• Home
  • Stories
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health
      Bill Gates

      Next pandemic will be man-made, deadly – Bill Gates warns

      BMGF takes giant leap, expands Board as Econet Billionaire Masiyiwa makes the cut

      Does our foundation have too much influence? Here’s how I see it

      The doctor pronounced him dead in the car, they did not remove the corpse, they did not separate his wife fro him -Osita Chidoka

      The doctor pronounced him dead in the car, they did not remove the corpse, they did not separate his wife fro him -Osita Chidoka

      If you are a doctor planning Japa to the UK, you may end up in salve camp, says BBC report

      If you are a doctor planning Japa to the UK, you may end up in salve camp, says BBC report

      Good News: Nigerian Doctors suspend strike

      Good News: Nigerian Doctors suspend strike

      CAN, JNI meet Fed. Govt to reverse downward nutrition trend in Nigeria

      CAN, JNI meet Fed. Govt to reverse downward nutrition trend in Nigeria

      FG approves three additional orthopaedic hospitals

      FG approves three additional orthopaedic hospitals

    • Security
    • Travel
  • World
  • Africa
  • Humans of Abuja
  • Investigation
  • Development
  • Contact
Infactng
  • Home
  • Stories
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health
      Bill Gates

      Next pandemic will be man-made, deadly – Bill Gates warns

      BMGF takes giant leap, expands Board as Econet Billionaire Masiyiwa makes the cut

      Does our foundation have too much influence? Here’s how I see it

      The doctor pronounced him dead in the car, they did not remove the corpse, they did not separate his wife fro him -Osita Chidoka

      The doctor pronounced him dead in the car, they did not remove the corpse, they did not separate his wife fro him -Osita Chidoka

      If you are a doctor planning Japa to the UK, you may end up in salve camp, says BBC report

      If you are a doctor planning Japa to the UK, you may end up in salve camp, says BBC report

      Good News: Nigerian Doctors suspend strike

      Good News: Nigerian Doctors suspend strike

      CAN, JNI meet Fed. Govt to reverse downward nutrition trend in Nigeria

      CAN, JNI meet Fed. Govt to reverse downward nutrition trend in Nigeria

      FG approves three additional orthopaedic hospitals

      FG approves three additional orthopaedic hospitals

    • Security
    • Travel
  • World
  • Africa
  • Humans of Abuja
  • Investigation
  • Development
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Infactng
No Result
View All Result

Global action is the only way to get ahead of COVID-19

February 9, 2021

By Mark Suzman, CEO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

This week, we learned that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca appears to provide no measurable effect on mild or moderate disease caused by the variant of the virus first identified in South Africa, known as B.1.351.

This is deeply disappointing news. People the world over are understandably frustrated and anxious as the pandemic continues to disrupt their lives. In South Africa, where many of my family members live, and in other countries where variants are spreading, people have been waiting for the promising science to translate into lives saved in their communities.

The whole world is grappling with a complicated and fluid situation. We still don’t know, for example, if this vaccine could protect against severe or fatal disease caused by the variant, thereby preventing people from being hospitalized or needing supplemental oxygen, which is in short supply in some countries. Additional information will be needed to answer these and other questions. The World Health Organization and national health authorities will determine the potential public health value of this vaccine in South Africa and other countries and make decisions about where and how it can be used.

While we may all be feeling destabilized now amid this swirl of questions, we must keep the big picture in mind. In science, every outcome is knowledge. Without the researchers in South Africa who were able to quickly identify the variant and incorporate it into this clinical trial, the world would not yet know the effectiveness of the vaccine on this variant. These world-class scientists have generated valuable new knowledge that will enable more targeted interventions, helping governments make important decisions about vaccine rollouts and better protect their people. For example, a version of this vaccine is being rolled out in India, where B.1.351 hasn’t yet been detected. So while questions are being answered, this vaccine will continue to be a valuable tool in other parts of the world.

We’ve all been spoiled lately by how good the news on vaccine science has been. The world went from seeing the emergence of a deadly new infectious disease to developing several safe and effective vaccines against it within the space of only 10 months—the fastest humans have ever gone from identifying a novel virus to inoculating against it. Only four months ago, we weren’t sure any vaccine would work. With several additional vaccines coming through the final phases of clinical trials, including those from Johnson & Johnson and Novavax, we are still on a trajectory to get everyone protected against COVID-19. It will take time for doses of those vaccines to become available, following regulatory approvals and manufacturing scale-up, but they will get out.

As a philanthropy, we will continue to do our part to keep up the momentum. Building on our longstanding partnerships, we are working with governments, multilateral organizations, and private companies to determine how to respond to the latest data. We will use our funding commitments of more than $1.75 billion to help accelerate the development and distribution of vaccines that are optimized for lower- and middle-income countries and are effective against the variants. We’ll also make new investments in treatments and diagnostics because we’ve learned that research and development on these important tools must accelerate as additional variants emerge.

