The Department of Health and Human Services under Robert F.

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F.

Global efforts to protect children against diseases including measles, polio and tuberculosis have stalled since 2010, leaving millions vulnerable to deadly infections.

Xabi Alonso is returning to Real Madrid to take over a club that failed to meet expectations this season.

The global vaccine alliance Gavi says it will buy 500,000 doses of vaccine against mpox to fight outbreaks of the disease in African countries.

Health workers in Ivory Coast have begun giving children the latest malaria vaccine.

Venezuela’s government has repeatedly broken its promise to provide vaccines against HPV for free, and many public-school teachers ignore the requirement to teach sex ed.

The latest international break is proving costly for European clubs like Spanish powerhouses Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Gavi’s winning goal for Spain against Norway in a European Championship qualifier will likely have been cheered as wildly in Glasgow as it was in Madrid.

Spain’s young squad got off to a high-scoring start at the World Cup by routing Costa Rica 7-0.

Karim Benzema has won the men’s Ballon d’Or for the first time after a brilliant season with Real Madrid capped by the Champions League and Spanish league titles.

The global initiative intended to share coronavirus vaccines equally between rich and poor countries is asking for $5.2 billion in funds to be able to keep buying doses.

The global initiative to share coronavirus vaccines fairly already scaled back its pledge to the world’s poor once.

The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, has resumed exports of coronavirus vaccines to the U.N.-backed COVAX distribution program after halting most overseas sales in March.

Moderna and vaccine promoter Gavi have announced a deal by which the pharmaceutical company will provide up to 500 million coronavirus vaccines doses for the U.N.-backed program to ship to needy people in low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2022.

(AP Photo/Brian Inganga)GENEVA – The U.N.-backed program to ship COVID-19 vaccines worldwide has announced supply delays involving a key Indian manufacturer, a major setback for the ambitious rollout aimed at helping low- and middle-income countries vaccinate their populations and fight the pandemic. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and its partners said Thursday that the Serum Institute of India, a pivotal vaccine maker behind the COVAX program, will face increasing domestic demands as coronavirus infections surge. “Delays in securing supplies of SII-produced COVID-19 vaccine doses are due to the increased demand for COVID-19 vaccines in India,” Gavi said. The program had been aiming to deliver some 237 million AstraZeneca vaccines through the end of May. AdThe Serum Institute of India, also known as SII, is the world's largest maker of vaccines.

COVID-19 vaccines are offloaded from a plane at Lagos airport, Tuesday March 2, 2021. Nigeria received vaccines acquired through the United Nations-backed COVAX initiative with a delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India. With more than 150,000 Nigerians infected with the virus and over 1,800 lives lost, the path to recovery for the people of Nigeria can finally begin,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative. “This is a very significant occasion -- the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines into Nigeria is critical in curbing the pandemic. Nigeria is among 92 countries worldwide that will receive vaccines for free through the COVAX initiative.

India has gifted neighbors, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, with more than 5 million doses. That’s on top of a previously negotiated African Union deal for 270 million doses from several pharmaceutical companies and in addition to the 600 million doses Africa expects to receive from COVAX. Kate Elder, senior vaccines policy adviser at Doctors Without Borders, said developing countries should not be criticized for securing private vaccine deals since that is precisely what rich countries did last year. “If countries are getting vaccines on their own, then how are WHO and GAVI delivering for them?” she asked. In the meantime, India has already gifted neighbors, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, with more than 5 million doses.

It has agreements for another 500 million vaccines, but those are not legally binding. Poonawalla also noted that his company’s first priority would be making shots for India, which has suggested it wants at least 300 million vaccines. Canada, for example, bought nearly 200 million vaccines — enough to cover its population of 38 million about five times over. Amid fears COVAX can't deliver, some developing countries are pulling out entirely or seeking their own private deals. But many rich countries are reluctant to do that.

Politicians and public health leaders have publicly committed to equitably sharing any coronavirus vaccine that works, but the top global initiative to make it happen may allow rich countries to reinforce their own stockpiles while making fewer doses available for poor ones. Activists warn that without stronger attempts to hold political, pharmaceutical and health leaders accountable, vaccines will be hoarded by rich countries in an unseemly race to inoculate their populations first. That means rich countries can sign deals on their own with drugmakers and then also get no-strings-attached allocations from Gavi. By giving rich countries this backup plan, theyre getting their cake and eating it too, said Anna Marriott of Oxfam International. Right now theres no vaccine for anyone, he said, and were trying to solve that problem.Berkley said Gavi needed to make investing in a global vaccine initiative attractive for rich countries.

BLACKSBURG, Va. – 1.5 million people worldwide lose their lives to vaccine-preventable diseases every year, according to global vaccine alliance Gavi, and now a Virginia Tech student is fighting to change that. We know what we want and we are going to do everything in our power to make it happen," said Kush Pandit, a junior at Virginia Tech. "I feel like I’ve been very blessed with things that a lot of people around the world don't have," Pandit said. One of those things driving Pandit is access to vaccines. Pandit started a chapter at Virginia Tech and has already been advocating politicians for change.