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UN Deputy Secretary-General launches new Global Development Hub at Imperial
Imperial will focus its world-leading scientific expertise on some of the most pressing global challenges through a new Global Development Hub.
The Global Development Hub – launched on 29 April 2021 by Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations – aims to maximise the impact of Imperial’s world-leading research, education and innovation to help the world plan for the challenges society will face over the next 50 years.
It will convene Imperial researchers, academic partners, policymakers, NGOs and industry collaborators to accelerate society towards a more resilient, sustainable future and engage with the United Nations Sustainable Agenda 2030.
by Tyler Durden
Wednesday, Apr 28, 2021 - 07:20 PM
Even as unused COVID-19 vaccines pile up and a growing number of US states are scaling back orders of new vaccines, some top West Wing staffers are quietly pushing back against President Biden s decision to share unwanted AstraZeneca jabs with India and other countries badly in need of more jabs.
According to three senior officials with knowledge of the situation, senior officials in the West Wing, and National Security Council have repeatedly rebuffed requests from leaders of health agencies to send more American vaccines abroad. While President Biden has promised to give jabs to Mexico and other nations, so far, this has mostly been talk. Those backing exports cited internal projections showing the US will soon have tens of millions of vaccines to spare. But those arguing against sharing were unmoved.
There May Be an Oral Anti-Viral COVID Pill by the End of the Year
Medicine pills with the Pfizer logo are seen in this photo taken in Tehatta, West Bengal, India, on April 29, 2021.
Soumyabrata Roy / NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Pfizer, which along with Moderna developed successful mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 late last year, announced on Tuesday that it could have ready by the end of the year an experimental oral drug which would treat COVID-19 as soon as patients display symptoms. The announcement was made by CEO Albert Bourla on the
CNBC program “Squawk Box,” who said that for the drug to be released to the public it will first need to perform well at clinical trials and receive approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images
High-income countries have purchased more than half of the Covid-19 vaccine supply to date, and low-income countries, just 9 percent, according to Duke University’s Global Health Innovation Center. This is why a country like the US is close to vaccinating half its population with one dose while the rate in a place like Guinea is less than 1 percent and not budging.
Our World In Data
If these glaring inequities in vaccine access continue, it will take at least two years for the world’s poorest countries, which couldn’t afford to compete for early doses of vaccines, to immunize the majority of their populations. And we’re on track for a long period where people in rich countries enjoy the benefits and safety of being fully immunized, while people in poorer countries continue to get sick and die from the coronavirus.
POLITICO
The announcement Monday followed a call between President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Biden administration is getting sizable, regular shipments of vaccine from Moderna and Pfizer, which between them have agreed to supply enough shots for 300 million people. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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The White House’s decision to send millions of doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine overseas has split top Biden administration officials with many arguing that the government cannot reduce its stockpile of doses on hand
given recent disruptions in U.S. vaccine production.
The announcement Monday followed a call between President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose nation has been overwhelmed by a second wave of cases. The news sent several top administration officials scrambling to figure out who had determined that the U.S. would not need the AstraZeneca shots over the next several months, according to