by Ivan Couronne with Yann Schreiber in Mainz Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech giant Pfizer and German partner BioNTech sought approval Friday to roll out their coronavirus vaccine early, a first step towards relief as surging infections prompt a return to shutdowns that traumatized nations and the global economy earlier this year. The world is looking to scientists for salvation from the global pandemic. The US Food and Drug […]
Tag: vaccine
Duterte set to issue EO allowing emergency use for COVID vaccines with proven safety, efficacy
Also approves proposal on advance payments for vaccines to secure supplies for PHL (Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte is set to issue an executive order that would allow the “emergency use authorization” of COVID-19 vaccines in the country if these have been proven to be safe and effective in clinical trials, even in other countries. With an emergency use authorization, vaccines could be used within 21 days, after securing the approval of the Food […]
China’s Sinovac vaccine endorsed to FDA for PHL clinical trial against COVID
(Eagle News) – The vaccine expert panel of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has recommended China’s Sinovac vaccine for COVID-19 to have its clinical trials here in the country, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA Director General Rolando Enrique Domingo said that of the five COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers or developers from various countries, it was Sinovac so far which has passed the evaluation by the panel and recommended to […]
Pfizer/BioNTech say results show Covid vaccine 95% effective
by Issam Ahmed WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Pfizer and BioNTech said Wednesday a completed analysis of their experimental Covid-19 vaccine found it protected 95 percent of people against the disease and announced they were applying for US emergency approval “within days.” The news from the US pharmaceutical company and its German partner brought further hope to a world upended by the coronavirus pandemic, and follows an announcement last week in which they said a […]
Pfizer ‘very close’ to applying for US emergency approval, says CEO
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Pfizer is “very close” to applying for an emergency use approval for its Covid-19 vaccine after collecting safety data to submit to US regulators, the company’s CEO said Tuesday, according to a report. The pharmaceutical giant announced last week preliminary results from a late-stage clinical trial showing the injections it had co-developed with Germany’s BioNTech was more than 90 percent effective after the second dose. “We are very close to […]
In new breakthrough, Moderna’s Covid vaccine nearly 95% effective
by Issam AHMED Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US biotech firm Moderna on Monday announced its experimental vaccine against Covid-19 was almost 95 percent effective, a result hailed by the country’s top infectious disease scientist as “stunningly impressive.” Moderna’s early results from a clinical trial with more than 30,000 participants marks a second major breakthrough in the quest to end the pandemic. Last week, American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its German […]
Moderna vaccine results ‘stunningly impressive,’ Fauci tells AFP
by Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States’ top infectious disease scientist on Monday hailed early results from Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine trial as “stunningly impressive,” calling the findings an emphatic validation of experimental mRNA technology that some had doubted. “I must admit that I would have been satisfied with 70 or at the most 75 percent efficacy,” he told AFP. “The idea that we have a 94.5 percent effective vaccine is stunningly […]
Sanofi says its vaccine won’t need supercooling
PARIS, France (AFP) — The coronavirus vaccine being developed by Sanofi won’t need to be super-cooled and a normal refrigerator will suffice, the Paris-based drugmaker’s France chief Olivier Bogillot said Sunday. His comments came days after American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced that their vaccine had proven 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19 infections in ongoing Phase 3 trials involving more than 40,000 people. The companies said they expect to […]
Virus vaccine to be free in Belgium
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The Belgian government said Monday it intends to make any coronavirus vaccine available to around 70 percent of the population, some eight million people, and free of charge. The jab will not be compulsory, added Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke as he and regional counterparts attended an interministerial health conference. “The objective is to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the population. Priority groups will be determined on the basis of scientific […]
Venezuela to buy 10 million doses of Russian Covid-19 vaccine
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Sunday that his government has agreed to buy 10 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19. The vaccines will come in the first quarter of 2021, Maduro said at an event in Caracas broadcast on government television, adding that “Venezuela will manufacture the Russian vaccine in the Venezuelan laboratories.” In August, Russia became the first country to register a vaccine against Covid-19, which it […]
More than 1.3 mn coronavirus deaths worldwide: AFP tally
PARIS, France (AFP) — More than 1.3 million people have been killed by the novel coronavirus worldwide, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP. In total, there have been at least 1,303,783 deaths for 53,380,442 declared cases of Covid-19, although experts say the official data is likely to capture only a fraction of the number of total infections and fatalities. New cases and deaths are accelerating again as a second wave […]
Asia markets take fresh hit as virus surge trumps vaccine hope
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — A spike in coronavirus infections across the United States and Europe hit Asian markets again Friday as traders fear another wave of lockdown measures will throw an already shaky economic recovery off course. The rally fuelled by excitement over a possible vaccine before 2021 and relief at Joe Biden’s US election win has given way to the reality that while there is light at the end of the tunnel, […]





