[ad_1]
The WHO has recommended a course of treatment with Covid-19.
- The WHO says that Covid-19 patients should receive two injections of the Pfizer vaccine.
- These vaccines must be taken within 21 to 28 days.
- However, the organization does not recommend this treatment to travelers.
Covid-19 patients should take two doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine over a period of 21 to 28 days, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, as many countries are faced with a more highly infectious variant.
“We deliberate and present the following recommendation: two doses of this vaccine in 21 to 28 days,” Alejandro Cravioto, president of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), said at an online press conference.
He said that SAGE did not recommend the Pfizer jab for travelers unless they were in a very high-risk group due to the very limited supply of anti-Covid drugs today.
“While we acknowledge the absence of data on safety and efficacy after a dose beyond the three to four weeks studied in clinical trials, SAGE made provision for countries in exceptional circumstances of vaccine supply restrictions (Pfizer) to delay the second dose for a few weeks to maximize the number of people who benefit from a first dose, “Cravioto said.
He added: “I think we have to be a bit open to these kinds of decisions that countries have to make according to their own epidemiological situations.”
Second
Kate O’Brien, an immunization expert at the WHO, said there was no external limit to receiving a second dose of vaccine. Alluding to the delays in the deployment of vaccines, he added: “Nobody expected this to be easy and we are starting to see where the potholes are and where we need to make adjustments.”
The WHO technical chief on Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, said there is no indication that the variant of the coronavirus identified in South Africa is more transmissible than the one that spreads rapidly in Britain.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general, said he was “very disappointed” that China had not authorized the entry of an international mission to examine the origins of the global coronavirus pandemic.
“Today we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalized the necessary permits for the team’s arrival in China,” Tedros said. “I have been in contact with senior Chinese officials and have once again made it clear that mission is a priority for WHO.”
China informed the WHO of the first cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in the city of Wuhan on December 31, 2019 and closed a market where the new coronavirus was believed to have emerged.
Health ministers asked the WHO in May to identify the source of the virus and how it crossed the species barrier.
The United States, which has accused China of concealing the scope of the outbreak, has called for a “transparent” investigation led by the WHO and has criticized its terms, allowing Chinese scientists to conduct the first phase of the preliminary investigation.
