Why the world is at risk without immunisation

Moderna has begun a trial with an experimental HIV vaccine based on the same technology underpinning its COVID-19 vaccine.

Financial Times journalist and author Gillian Tett discusses her new book, Anthro-Vision: How Anthropology Can Explain Business and Life.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the power of innovative Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies in healthcare systems. Unless these technologies are designed with equity at their core, we risk leaving some people even further…

Faced with the many disease threats posed by repeated, calamitous floods, Nyando in western Kenya needs its health services more than ever. But longer-term resiliency will require more than just a shot in the arm.

Myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccination is rare, and the risk is much smaller than the risks of cardiac injury linked to COVID-19 itself.

Resistance to the drug artemisinin was confirmed in Africa. Without better surveillance, it is hard to track the threat.

Endemic doesn't mean we drop our guard, surrender to the virus or downgrade the threat the virus poses to individuals or the community.

Anchoring bias meant we found it hard to get rid of the first bit of information we heard.

Sotromivab and baricitinib target COVID at different stages of its development, and will give doctors greater flexibility in treating Omicron patients.

Modelling suggests that increased COVID-19 vaccine donations by wealthy nations could benefit rich and poor countries alike.

Nurturing confidence in vaccination among minority populations like the Haredim, a Jewish religious group sometimes problematically referred to as “ultra-Orthodox,” has a lot to do with listening, says medical anthropologist Ben Kasstan.

The effects of climate change may lead to future pandemics. As the aviation industry looks to the future, cleaner fuels and electric planes will be key to reducing aviation’s impact on the climate.

How to make sense of 'polygenic' risk scores.

‘Soft skills’, from motivating a team to tapping into networks, provide the vital oil that keeps supply chains moving smoothly. A programme called STEP is bringing together businesses and the public sector to help healthcare managers in the…

Mallory Smith died at 25 with cystic fibrosis, of an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection. Amid rising rates of AMR, the elegiac sadness of her memoir-in-film feels like a warning.

Recent research found around a quarter of people with classic COVID symptoms didn't get tested.

A new study shows that Epstein-Barr virus infection is strongly linked to multiple sclerosis. There is currently no cure to multiple sclerosis, and access to innovative treatments is limited in many countries. Vaccinating for EBV instead could…

Wealthy countries have given their citizens third booster doses, yet have so far failed to ensure that those in less well-resourced nations are also protected; experts warn this inability to respond to a shared crisis could threaten climate…

Without it we could face further delays in the global rollout and risk the gulf between the vaccine haves and have nots widening.

Latest numbers show antimicrobial resistant infections contributed to 4.95 million deaths globally in 2019.

COVAX and the other international organizations committed to vaccine equity cannot end the COVID-19 pandemic without the continued support of governments, industry, and civil society. By working together, the world has a chance to tame the…

To discover your risk of catching coronavirus for any given situation, try our COVID-19 Aerosol Transmission Estimator.

Scientists around the world are working faster than ever to develop and produce vaccines that can stop the spread of COVID-19, with 21 vaccines now being rolled out in countries worldwide. Here is an at-a-glance overview of those vaccines and…

Even with a variant like Omicron that might be more transmissible than earlier variants, vaccines remain the most effective tool for protection against COVID-19 and for ending the pandemic.

Revolutions in genome sequencing have been used to track COVID-19 in near real time.

Eswatini has launched a campaign to encourage members of the Zionist churches to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Health care costs push more than half a billion people into extreme poverty. COVID-19 adds to the burden, halting progress towards universal health coverage. Health policies must protect poor from financial hardship, say World Bank, WHO.

Health care professionals must act swiftly to ensure frustrated patients don’t fall victim to misinformation.

All around the world, COVAX deliveries are helping to protect frontline health workers, reach nomadic communities, reunite families and allow schools to reopen. Since deliveries began in March, #VaccinesWork has been publishing snapshots that…

While South Sudan has been declared cholera-free, it is an ongoing battle to keep things that way.

During the six decades of its 7th pandemic, cholera has become an avoidable, survivable scourge. But instead of ebbing away, the disease has emerged more starkly than ever as a vulture of inequity.

This year, the ongoing seventh cholera pandemic turned 60. Here, Lorenzo Pezzol, epidemiologist and cholera expert, tells #VaccinesWork that we have the tools to end it – and that we really should have done so long ago.

2021 has been another tumultuous pandemic year. #VaccinesWork has been there through every twist and turn in our collective pandemic story, covering the latest science, bringing new perspectives from countries across the world and digging into…

An expression of frustration with vaccine skeptics, German street artist and former immunologist Lapiz's new work is not your typical Christmas card.

2021 has been another challenging pandemic year, but despite the challenges it saw important milestones, extraordinary resilience in Gavi-supported countries and progress on a number of fronts. In his annual end of year letter, Gavi CEO Dr Seth…

Here's what you need to know about Omicron and traveling safely this holiday season.

How governments chose to respond to the coronavirus – and how well equipped their health services were before it arrived – made a big difference.

Living with someone who believes in anti-vaccination misinformation can tear families apart, say experts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that African tax and social-benefit systems are currently ill-equipped to protect households from sudden income losses. Meaningful progress will require policymakers to reduce the size of the informal sector and…

Street artist Buffon draws attention to the importance of healthcare workers and how we can all play our part in ending the pandemic.

New data reveals that COVID-19 reduced Europe’s household spending by 8% in 2020. Nations with the severest lockdowns saw the most dramatic drop in household consumption, says Eurostat. Elsewhere, consumer spending in China fell by 17% in 2020.…

The suspension of tourism activities around the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic gave researchers the chance to answer an important question: What impact does tourism have on wildlife populations?

Malaria occupies a unique place in human history. Our neolithic ancestors were afflicted by it; the fall of Rome has even been partially attributed to it. During the 20th Century alone, malaria is estimated to accounted for up to five percent of…

The Gavi Board has approved the roll-out of RTS,S/AS01, the world’s first vaccine against malaria, a sickness which kills 260,000 children under five in sub-Saharan Africa every year. To get a sense of what this historic development might mean on…

Surveying by the Office for National Statistics shows Brits are increasingly pessimistic about things returning to how they were before.

Living with one lethal virus, the children of Snehagram in southern India bolster each other in surviving the coronavirus pandemic.

How the pandemic is reported by the media can influence people's behaviour.

There's a new COVID lineage called B.1.1.529. It has a genetic profile very different from other circulating variants.

"This crisis is far from over, and without dramatic course correction, will go on for some time."

Not much data, but lessons have been learned from the slow response to delta.

Measles is one of the world’s most contagious viruses. It can impair sight, hearing and cause brain inflammation and pneumonia. But even though it can be prevented by a vaccine, outbreaks in unvaccinated children continue to erupt even in the…

Disease outbreaks have shaped the world. But how much? New thinking on an early medieval pandemic takes on “plague sceptics” to show that we likely underestimated the impact of the first cross-continental assault of bubonic plague.

A new report reveals the devastating global impact of Group B streptococcus, but suggests vaccinating against it could be highly cost-effective – if an effective vaccine can be developed.

