Good morning, this is Elaine Ruth Fletcher, editor of Health Policy Watch. Bringing you Geneva Solutions' global health news today, in a milestone moment, the first vaccines procured by the WHO co-sponsored Covax facility have been delivered to Ghana.

Echoing repeated WHO appeals, the Human Rights Council is also preparing a resolution for equitable access to vaccines. Meanwhile, some countries are relaxing Covid restrictions, after effects of vaccine campaigns kick in and cases worldwide decrease.

25.02.2021

Global health news

Dr Francis Kasolo, WHO representative in Ghana inspects the first shipment of Covid-19 vaccines

💉Ghana receives first Covax vaccines. “The culmination of many months of planning, research, negotiation & coordination,” declared WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as the first vaccines procured by the COVAX global facility were unloaded from a cargo jet at Accra airport. But it is only the first step in the long journey to offer countries worldwide equal access to life-saving Covid-19 vaccines.

Geneva Solutions (EN)

⚖️Resolution for equitable vaccine access As the Human Rights Council’s 46th session gets underway, Ecuador plans to propose a new resolution to “guarantee the right to health through equitable and universal access to vaccines in response to pandemics and other health emergencies.”

Geneva Solutions (EN)

✈️ Countries begin to relax restrictions. After COVID-19 cases declined both globally and within countries. The United Kingdom, Switzerland, Israel and Turkey are cautiously reopening businesses and relaxing limits on gatherings and travel following news from the World Health Organization last week that there was a 16% global decline in cases.

Health Policy Watch (EN)

Here's what else is happening

US FDA analysis finds Johnson&Johnson one shot Covid vaccine safe, effective.
NPR (EN)
Reporting on WTO's first female head 'sexist and racist', say African UN leaders.
The Guardian (EN)
Predict, prepare, protect: How to manage risk in a post-COVID world.
The New Humanitarian (EN)
US Senate confirms Biden United Nations nominee Thomas-Greenfield, a veteran diplomat.
Reuters (EN)
COVID-19 imperils ‘historic advances’ in children’s access to school meals: UN report.
UN News (EN)
Are nuclear weapons really banned? The question comes after an international treaty banned nuclear weapons in January.
Swissinfo (EN)
Attenborough gives stark warning on climate change to the UN Security Council, stating it is the biggest security threat.
BBC (EN)
When pharmacies fund fake news sites on Covid vaccines and the pandemic.
Heidi.News (FR)

Image of the day

(President Magufuli addresses elders in the Dodoma region. Source: Keystone)

Tanzania’s president tacitly acknowledges Covid-19. After claiming for months that the disease had been defeated, president John Magafuli tacitly acknowledged that an unspecified “respiratory illness” has become a problem - urging three days of prayer. In a press conference, the president also urged citizens to take precautions and wear face masks, although he specified that these should be locally-made. His remarks followed the death of one of the country’s highest profile politicians, who earlier said he had Covid-19.

Africa News (EN)

Next on the agenda

📍 25 February | State (and) power in the pandemic Last year the world witnessed unprecedented shifts in security discussions at local, national and global levels. This online workshop part of a wider series “Anthropologies and Securities in the Pandemic” aims to cultivate discussion between security challenges faced amidst the pandemic.

IHEID (EN)

📍 25 February | Harnessing e-commerce post covid-19 This workshop aims to provide policymakers in Central Asia and Eastern Europe with the tools needed to address the challenges and harness the opportunities rising from the Covid-19, which induced overnight digitization of work.

Geneva Trade Platform and UNECE (EN)

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