Vaccination

“Many governments of low-income countries may not be able to pay the costs of deploying a new Covid-19 vaccine. They may, however, be able to pay in smaller installments over time. One way to provide this financing is a bond structure backed by OECD countries that would allow the money to be raised in capital markets. The OECD countries would make a legally binding commitment to pay investors in bonds over time.” (Rebecca Weintraub, Prashant Yadav and Seth Berkeley, Harvard Business Review). … [Read more...] about Vaccine nationalism and challenges for developing countries

Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartanto said on September 7 that the government had earmarked 3.8 trillion IDR (256.8 million USD) for the down payment for purchasing COVID-19 vaccines. At an online press conference, he said the government plans to spend 37 trillion IDR (2.51 billion USD) next year for a multi-year vaccine development programme. The government is eyeing several potential vaccines that are currently under development. The first is the Merah Putih vaccine, which is being developed by the Research and Technology Ministry and the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology. The second is the vaccine being developed by state pharmaceutical holding company PT Bio Farma in cooperation with Sinovac Biotech of China. The third vaccine is the one being developed by United Arab Emirates' Group 42 (G42) Healthcare. According to Airlangga, Indonesia plans to procure 290 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine next year and 30 million doses of … [Read more...] about Indonesia to set aside over 2.7 billion USD for COVID-19 vaccine procurement

It called the move to pause the trial "a routine action", but the setback briefly spooked markets as the world races for a vaccine that could signal the beginning of the end of the pandemic.  … [Read more...] about In race for vaccine, safety trumps speed

Loi Song Moi Company’s vegetarian products, including the Minh Chay vegetarian paste, that led to 15 botulism cases in Vietnam – PHOTO: VNA HCMC - On September 8, the World Health Organization (WHO) sent 10 doses of the botulism antitoxin to Vietnam from its warehouse in Switzerland to help the country treat patients poisoned by Loi Song Moi Company’s Minh Chay vegetarian paste contaminated with the botulinum toxin. … [Read more...] about WHO donates 10 botulism antitoxin vaccine doses to Vietnam

The vaccine pillar of ACT, called COVAX, hopes to secure enough vaccine to deliver 2 billion doses by the end of 2021, though concrete fund raising has, so far, lagged goals. Volume buying and possible tiered pricing offered by some manufacturers could help make a vaccine more affordable, Swaminathan said. … [Read more...] about WHO says vaccine safety top priority, as AstraZeneca pauses study