As the world continues to battle COVID-19 and many countries look at ways to recover from the pandemic, a new virus is making headlines worldwide.The monkeypox virus is now thought to be nearing 100 cases in 12 countries, and more are expected as surveillance is stepped up.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday gave the green light to Chinese manufacturer CanSinoBIO's COVID-19 vaccine – the ninth jab to get the WHO seal of approval.The WHO granted emergency use listing (EUL) authorisation to the single-shot Convidecia vaccine as China battles a resurgence of the virus triggered by the Omicron variant.It is the third Chinese-made vaccine to be approved by the United Nations (UN) health agency, after Sinovac and Sinopharm.Convidecia was found to hav

A single vaccine shot against Human Papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer, delivers comparable protection for girls and women under 21 as two doses, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) immunisation experts said."This could be a game-changer for the prevention of the disease, seeing more doses of the life-saving jab reach more girls," the WHO said.More than 95 percent of cervical cancer is caused by sexually-transmitted HPV, which is the fourth most common type of canc

French pharmaceuticals giant Sanofi said Wednesday that its COVID-19 vaccine, developed with Britain's GSK, had delivered positive results after nearly a year of delays left it lagging far behind its rivals.The two drugmakers said they will "seek regulatory authorisation" for their vaccine in the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) following phase 3 trials involving thousands of people.The trials indicated that the vaccine was 100 percent effective against severe COV

Indonesia began testing a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine on humans Wednesday after getting the green light from the drug regulator as the country faces a rising wave of virus cases.Research on the "Merah Putih" ("Red White") vaccine – named after the colours of the Indonesian national flag – is led by Airlangga University and Biotis Pharmaceutical Indonesia.The project has suffered delays since starting in 2020, but authorities are now hoping to authorise its use by the middle

Pfizer made nearly US$37 billion (£27 billion) in sales from its COVID-19 vaccine last year – making it one of the most lucrative products in history – and has forecast another bumper year in 2022, with a big boost coming from its COVID-19 pill Paxlovid.The United States (US) drugmaker’s overall revenues in 2021 doubled to US$81.3 billion, and it expects to make record revenues of US$98 billion to US$102 billion this year.The bumper sales prompted accusations from campaigners of “pandemic pro

Scientists and politicians “probably killed hundreds of thousands of people” by damaging the reputation of the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine, according to an Oxford scientist who worked on the jab.Prof John Bell said: “They have damaged the reputation of the vaccine in a way that echoes around the rest of the world.”“I think bad behaviour from scientists and from politicians has probably killed hundreds of thousands of people – and that they cannot be proud of that,” he told a BBC Two documentary.

Refusal or reluctance to have a COVID-19 vaccine may be linked to traumatic events in childhood, such as parents separating, neglect, or physical, verbal and sexual abuse, new research suggests.Those who suffer in childhood are also least likely to trust official National Health Service (NHS) coronavirus information, follow the rules of restrictions or wear masks during the pandemic, public health experts found.Two years after the virus first reached the United Kingdom (UK) and a year after v

Pfizer and BioNTech have begun enrolment for a clinical trial to test the safety and immune response of their Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine in adults aged up to 55, the companies said in a statement Tuesday.Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla has previously said that the pharmaceutical giant could be ready to file for regulatory approval of the shot by March.The company's head of vaccine research Kathrin Jansen said in a statement that while current data showed that boosters against the

Moderna aims to roll out a combined COVID-flu-RSV booster vaccine in late 2023, the United States (US) pharmaceutical firm said Monday, hoping a joint jab would encourage people to get an annual shot.The single vaccine for COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus – a common virus that causes the cold, but can be more serious for infants and elderly people – could appear on the market before 2024."Best-case scenario will be the fall of '23," Moderna chief executive St