NAIROBI (Reuters) – Global pharmaceutical firms should license production of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa rather than just do piecemeal contract deals, an African Union special envoy said on Thursday. AU coronavirus envoy Strive Masiyiwa was speaking a day after Pfizer and BioNTech announced a “fill and finish” deal with South Africa’s Biovac Institute under which it will carry out the […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Public Health England (PHE) said on Friday Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines were effective against symptomatic COVID-19 infection in high risk groups, citing a preprint study based on 1 million vulnerable people. Overall vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease in risk groups was around 60% after one dose of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech with little difference by age, […]

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California on Friday started offering residents a digital record of their coronavirus vaccinations that they can use to access businesses or events that require proof they got the shots. The state’s public health and technology departments said the new tool allows Californians […]

MOSCOW (Reuters) – City authorities in Moscow announced on Wednesday that all workers with public facing roles will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, one of the most forceful steps taken anywhere in the world to compel employees to get shots. A decree listed a range of jobs – from hairdressers, retailers and taxi drivers to bank tellers, teachers […]

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Patients with blood cancers are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, and there has been concern that such patients mount poor responses to COVID vaccination. Perhaps surprising, then, is a new study showing good responses in a subgroup of these patients who underwent intensive treatment with allogeneic hematopoietic […]

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Moderna has filed for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to give its vaccine to adolescents aged 12-17, the company said in a news release. If Moderna receives authorization, it would become the second vaccine distributed to adolescents in the United States. […]

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. The Biden administration will buy and donate 500 million Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses in an effort to inoculate more of the global population, according to The Washington Post . An initial 200 million doses will be distributed between August and the end of this year, with […]

ZURICH (Reuters) – The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Monday pushed guidance for doctors not to use the blood thinner heparin to treat rare blood clots and low blood platelets in people who got AstraZeneca’s or Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 shots. Europe’s drugs regulator, seeking to ensure proper treatment, highlighted the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) interim guidance. […]

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Across the nation, states are offering prizes to boost inoculation rates in the country. In Ohio, the “Vax-a-Million” plan has gained national acclaim, and for two Ohio residents, the plan became reality. The “Vax-a-Million” plan was introduced by Gov. Mike DeWine (R) as a way to […]

NAIROBI (Reuters) – The World Health Organization said on Tuesday it was reviewing coronavirus data from Seychelles after the health ministry said more than a third of people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week had been fully vaccinated. Both the ministry and the WHO stressed that the majority of those who tested positive had not been vaccinated […]