Three million foreigners living in Thailand have as much right to COVID-19 vaccinations as Thais because the goal is to achieve herd immunity, the government declared on Thursday.The policy is to vaccinate everyone in Thailand no matter whether they are Thais or foreigners.

A few years ago, as Narendra Modi came into power, investigative reporters discovered that India was hiding its malaria deaths. While at the Indian national health ministry in New Delhi, they saw thousands of cases disappear.

Waiving patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines is fiercely opposed by Big Pharma because they say it would set a precedent that could threaten future innovations, and insist the move would not speed up production.Here are some of the consequences waiving the patent protection on novel coronavirus vaccines could have.No Immediate ImpactThe vaccine makers say patents are not the key factor impeding faster production."Handing needy countries a recipe book without the ingredients, safeguar

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered police to arrest anyone not wearing a mask properly, including below the nose, as the country battles to contain surging coronavirus infections.Duterte issued the directive after a meeting with his COVID-19 task force – where everyone except him can be seen wearing the mandatory face covering – an official video released late Wednesday showed.Thousands of people have been punished for violating COVID-19 rules since the end of March, when restri

The first “tweaked” vaccine against the worrying coronavirus variants that emerged in South Africa and Brazil has successfully neutralised them in laboratory trials, the United States (US) company Moderna has said.The results of the small trial suggest that boosters against the variants will be feasible and could be rolled out this year to counter the threat from variants that have appeared around the world and are feared in some cases to be more transmissible or partially vaccine-resistant.L

Philippines says fishing moratorium between May 1 to August 16 imposed by China since 1999 does not apply to Filipino fishermen.

United States (US) President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday announced support for a global waiver on patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines, offering hope to poor nations that have struggled to access the life-saving doses.India, where the death toll hit a new daily record amid fears the peak is still to come, has been leading the fight within the World Trade Organization (WTO) to allow more drug makers to manufacture the vaccines – a move pharma giants oppose.US Trade Represe

A shadow government of ousted Myanmar lawmakers said Wednesday it has set up a "people's defence force" to protect civilians, as the police and military deploy deadly arms against anti-coup protesters.The country has been in turmoil since the military deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering a mass uprising of daily protests and a nationwide boycott from civil servants.So far, nearly 770 people have been killed in deadly crackdowns, according to a local monitoring g

Several employees of a pharmaceutical company have been arrested in Indonesia for allegedly washing and reselling used COVID nasal swab test kits.Up to 9,000 passengers at an airport in Medan may have been tested with the reused swab sticks, say police.State-owned company Kimia Farma is now reportedly facing a potential lawsuit launched on behalf of the travellers.COVID nasal swab testing has become routine in many countries hit by the global pandemic.Police said they believed the scam had be

Cambodia on Tuesday ordered journalists to stop reporting from blockaded coronavirus "red zones" and from chasing ambulances as the country battles against a record surge in infections.The country has seen COVID-19 cases surge since February, when an outbreak was first detected among its Chinese expatriate community.On Tuesday, officials announced a record 938 new infections, bringing the total cases to 16,299 with 107 deaths.Authorities have transformed schools and wedding party ha