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

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Health

Patients in Rafah ‘afraid to seek services’, WHO reports

The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken “crucial steps” in the event of a large-scale Israeli military operation in Rafah, Dr. Ahmed Dahir, Team Lead of its office in Gaza, told UN News on Tuesday.

Health

First Person: Women in Madagascar too ashamed to seek help giving birth

Some of the poorest women in an underdeveloped region south of Madagascar are “too ashamed” to seek the maternal health services they need, according to a midwife working in a health centre supported by United Nations agencies, but that may be about to change.