A comprehensive analysis of vaccine spending shows that while lower-income country governments take on the bulk of financing, they need to mobilise greater resources for immunisation.

The loss of jobs during the pandemic was experienced almost exclusively among part-time jobs. Research shows it is likely that demand for workers in hard-hit sectors will start to come back, writes economist Jonathan Wadsworth. However, the…

The rampant spread of false information about the coronavirus has been attributed to politicians who have promoted remedies ranging from anti-malarial drugs to herbal drinks. But how humans process knowledge has an important role to play in…

The country moved quickly to contain the virus, but its health system struggled to look after those who got sick.

The two groups bounced back more quickly in the jobs market than certain other groups, although they may still experience lasting consequences.

A new study has found that 26,000 metric tons of pandemic-related plastic waste has been released into the world’s oceans since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020.

Luciferase is a useful tool in medicine and has nothing to do with Satan.

COVID-19 vaccine mandates have spurred protests and resignations. But the evidence so far points to marginal workforce losses. Evidence also suggests that mandates keep people safe and save lives.

Increasingly, people who are recovering from COVID-19 are reporting a distorted perception of odours, also known as parosmia.

Badly controlled bacteria in the mouth pose multiple risks.

Laws and rituals surrounding disease have been part of everyday life for millennia. Here's why that's important.

SARS-CoV-2 has officially claimed 5 million lives, but credible estimates place the pandemic’s true death toll closer to 17 million. Either count secures COVID-19’s position on our list of history’s deadliest plagues. 

COVID-19 still has many unknowns, but hope lies in what we already know about preventing and treating pneumonia.

The vaccine, which is based on the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, is designed to target both the Zaire and Sudan species of Ebola virus.

Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine has now been introduced in every state in India, meaning this lifesaver will be available to every child in the country.

In a conversation with Maria Deloria Knoll, PhD, IVAC’s Director of Epidemiology, Dr. Kagucia shared how Gavi-supported activities facilitated Kenya’s COVID-19 response by expanding capacity, testing, and partnerships.

Zero-dose children who never receive a single vaccine are also more likely to miss out on crucial primary health care services.

A gripping documentary about a family's struggle with the emotional and financial consequences of severe pneumonia.

The development of COVID vaccines has already been explosive. There are more innovations on the way.

In a sample of white-tailed deer, 80% were found to have an active COVID infection.

Real world data from the UK shows the value of vaccinating girls against human papilloma virus (HPV) when they are 12 to 13 years of age.

Dr Thomas Tu has an intimate relationship with the virus he’s devoted his life to studying, having been diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B at the age of 14. He discusses the stigma associated with the disease and the future of treating it.

Even with the adversities and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic through 2020, Gavi maintained unyielding focus on leaving no one behind.

Hepatitis B kills more people each year than AIDS-related illnesses, yet an effective vaccine exists. Ensuring every child has access to it is crucial to fighting back.

Before immunisation for Hib became routine, it was one of the biggest killers of children under five and the main cause of meningitis. High vaccine coverage is essential to keep that threat at bay, especially given rising antimicrobial resistance…

Endangered mountain gorillas in Rwanda’s famous Volcanoes National Park could face “population collapse” within 50 years if some of them contract COVID-19, new research suggests.

Dr Rebecca Powell is on a quest to understand the immune response to infection and vaccination in breastmilk, in the hope of designing maternal vaccines to boost babies’ protection against disease.

Oksanna Dias has been using street art to draw attention to the challenges of the women of Luanda.

Currently in advanced development, these next-generation rotavirus vaccines may address key barriers to vaccine uptake and access.

The disease can kill one in five people infected, yet an effective vaccine exists. Routine tetanus immunisation saves the lives of thousands of newborns every year.

Some countries are already offering COVID-19 vaccines to teenagers and may expand this to children in the near future. Here’s what we know about vaccine safety and efficacy in these groups.

This new sub-variant of the delta has gained a foothold in the UK.

Before immunisation for pertussis, or whooping cough, became routine, it killed twice as many children as measles and polio combined. High vaccine coverage is essential to keep that threat at bay.

Dr. Folake Olayinka speaks about overcoming gender-related barriers to immunization.

As India celebrated its one-billionth COVID-19 vaccination, #VaccinesWork caught up with Anuradha Gupta, Gavi’s Deputy CEO and an Indian public health veteran.

Research in the UK shows COVID-19 symptoms can be similar to the common cold. So, how can you tell the difference? Here, genetic epidemiologist Professor Tim Spector explains the latest data and what you need to know.

Before immunisation for diphtheria became routine, it was a major killer of children and adults worldwide. High vaccine coverage is essential to keep that threat at bay.

Social distancing has shielded us from other respiratory viruses – but that's not necessarily a good thing.

First flight facilitated by the Hope Consortium touches down in Belgium with large delivery of ultra-cold chain freezers for onward shipment to 21 African countries.

Identifying people who have recovered from COVID-19 could provide a way to accelerate protection of populations against the disease.

The sixth annual Heroines of Health Gala celebrated seven women fighting to improve the health of their communities. From mobilising nurses in Beirut after the blast in August last year to helping communities in Ethiopia affected by the civil…

Skyrocketing prices for sanitary products, supply shortages and lockdowns are combining to make it harder and harder for girls and women in Nigeria to manage their periods.

The WHO and the manufacturers of the vaccine will be rallying countries, particularly those with high malaria burdens, to adopt the vaccine.

Climate change is set to transform global health. A new study has found that droughts – one product of extreme weather exacerbated by climate change – may already be impacting rates of vaccination.

Kenya is aiming to eliminate malaria entirely by 2030, with the world’s first malaria vaccine forming an important tool in its arsenal. The country’s youth is playing an important role.

The WHO recommendation on the RTS,S vaccine could protect millions of children across Africa.

These discoveries could help us treat a variety of conditions in the future – including chronic pain.

It is science that we must once again turn to so that we can remain one step ahead of the virus. Increased investment in ongoing vaccine R&D efforts will enable COVAX to deliver on its promises and ensure that our vaccines remain safe and…

Greater urgency is needed in the response to the pandemic, to end AIDS and to end COVID-19.

How the 'smoker's paradox' went up in a puff of smoke.

Vaccine hesitancy is “not a stable trait,” concludes a new American study, which found that a majority of initially hesitant respondents shifted their stance in favour of getting the jab.

A new study suggests that more than half of women may have experienced irregularities in their periods after the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Despite the havoc wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic on health systems worldwide, governments’ work to bring immunisation programmes back on track is paying off.

Routine immunisation took a hit in Nigeria thanks to the pandemic. Thanks to the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly for health workers, mothers are returning to immunisation clinics.

Domestic dogs have been shown to be the only species necessary to maintain rabies across most of Africa. This means that dog vaccination should control the disease in all species.

The COVAX vaccine procurement facility has run a remarkable race, but needs stable funding for long-term success.

New discovery could help scientists develop more targeted drugs and vaccines.

The arrival of cholera on European shores in the 19th Century helped kick off the long path towards modern global health institutions and diplomacy. However, these beginnings were anything but fair.

