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WHO Calls for Drug Companies to Share Vaccine-Making Facilities

VOA News

   The head of the World Health Organization called Friday for
   pharmaceutical companies to share manufacturing facilities to increase
   the production of COVID-19 vaccines.

   Speaking at an online news briefing from Geneva, Tedros Adhanom
   Ghebreyesus said what is needed is "a massive scale-up in production."

   He noted that France's pharmaceutical company Sanofi announced it would
   make its manufacturing infrastructure available to support production
   of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and called on other companies to do the
   same.

   "We encourage all manufacturers to share their data and technology to
   ensure global, equitable access to vaccines."

   He also repeated his call for rich nations to share doses with poorer
   countries once they have vaccinated health workers and older people.

   Tedros said 75% of all COVID-19 vaccinations worldwide have been given
   in just 10 countries, while nearly 130 nations have not given a single
   vaccination.

   "The longer it takes to vaccinate those most at risk everywhere, the
   more opportunity we give the virus to mutate and evade vaccines,"
   Tedros said, adding that unless the virus is suppressed everywhere, it
   could resurge globally.

   China's Sinovac Biotech said Friday that late-stage trial data of its
   COVID-19 vaccine from Brazil and Turkey showed the vaccine prevented
   hospitalization and death in COVID-19 patients in 100% of participants
   but said it was only 50.65% effective at keeping people from getting
   infected.

   The trial of Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine involved nearly 12,400 people
   and also found the vaccine was 83.7% effective in preventing COVID-19
   cases that required any medical treatment.

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