 60 million doses to 49 African countries to be shipped between July and September 2021, said Matshidiso Moeti, the Africa regional director at the World Health Organisation, at a press briefing on Thursday. This comes after wealthy nations, which have vaccinated substantial amounts of their populations, began donating doses on a broader scale. At least 820 million two-dose…

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