Vaccine News Roundup

The long weekend was a busy one for vaccine news—here’s the latest:

Equity Issues: The world is on the verge of a “catastrophic moral failure” as wealthy countries hoard COVID-19 vaccines, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned this weekend, lamenting that 39 million+ doses had been rolled out in 49 richer states—while one poor nation had just 25 doses. BBC

Take Africa: In Nigeria, health workers could be waiting weeks or months before getting their first shots. Health authorities are hoping to receive doses through the COVAX initiative this month but gave no details on a specific timeline. Reuters

Dose of inclusivity: Refugees in Jordan are already being vaccinated as part of the country’s nationwide COVID-19 vaccine drive launched last week; it is one of the first countries to include refugees and asylum seekers in their rollout plan. Middle East Monitor

Caution for the elderly: Norwegian health authorities found no connection between the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and 33 deaths of elderly people who received the first dose, recommending in a report that very fragile or dying people be evaluated before receiving vaccines. EuroNews

Rare reactions: Severe allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccines are “exceedingly rare,” according to a US CDC report that found just 21 cases of anaphylaxis after 1.9 million people had been vaccinated in the US. ABC