4 August 2021. Currently, Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine COMIRNATY® (Tozinameran) is the only COVID-19 vaccine that should be stored and transported at -60ºC to -86ºC ultra-low temperature (ULT) conditions. Prior to use the vaccine can be transferred to -20ºC freezer or +2-8ºC refrigerator at... the lower store levels and immunization service points. However, vaccine shelf life is affected when vaccine is transferred to a different storage temperature. Health workers in charge of managing the storage, transport and administration of the vaccine should be well trained to maintain vaccine quality. Good cold chain planning, strong management of vaccine supply, logistics and distribution, including installation and effective monitoring and evaluation of the performance of the storage equipment and infrastructure, are also necessary.
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This document aims to describe a minimum set of surveillance activities recommended at the national level to detect and monitor the relative prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and outline a set of activities for the characterization and assessment of risk posed by these variants. A set of indicators ...is also provided to standardize monitoring and public reporting of variant circulation.
The document is primarily intended for national and sub-national public health authorities and partners who support implementation of surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 variants
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Haiti is one of the worst food crises in the world with 46 percent of the population projected to be in high acute food security, mainly due to reduced agricultural production caused by a long period of drought, storms and increased prices of basic foodstuffs, which are compounded by the effects of ...the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
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If you are fully vaccinated can you still get COVID-19? How frequent are breakthrough infections and what does COVID-19 look like if you are fully vaccinated. WHO’s Dr Kate O’Brien explains in Science in 5.
No matter whether you are vaccinated against #COVID19 or are still waiting, keep followi...ng these precautions to protect yourself and others:
- Avoid crowds
- Keep physical distance
- Open windows
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This manual summarizes key issues related to the safety of NTD medicines and their administration, with a focus on essential medicines used in mass drug administration (MDA), also called preventive chemotherapy. It can be used as a standalone reference manual, but is intended to be used in conjuncti...on with the accompanying training modules, which provide practical instruction, and the aide-mémoires. Versions of the aide-mémoires and training modules are available respectively for both (i) programme managers and district-level health officials and (ii) community drug distributors and community health workers
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Climate change is resulting in poorer health outcomes, increasing mortality and is a driver of health inequities. However, health is well placed to be a significant part of the solution; the positive health impacts from stronger climate change action can motivate stronger global ambition; health sys...tems which are resilient to climate change can help protect their populations from the negative impacts (in the short and longer terms); and sustainable low carbon health systems can make a substantial contribution to reducing national and global emissions.
This fact sheet on climate change and health is part of the Climate Fast Facts series of the United Nations Climate Action team.
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This survey of agricultural livelihoods and food security in the context of the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other shocks was undertaken during February 2021 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1 380 villages within 129 districts of 20 provinc...es, covering all agro-ecological zones of Afghanistan.
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Country profile: Tanzania
Since the launch of the 2012–2020 World Health Organization (WHO) road map for the control, elim-ination and eradication of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) (1), considerable progress against NTDs has been made. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of people requiring interventions against NTDs glo...bally fell by 600 million, and 42 countries, areas and territories eliminated at least one NTD (2). In January 2021, a new NTD road map for 2021–2030 (2) was launched, setting future targets and mile-stones for 20 diseases and disease groups. The road map also sets cross-cutting targets, including for strengthened capacity of national health systems to deliver interventions through existing infrastructure.
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This guide is designed to accompany the training module, Communicating with health workers about COVID-19 vaccination. It provides detailed explanations, resources and guidance to accompany the slides in the training module and support those implementing the training. It is intended for training fac...ilitators or trainers of trainers (ToTs) who will be conducting the training at the country level either face-to-face or online with a group of participants. Facilitators can use this guidance document to help them adapt the training content to their local context and facilitate discussion with training participants. Facilitators are encouraged to have this guide available to them as a tool during the training session.
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Countries across the world are facing diverse epidemiological situations with varying response
capacities and access to life saving tools. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that national authorities continue to apply a risk-based approach when implementing measures related to COVID-19... and international travel while respecting the dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of travellers. This approach should consider the risk posed by travel for the importation and exportation of cases in the context of the evolving epidemiology, including the emergence and circulation of virus variants of concern; the expansion of the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out; and lessons learned while responding to the pandemic, including on the early detection and management of cases and the application of public health and social measures.
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The WHO End TB Strategy aims to end the global TB epidemic by 2030, in alignment with Goal 3 of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN committed to ending the TB epidemic through adoption of WHO’s End TB Strateg...y and the UN SDGs in 2014 and 2015, respectivel
Almost half of the deaths worldwide caused by TB in 2019 occurred in the WHO South-East Asia Region, home to around a quarter of the global population. Maintaining robust progress in this Region is therefore essential if the global goal of ending the TB epidemic is to be realized. Despite substantial gains made in the Region, the threat to
health worldwide posed by the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to reverse these gains and eclipse the focus on the global TB emergency.
While continuing to tackle COVID-19-related challenges, countries will need to rapidly and urgently deploy supplementary measures to address the large numbers of missed cases, poor treatment outcomes and, potentially, a higher TB burden.
The Regional Strategic Plan towards Ending TB in the Region 2021–2025 clearly articulates priority interventions, analyses the challenges, bottlenecks and opportunities, and focuses on implementation considerations in the Region.
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