by Anna MALPAS with Agence France Presse bureaus LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Europe rushed to bulk buy more coronavirus vaccine doses and approved more drugs on Friday, as the World Health Organisation called on wealthy nations not to hog all the available jabs and millions in Asia faced tough restrictions over isolated outbreaks. The pandemic has already killed 1.9 million people out of 88 million infections and is picking up speed, with 14 […]
Tag: Pfizer
1 in 100,000 had severe reactions to Pfizer vaccine: US study
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Roughly one in a hundred thousand people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine have had severe allergic reactions, US health officials said Wednesday while stressing that the benefits of immunization greatly outweigh the known risks. The data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which documented 21 cases of anaphylaxis after administration of a reported 1,893,360 shots from December 14 to December 23. “This averages out to […]
Galvez: PHL set to close deal with at least 7 COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers for 148-M doses
(Eagle News) — National Action Plan against COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., said that the Philippine government will close a deal within the month with at least seven manufacturers of vaccines against COVID-19. “We are now on the advance stages on negotiations with Novavax, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Johnsons & Johnsons, Sinovac at Gamaleya. We hope to close the deal with these companies this month,” Secretary Galvez said in a press briefing on Wednesday, […]
Germany’s BioNTech racing to ramp up vaccine production
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — German firm BioNTech said Friday it was racing to ramp up production of its Covid-19 jab in Europe, to fill the “gap” left by the lack of other approved vaccines. The vaccine developed by BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer was the first to be approved in the European Union in late December. Countries including Britain, Canada and the United States okayed the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine earlier and have […]
FDA says WHO listing for emergency use of Pfizer vaccine “very significant” for PHL
(Eagle News) — The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that the validation of the World Health Organization WHO) of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 for emergency use was “very significant” for a possible grant of emergency use authorization (EUA) in the country. FDA Director General Eric Domingo said that Pfizer submitted its application for EUA on December 23, and so far was the only vaccine maker which had applied for […]
WHO validates Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use against COVID-19
WHO criteria for safety and efficacy met (Eagle News) — The World Health Organization (WHO) has given emergency validation to the Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine, the first vaccine against COVID-19 to receive such a validation from WHO since the pandemic. This was after WHO listed the Comirnaty COVID-19 mRNA vaccine for emergency use. The Comirnaty vaccine requires storage using an ultra-cold chain and needs to be stored at -60°C to -90°C degrees, makes the deployment […]
Singapore begins coronavirus vaccination campaign
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore began a coronavirus vaccination campaign Wednesday with a nurse receiving the first jab, making it among the first Asian nations to roll out inoculations. The city-state, which has suffered a mild outbreak, became the first country in Asia to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine earlier this month, and its programme kicked off with healthcare workers. Nurse Sarah Lim, 46, whose work includes screening suspected Covid-19 patients, was the first to be […]
From the lab to the jab: how BioNTech-Pfizer won the vaccine race
by Hui Min NEO with Yannick PASQUET in Hamburg and Michelle FITZPATRICK and Yann SCHREIBER in Mainz Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — It was over breakfast on the wintry morning of January 24 that Ozlem Tureci and her husband Ugur Sahin decided, “we need to fire the starting gun on this”. Sahin “had concluded from a publication describing coronavirus cases in Wuhan… that there was a high probability that a pandemic could be […]
First Covid vaccine doses arrive in France
PARIS, France (AFP) — France’s first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine were delivered early Saturday to the Paris hospital system’s central pharmacy outside the capital, an AFP journalist saw. After more than 62,000 Covid-19 deaths in France, shots are set to begin with people in two elderly care homes on Sunday, the same day the rest of the EU begins injections. A refrigerated truck brought the roughly 19,500 doses from the Pfizer factory […]
Singapore gets Asia’s first Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses
SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore received Asia’s first delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Monday, capping what the city-state’s premier said had been a “long and arduous” year spent fighting the pandemic. The trade and finance hub last week joined a handful of other countries around the world, including Britain and the United States, which have approved the jab. It plans to innoculate its 5.7 million people by the third quarter of 2021, with […]
Galvez set to start negotiations with Moderna by Dec. 30 for vaccine allocations to PHL – Locsin
(Eagle News) — On or before December 30, the country’s vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., will start negotiating with the US-based biotech firm, Moderna, so the Philippines can get vaccine doses for its mass vaccination campaign next year. This was according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr, in an interview with CNN Philippines’ ‘The Source.’ Galvez is going to start negotiations with Moderna “on or before Wednesday next week,” Locsin said in the […]
Swiss authorize Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine
by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been authorized for use in Switzerland, regulators announced Saturday, with immunisation set to start within days as the country battles rising coronavirus cases and deaths. The Swissmedic regulatory authority said it had given the green light following a two-month rolling review. It is the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in the wealthy Alpine nation, with rivals being assessed. “After a meticulous […]