Just 0.2% of COVID-19 vaccine doses delivered to lower-income countries through COVAX expired before they could be administered, estimated to be a significantly lower amount than wealthier countries.

Thomas Sorenson, Senior Manager in the Cold Chain Unit, UNICEF Supply Division, explains the work behind the scenes to roll-out the largest ultra-cold chain deployment in history.

Four UN agencies have compiled a first-of-its-kind Compendium of guidance on health and environment to help policymakers save millions of lives. The Compendium pulls together 500 actions and recommendations on everything from clean water and…

In Malawi urban areas have more unimmunised zero-dose children than rural regions. The government is working hard to close the immunisation gap.

The 76th UN General Assembly (UNGA 76) will take place from 14-30 September 2021. Could we see a breakthrough in the fight for universal vaccine access?

Although it’s not clear how this compares to the full dose licensed worldwide for emergency use, a quarter of a dose produces an equivalent immune response to immunity from infection.

A study in Malawi found that TCVs are 84% efficacious among children 6 months to 15 years of age – the first such evidence among African children.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reportedly increased the number of teenage mothers across Africa. Inadequate childcare support and stigma can prevent teenage mothers accessing routine immunisation and nutritional support for their infants. Girl Effect…

While the supply is lower than predictions earlier this year, wealthy countries and manufacturers hold the power to improve supply.

mRNA vaccines are the first synthetic vaccines, meaning they are made outside of a living cell. But so are lots of things we consume every day, such as vitamin C pills and other dietary supplements.

The Sierra Leonean documentary is a complex portrait of courageous solidarity amid contagion.

The British artist John D’oh uses humour and wit to drive home messages about vaccines and other measures such as hand-washing and social distancing to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Launch of vaccine trial marks “significant milestone” towards beating this debilitating disease.

Gavi has supported a major expansion in yellow fever diagnostic capacity in Africa over the past three years. The results show just how much improving diagnostics can have a cost-effective yet significant impact on immunisation programmes.

More often than not, the road to a meaningful triumph is a bumpy one.

Additional G20 support can make the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access facility a success. Failure to achieve equitable access would mean more lives lost, broken health-care systems, even deadlier and more transmissible variants, and a pandemic with…

Getting market women and pen-pen drivers vaccinated is critical to tackling COVID-19 in Liberia.

Getting COVID-19 vaccines out to countries isn’t just about ensuring supply – a major stumbling block can be their ‘absorptive capacity,’ or the ability to deliver the volume of vaccine coming their way. Here, we talk to Alex de Jonquieres,…

COVID-19 boosted sales of antibiotic formulations used in adults and adolescents in India. Antibiotics should not be prescribed to treat viral diseases. Misuse of antibiotics can result in drug-resistant infections.

Brazilian scientists have found that transmission of hantavirus, a deadly infection, could be reduced by 45% if Brazil restores its Atlantic Forest to levels mandated by its Native Vegetation Protection Law. Hantavirus, spresd by contact with…

The Marburg virus will be present wherever the Egyptian Rousette bat occurs.

Pandemic ceasefires offer an opportunity to expand vaccination efforts, experts say. But negotiation is tricky.

A universal vaccine has been described as the ‘holy grail’ – but how close are we to getting one?

Children can get long COVID, but it seems to be less common than in adults. And they tend to recover quicker.

More than a quarter of a million infants in low- and middle-income countries are predicted to have died in 2020 due to the economic impact of COVID-19.

With evidence showing the COVID virus is airborne, it's no coincidence many outbreaks in schools have occurred in winter – when windows are closed.

In Pointe-Noire city, the Republic of the Congo's economic capital, a group of volunteers working as town criers are winning the shouting match against the COVID-19 'infodemic.'

With COVID-19 stretching the healthcare system in many parts of Nigeria, health workers and community leaders have to go the extra mile to ensure vaccines reach victims of the country’s latest cholera outbreak.

A new study suggests the RTS,S malaria vaccine alone is as effective as preventive antimalarials; together they could save thousands of lives.

Wildfire smoke has been linked to higher COVID-19 mortality rates, threatening to compound what is already one of the worst burdens of coronavirus infections and deaths in the world. At particular risk are Indigenous populations, who suffer…

A public health scholar based in New Delhi explains how India has emerged from the massive spike in COVID-19 cases, even as the country braces for a new wave.

Experts point to a more fundamental right to be protected from the disease, particularly as it continues to spread primarily among the unvaccinated.

Aid agencies in Goma are joining efforts to contain cholera in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) after the eruption of the Nyiragongo.

As New Zealand enters another lockdown after detecting a single COVID case, it's time to consider whether stringent zero COVID strategies are feasible in the long term.

In the absence of good vaccines, doctors treating epidemic diseases must rely on cumbersome PPE as their one safety net. At least modern hazmat suits, unlike the 17th century plague doctor's all-leather outfit, actually work.

COVID-19 has caused a decline in the delivery of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines that protect girls from cervical cancer. Anuradha Gupta, the Deputy CEO of Gavi, explains what we must do to create more access to these vaccines.

COVID-19 variants threaten to undermine global vaccine programmes unless we accelerate the pace of delivery and rise to the challenge of global deployment.

The news is full of stories of people who refused the jab who died of COVID.

Access to routine immunisation and primary health care is changing the lives of children in Makoko, Nigeria’s largest coastal slum.

Vaccines are among modern medicine’s greatest innovations, allowing billions of people to lead healthy lives. But stopping outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease – and not only COVID-19 – depends on achieving critical mass with immunization…

We all need to know about the science of COVID as we battle through pandemic, but the ultimate story will lie in how it changed our society.

New study finds TCV prevents 85% of cases among vaccinated children in Bangladesh, which has one of the highest typhoid burdens in the world.

The latest IPCC report emphasises the inevitability of some degree of climate change. The human health impact of this should not be ignored.

The narrative of the Broad Street pump is the story of a vital epidemiological discovery; it’s also a story about discovery: it has the tidy, conclusive quality of a fable about science. But in the years after its discovery, John Snow’s theory of…

COVID restrictions have prevented the spread of other respiratory viruses too. As these are lifted, the UK government has warned parents of a delayed surge in infections.

The best single predictor of vaccine uptake per US state is not political affiliation, but the share of the population that believes the human race has always existed. Such findings do not bode well for the global effort to boost vaccination…

Respiratory viruses, such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2, while spread primarily by respiratory droplets can also be spread by contaminated hands touching the mucous membranes of the nose, mouth and eyes.

In 2014, Nigeria escaped an Ebola pandemic in the span of 93 days because of the bravery and quick response of health care workers in Lagos. As the world fights through the COVID-19 pandemic, the film 93 Days – though grim – is a hopeful reminder…

In rural Zambia, clinics and health centres rely on a limited number of medical personnel to run immunisation programmes, which makes the support of community leaders vital.

Offit’s sobering inquiry into “one of the worst biological disasters in American history” is a work of unflinching investigative journalism which lands, finally, not as a whodunit, but as a tribute to modern systems of meticulous vaccine…

From clinical trials to population surveillance, these are the multilevel mechanisms that ensure vaccine safety – including the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

During a pandemic supply bottlenecks of essential medical products are almost inevitable, but with COVID-19 this has been further exacerbated by governments hoarding doses and imposing export bans.

