Health

Japan cancels a third of contracted Astrazeneca vaccine purchase of 40 mln doses

Japan has cancelled the purchase of about 40 million Astrazeneca Plc COVID-19 vaccine doses it agreed to buy last year, a health ministry official said in parliament on Monday.
The contract allowed the government to cancel a portion of the supply if it was unneeded, the official said in response to lawmakers’ questioning. Japan had originally agreed to buy 120 million of the shots, with the bulk made domestically by Daiichi Sankyo Co. and other local partners.

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About Astrazeneca 200,000 doses have been supplied to local governments in Japan, while 63 million doses have donated overseas, the official added.

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Japan has predominantly relied on the mRNA-type vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc for its COVID inoculations and boosters so far.

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Health

Syria: WHO Regional Director calls for greater investment in health sector

Failure to invest in the health of the Syrian people will only deepen instability in the war-ravaged country and pose threats to regional and global security, a senior official with the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

Health

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Health

No sign yet of H5N1 bird flu spreading between humans, says WHO chief

The H5N1 avian influenza virus has so far shown no signs of adapting to allow human to human transmission, the UN health agency said on Wednesday, urging continued surveillance.