WHO on vaccines: World on brink of moral failure

GENEVA: The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that the world was on the brink of a “catastrophic moral failure” on distributing coronavirus vaccines, urging countries and manufacturers to share vaccine doses more fairly around the world.

“Not only does this me-first approach leave the world’s poorest and most vulnerable at risk, it is also self-defeating,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the opening of the body’s annual executive board meeting. “Ultimately, these actions will only prolong the pandemic.”

Brazil’s health regulator gave emergency approval on Sunday for two vaccines, kicking off a mass inoculation campaign amid a devastating second wave killing over 1,000 people in the vast South American nation daily. Monica Calazans, a 54-year-old nurse in Sao Paulo, became the first person to receive the Chinese CoronaVac jab after the Anvisa watchdog’s highly-anticipated ruling. Anvisa also approved AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s Covishield shot for use in the country.

Australia may not fully reopen its international borders this year even if most of the population is vaccinated against coronavirus, the head of its health department said on Monday.

Australian authorities are also looking at potential adverse effects of the Pfizer vaccine after Norway reported a number of deaths in elderly people.

US official calls for pause in Moderna vaccination

Erica Pan, California’s state epidemiologist, called for pausing the administration of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine due to a higher than usual number of severe allergic reactions.

“A higher-than-usual number of possible allergic reactions were reported with a specific lot of Moderna vaccine administered at one community vaccination clinic,” Pan said.