As World War I reached its climax, a terrible influenza pandemic broke out. By summer 1919, it had claimed many more lives than the conflict – but the conflict, researchers say, helped create the conditions for the devastating spread of the so-…

Abdullah and his family escaped genocidal violence in Myanmar in 2017, survived a diphtheria epidemic in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar and weathered the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in a Rohingya camp. Then, in December 2020, he returned to the…

Pakistan is one of two countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic making it essential that the entire country supports the successful implementation of every polio campaign. Women play a critical role, often working at polio’s frontline.

Just because face coverings aren't mandatory doesn't mean they're not protective – so here's how to ask someone to wear one.

This series cuts through the noise to help you catch up with the latest COVID-19 developments in an entertaining and digestible way.

BCG remains the only widely available vaccine for TB. Yet the development of a COVID-19 vaccine over the last year shows that there is capacity to rapidly create new vaccines.

Real-world data is starting shed light on the performance of COVID-19 vaccines in less than perfect conditions.

Dr Annie Kelly, writer and host of a new podcast which tells the story of the smallpox vaccine, talks to #VaccinesWork.

Mnookin’s 2011 investigation of the spread of anti-vax feeling is a pandemic-era must-read.

New data shows the impact COVID-19 is having on routine immunisation programmes worldwide, particularly in lower-income countries. We need action, now, to get routine immunisation programmes back on track and ensure that everyone, everywhere is…

Rather than translating their own COVID-19 vaccination successes into a renewed global push to end the pandemic, rich countries are becoming complacent while the rest of the world grows increasingly desperate. But the emergence of dangerous new…

How investigation into long COVID will help us create treatments.

The widespread acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines in low- to middle-income countries should boost global coronavirus immunity, if distribution issues can be resolved.

Dr John Nkengasong is a Cameroonian virologist and Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), which is working to strengthen the ability of Africa’s public health institutions to detect and respond to disease…

A philosopher of public health ponders whether taking your mask off on July 19 is like punching someone in the face or like riding a bike.

Yoshinobu Nagamine, Senior Donor Manager at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, describes the role contactless biometrics can play in accelerating vaccine delivery for those lacking formal identification.

If people feel a sense of duty to their local community, they're more likely to protect themselves and others by taking the COVID-19 vaccine.

Comparisons with flu are unhelpful – these diseases need to be treated differently.

It may not be high tech, but it works. Kenyan community health volunteers use tracking books to ensure that children receive routine vaccinations.

The lambda variant ripped through Peru and is now spreading globally. But there is little evidence that it is more dangerous than the original variant.

A large study suggests the influenza vaccine may reduce the risk of some of the worst consequences of COVID-19.

If immunity is waning or ineffectual against new variants, then boosters could be needed – but there needs to be evidence that they're necessary.

Vaccine manufacturing doesn't come cheap. It depends heavily on support from developed countries. It also takes much more than relaxing intellectual property rights and a desire for vaccine equity.

One in three unable to properly wash hands at home during COVID-19 – WHO-UNICEF. Progress on water, sanitation and hygiene ‘must quadruple’ to meet 2030 target. Investment and prioritisation needed ‘at the highest levels’.

Will the pandemic go out with a fizzle or a bang? And what does “living with the virus” actually mean, and when will we get there?

We must seize this opportunity to shape our COVID-19 response as a chance to achieve better equity and social justice. What better way to do that than to focus on zero-dose children?

Early results from several studies have found that pets can pick up COVID-19 from their owner – but they are unlikely to be dangerous as a result.

New mRNA tech transfer hub to be established in South Africa. Facility will provide training and licences for vaccine development. Less than one per cent in Africa have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The power sources used to keep vaccines cold used to be polluting and unreliable. We spoke to Alex de Jonquieres, Gavi’s Director of Health Systems and Immunisation Strengthening about how Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, became investors in solar…

Fake COVID-19 vaccines erode public trust in much-needed jabs and encourage vaccine hesitancy.

Before 1955, when a vaccine first made polio a preventable illness, the paralysing disease had to be treated. For many, the best option was the iron lung, a device that came to symbolise an era of anxiety in mid-20th century America.

New bioimaging technologies are pushing the boundaries of medicine. But poorer nations risk losing out on these advances. Investment in facilities and training globally is crucial to bridge the divide.

A reanalysis of 58 existing studies suggests that with COVID-19 being male or seriously overweight isn’t as risky as originally thought.

Guinea declares end of Ebola outbreak after 42 days without new cases. Outbreak resulted in 23 likely cases, 12 deaths since February. Success attributed to community buy-in, capacity building and vaccination.

This rare side-effect from the two RNA vaccines being rolled out might be concerning but the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks.

Two doses have always been more protective than one, but the Delta variant has made the benefit of the second dose much greater.

The Immunization Agenda 2030’s new scorecard visualizes a journey toward pandemic recovery and global immunization progress.

Vaccinated people can still get infected with the coronavirus. So if you have symptoms of COVID-19, getting tested can protect others and help health officials keep an eye on the virus.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected turn out for almost all Malawi’s health services, including routine immunisation. One local CSO is using Community Mother Care groups to trace those missing out on vaccines, helping to ensure children are…

A major obstacle for COVID-19 vaccination programs to achieve higher and more equitable vaccine coverage throughout the world is vaccinating hard-to-reach communities.

The forecast is encouraging given the supply disruptions COVAX and countries with bilateral deals are currently experiencing, and the general challenges manufacturers are experiencing as they ramp up supply at historic speed and scale.

During the pandemic, researchers have treated Twitter as a sprawling and evolving historical document.

Eswatini received its first batch of 32 000 Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines in late March. 12 000 came through the COVAX facility and 20,000 through a donation from the Indian Government.

What do the CEO of the Vaccine Alliance and the star of a hit US TV show have in common? They both want to raise awareness about COVID-19 vaccines and COVAX’s role in getting the world vaccinated.

Mary Mallon was branded a public menace and incarcerated after typhoid outbreaks across New York City were linked to her presence in the kitchen. Was she unfairly demonised?

People who are afraid of needles are twice as likely to be vaccine hesitant, new research shows.

A new paper suggests that plant- and fish-based diets lessen the chance of developing severe symptoms – but hold off from becoming vegetarian or pescatarian for now.

Accounts of previous epidemics – by Samuel Pepys, Daniel Defoe and Katherine Porter – warn of mistakes that we risk repeating.

After a devastating typhoid outbreak swept through Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, a new, more effective vaccine is bringing hope.

We remain locked in a deadly race with the virus. We will only win when we have created a “variant-proof” world that can keep a lid on the havoc caused by its troublesome mutations.

Amid the 28.4 million cases and over 300 thousand deaths from SARS-CoV-2, a second epidemic has hit India. ‘Black fungus’, clinically known as mucormycosis, is an infection currently affecting nearly 12,000 immunocompromised patients recovering…

Rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 are less sensitive than PCR tests, but here we explain why you should never ignore a positive result.

