By , CHICAGO/LONDON (Reuters) - Developing a COVID-19 vaccine in record time will be tough. Producing enough to end the pandemic will be the biggest medical manufacturing feat in history.That work is underway.From deploying experts amid global travel restrictions to managing extreme storage conditions, and even inventing new kinds of vials and syringes for billions of doses, the path is strewn with formidable hurdles, according to Reuters interviews with more than a dozen vaccine developers and their backers.Any hitch in an untested supply chain - which could stretch from Pune in India to...…By , CHICAGO/LONDON (Reuters) - Developing a COVID-19 vaccine in record time will be tough. Producing enough to end the pandemic will be the biggest medical manufacturing feat in history.That work is underway.From deploying experts amid global travel restrictions to managing extreme storage conditions, and even inventing new kinds of vials and syringes for billions of doses, the path is strewn with formidable hurdles, according to Reuters interviews with more than a dozen vaccine developers and their backers.Any hitch in an untested supply chain - which could stretch from Pune in India to...WW…

By Research released by Britain’s Pirbright Institute on Tuesday found that giving an initial prime dose followed by a booster dose of the vaccine elicited a stronger immune response than a single dose. This suggests a two-dose approach may be more effective in getting protection against COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.“The researchers saw a marked increase in neutralising antibodies, which bind to the virus in a way that blocks infection,” the Pirbright team said in a statement. They added, however, that it is not yet known what level of immune response will be required...…By Research released by Britain’s Pirbright Institute on Tuesday found that giving an initial prime dose followed by a booster dose of the vaccine elicited a stronger immune response than a single dose. This suggests a two-dose approach may be more effective in getting protection against COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.“The researchers saw a marked increase in neutralising antibodies, which bind to the virus in a way that blocks infection,” the Pirbright team said in a statement. They added, however, that it is not yet known what level of immune response will be required...WW…

By , GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has told his administration to temporarily halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the new coronavirus.Here’s what we do and don’t know about what this might mean for the WHO and its programmes around the world:* Set up in 1948, the U.N. agency has a mandate to improve the standard of health worldwide. It is credited with leading a 10-year campaign to eliminate smallpox in the 1970s and has coordinated the fight against epidemics including Ebola.* The WHO is currently...…By , GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has told his administration to temporarily halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the new coronavirus.Here’s what we do and don’t know about what this might mean for the WHO and its programmes around the world:* Set up in 1948, the U.N. agency has a mandate to improve the standard of health worldwide. It is credited with leading a 10-year campaign to eliminate smallpox in the 1970s and has coordinated the fight against epidemics including Ebola.* The WHO is currently...WW…

By , LONDON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - AstraZeneca will publish up-to-date results from its major U.S. COVID-19 vaccine trial within 48 hours after health officials publicly criticized the drugmaker for using “outdated information” to show how well the immunization worked.The rare public rebuke marks the latest setback for the vaccine once hailed as a milestone in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic that has since been dogged by questions over its effectiveness and possible side effects.AstraZeneca said results it published on Monday in which the vaccine had demonstrated 79% efficacy were...…By , LONDON/CHICAGO (Reuters) - AstraZeneca will publish up-to-date results from its major U.S. COVID-19 vaccine trial within 48 hours after health officials publicly criticized the drugmaker for using “outdated information” to show how well the immunization worked.The rare public rebuke marks the latest setback for the vaccine once hailed as a milestone in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic that has since been dogged by questions over its effectiveness and possible side effects.AstraZeneca said results it published on Monday in which the vaccine had demonstrated 79% efficacy were...WW…

By , , LONDON (Reuters) - One of the world’s leading COVID-19 experimental vaccines produces an immune response in both young and old adults, raising hopes of a path out of the gloom and economic destruction wrought by the novel coronavirus.The vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford, also triggers lower adverse responses among the elderly, British drug maker AstraZeneca Plc, which is helping manufacture the vaccine, said on Monday.A vaccine that works is seen as a game-changer in the battle against the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 1.15 million people, shuttered...…By , , LONDON (Reuters) - One of the world’s leading COVID-19 experimental vaccines produces an immune response in both young and old adults, raising hopes of a path out of the gloom and economic destruction wrought by the novel coronavirus.The vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford, also triggers lower adverse responses among the elderly, British drug maker AstraZeneca Plc, which is helping manufacture the vaccine, said on Monday.A vaccine that works is seen as a game-changer in the battle against the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 1.15 million people, shuttered...WW…

By , GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) - Countries must lift lockdowns gradually, while still being “on the look-out” for COVID-19 and ready to restore restrictions if the virus jumps back, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.Vulnerable people in institutions, including those in long-term care facilities, prisons and migrant dormitories, must be protected, its top emergencies expert Dr. Mike Ryan said.Even if the virus is coming under control, communities must know to still follow physical distancing and hygiene measures, and testing of suspect cases must continue, he said.“It’s really...…By , GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) - Countries must lift lockdowns gradually, while still being “on the look-out” for COVID-19 and ready to restore restrictions if the virus jumps back, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.Vulnerable people in institutions, including those in long-term care facilities, prisons and migrant dormitories, must be protected, its top emergencies expert Dr. Mike Ryan said.Even if the virus is coming under control, communities must know to still follow physical distancing and hygiene measures, and testing of suspect cases must continue, he said.“It’s really...WW…

By LONDON (Reuters) - Treating COVID-19 patients at home with a commonly-used inhaled asthma drug called budesonide can speed up their recovery, according to UK trial results on Monday which doctors said could change the way the disease is treated around the world.Researchers behind the trial - known as PRINCIPLE - said the findings were only an interim analysis at this stage, but could soon lead doctors to prescribe budesonide inhalers to patients infected with COVID-19 but not sick enough to be hospitalised.“For the first time we have high-quality evidence of an effective treatment that...…By LONDON (Reuters) - Treating COVID-19 patients at home with a commonly-used inhaled asthma drug called budesonide can speed up their recovery, according to UK trial results on Monday which doctors said could change the way the disease is treated around the world.Researchers behind the trial - known as PRINCIPLE - said the findings were only an interim analysis at this stage, but could soon lead doctors to prescribe budesonide inhalers to patients infected with COVID-19 but not sick enough to be hospitalised.“For the first time we have high-quality evidence of an effective treatment that...WW…

By LONDON (Reuters) - One in three COVID-19 survivors in a study of more than 230,000 mostly American patients were diagnosed with a brain or psychiatric disorder within six months, suggesting the pandemic could lead to a wave of mental and neurological problems, scientists said on Tuesday.Researchers who conducted the analysis said it was not clear how the virus was linked to psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, but that these were the most common diagnoses among the 14 disorders they looked at.Post-COVID cases of stroke, dementia and other neurological disorders were...…By LONDON (Reuters) - One in three COVID-19 survivors in a study of more than 230,000 mostly American patients were diagnosed with a brain or psychiatric disorder within six months, suggesting the pandemic could lead to a wave of mental and neurological problems, scientists said on Tuesday.Researchers who conducted the analysis said it was not clear how the virus was linked to psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, but that these were the most common diagnoses among the 14 disorders they looked at.Post-COVID cases of stroke, dementia and other neurological disorders were...WW…

By LONDON (Reuters) - One in three COVID-19 survivors in a study of more than 230,000 mostly American patients were diagnosed with a brain or psychiatric disorder within six months, suggesting the pandemic could lead to a wave of mental and neurological problems, scientists said on Tuesday.Researchers who conducted the analysis said it was not clear how the virus was linked to psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, but that these were the most common diagnoses among the 14 disorders they looked at.Post-COVID cases of stroke, dementia and other neurological disorders were...…By LONDON (Reuters) - One in three COVID-19 survivors in a study of more than 230,000 mostly American patients were diagnosed with a brain or psychiatric disorder within six months, suggesting the pandemic could lead to a wave of mental and neurological problems, scientists said on Tuesday.Researchers who conducted the analysis said it was not clear how the virus was linked to psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, but that these were the most common diagnoses among the 14 disorders they looked at.Post-COVID cases of stroke, dementia and other neurological disorders were...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePopulation-wide face mask use could push covid-19 transmission down to controllable levels for national epidemics, and could prevent further waves of the pandemic disease when combined with lockdowns, according to a British study last week.The research, led by scientists at Britain’s Cambridge and Greenwich universities, suggests lockdowns alone will not stop the resurgence of the new coronavirus which causes covid-19, but that even homemade masks can dramatically reduce transmission rates if enough people wear them in...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePopulation-wide face mask use could push covid-19 transmission down to controllable levels for national epidemics, and could prevent further waves of the pandemic disease when combined with lockdowns, according to a British study last week.The research, led by scientists at Britain’s Cambridge and Greenwich universities, suggests lockdowns alone will not stop the resurgence of the new coronavirus which causes covid-19, but that even homemade masks can dramatically reduce transmission rates if enough people wear them in...WW…