Health

The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine showed 90.7% efficacy against the coronavirus in a clinical trial of children 5 to 11 years old, the U.S. drugmaker said on Friday. Sixteen children in the trial who had received a placebo got COVID-19, compared with 3 who were vaccinated, Pfizer said in briefing documents …

UN agencies are gearing up to vaccinate all of Afghanistan’s children under 5 against polio for the first time since 2018 after the Taliban agreed to the campaign, the World Health Organization says. For the past three years, the Taliban barred UN-organized vaccination teams from doing door-to-door campaigns in parts …

The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon recommend that persons 40 and older receive Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 booster shots, CNN reported on Tuesday. The US has administered 409,438,987 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Tuesday morning and distributed 495,844,635 doses, the US Centers …

The Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE COVID-19 vaccine was 93 percent effective in preventing hospitalizations among those aged 12 to 18, according to an analysis released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday. The study was conducted between June and September when the extremely contagious Delta variant …

A World Health Organization-led program to ensure poorer countries get fair access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments aims to secure antiviral drugs for patients with mild symptoms for as little as $10 per course, a draft document seen by Reuters says. Merck & Co’s experimental pill molnupiravir is likely …

Three new Ebola cases have been confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, bringing the total to five in the last 10 days, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday. Health officials have said the latest flare-up of the virus appeared to be linked to the massive 2018-20 outbreak, …

The plan to roll out Merck & Co’s promising antiviral pill to treat COVID-19 risks repeating the inequities of vaccine distribution, potentially leaving the nations with the greatest need once again at the back of the line, international health groups say. For example, only about 5% of Africa’s population is …

Adults at high risk for cardiovascular disease may face serious side effects if they start a daily regimen of low-dose aspirin. Doctors should no longer routinely start most people who are at high risk of heart disease on a daily regimen of low-dose aspirin, according to new draft guidelines by …

France on Friday stopped offering COVID-19 tests free of charge for everyone, in the government’s latest effort to incite holdouts to get vaccinated against the virus. A recent negative test, proof of recovery, or full vaccination is needed to get a health pass which is required for access to cafes, …

British health officials said Friday that an estimated 43,000 people may have been wrongly told they don’t have the coronavirus because of problems at a private laboratory. The UK Health Security Agency said a lab in Wolverhampton, central England, has been suspended from processing test swabs after reports of false …

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday its newly formed advisory group on dangerous pathogens may be “our last chance” to determine the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and urged China to provide data from early cases. The first human cases of COVID-19 were reported in the central Chinese city …

The World Health Organization is awaiting full clinical data on the antiviral pill made by Merck & Co Inc to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients, a WHO spokesperson said on Tuesday, a day after the company said it had applied for US emergency use authorization. WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier, asked at …

Russia has angrily rejected a recent allegation in a British tabloid that it has stolen and used the design for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to develop its Sputnik V shot. The British tabloid newspaper The Sun published an article on Monday accusing Russia of having “stolen… the vaccine blueprint and crucial …

Merck & Co Inc said on Monday it has applied for emergency use authorization in the US for its oral drug to treat mild-to-moderate patients of COVID-19. The treatment, molnupiravir, has been developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. If authorized, it would be the first oral antiviral medication. Data released last week …

The United States will accept the use by international visitors of COVID-19 vaccines authorized by US regulators or the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said late on Friday. On Sept. 20, the White House announced the United States in November would lift travel restrictions on …

COVID-19 aid supplies have arrived in North Korea but are being held in quarantine in its seaport of Nampho, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday, as the isolated nation shows few signs of easing strict border lockdowns. North Korea sealed its borders when the coronavirus pandemic began last …

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech said on Thursday they had asked US regulators to approve emergency use of their COVID-19 vaccine for children aged from five to 11, Pfizer said in a post on Twitter. “We and BioNTech Group officially submitted our request to US FDA for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) …

Sweden’s Public Health Agency on Wednesday recommended a temporary halt to the use of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine among young adults, citing concerns over rare side effects to the heart. It said the pause should initially be in force until December 1, explaining that it had received evidence of an …

Iraq recorded 2,479 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said today, Tuesday. The daily epidemiological report on the COVID-19 situation stated that 28 COVID-19 deaths were registered today. On the other hand, 3,243 patients achieved full recovery. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in Iraq, …

Positive clinical trial results for Merck & Co’s (MRK.N) experimental antiviral COVID-19 pill reverberated through the healthcare sector on Friday, sending the drugmaker’s stock price soaring while denting high-flying shares of vaccine companies and makers of other coronavirus therapies. Merck shares jumped as much as 12.3% and hit their highest …