Researchers think they've calculated the limit of human lifespan – but there's more to it.

COVID-19 vaccines were made in record speed, taking around 300 days from the moment the threat was first identified. But the world’s top scientists are aiming to overtake this world record in the next pandemic, aiming to make a vaccine in 100…

Non-specific illnesses, such as headache and fatigue, are common, as are mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety.

Marginalized people suffer from being at the intersection of multiple challenges and barriers. Economic hardship has been a secondary epidemic in the LGBTIQ community. We need public health and support services that acknowledge difference.

The death toll from the pandemic has been devastatingly high, with the official figure standing at 3.5 million people, but the World Health Organization estimates the real number could be up to three times higher. Here’s why.

A significant number of post-covid patients suffer from syndromes that few doctors understand.

Our immune system is controlled by our "body clock" – an intricate 24-hour system which controls how cells function.

Social media has been much-maligned as a source of misinformation when it comes to vaccines. But for millions of Nigerians it is having the opposite effect, encouraging them to get their jabs.

In the COVAX Advance Market Commitment Summit, hosted by Japan, countries and industry came together to pledge support to the mission of making vaccines available equitably worldwide.

Several regulators have agreed the mRNA vaccine can be kept refrigerated for up to 30 days, making it easier to distribute in lower-resource settings.

With millions of COVID-19 vaccines now being delivered around the world, they are utilising a huge hidden infrastructure, built up over decades and spreading across the globe, with one ultimate goal: keeping the vaccines cool. How did these …

New waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in countries, such as Kenya and India, have exposed the poor management of oxygen supplies. Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, asked Professor Trevor Duke, an expert on [oxygen provision] and editor of…

Malawi’s Ministry of Health is using its structures to reach out to a small section of religious groups that are threatening the success of the country’s immunisation programme.

At the turn of the 20th Century, US researchers in Cuba made the historic discovery that mosquitoes spread yellow fever. The finding was not only a medical breakthrough; it would also make possible one of the world’s greatest feats of engineering…

Scientists think they may have caught a canine coronavirus in the process of adapting to humans.

Variants of interest and variants of concern seem to be popping up at an alarming rate. But how many of them do we really need to worry about?

In 1793, with the United States of America less than 20 years old, a yellow fever epidemic decimates the capital city, Philadelphia, and shines a spotlight on stark racial and social inequalities.

Death rates on the continent are higher than Asia, Europe, North America or South America, in large part because of a lack of resources and underuse of resources that do exist.

It's been argued that pandemics are the great leveller, but with COVID the opposite is true – and we can't afford to ignore it.

As Community Health Workers, Harriet Nankwanzi and Yusuf Maganda have built personal relationships with people in their communities who have over the years relied on their services to access vital health information.

Many countries are beginning to use wastewater monitoring to track COVID-19 outbreaks, but such sewage surveillance has a long history.

Health workers go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that the children of Borno State, Nigeria, are vaccinated.

The pandemic is having an adverse effect on Malawi’s continued drive to provide all children with routine vaccines.

Reports of fully vaccinated people getting infected with coronavirus shouldn't cause alarm.

With tourism hit hard by the pandemic, camel riders in Northern Kenya have repurposed their herds to help spread the word about COVID-19 vaccines, using traditional healers to gain trust in the community.

In an unprecedented show of global solidarity, the world came together to back COVAX, a unique global solution aimed at making equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines possible.

A COVAX Manufacturing Task Force has been established to identify and resolve issues impeding equitable access to vaccines.

App-assisted vaccinator training is an approach that shows promise, write the team who ran a Gavi-supported pilot to trial a new screen-based learning mechanism in India. What’s more, amid the pandemic, the flexibility of learning from home,…

Dr Berkley is recognised alongside other world-changing vaccine champions in this year’s list for their part in the fight against COVID-19.

As the Spanish flu of 1918-1920 tore through America, a San Francisco mayor bet on the potential of face masks to contain the spread. Then, like today, the demand to mask up met resistance that blended distrust, ideology and gut feeling.

The indigenous people adopted measures that were more applicable to the challenges but also their reality. And I tried to illustrate that in my story.

Vaccination is likely to substantially reduce virus transmission by reducing the pool of people who become infected, and reducing virus levels in people who get infected.

Country and community perspectives on realising the targets of the Immunisation Agenda 2030.

The Biden administration’s decision to stop opposing a proposed COVID-19 waiver of certain intellectual-property rights under World Trade Organization rules is a welcome move. But ending the pandemic also requires scaling up knowledge and…

The pandemic has been tough for the 1.4 million Ugandans living with HIV, but the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine has brought some welcome relief.

Increasing vaccination coverage by even 1% can save thousands of lives and millions of dollars in medical and economic costs.

As countries worldwide are suffering from COVID-19 vaccine shortages, sharing intellectual property and know-how, and easing trade bans on the export of raw materials, could ease supply bottlenecks.

Meningitis affects more than 30,000 people in Africa every year. Scientists use weather data to predict location and scale of impending cases. The prediction helps country-level health services to plan emergency responses.

Increasing skills and the availability of raw materials would be a bigger boost for vaccine production right now.

We cannot look back in the future and know we could have done more.

With 47 African countries now rolling out COVID-19 vaccines and over 17 million doses given on the continent, early insights from Africa’s largest-ever immunization drive offer hope, inspiration and early, yet vital lessons. Here, we shine a…

Investment in bedside oxygen production could make hospitals more resilient in the face of COVID-19.

The impact of COVID-19 threatens to reverse hard-worn strides in global health. Without immediate investments, we will miss our chance to save lives and help countries recover from the pandemic and build the human capital needed for a resilient…

Although it is only natural and proper for governments to focus on vaccinating their citizens first, it is important not to lose sight of the big picture. The only way we can beat COVID-19 is to defeat it everywhere, and the best way to do that…

Trying to control a pandemic can feel like being in a warzone, yet even as we fight COVID-19 we still need to keep one eye on the future and potential emerging pandemics. Dr Velislava Petrova, senior manager in vaccine policy and investment at…

Globally, antibiotic use in hospitals has surged since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and over-the-counter sales, legal in many countries, have soared. This is further fueling the global crisis of antimicrobial resistance, as bacteria evolve…

A new documentary tells a powerful tale of families overcoming every obstacle to protect their children from vaccine preventable disease.

In Uttar Pradesh, India, over 1,000 children die every day from preventable diseases. Gavi’s long-standing partnership with Unilever and Lifebuoy has helped to reach 2.5 million people with essential vaccines and soap, while also leveraging the…

Stories of reaching herd immunity were certainly premature.

Why a 19^th century portrait of three southern Indian noblewomen is “one of the most important scientific pictures in the history of medicine in India.”

The R21/Matrix-M vaccine is the first to show promise of hitting the World Health Organisation’s target of 75% efficacy against malaria.

