Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
EU ‘ready to discuss’ COVID vaccine patent waiver, says von der Leyen
The European Union is willing to discuss a proposal, now backed by the United States, to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday. The head of the EU executive said the bloc’s vaccination effort was accelerating, with 30 Europeans being inoculated per second, while exporting more than 200 million vaccine doses to the rest of the world – contrasting with limited sharing of vaccines by the United States and Britain.
U.S. schools turn focus to mental health of students reeling from pandemic
As COVID-19 upended education during the past year, Pennsylvania middle school teacher Jennifer Lundberg often began her English lessons gauging the mental wellbeing of her students. Sometimes, she would turn the lights off and dedicate a few minutes of in-person class to walking the kids through exercises that asked them to identify stressors they were experiencing.
Global pharma shares slide as Biden backs COVID-19 vaccine IP waiver
Shares of drugmakers involved in the production of COVID-19 vaccines, including Pfizer and Moderna, fell on Thursday, a day after U.S. President Joe Biden’s plan to back intellectual property waivers on vaccines. Biden threw his support behind a World Trade Organization waiver of intellectual property rights on vaccines to increase their availability to poorer nations including India, which is under the grip of a massive second wave of infection.
COVID spreading in rural India; record daily rises in infections, deaths
Hopes that India’s deadly second wave of COVID-19 was about to peak were swept away on Thursday as it posted record daily infections and deaths and as the virus spread from cities to villages across the world’s second-most populous nation. India reported a record 412,262 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours and a record 3,980 deaths. COVID-19 infections have now surged past 21 million, with a total death toll of 230,168, health ministry data show.
G20 commits to ‘full financing’ of WHO scheme to buy COVID vaccines, drugs – draft
Leaders of G20 nations are to commit for the first time to fully fund a World Health Organization scheme to distribute COVID-19 vaccines and drugs to poorer nations, the draft conclusions of a summit show, in a move that would unblock nearly $20 billion. The document, subject to changes before a global health summit to be held in Rome on May 21, also says that leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies are committed to urgent action this year to boost manufacturing capacity for anti-COVID technologies, but omits mention of vaccine patent waivers.
Explainer: COVID-19 vaccine patent waiver talks could still take months
President Joe Biden threw his support behind waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines in a sharp U.S. reversal, but it could take months for the World Trade Organization (WTO) to hammer out any deal. Before Biden’s announcement on Wednesday, India and South Africa confirmed their intention to draft a new waiver proposal at a WTO General Council meeting, prompting the body’s new Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to express hope for “a pragmatic solution”.
Moderna lifts COVID-19 vaccine sales forecast to $19.2 billion
Moderna Inc raised its 2021 sales forecast for its COVID-19 shot by 4.3% to $19.2 billion on Thursday, reflecting demand from countries looking to return to normalcy through rapid vaccine rollouts. Deals for “booster” doses, nations looking to stock up supplies for 2022 and beyond and a likely authorization for use of the vaccines in kids have led Moderna and its larger rival Pfizer to ramp up their supplies.
EU plans faster approval, new joint purchases of COVID-19 drugs
The European Commission wants to speed up EU approval of experimental COVID-19 drugs, according to a document released by the EU executive on Thursday, with the aim of having at least three new medicines authorised by October. The Commission also said it would draw up a portfolio of 10 potential COVID-19 therapeutics and will identify the five most promising ones by June, hoping to launch joint procurements on behalf of EU governments by the end of the year.
Moderna says waiving IP rights won’t help increase vaccine supply
Moderna Inc said on Thursday that waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines will not help boost supply in 2021 or 2022, a day after U.S. President Joe Biden backed a proposed waiver that is aimed at giving poorer companies access.
What you need to know about the coronavirus right now
Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: COVID spreading in rural India
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
