Health
New reckoning for WHO vaccine plan as governments go it alone – Japan Today
The World Health Organization will this week receive a raft of pledges of support for its plan for COVID-19 vaccines for all.
But the agency has already had to scale back its ambition.
The United States, Japan, Britain and the European Union have struck their own deals to secure millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses for their citizens, ignoring the U.N. body’s warnings that “vaccine nationalism” will squeeze supplies.
If other countries that can afford it pursue a similar approach, the WHO’s strategy for fighting the coronavirus pandemic globally and equitably risks coming undone, experts warn.
“If that were to happen, it’s fairly clear that there would be insufficient volumes of vaccine available for any other countries, particularly in the first six to nine months,” said Alex Harris, head of global policy at the Wellcome Trust health charity.
Countries wishing to be part of the WHO initiative, dubbed COVAX, must submit expressions of interest by Monday.
More than 170 countries, including Canada, Norway, South Korea and Britain, have submitted non-binding expressions of interest to participate in the scheme, which the WHO has touted as the only global initiative to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to rich and poor countries alike.
It has signed up nine COVID-19 vaccine candidates and set out plans to obtain and deliver 2 billion doses by the end of 2021 across countries that sign up.
But it has struggled to get wealthier countries on board in full beyond pledges of funding and warm words about donating surplus vaccines.
Last week, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus criticised nations that hoard vaccines, warning the strategy will worsen the pandemic. In a last-ditch call for support ahead of Monday’s deadline, he wrote letters to members urging their participation.
The EU Commission is “fully committed” to the success of COVAX while it enters into parallel talks with vaccine manufacturers for supplies for the bloc, a spokeswoman told Reuters.
Britain said it was supporting COVAX to ensure equal access to vaccines, including funding, while doing its own bilateral supply deals.
White House did not immediately comment on the situation. The United States did not participate in the launch of the programme in April or a fundraising event in May.
DEALMAKING
The EU’s aggressive dealmaking for vaccine supplies and tepid statements about COVAX have in particular undermined the initiative, which is co-led by the WHO, the GAVI vaccines alliance and the CEPI Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
The European Commission is likely to pledge cash for COVAX but it is also securing its own supply deals for member states, deeming COVAX too slow and expensive.
Brussels has told countries they can help fund COVAX, but can’t seek to buy vaccines via both schemes, a Commission spokesman said. Forced to choose, some countries have pulled out of COVAX entirely.
The Czech Republic and Portugal were listed as early backers, but government support appears to have cooled after joining the EU vaccine procurement program.
Prague has opted for the EU program instead.
Portugal has asked for an initial delivery of 6.9 million doses of vaccine when the EU program becomes available, the government has said.
Asked if it would take part in COVAX, a spokesman for the country’s drug regulator INFARMED said it would coordinate its participation in the program with other European nations.
Other WHO members, which are already major donors to existing global vaccine programs unrelated to COVID-19, are still on the fence too.
Brazil, with the world’s second worst coronavirus outbreak outside the United States, has not yet decided whether to participate, a health ministry spokeswoman said.
In Japan, deputy Health Minister Hisashi Inatsu said he would like to enter discussions about participating, but the government has not said if it will submit an official expression of interest by Monday.
Like many wealthy nations, Japan has ordered its own supply of shots, with almost 250 millions of doses of potential vaccines booked from AstraZeneca, Pfizer and BioNTech.
RADICAL DEPARTURE
Officials say both COVAX and government deals can run in parallel, but that’s a radical departure from the original plan outlined in the spring.
In acting alone, countries will create “a few winners and many losers”, Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, warned.
It also means poorer or less powerful countries may go to the back of the queue for vaccines that could help them control the pandemic.
“The risk is that access to COVID-19 vaccines will be defined by purchasing power and the ability to sign advance purchase deals rather than the medical needs or the shifting epidemiological situations,” said Dimitri Eynikel, EU representative on medicines and vaccines for Doctors Without Borders.
The initiative is all the more significant for the WHO as scrutiny grows on its handling of the pandemic. The results of the first round will highlight the challenge of tackling a global crisis with competing individual interests.
One senior European government official explained the dilemma facing wealthy nations: how to support a vaccine for developing countries when there may not be enough for your own population. Diverting resources abroad “is difficult to sell at home”, he said.
© Thomson Reuters 2020.
Health
April 22nd to 30th is Immunization Awareness Week – Oldies 107.7
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Health
AHS confirms case of measles in Edmonton – CityNews Edmonton
Alberta Health Services (AHS) has confirmed a case of measles in Edmonton, and is advising the public that the individual was out in public while infectious.
Measles is an extremely contagious disease that is spread easily through the air, and can only be prevented through immunization.
AHS says individuals who were in the following locations during the specified dates and times, may have been exposed to measles.
- April 16
- Edmonton International Airport, international arrivals and baggage claim area — between 3:20 p.m. and 6 p.m.
- April 20
- Stollery Children’s Hospital Emergency Department — between 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- April 22
- 66th Medical Clinic (13635 66 St NW Edmonton) — between 12:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Pharmacy 66 (13637 66 St NW Edmonton) — between 12:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- April 23
- Stollery Children’s Hospital Emergency Department — between 4:40 a.m. to 9:33 a.m.
AHS says anyone who attended those locations during those times is at risk of developing measles if they’ve not had two documented doses of measles-containing vaccine.
Those who have not had two doses, who are pregnant, under one year of age, or have a weakened immune system are at greatest risk of getting measles and should contact Health Link at 1-877-720-0707.
Symptoms
Symptoms of measles include a fever of 38.3° C or higher, cough, runny nose, and/or red eyes, a red blotchy rash that appears three to seven days after fever starts, beginning behind the ears and on the face and spreading down the body and then to the arms and legs.
If you have any of these symptoms stay home and call Health Link.
In Alberta, measles vaccine is offered, free of charge, through Alberta’s publicly funded immunization program. Children in Alberta typically receive their first dose of measles vaccine at 12 months of age, and their second dose at 18 months of age.
Health
U.S. tightens rules for dairy cows a day after bird flu virus fragments found in pasteurized milk samples – Toronto Star
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Infected cows were already prohibited from being transported out of state, but that was based on the physical characteristics of the milk, which looks curdled when a cow is infected, or a cow has decreased lactation or low appetite, both symptoms of infection.
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