10 May 2021
This scientific brief replaces the WHO Scientific Brief entitled “’Immunity passports’ in the context of COVID-19”, published 24 April 2020.
This update is focused on what is currently understood about SARS-CoV-2 immunity from natural infection. More information about considera...tions on vaccine certificates or “passports” will be covered in an update of WHO interim guidance, as requested by the COVID-19 emergency committee.
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This article is part two in a series of explainers on vaccine development and distribution. Part one focused on how vaccines work to protect our bodies from disease-carrying germs. This article focuses on the ingredients in a vaccine and the three clinical trial phases. Part three outlines the nex...t part of the vaccine journey: the steps from completing the clinical trial phases through to distribution
Available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian
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The procurement of essential medicines and other health products is a critical function in support of the effective discharge of WHO’s mandate, and WHO values the importance of the quality of essential medicines and health products that are supplied to countries. The first World Health Assembly in... 1948 recognized the need to establish a procurement service at WHO, and recommended setting up an office “to give advice on the procurement of essential drugs, biological products and other medical supplies”.
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10 May 2021. Manufactureres:
SK Bioscience Co. Ltd. [COVID-19 Vaccine (ChAdOx1-S [recombinant])]
Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. [COVISHIELD™, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Corona Virus Vaccine (Recombinant)]
The ChAdOx1-S/nCoV-19 [recombinant] vaccine is a replication-deficient adenoviral vecto...r vaccine against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The vaccine expresses the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein gene, which instructs the host cells to produce the protein of the S-antigen unique to SARS-CoV-2, allowing the body to generate an immune response and to retain that information in memory immune cells. Efficacy shown in clinical trials in participants who received the full series of vaccine (2 doses) irrespective of interval between the doses was 63.1%, based on a median follow-up of 80 days, but tended to be higher when this interval was longer. The data reviewed at this time support the conclusion that the known and potential benefits of ChAdOx1-S/nCoV-19 [recombinant] vaccine outweigh the known and potential risks.
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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.
Vaccines are supported by decades of medical research. ...They work by preparing the body's own immune system to recognise and defend against a specific disease. The volume of information available about vaccination can be overwhelming, so it’s important to talk through the topic.
Available in different languages
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Background paper 7
The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response
May 2021
Background paper 13
The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response
May 2021
Pharmaceutical regulators are at the forefront of ensuring that only safe and effective medicines are authorized and available in the market. This document builds on the recommendations in the above publication and has been prepared to specifically assist national medicines regulatory authorities to... understand the nature and extent of oxytocin quality issues and to provide key technical information and quality requirements for oxytocin products in dossier assessments. Furthermore, this document also presents recommendations on other regulatory actions needed to ensure that only quality-assured oxytocin products are authorized and made available to women.
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Key findings from a February 2021 survey from the Partnership for Evidence-Based Response to COVID-19 (PERC)
4 August 2021. Currently, Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine COMIRNATY® (Tozinameran) is the only COVID-19 vaccine that should be stored and transported at -60ºC to -86ºC ultra-low temperature (ULT) conditions. Prior to use the vaccine can be transferred to -20ºC freezer or +2-8ºC refrigerator at... the lower store levels and immunization service points. However, vaccine shelf life is affected when vaccine is transferred to a different storage temperature. Health workers in charge of managing the storage, transport and administration of the vaccine should be well trained to maintain vaccine quality. Good cold chain planning, strong management of vaccine supply, logistics and distribution, including installation and effective monitoring and evaluation of the performance of the storage equipment and infrastructure, are also necessary.
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The portable diagnostic imaging technology covered by this document will serve not only the pressing demands for tuberculosis screening and triage but also other diseases. Therefore, the requirements, accessories, hardware and software packages listed in the following specifications are described in... detail in order to serve also other pathologies and conditions, like trauma and pneumonia.
Through the definition of "minimum technical requirements", this document is recommended to support decision-making regarding the selection, incorporation, allocation and use of portable X-ray systems and is intended for health care providers, managers of imaging departments, procurement and regulatory agencies, policymakers and planning officers in ministries of health, as well as biomedical engineering professionals, medical physicists, the private health sector, medical device industry and intergovernmental and international agencies.
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This training module is designed to equip HWs with knowledge and communication skills to build their confidence and support them in their ability to promote acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination among other HWs.
обновленная версия от 04/10/2021
Информация о введении вакцин
High prices, hard-to-access human insulin, few insulin producers, and weak health systems are just some of the barriers that people with diabetes face a century after insulin was discovered, WHO notes in a new report
Joule 5, 2687–2714 October 20, 2021 Cell Press