When the pandemic started, India defied expectations by having a milder outbreak than had been predicted. Now, it is seeing a deadly second wave that is bringing the country’s health system to its knees – so what is behind this, and how much is…

A deadly cousin of Ebola, Marburg can kill nine out of ten people it infects, and international travel has taken it from Africa to Europe twice in the past 40 years. Will increasing globalisation make this virus more likely to erupt around the…

Scientists who study the post-illness syndrome are taking a close look at patients’ reports of this unexpected benefit of the vaccine.

The antiparasitic drug was thought to be a potential treatment for COVID-19, but there isn't sufficient evidence to recommend its use, despite widespread support online.

The prospect of recovery from the COVID-19 crisis makes it all the more urgent to have a firm vision of how the burden of public debt can be reduced once the coronavirus has been vanquished. For this reason, every country must work on itself and…

The pandemic has strained most countries’ health systems. Afghanistan has faced more hurdles than most.

We didn’t have to be stuck with needles.

Study suggests the risk of a serious brain clot is up to ten times higher in people with COVID-19 infections, compared to those receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

COVAX has a critical role to play in ending the acute phase of the pandemic. The initiative could also be a model for how we address some of the most urgent development challenges of our time, from climate change to poverty reduction.

The delivery of vaccines has gone a long way to alleviating the fears and pressure on healthcare workers in Eswatini.

New Covid-19 variants could potentially jeopardise a lot of the work that has been done so far to contain the pandemic. Sonia Gonçalves explains how genomic surveillance can help us track and contain them.

New research suggests people who exercise for 150 minutes a week are half as likely to die from COVID-19 compared to those who are consistently inactive.

Maternal health in low- and middle-income countries hit hard by COVID-19. Global review analysed stillbirth, maternal death rates from 17 countries. Maternity care must be prioritised during global health crisis, says report 

As long as there have been vaccines, a vocal minority of public voices have made it their mission to rile up their communities against vaccination. In Montréal, in 1885, those voices were successful – and the results were deadly.

The delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to Eswatini through COVAX means the elderly now have the chance to protect themselves against the disease. VaccinesWork visits a vaccination session in Lobamba.

The seasons can affect transmission of the virus – but this will likely be dwarfed by the impact of public health measures.

Experience shows that innovative and evidence-based approaches, when executed well, can dent poverty. With the COVID-19 pandemic threatening to reverse hard-won global gains, the need for policy-relevant research, and for scaling effective…

Ending the COVID-19 crisis hinges on all countries being able to vaccinate their people. A lot goes into getting ready.

At the turn of the 19th century, news of a 1796 medical breakthrough called 'vaccination' started to spread around the world. A fascinating recent book, War Against Smallpox by Michael Bennett, traces the subsequent dissemination of the actual…

New data shows that investing in getting that first vaccination to children can be a turning point in getting them fully immunised.

The study found people bounce back from their mental sluggishness soon after emerging from isolation.

To mark one year of #VaccinesWork, we look back at some of the articles that answer the most frequently asked questions about COVID-19 during an unprecedented year for global health.

The European Medicines Agency has concluded that there is a possible link between AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and very rare blood clots. But what are these clots and how great is the risk?

In a huge country like Nigeria, ensuring the right people receive COVAX vaccines is not just a question of how, but where. Could geospatial technology, trialled during previous polio campaigns, make a difference?

A genetic trick called an integron plays an important role in helping bacteria do this.

Natural infection with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 may not lead to long-lasting immunity, so it is important to get the vaccine as well.

As the 19th century entered its final quarter, “vaccination” meant one thing: immunisation with cowpox against deadly smallpox. By the end of the 20th century, safe and effective vaccines existed against 26 killer diseases. In the second part of…

Currently approved vaccines incorporate viral proteins or the instructions for making them, but they do not contain any live virus.

Immunization and vaccination experts from around the world outlined the current state of the world’s vaccination campaigns while addressing the urgent needs and concerns regarding public trust in the efficacy of vaccines; access and challenges.…

History tells us that the end of pandemics are rarely – if ever – neat, uncomplicated, or even easy to date.

In the 19th century, yellow fever had taken hold of parts of Europe and the USA, especially the Deep South, killing thousands. Now mostly in Africa and South America, this mosquito-borne disease could spread at any moment, threatening public…

As early as the 1500s, efforts to halt the spread of smallpox included risky procedures designed to trigger immunity. By the 1800s, these methods – collectively termed “variolation” – had been supplanted by the earliest example of a new, safer…

The increased use of disinfectants could allow for the development of bacterial strains which are resistant to disinfectants.

On 15 March 2020, Somalia received 300 000 doses of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX Facility to protect frontline workers and elderly people with chronic health conditions from COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) hears…

In March, Mukami received her first COVAX vaccine dose. As a woman in her 60s living in Kenya, she has priority access to COVAX vaccines, alongside other high-risk groups like health care workers and people with underlying diseases. Here she…

On 22 March 2021, the world marked World Water Day, with the theme for this year’s celebration being “valuing water.” What can the long history of water’s connection with health teach us about its true value to the world?

Experts say there’s nothing new about the research underpinning the covid vaccines and that they were tested in more participants than many other approved vaccines.

What side are you on, paper or dryer? In either case, here's the bottom line on what to do after using the toilet.

By understanding the circumstances that make viral evolution more likely, we stand a better chance of staying a step ahead.

COVAX was designed to ensure the most vulnerable in every country get access to COVID-19 vaccines. But what about people in conflict zones or humanitarian settings that can’t be reached by government vaccination campaigns? Last week Gavi approved…

The key insights from the assessments to date present a high-level snapshot of country readiness to deploy COVID-19 vaccines based on initial findings from ongoing assessments in 128 countries.

To mark the first anniversary of #VaccinesWork, we look back at some of the most read articles on diseases other than COVID-19 during an unprecedented year for global health.

Instead of working to make vaccines against each unique coronavirus or variant, what if we could provide broad protection across the field through an all-in-one coronavirus shot?

Wuhan investigation points to wildlife as likely source of COVID-19. Climate change and illegal trade are increasing risk of zoonotic disease transmission. Wildlife protection, surveillance of zoonosis are key to early detection of ‘spillover…

Ghana became the first African country to receive vaccines through the COVAX initiative in February. Meet one of the nurses spearheading the vaccination effort.

More than 100 years after the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, type A influenza virus not only poses one of the largest threats to the modern world, but the risk of spill-over of avian influenza from poultry to humans is growing.

For one year, 600 people tracked 20 types of coronavirus restriction in 186 countries – here's what they found out.

Whilst COVID-19 caught the world off guard, the speed at which it spread and the extent of its impact on people’s lives came as a great shock to most. However, some were not surprised at all.

Ghana became the first African country to receive COVAX doses in February, kicking off a mammoth logistical effort in the country to get these doses to the frontline workers that need them. #VaccinesWork spoke to the cold chain experts making it…

To mark the first anniversary of #VaccinesWork, we look back at some of the most-read articles on how countries have been navigating COVID-19 during an unprecedentedly challenging year for global health.

These results can help allay previous concerns in Europe about a lack of trial data for older people.

The tiger mosquito that carries the chikungunya virus is now moving into new habitats in Europe and America thanks to climate change. This means the once tropical disease could soon become a global pandemic threat.

