184 Countries Have Joined COVAX, WHO Says; Vaccine Hesitancy Could Prove Challenging, Study Shows; Media Outlets Provide Other Vaccine-Related News

Devex: What do people in BRICS countries think about a COVID-19 vaccine?
“Vaccine hesitancy will prove a steep challenge for global efforts to find a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine and ensure its equitable distribution, new evidence suggests. About 28% of 13,400 individuals from 19 countries would hesitate to get, or completely refuse, a COVID-19 vaccine, according to a study published Tuesday on the opening day of the 51st Union World Conference on Lung Health. The study surveyed respondents from some of the countries hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic, including those that make up the BRICS countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa…” (Ravelo, 10/20).

VOA News: WHO Says 184 Countries Have Now Joined COVAX Vaccine Program
“The World Health Organization says 184 countries have now joined the COVID-19 global vaccine alliance, known as COVAX, designed to speed development and ensure distribution of viable vaccines and treatments for the ailment caused by the coronavirus. At the organization’s Monday briefing at its headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Ecuador and Uruguay are the most recent nations to join the cooperative program…” (10/19).

The Atlantic: The Vaccine News That Really Matters (Zhang, 10/19).

Financial Times: World’s first Covid human challenge trials to start in London (Cookson, 10/20).

The Guardian: ‘Killer’ cells in Ebola immunity study could help Covid research (O’Carroll, 10/19).

NPR: UNICEF To Stockpile Over Half A Billion Syringes For Future COVID-19 Vaccine (Oxner, 10/19).

Reuters: Sinopharm says may be able to make over one billion coronavirus vaccine doses in 2021 (Liu/Munroe, 10/20).

Reuters: Pfizer, BioNTech start combined trials of COVID-19 vaccine candidate in Japan (Swift, 10/20).

Reuters: WHO says expects to hear more soon on paused COVID-19 antibody trial (Shields/Nebehay, 10/19).

Reuters: Coronavirus vaccine unlikely to be available in Britain before spring — adviser (10/19).

Reuters: China’s Sinovac vaccine is safe, Brazil institute says (Liu/Boadle, 10/19).

Science: Could certain COVID-19 vaccines leave people more vulnerable to the AIDS virus? (Cohen, 10/19).

STAT: Why this week’s meeting of an FDA advisory panel on Covid-19 vaccines matters (Branswell, 10/20).

The Telegraph: Unicef unveils plan to stockpile half a billion vaccine syringes by Christmas (Newey, 10/19).

U.N. News: COVID-19 vaccine: UNICEF to stockpile more than half a billion syringes by year’s end (10/19).

Washington Post: Britain to infect healthy volunteers with coronavirus in vaccine challenge trials (Booth/Johnson, 10/20).

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