The World Health Organization insisted Friday it would never endorse a vaccine that has not proven safe and effective, amid concerns over the rush to develop a jab for Covid-19. Across the globe, governments are hoping to deploy a vaccine as soon as possible against the virus, which has infected well over 26 million people, killed hundreds of thousands, upended millions of lives and wreaked havoc on the global economy.
Under normal procedures, test administrators must wait for months or years to verify that vaccine candidates are safe and efficacious.
But as the pandemic continues to take a devastating toll, there has been massive pressure to roll out a vaccine quickly, sparking concerns that testing standards could be lowered. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted that was not the case.
“WHO will not endorse a vaccine that is not effective and safe,” he told a virtual briefing.
He also took issue with the so-called anti-vax movement that has been stoking fears about the vaccines in development. They might be able to “build narratives to fight against vaccines, but the track record of vaccines tells its own story,” he said.
There are currently more than 30 candidate vaccines being tested on humans, with at least eight in final-stage Phase III trials, which typically involve tens of thousands of people. Unprecedented speed’ – “It is a very optimistic scenario because there’s a huge field of candidates,” WHO’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan told Friday’s briefing, emphasising that only around 10 percent of candidate vaccines succeed.
She explained that the “unprecedented speed of development of Covid vaccines” was largely enabled by prior investments in vaccine platforms for other diseases, which had been repurposed for use against the novel coronavirus. But she stressed, developers must not skip over the various phases of stringent testing.
“No vaccine is going to be mass-deployed before the regulators are confident and the governments are confident and that WHO is confident that these vaccines have met the minimum standards of safety and efficacy.” Tedros voiced hope that one would soon become available “so that the world can get back to norma.” But while the WHO has said it expects to see results from a range of Phase III trials by the end of the year, it on Friday tempered hopes that a vaccine is imminent.
Pointing to the massive challenge of manufacturing and rolling out vaccines to the billions around the world who need them, widespread vaccination is not expected to begin until the middle of 2021. Moral and economic imperative’ – Tedros stressed that, initially at least, supply would be limited.
“Priority must be given to vaccinating essential workers and those most at risk,” he said, stressing that “the first priority must be to vaccinate some people in all countries, rather than all people in some countries.” The WHO has set up a mechanism, known as Covax, aimed at ensuring a more equitable distribution of any future vaccines, but has struggled so far to raise the funds needed to provide for the 92 poor countries that have signed up. But Tedros hailed Friday that 78 high- and upper-middle income countries and economies have now confirmed they will participate, including Germany, Japan, Norway and the European Commission in just the past week. He pointed out that in an interconnected world, “the virus will continue to kill and the economic recovery globally will be delayed” if poorer countries are unable to gain access to a vaccine. Sharing equitably, he said, is “not just a moral imperative and a public health imperative, it’s also an economic imperative.”
Meditation is a state of awareness, we stop the life race and observe with awareness inside ourselves and outside it here and now this is called mindfulness. While meditating we are mindful to the present moment we pay attention to things we usually ignore like the current atmosphere in our body’s processes. Meditation has many benefits; it reduces negativity, stress, anxiety, depression, tension and anger at the same time it increases positivity, self-awareness, calmness, focus, tolerance and creativity. Meditation refreshes our mind and recharges our batteries, it is like a mental restart button which lets us have a fresh point of view. More clearly we can look as it is an inner bath for our mind and soul. Scientifically, meditating prevents and lowers the risk of diseases usually those which relate to stress and blood pressure like a heart attack. Less stress means more health. People who meditate on a regular basis have higher levels of alpha waves which reduce negative emotions. Meditating over time has positive impacts on our brain, body and soul. There are many ways to practice meditation. The most common one being mindful to your breath; sit right where you are no matter if it is at work, home or any other place and start paying attention to your breath, inhale and exhale without effort, you can focus on different parts of your body and imagine our breadth moving towards them. And another recommended way is listening to guided meditation and following the instructions. Adopting meditation as a habit will help us upgrade our lifestyle and add more value to our life. Meditation can change our brain patterns and increase the performance of cognitive functions which are needed for thinking, remembering, learning, problem solving etc. Meditation really helps in managing pain, depression and anxiety of people all around the world. Even mindfulness meditation classes are being offered in schools and hospitals because of their effectiveness. The focus of mindfulness meditation is to practice the brain in staying and focusing solely in the moments, which is why the meditator is encouraged to think of nothing but his or her breathing and to have a mantra. The aim is to let go of the regrets of the past as well as anxieties of the future to have a relaxing line in the present meditation as food for the soul. It nourishes our minds and values, qualities like compassion, responsibility, peacefulness, truthfulness and forbearing temptations. It helps in making and keeping good relationships with others and most especially with ourselves. The calmness and tranquillity we get from this experience give us a sense of comfort and stability. Allowing us to stay positive in life and be resilient to any negativity. Throwing out meditation is not just a mere activity for relaxation, it is the world’s greatest therapy. So, why not give it a try when we are feeling stressed out and angry at someone. Just take a deep breath and relax at the moment. Clear your mind and be grateful for all these life experiences that can help you improve. After all, we want to improve the world, we have to first start with ourselves. So take time every day to keep clear and bring that clarity to those around you.
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