Although the path forward is challenging, it is not bleak. We have learned a great deal about what works to control this virus during 2020, and these lessons are increasingly being applied for an even more nimble and effective response in 2021.

A pandemic knows no borders. Leaving half the world without access to vaccines only means that more people will suffer and die, both at home and abroad. As Bill and Melinda recently wrote in their annual letter, we are fighting against immunity inequality, an injustice that is bad on moral grounds, bad on economic grounds, and bad on public health grounds. The world needs to reach vulnerable communities and health care workers with vaccines as quickly as possible, no matter where they live, if we’re going to get ahead of this virus.

To combat a global problem, global action is needed. Many nations and organizations have worked to create, fund, and promote collaborative international mechanisms to boost equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. COVAX remains far and away the biggest and most important multilateral initiative to tackle this challenge, but only if it urgently receives funding to support enough vaccines to outrace the virus. Unfortunately, global manufacturing and procurement have remained underfunded while a bidding war for doses puts vaccines out of reach for the poorest countries. Nations that understandably want to shore up their own health networks and vaccine delivery systems should also ramp up funding for COVAX and reject the impulse to make bilateral deals that shut out other countries and delay the possibility of a global recovery.

If COVID-19 has taught the world anything over the past year, it is that we’re all in this together. Variants may continue to emerge that could put everyone at risk. We cannot defeat this pandemic unless everyone, everywhere, has a chance to get vaccinated.

Share122Tweet76Share31
INFACTNG

INFACTNG

Related Posts

Bill Gates
Health

Next pandemic will be man-made, deadly – Bill Gates warns

January 25, 2023

By Lucky Ekpenriebe Microsoft Co-founder, Bill Gates has told world leaders to prepare for the next major virus which will be man-made and more dangerous than COVID-19. Speaking at the Lowy Institute think tank in Sydney, Bill Gates urged...

BMGF takes giant leap, expands Board as Econet Billionaire Masiyiwa makes the cut
Health

Does our foundation have too much influence? Here’s how I see it

January 17, 2023

By Mark Suzman During the COVID-19 pandemic, the remarkable, unprecedented progress made over the previous two decades in global health and development has stalled, and in many cases even reversed. Sadly, instead of accelerating efforts to fight infectious diseases,...

The doctor pronounced him dead in the car, they did not remove the corpse, they did not separate his wife fro him -Osita Chidoka
Health

The doctor pronounced him dead in the car, they did not remove the corpse, they did not separate his wife fro him -Osita Chidoka

October 15, 2022

By Taiwo Ajala. Nigerian politician and former Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Osita Chidoka has lamented how the inefficiency of medical personnel at the Federal Medical Center, Jabi Abuja killed his brother-in -law. More painful according...

If you are a doctor planning Japa to the UK, you may end up in salve camp, says BBC report
Health

If you are a doctor planning Japa to the UK, you may end up in salve camp, says BBC report

October 12, 2022

By BBC Doctors recruited from some of the world's poorest countries to work in UK hospitals say they're being exploited - and believe they're so overworked they fear putting patients' health at risk. A BBC investigation has found evidence...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

  • 2023 Elections: NAF ready to airlift sensitive election materials January 26, 2023
  • Next pandemic will be man-made, deadly – Bill Gates warns January 25, 2023
  • SEGUN AYOBOLU: GRIT, QUALITY AND VERSATILITY ON DIAMOND EVE January 19, 2023
  • Winners emerge in WE YOU HAP political contest January 19, 2023
  • Atiku talks tough: Win your pooling unit or forget appointments, contracts January 19, 2023

Categories

  • Africa (12)
  • Agriculture (3)
  • Agriculture (12)
  • Arts & Culture (29)
  • Business (219)
  • Cover (22)
  • COVER STORY (51)
  • Development (25)
  • ENDSARS PROTESTS (39)
  • Features (10)
  • Health (79)
  • Humans of Abuja (5)
  • Investigation (8)
  • Law (15)
  • News (745)
  • Obituary (20)
  • Opinion (31)
  • Politics (167)
  • Security (181)
  • Stories (338)
  • Travel (6)
  • World (41)

Popular

  • Six years pregnancy: A Miracle too hard to believe

    Six years pregnancy: A Miracle too hard to believe

    465 shares
    Share 186 Tweet 116
  • Akindele Oluwaseun: ‘Crying Teacher’ who receive over N1m donation and gave it all out

    377 shares
    Share 151 Tweet 94
  • How first female combat Pilot was killed

    360 shares
    Share 144 Tweet 90
  • Army throws out ‘nosey’ editor from own platform

    359 shares
    Share 144 Tweet 90
  • AGRA’s Greatest Achievement Has Been to Give Farmers Choices – Andrew Cox

    369 shares
    Share 156 Tweet 89

  • Contact
  • News

© 2020 Infactng – Investigative Journalism

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Stories
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health
    • Security
    • Travel
  • World
  • Africa
  • Humans of Abuja
  • Investigation
  • Development
  • Contact