Moderna has signed an additional agreement with Taiwan to supply 20 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine and updated variant booster vaccine candidate, if approved. The deal, which requires Moderna to start delivery next year, also includes 15 million doses of the vaccine in 2023. Previously, the company agreed to supply five million doses to Taiwan this year.
The European Medicines Agency has listed Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological disorder, as a very rare side effect of Johnson & Johnson (J&J)’s Covid-19 vaccine. As of 30 June 2021, 108 cases of the disorder have been reported among more than 21 million individuals who received the vaccine. A review by the agency’s safety committee found the possibility of a causal relationship between the vaccine and the disorder. Meanwhile, a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel said that the benefits of the J&J shot outweigh its risks.
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New research by the University of Oxford, the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Development Programme has revealed the urgent need for Covid-19 vaccine equity to avoid a “lasting and profound impact” on recovery in low and lower-middle income countries. As per the study data, high-income countries could vaccinate faster and have a quicker socio-economic recovery while low-income countries might not reach growth of pre-Covid levels until 2024 without cost-effective and accessible vaccines.
