World Health Organization chiefs urged rich countries to stop striking bilateral deals with vaccine manufacturers as low and middle-income countries are not yet receiving supplies of Covid inoculation.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries that have ordered excess doses to immediately hand them over to the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility
Europe director Hans Kluge says rapid spread of new variant is cause for alarm
Europe is at a tipping point in the course of the pandemic, the World Health Organization has said, warning that the coronavirus is spreading very fast across the continent and the arrival of a new variant has created an “alarming situation”.
Continue reading...UN body says scientists were due to be deployed to country on Tuesday, but China says negotiations ongoing
China has attempted to downplay concerns over its refusal to authorise a fact-finding mission to the country by the World Health Organization to study the origins of Covid-19, saying it is still negotiating access with the UN body.
A day after the head of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he was “very disappointed” that China had not authorised the entry of the 10-strong research team, led by Dr Peter Ben Embarek, China insisted there had been a “misunderstanding” between the two sides about agreed dates for the visit, adding that discussions were ongoing.
Continue reading...Foreign minister Marise Payne issues mild statement, but opposition parties attack China’s ‘unacceptable’ actions and ‘paranoia’
The Australian government has called on China to allow a visit by World Health Organization experts investigating how the coronavirus pandemic started, insisting the country should grant them visas “without delay”.
Canberra raised its concerns on Wednesday over reports that Chinese authorities had blocked the arrival of a WHO team investigating the early cases of Covid-19 in Wuhan.
Continue reading...Experts from the World Health Organization have told the end of year media briefing that even though the coronavirus pandemic has been severe, it is 'not necessarily the big one', and that the virus is likely to become endemic and the world will have to learn to live with it. The head of the WHO emergencies programme, Dr Mike Ryan, warned that the next pandemic may be worse, while Prof David Heymann, the chair of the WHO's strategic and technical advisory group for infectious hazards, said the 'destiny' of the virus is to become endemic, even as vaccines begin to be rolled out across the world
Continue reading...Experts tell end of year media briefing that virus is likely to become endemic and the world will have to learn to live with it
World Health Organization experts have warned that even though the coronavirus pandemic has been very severe, it is “not necessarily the big one”, and that the world will have to learn to live with Covid-19.
The “destiny” of the virus is to become endemic, even as vaccines begin to be rolled out in the US and UK, says Professor David Heymann, the chair of the WHO’s strategic and technical advisory group for infectious hazards.
Continue reading...Australia, whose early call for inquiry sparked furious Chinese response, says it expects ‘robust, independent and comprehensive’ report
Australia is pushing to ensure the global inquiry it helped trigger into the early handling of the Covid-19 pandemic doesn’t pull any punches – a move that has the potential to risk further recriminations from China.
Amid scepticism among several government backbenchers that the inquiry will fully address Chinese authorities’ early missteps and reporting delays, Australia is using its final months on a top World Health Organization board to press for the investigation to remain robust and independent.
Continue reading...When Chinese scientists alerted colleagues to a new virus last December, suspicion fell on a Wuhan market. What have health officials learned since then?
Maria van Kerkhove was staying with her sister in the US for the Christmas holidays, but checking her emails. As always. Every day there are signals of potential trouble, said the World Health Organization virologist who was to become a household name and face within weeks.
“There’s always something that happens at Christmas time. There’s always some alert, or a signal of a suspected case. The last several years it’s been Mers [Middle East respiratory syndrome] – a suspect case travelling to Malaysia or Indonesia or Korea or somewhere in Asia from the Middle East. So there’s always some kind of signal. There’s always something that happens,” she said.
Continue reading...Exclusive: document intended to help prevent future deaths allegedly pulled from website after request
The World Health Organization has been accused of conspiring with the Italian health ministry to remove a report revealing the country’s mismanagement at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic – the publication of which was intended to prevent future deaths.
Italy was the first European country to become engulfed by the pandemic. The report, produced by the WHO scientist Francesco Zambon and 10 colleagues across Europe, was funded by Kuwait’s government with the objective of providing information to countries yet to be hit.