The global response to the coronavirus pandemic, for all its flaws, has yielded impressive results by ignoring traditional bureaucratic and sectoral silos. That should spur us to raise our ambitions for global public health, with an emphasis on…

Accra, 18 March 2021 – COVID-19 vaccination in Africa is gathering pace, with more than 7 million doses so far administered. But the continent received vaccines later than other regions of the world and in limited quantity. A few weeks after…

Community vaccinators go where fixed health centres can’t reach. In Afghanistan, that means fighting Taliban injunctions, entrenched gender imbalances and difficult terrain, all to ensure the nation’s children are protected.

Time to get vaccinated!

In today’s blog post, we’re featuring a fierce and passionate female WASH advocate from Nigeria. Tariah Adams, a Senior Communications and Advocacy Officer for White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria and campaign mobilizer, she has a personal interest in…

At the end of the year 2019, we created an elaborate 2020 plan for our projects at Beyond the Classroom Foundation. As we got closer to our second project scheduled for the end of March, the government imposed a lockdown, banning all public…

Ebola has so far only affected African countries, and occasional cases outside of the continent have been rapidly contained. But the virus could mutate to spread more easily between people, making it more of a pandemic threat.

To mark the first anniversary of #VaccinesWork, we look back at some of the most read articles on COVID-19 during an unprecedented year for global health.

So far, homeschooling has been trial and error because it’s difficult to keep the twins calm and engaged for long periods of time. We have no fixed curriculum and use online educational programs as a guide. 

After a difficult year, the vaccination roll-out is underway at Ghana’s premier medical facility, where health workers dare to hope that things can go back to normal.

John Nkengasong is the Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is also the WHO special envoy for Africa. John spoke to CovidHQAfrica desk about a range of issues including his vision for the vaccines in Africa, and…

COVID-19 has demonstrated that viruses not only know no borders, but they also do not discriminate based on immigration status. Failing to take migrants into account in our vaccination efforts would hamper the effectiveness of these campaigns and…

To mark the first anniversary of #VaccinesWork, we look back at some of the most read articles on COVID-19 during an unprecedented year for global health.

Sales of medical devices that measure the oxygen saturation of blood are booming thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. But are they worth the investment?

Genetic sequencing has linked the recent outbreak of Ebola disease to a survivor of the 2014-16 West Africa epidemic, meaning the virus could have laid dormant in one survivor for over five years. What does this mean for our efforts to control…

Abuja, 12 March 2021 – As the second wave of COVID-19 affects the global health and economic community, the World Health Organization (WHO) is supporting government to engage strategic stakeholders as part of concerted efforts to reverse the…

With the historic global roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines in full swing, bottlenecks in the supply chain are inevitable as manufacturing output tries to keep pace with demand. A manufacturing supply chain summit last week outlined potential…

An army of volunteers help people who otherwise would have had difficulty securing a covid vaccination because of cumbersome computer or telephone registration systems.

For anyone who has worked on crop improvement in Africa over the last three decades, the flood of misinformation around vaccines evokes an eerie sense of déjà vu.

Nipah virus can kill as many as three out of four people it infects. Since the fruit bat that carries the virus often comes into contact with humans, here we explain why the development of drugs and vaccines for the disease is becoming…

Dr Paul Garner, a British infectious disease expert at the UK’s Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine caught COVID-19 early in 2020, and then developed Long COVID. Here, he talks frankly with Gavi about his experiences, how he recovered and how…

COVID-19 vaccine testing on children is just getting started, and only in adolescents.

The virus is always present in nature and when circumstances allow, it may jump from one species to another.

Since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, many countries around the world imposed some form of quarantine to control its spread. What can the history of quarantine teach us about isolation and lockdowns now?

Researchers identify bacterial variants that may be evolving resistance to antimicrobials and vaccines.

Vivianne Ihekweazu (Lead writer): On the day marking one year since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Nigeria, this article reflects on the experience and lessons learnt from the Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker as she led…

Overall efficacy is just one metric.

Stockpiles of this vaccine are going unused in France and Germany, and unfounded criticism of it may be partly to blame.

This is the third in a three-part series highlighting key lessons learned since the launch, four years ago, of the Cold Chain Equipment Optimization Platform (CCEOP), established by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to ensure optimal cold chain…

This is the second in a three-part series highlighting key lessons learned since the launch, four years ago, of the Cold Chain Equipment Optimization Platform (CCEOP), established by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to ensure optimal cold chain…

Leaders in global health have been working on COVAX – a global initiative to ensure the fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Some of the top jobs are held by a diverse group of women, so in honour of International Women's Day we'd like to…

For this year's International Women's Day VaccinesWork has interviewed a number of women leaders and front line workers who represent this year's IWD theme: #ChooseToChallenge

This International Women’s Day Vaccines Work is hosting a series of interviews with inspirational women from across the world. Here Nighat Rani, a vaccinator in Pakistan, shows how her work rests on a bedrock of female empathy and understanding…

This International Women’s Day Vaccines Work is hosting a series of interviews with inspirational women from across the world. Here Professor Chizoba Wonodi, Founder of Women Advocates for Vaccine Access in Nigeria and Country Director at the…

This International Women’s Day Vaccines Work is hosting a series of interviews with inspirational women from across the world. Here Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim, epidemiologist and associate scientific director for CAPRISA – the Centre for…

This International Women’s Day Vaccines Work is hosting a series of interviews with inspirational women from across the world. Here Professor Heidi Larson, Founding Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project, explains how gender can affect…

This International Women’s Day Vaccines Work is hosting a series of interviews with inspirational women from across the world. Here Rathnamma P, an 'ASHA' in Bengaluru, India, explains how the country's army of one million female community health…

This International Women’s Day Vaccines Work is hosting a series of interviews with inspirational women from across the world. Here Anuradha Gupta, Gavi’s Deputy CEO, explains what ‘choose to challenge’ – this year’s IWD theme – means to her.

To make the world safe from COVID-19, we need everyone vaccinated, including children. To get back to normality, we also need vaccinated adults, ongoing safety measures, safe re-opening of schools, access to all recommended vaccines – and…

As political and public health leaders across the world work to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, what can they learn from the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll getting jabbed?

Reaching the goals of the plan requires the best possible interaction between public and private -for profit and not-for-profit - healthcare sectors.

The first deliveries of up to 2.5 million doses of COVAX vaccines by autonomous drone began this week in Ghana.

Several vaccines that have become available have shown different levels of efficacy. So what is vaccine efficacy? Dr Lee Hampton, a paediatrician and medical epidemiologist with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, explains.

A vaccine that apparently protects animals against multiple strains of flu has been created by tethering a relatively unchanging part of the surface proteins found on the virus to nanoparticles.

As more COVID-19 vaccines become available, countries the world over are now faced with the daunting task of carrying out mass vaccinations. Here, one expert explains how her organisation is supporting rollouts in the US and offers insights into…

Real-world studies of vaccines aren't directly comparable with clinical trials, but their results are still good news.

COVID-19 vaccination campaigns using COVAX-funded doses commenced today in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, the first global rollout.

