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The Kingdom of Lesotho recently confirmed a measles outbreak in the capital city of Maseru, which has a population of over 300,000.
In response, through the Maseru District Health Management Team, the Ministry of Health launched a measles vaccination campaign in mid-April 2023.
Measles is a severe disease that can be prevented with safe and effective vaccines.
Lesotho is located in the country of South Africa, which has been reporting measles outbreaks in 2023.
South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases reported in April the percentage of samples testing positive for measles remained at 27%.
Unfortunately, the Mountain Kingdom's 2022 measles vaccination campaign turnout was about 33% in 2022.
Before 2019, Lesotho had gone about ten years without a measles outbreak.
Measles outbreak news and alerts are posted by Vax-Before-Travel.
Vakzine Projekt Management GmbH (VPM) today announced the successful licensing of the novel R21/Matrix-MTM Malaria Vaccine by the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority.
On May 10, 2023, VPM confirmed in a press release that the R21/Matrix-M™ vaccine has emerged as the most effective vaccine against malaria.
This innovative malaria vaccine was initially developed by the lab research team of Adrian Hill, Director of the University of Oxford's Jenner Institute.
Based on available clinical data in 2023, the R21/Matrix-M™ vaccine's efficacy is greater than 75%, far above the effectiveness of the other approved malaria vaccine, Mosquirix™ (RTS,S/AS01).
Notably, the manufacturing capacity of 200 million doses/year by SII will increase the current supply capacities by >20-fold globally.
Malaria is one of the leading causes of pediatric morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. And that children under five account for approximately 80% of all malaria-related fatalities, says the WHO Africa.
Four African countries accounted for just over half of all malaria deaths worldwide: Nigeria (31.3%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12.6%), the United Republic of Tanzania (4.1%), and Niger (3.9%).
And in the Northern Hemisphere, Costa Rica recently reported 105 positive malaria cases.
Malaria outbreak news is posted by Vax-Before-Travel.
Sinovac Biotech Ltd. today announced it would provide its CoronaVac® vaccine to self-paying groups in Hong Kong and confirmed a donation plan.
Additionally, the company will collaborate with local charity groups to provide donations, giving more children in Hong Kong access to free its inactivated original strains COVID-19 vaccine.
On March 31, 2023, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced that beginning April 20, 2023, high-risk groups would be able to receive free doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Whereas low-risk groups, including children, can only receive their vaccines via the private market through self-pay.
"SINOVAC's ongoing fight against COVID-19 is based on our mission to 'supply vaccines to eliminate human diseases,'" said Yin Weidong, Chairman, President, and CEO of SINOVAC, in a press release on May 10, 2023.
"From developing the COVID-19 vaccine to obtaining market approvals, from the first CoronaVac® shipment landing in Hong Kong 800 days ago to the rollout of a massive public vaccination program, SINOVAC and Hong Kong have taken steps together to emerge from the shadows of the pandemic."
CoronaVac® is the first COVID-19 vaccine to be used in children from as young as three years old, under the World Health Organization's Emergency Use List.
As of March 2023, CoronaVac® has been authorized for use in more than 60 countries, regions, and international organizations. But not in the U.S.
The cumulative global vaccine supply exceeds 2.9 billion doses.
The U.S. Department of State today reissued its lowest-level travel advisory for the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), including the island states of Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk, and Yap.
On May 8, 2023, the State Department's Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions advisory for this western Pacific Ocean U.S. Territory suggests visiting the FSM websites of the Department of Health and Social Services for the latest information from the Government of Micronesia.
And the U.S. CDC recommends visitors confirm their immunization for Routine and Travel related diseases, such as measles.
A measles outbreak was recently declared in a neighboring territory, American Samoa.
Should visitors need assistance, the U.S. Embassy in Kolonia is located at 1286 U.S. Embassy Pl., Kolonia, Pohnpei, FM 96941.
Novavax, Inc. today announced that its COVID-Influenza Combination (CIC), stand-alone influenza, and high-dose COVID vaccine candidates all showed a reassuring preliminary safety profile and comparable reactogenicity to individual Novavax influenza and COVID vaccine candidates or authorized influenza vaccine comparators.
Additionally, all three vaccines demonstrated preliminary robust immune responses.
In all groups, no adverse events (AE) of special interest, no potentially immune-mediated medical conditions, and no treatment-related serious AEs.
"The reactogenicity results support our previous observations that this technology is well suited for combination vaccines because large amounts of antigen can be incorporated without impacting tolerability," said Filip Dubovsky, President, Research and Development, Novavax, in a press release on May 9, 2023.
"The immune responses we observed were robust, and the data we have shared today significantly increase the probability of Phase 3 success."
Furthermore, the highest dose stand-alone COVID vaccine candidate achieved statistically significant anti-S IgG and neutralization responses, approximately 30% higher than Novavax's prototype COVID vaccine while maintaining comparable safety and reactogenicity to the currently authorized dose level of Nuvaxovid™.
Various CIC vaccine candidates are in late-stage development as of May 9, 2023.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced that it would soon close enrollment in V-Safe for COVID-19 vaccines.
The CDC confirmed that very few new data are being reported to the V-Safe system.
Since its launch in December 2020, over 10 million participants have completed more than 151 million health surveys about their experiences following COVID-19 vaccination.
Furthermore, V-Safe data have been included in more than 20 scientific publications.
V-Safe was explicitly developed for COVID-19 vaccines and has been an essential component of the pandemic vaccine safety monitoring systems that have successfully and comprehensively characterized the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines used in the U.S.
After May 19, 2023, those who had enrolled and participated in V-Safe cannot add new COVID-19 vaccine doses to their account. Health check-ins (and follow-up calls, if needed) for any doses added before May 19 will continue until June 30.
V-Safe participants will continue to have access to their account to review previous entries and to complete remaining health check-ins until June 30, 2023.
The CDC is developing a new version of V-Safe, launching later in 2023, which will empower users to share their post-vaccination experiences with new vaccines.
V-Safe users or others who get vaccinated can continue to report any possible health problems or adverse events following vaccination to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
The CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration closely monitor the safety of vaccines in the United States.
A recent Research Letter published by the JAMA Network found that local adverse event rates were highest following intradermal administration of the Mpox vaccine.
During the early stages of the Mpox outbreak in 2022, many countries adopted a dose-sparing schedule with 0.1-mL intradermal MVA-BN (JYNNEOS®) vaccine recommended for the preexposure and 0.5-mL subcutaneous vaccine for postexposure prophylaxis, two doses given four weeks apart.
As reported on May 4, 2023, the adverse event rate was highest following dose one of intradermal vaccination (53%) and lowest following dose two of subcutaneous vaccination (31%).
The most common adverse events were local redness, itching, and swelling following intradermal vaccination and local pain, swelling, and redness following subcutaneous vaccination.
During May 2023, the JYNNEOS vaccine is readily available in most countries. Furthermore, there has been a resurgence of Mpox cases in various cities, such as Chicago, Paris, and Seoul.