Continue reading...Advisory meeting will discuss feasibility of human challenge trials despite first jabs becoming available
The World Health Organization is holding discussions on Monday about the feasibility of trials in which healthy young volunteers are deliberately infected with coronavirus to hasten vaccine development – amid questions over whether they should go ahead given the promising data from the frontrunner vaccine candidates.
Some scientists have reservations about exposing volunteers to a virus for which there is no cure, although there are treatments that can help patients. However, proponents argue that the risks of Covid-19 to the young and healthy are minimal, and the benefits to society are high.
Continue reading...World Health Organization leaders have warned vaccines do not mean the end of the coronavirus pandemic, and renewed their advice to follow guidelines during the Christmas and new year period
Continue reading...Spending time with friends and family at Christmas is ‘not worth putting them or yourself at risk’, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, has said.
He advised people to consider not travelling during the next few months, and urged ‘extreme caution’ despite last week seeing the first decline in newly reported cases globally since September, saying these gains could easily be lost
The hunt for a coronavirus vaccine is showing promise but it is premature to say the end of the pandemic is nigh. Several rich countries have signed a 'frenzy of deals' that could prevent many poor nations from getting access to immunisation until at least 2024. Also, many drug firms are potentially refusing to waive patents and other intellectual property rights in order to secure exclusive rights to any cure.
Michael Safi, the Guardian's international correspondent, explains why 'vaccine nationalisation' could scupper global efforts to kill the virus and examines what is being done to tackle the issue
Continue reading...US president delivers boasts and falsehoods while other members focus on dealing with the pandemic
Donald Trump has taken his campaign to deny the results of the US presidential election global, telling world leaders at the G20 summit that he looks forward to “working with you again for a long time”.
The gathering of leaders of major world economies is being held online this year, because of the pandemic, but could have been an occasion for Trump to bid his peers goodbye and pledge American support to the battle against Covid-19.
Continue reading...Michael Ryan, the head of the World Health Organization’s emergencies programme, has said that while vaccines are effective tools, they are not the lone solution to ending the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Some people think that vaccines will be, in a sense, the solution, the unicorn we’ve all been chasing,’ he said during a virtual briefing in Geneva on Wednesday, warning other measures such as social distancing needed to be maintained.
It comes after positive efficacy results from late-stage trials of two potential Covid-19 vaccines
End of 11th outbreak is first time for nearly three years country has been free of Ebola
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has declared an end to its 11th Ebola outbreak, nearly six months after cases were reported.
The end of the outbreak in the western province of Équateur marks the first time that the vast central African nation has been Ebola-free in about two and a half years.
Continue reading...Portugal imposes state of emergency; global cases pass 50m; infections in Germany ‘levelling off’
Hungary and Portugal have become the latest countries in Europe to impose tough new restrictions to stem the second wave of the coronavirus, as the first signs of light at the end of the tunnel emerged in France, Germany and Belgium.
As the US pharmaceuticals company Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, said their experimental Covid-19 vaccine appeared safe and more than 90% effective, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, announced a partial lockdown.
Continue reading...New restrictions have begun across Europe, many greeted by protests
The head of the World Health Organization has gone into self-quarantine after someone he had been in contact with tested positive for Covid-19.
With the virus again spreading rapidly across Europe and elsewhere, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is based in Geneva, made the announcement by Twitter late on Sunday night, but stressed he had no symptoms.
Continue reading...WHO tells countries ‘not to give up’ as virus fatigue sets in; street clashes in Barcelona; US daily deaths rise 10% in two weeks
Police in Italy have fired tear gas to disperse angry crowds in the northern cities of Turin and Milan after protests against the latest round of anti-coronavirus restrictions flared into violence.
As the head of the World Health Organization urged countries “not to give up” in their fight to contain the virus, luxury goods shops, including a Gucci fashion shop, were ransacked in the centre of Turin as crowds of youths took to the streets after nightfall, letting off firecrackers and lighting coloured flares.
Continue reading...The World Health Organization has warned of a ‘critical juncture’ of the pandemic, particularly in the northern hemisphere, and urged heads of state to take action to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
European leaders have increased restrictions as cases have continued rising. Wales has started a two-week ‘firebreak’ lockdown and Portugal’s parliament has passed a law making the wearing of masks mandatory in many outdoor situations
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