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Developing nations shun AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine

A number of developing nations have refused tens of millions of doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines, according to a report from Reuters.

The countries had received doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX initiative, a global project that focuses on ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

COVAX has distributed 1.4 billion shots to 144 nations to date.

Some countries that COVAX serves indicated a preference for vaccines with a longer shelf life than AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Last week, COVAX and the African Union also declined to order vaccine doses from Moderna, according to Reuters.

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaxzevria has a shelf life of six months, but doses are sometimes delivered weeks before the expiration date, Reuters reported.

In related news, Japan recently canceled a purchase of 40 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to The Japan Times.

The country has expressed a preference for…

Johnson & Johnson inks agreement to have its COVID-19 vaccine manufactured in Africa

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced today that it completed an agreement for the manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine in Africa.

The landmark agreement, made between Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals and South Africa-based Aspen SA Operations, allows for the first COVID-19 vaccine to be manufactured and made available by an African company for people living in Africa, with aims of increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates across the continent.

Get the full story at our sister site, Pharmaceutical Processing World.

Johnson & Johnson inks agreement to have its COVID-19 vaccine manufactured in Africa

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced today that it completed an agreement for the manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine in Africa.

The landmark agreement, made between Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals and South Africa-based Aspen SA Operations, allows for the first COVID-19 vaccine to be manufactured and made available by an African company for people living in Africa, with aims of increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates across the continent.

According to a news release, only about 12% of people in Africa are fully vaccinated, which falls well short of the World Health Organization’s target of 70% population coverage for all countries. Johnson & Johnson has shipped more than 200 million vaccine doses to Africa through a combination of advance purchase agreements with the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust, South Africa and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, on behalf of the COVAX Facility, along with government donations.

The c…

White House allocates 55M COVID-19 vaccine doses for global distribution

[Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash]The Biden-Harris administration today announced a global distribution list for 55 million doses of America’s COVID-19 vaccine supply.

Biden pledged to allocate 80 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine supply belonging to the U.S. by the end of June to aid the global fight against the pandemic. Earlier this month, the administration announced the plan for the first 25 million doses that the U.S. has begun shipping, with the remaining 55 million doses announced today.

Get the full story at our sister site, Pharmaceutical Processing World.

White House to allocate 55M COVID-19 vaccine doses for global distribution

The Biden-Harris administration today announced a global distribution list for 55 million doses of America’s COVID-19 vaccine supply.

Biden pledged to allocate 80 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine supply belonging to the U.S. by the end of June to aid the global fight against the pandemic. Earlier this month, the administration announced the plan for the first 25 million doses that the U.S. has begun shipping, with the remaining 55 million doses announced today.

According to a news release, the U.S. will share 75% of the 80 million through COVAX and 25% are earmarked to help with surges around the world. The doses are slated to be allocated based on national vaccine plans, prioritizing those most at risk, including healthcare workers.

The allocation plan for the 55 million doses announced today includes 41 million to be shared through COVAX, with 14 million for Latin America and the Caribbean, with doses going to Brazil, Argentina, Brazil, Arge…

MedTech 100 roundup: Slight dip after all-time best for industry

The medtech industry’s stocks rose higher than they ever had to begin last week before eventually dropping to a slightly more normal level.

MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 index ended the week (Feb. 19) at 108.72 points, marking a -1.7% dip from the 110.63-point mark set at the end of the previous week (Feb. 12). On Monday (Feb. 15) the index hit its highest mark ever, though, rising to 110.96 points.

That mark sets an all-time best for the index, which has been on the rise for practically all of 2021 so far. It previously reached 106.81 points on Jan. 8, then 107.4 points on Jan. 20 before besting itself again with last week’s finish. The improvement has been considerably impressive given that the index had never reached even the 100-point mark before November 2020.

Medtech’s latest tally means the index has risen 17.8% from the pre-COVID-19 pandemic high of 92.32, set on Feb. 19, 2020. Additionally, the industry has very much rebounded from its lowest p…

Biden announces $4B to support global vaccinations worldwide

[Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash]President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. is set to provide $4 billion to the COVAX Facility to support access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines.

Money appropriated by a December 2020 Congressional vote will comprise an initial $2 billion contribution to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for the COVAX advance market commitment (AMC) covering 92 low- and middle-income economies, according to a White House Statement.

Get the full story at our sister site, Pharmaceutical Processing World.

Biden announces $4B to support global vaccinations worldwide

President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. is set to provide $4 billion to the COVAX Facility to support access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines.

Money appropriated by a December 2020 Congressional vote will comprise an initial $2 billion contribution to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for the COVAX advance market commitment (AMC) covering 92 low- and middle-income economies, according to a White House Statement.

Additionally, the U.S. will release a further $2 billion through 2021 and 2022, with the first $500 million set to be made available when existing donor pledges are fulfilled and initial doses are delivered to AMC countries.

Biden also called on the G7 and other partners to work alongside Gavi to continue to build support for global COVID-19 vaccination, targeting urgent vaccine manufacturing, supply and delivery needs.

“The United States’ contribution is designated to help Gavi prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus th…

Pfizer, BioNTech to provide up to 40M COVID-19 vaccine doses to COVAX

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) will supply up to 40 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine this year to COVAX, a global initiative to provide vaccine doses to developing countries.

The companies said today that they expect the first doses to ship out during Q1; the vaccine will go to COVAX at a not-for-profit price. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“At Pfizer, we believe that every person deserves to be seen, heard and cared for. That’s why from the very beginning of our vaccine development program, Pfizer and BioNTech have been firmly committed to working toward equitable and affordable access of COVID-19 vaccines for people around the world,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a news release. “We share the mission of COVAX and are proud to work together so that developing countries have the same access as the rest of the world, which will bring us another step closer to ending this global pandemic and pro…