This article is part of a series of explainers on vaccine development and distribution. Learn more about vaccines – from how they work and how they’re made to ensuring safety and equitable access – in WHO’s Vaccines Explained series.

Ghana is not only the first country to receive a shipment of COVAX vaccines, but it will be the first to broaden its reach by delivering them by drone. The new partnership with Zipline and UPS Foundation will see 2.5 million doses delivered this…

Even those that live in areas where the population has already been vaccinated would not be totally protected if the virus mutates elsewhere.

The first in a three-part series of blogs highlighting key lessons learned since the launch, four years ago, of the Cold Chain Equipment Optimization Platform (CCEOP), established by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to ensure optimal cold chain…

Roald Dahl's daughter Olivia died of measles aged seven.

Minor side effects are a normal sign that the immune system is mounting a protective response following vaccination, although they aren’t universal.

Countries in the West Africa region are in a very different position to seven years ago. They now have the experience of the past as well as new tools to tackle Ebola.

Vaccine data from Scotland provides reassurance that the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will significantly reduce hospitalisations and deaths from COVID-19 among older people after the first dose.

The continent is one of the most experienced regions in the world in dealing with disease outbreaks.

Maintaining antibodies in the blood requires creating certain long-lasting immune cells – but this doesn't always happen.

The pandemic won’t last forever, but the virus that causes COVID-19 might. Here we look at what we can expect over the next couple of years in a Q&A with Dr Lee Hampton, pediatrician and medical epidemiologist at Gavi.

The tracking of antibodies in Ebola survivors suggests they wax and wane, which could make vaccine booster shots necessary.

Saving the planet from catastrophic climate change will require not only a dramatic increase in funding for clean-energy research and development. We need innovation in policy just as much as in technology.

The world's most advanced economies will incur half the total costs associated with a failure to vaccinate poorer nations, which could exceed $4 trillion if only half their citizens are inoculated.

If we are to minimize the impact of future disease outbreaks, we must recognize the importance of immunization and invest in preemptive vaccine development, writes Tim Keys.

As wearing face masks in public becomes the new normal across the world, what can we learn from a country like Japan, where this has been a long-established practice?

The global effort to contain COVID-19 risks disrupting campaigns against other diseases. Will the fight to control the deadly rabies virus in India be among them?

The side effects of new SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are a result of immune system activation. While uncomfortable, they are both normal and expected. They are a sign that the vaccine is working.

The G7 has an opportunity to demonstrate global leadership in the COVID-19 pandemic by making the success of the international COVAX vaccine-access facility its top priority. Global solidarity is not only morally right, but also offers the…

Unprecedented international cooperation and focus have led to multiple effective and safe Covid-19 vaccines in less than a year, and created a blueprint for future vaccine development. Here's how

COVID-19 deaths differ among men and women but the differences are not reported. A project is building sex-aggregated data on COVID-19 globally. Such data is key to developing effective solutions to fight COVID-19.

It’s totally normal to experience side effects from COVID-19 vaccines. Here’s what you need to know.

Guinea is having its first Ebola outbreak since 2016, when West Africa experienced the biggest outbreak ever seen. Could the vaccine that contained previous outbreaks soon be redeployed?

With the first Covid-19 vaccines in short supply, how do governments decide who gets a vaccine first?

A new study suggests that historical traumas from the French colonial era may be associated with less trust in modern medicine and lower vaccination rates today.

Clinically significant SARS-CoV-2 variants are likely to be here to stay, but multiple COVID-19 vaccines still have a role to play.

In Tanzania, the Ocean Road Cancer Institute is doing its part to ensure that people across the country can receive cancer treatment and care, regardless of their ability to pay.

Maina Modu is the programme manager for Routine Immunisation in Borno State, working with the State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA). He coordinates the state emergency routine immunisation coordination centre activities.

The choice facing world leaders is simple: act now to tackle the hunger crisis, or pay a much higher price later. Immediate action will be cheaper and save more lives than responding only after multiple famines have taken hold and a generation’s…

As the pandemic brings long-standing health disparities into sharper view, community health workers are coming to the forefront in the public health response. This fast-growing workforce help fill the gaps between health care providers and low-…

By building on the lessons learned in 2020, it should be possible in the long term to compress vaccine development timelines still further. That would allow healthcare systems to stamp out disease outbreaks much earlier and save many more lives…

Antibiotic resistance has been a slow-growing scourge, fueled in part by relatively weak political support for implementing national action plans and surveillance systems. Because the problem is essentially the result of multiple systems failures…

In Pakistan, a life-saving game of immunisation catch-up is underway after the COVID-19 emergency forced over a million children to miss out on routine vaccinations.

Contaminated doorknobs and packaging probably aren’t the main way the coronavirus spreads. But don’t throw away the hand gel and cleaning products just yet.

The coronavirus is evolving, but which path it will take is far from certain.

Smallpox was one of the deadliest diseases in the world, but it’s the only one in history to have been eradicated globally. One Somali man sat on the frontline of this effort and can inspire the world today as we battle yet another devastating…

Face coverings have become a standard feature of pandemic life, but which mask is best for everyday use, and how should you take care of it?

The medical and moral imperative for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines is why COVAX was created. Co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (…

Researchers are already working to improve the current crop of mRNA vaccines. Hopefully this will help them become more practical and affordable for the entire world, not just first-world countries.

Research suggesting that one of the COVID-19 vaccines provides only minimal protection against mild-moderate infection caused by the 501.Y.V2 variant has raised concerns. But this doesn’t mean it won’t prevent severe disease and deaths.

Global access to HPV vaccine is vital, particularly in lower-income countries. Lessons learned from HPV roll-out could boost uptake of COVID-19 vaccines.

Scientists wanted to find out about the long-term effect of measles on the immune system. Scientific article for students.

Several COVID-19 vaccines may have now demonstrated their ability to prevent disease, but it was still not clear whether any could stop the virus being passed on. Now however a preliminary study suggests that some might also be able to reduce…

As World Cancer Day approaches amidst the COVID-19 pandemic,  it’s now more important than ever to ensure continued access to HPV vaccines to eliminate cervical cancer around the world.

Dr. De Sousa has spent more than twenty years charting the highs and lows of polio eradication in Angola.

The single-dose vaccine showed promising results in preliminary data from a phase 3 clinical trial.

Punjab province introduces typhoid conjugate vaccine, taking the next step in protecting children from typhoid in Pakistan.

The results indicate that the vaccine efficacy in the UK was 89% for individuals who received at least two doses of vaccine. In South Africa, the vaccine efficacy was 60% in people without HIV.

With the World Health Organization inviting COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to submit their candidates for evaluation, we examine the process from submission to Emergency Use Listing.

Manaus variant spreads faster and could carry higher risk of infection. Researchers believe new variant spread from Brazil to Asia. Fast, widespread vaccination is best way to slow down mutations.

Irene Baker* is a care assistant at a psychiatric hospital in England. She describes the challenges of caring for mentally ill patients during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A biologist explains what proteins do in viruses, how they interact with human cells, how the vaccine delivers mRNA into the cell and how antibodies protect us.