Health

A COVID-19 vaccine under development by Australia’s University of Queensland (UQ) has commenced human trials, officials announced Monday. Phase 1 of the trial will involve around 120 volunteers aged between 18 and 55, who will each receive two doses of the drug and are required to follow the same social distancing advice as the broader population. The milestone follows months ...

There is little chance of a 100-percent effective coronavirus vaccine by 2021, a French expert warned Sunday, urging people to take social distancing measures more seriously. “A vaccine is several years in development,” said epidemiologist Arnaud Fontanet, a member of the team of scientists advising the government on the crisis, speaking on BFMTV television. “Of course, there is an unprecedented ...

The clinical trials of the world’s first coronavirus vaccine on volunteers at Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University has been successfully completed, Vadim Tarasov, the director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Biotechnology, told Sputnik, adding that the first group of volunteers would be discharged on Wednesday and the second on July 20. The university began clinical trials of ...

A coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by a unit of China’s Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products has moved into Phase II human trials, the company said on Friday, less than three weeks after it launched clinical trials. The firm did not provide details of the trial design or results of the Phase I test of the experimental vaccine, being co-developed by Anhui ...

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Friday adopted a new regulation that will allow European vaccines and treatments for Covid-19 to be developed more quickly, said the European Parliament (EP). The regulation that allows temporary derogation from certain rules for clinical trials was approved by 505 votes in favor, 67 against and 109 abstentions, following an urgent debate last ...

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has tested positive for COVID-19, said on Facebook Thursday that he was “very well” and again advocated the use of the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine. Bolsonaro, 65, appeared in his weekly Facebook Live post at his official residence. He appeared to be in good shape and was not accompanied, as is often the case, by ministers ...

The US Food and Drug Administration has added more types of hand sanitizer to its growing list of products that are either confirmed or potentially contaminated with toxic methanol. More than two dozen hand sanitizer products sold by Mexico-based 4E Global — many carrying the Blumen label — contain high levels of methanol and have been recommended for recall, the ...

Zoonotic diseases – which jump from animals to humans – are increasing and will continue to do so without action to protect wildlife and preserve the environment, UN experts have warned. They blame the rise in diseases such as Covid-19 on high demand for animal protein, unsustainable agricultural practices and climate change. Neglected zoonotic diseases kill two million people a ...

A UN human rights expert has urged states, the civil society, psychiatric organisations, and the World Health Organisation to change the way they understand and respond to mental health challenges. “I welcome the international recognition of mental health, but much more is still needed,” the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health, Dainius Pūras, said during ...

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Saturday that it was discontinuing hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir arms for its Solidarity Trial, citing little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The WHO said the decision was in light of the evidence from the Solidarity Trial interim results. “These interim trial results show that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little ...