Colombia becomes first country in Americas to receive Covax shots
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombia became the first country in the Americas Monday to receive a delivery of coronavirus vaccines through the global Covax scheme that aims to ensure poorer countries are not left behind in the global immunization drive.
"Today is a very important milestone," said Colombia President Ivan Duque.
With more than 50 million confirmed cases and over 1.2 million deaths, countries of the Americas have experienced the worst impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said in a statement announcing the delivery.
The region will need to immunize approximately 700 million people to control the pandemic, it said.
"In a context where the availability of doses is still very limited, PAHO will continue to support the great efforts of countries in the region to obtain as many vaccines as soon as possible," said PAHO director Carissa Etienne.
The first-ever Covax jabs went to Ghana and Ivory coast last week.
Colombia received 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as part of a "First Wave" initiative under which some countries would receive some of their allotted quota early, said the PAHO.
It is one of the bodies behind the Covax initiative with others including the UN's World Health Organization, World Bank, and vaccine manufacturers.
"The arrival means that more health workers and high-risk populations can begin to be vaccinated," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"The COVID-19 pandemic can only end if vaccination occurs in an equitable way, and I am truly delighted to see vaccine doses in South America and other regions begin to be rolled out this week through Covax."
Colombia has recorded the second most coronavirus cases in Latin America, after Brazil, with more than 2.25 million and has also registered almost 60,000 deaths.
It began its immunization program two weeks ago and has so far vaccinated 130,000 people, mostly health care workers.
Elsewhere in the region, Peru, El Salvador and Bolivia are also expected to receive vaccines soon under the "First Wave" initiative.
This should be followed by delivery of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine to all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean starting this month, said the PAHO.
"Access to vaccines through COVAX will increase steadily month by month and about 280 million doses are expected to reach the Americas and the Caribbean by the end of 2021," it added.
Latin American countries have also independently ordered millions of vaccine doses from manufacturers worldwide.
The PAHO stressed that until vaccination is widespread, basic public health measures remain the foundation of epidemic response.
"For public health authorities, this means continued screening, contact tracing, isolation, assisted quarantine, and quality care. And for individuals, it means continuing to practice physical distancing, hand hygiene, use of masks, ventilation of spaces, and avoidance of crowds," it said.
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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