Evolutionary pressures accompanying the spread of the coronavirus have driven the COVID-19 pandemic into a phase in which new variants are starting to pop up everywhere.

Over the past year, rich-country governments and central banks have provided unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus to help mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the world enters the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, vaccination has moved front and centre in policymakers’ responses. But while vaccines offer the surest way out of the crisis, countries are approaching them in different ways. Some are racing to vaccinate their populations, while others await longer-term efficacy data before beginning.

The world's poorest countries can expect to start receiving their first COVID-19 vaccine doses between the end of January and mid-February, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday.Vaccination is already under way in some of the world's wealthiest nations, including the United States (US), Britain, European Union countries and Canada.COVAX, the globally-pooled vaccine procurement and distribution effort, has struck agreements to secure two billion doses -- and the first of

A recent poll found that one in three Americans would not be willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, while anti-vaxxers have reportedly gained at least 7.8 million new social media followers since 2019. Like the pandemic itself, anti-vax misinformation and rumours know no borders.

Online misinformation is leaching out from cheap mobile phones and free Facebook plans used by millions in the Philippines, convincing many to reject vaccinations for polio and other deadly diseases.Childhood immunisation rates have plummeted in the country - from 87 percent in 2014 to 68 percent - resulting in a measles epidemic and the re-emergence of polio last year.A highly politicised campaign that led to the withdrawal of dengue vaccine Dengvaxia in 2017 is widely seen as one of the mai

Last year, a child died of pneumonia every 39 seconds, on average. A form of acute respiratory infection, pneumonia is detectable, treatable, and preventable. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) – which protect against the bacteria that cause pneumonia and meningitis (a life-threatening brain infection) – have existed since 2000.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday it did not expect widespread immunisation against the novel coronavirus until mid-2021, tempering hopes just as research revealed encouraging early results from a Russian vaccine.The virus which has killed nearly 870,000 people worldwide continues to spread, with Italy's flamboyant former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi now in hospital after becoming the latest high-profile figure to test positive for COVID-19.Across the world, governments

The importance of a reliable and widely accessible health-care system is never more apparent than during a pandemic. It is now painfully clear that countries cannot pursue economic development, and assume that the health system will develop in tandem.

From infrastructure damage caused by extreme weather events to drought-induced food insecurity, there are many climate risks for which the world should urgently be preparing. But one of the areas where climate change poses arguably the most significant risk is barely being discussed: human health.When natural disasters strike, the death toll from floods, famines, or building collapses is often just the beginning; the sickness and disease that follow sometimes do far more damage.