If Moderna’s vaccine is approved by the FDA, it will become the second shot to be greenlighted in America. Moderna’s vaccine is based on the same technology as Pfizer’s – mRNA. The actual virus is not embedded inside these vaccines and people who get the shots can’t catch the virus from it. Instead, the vaccine contains a piece of genetic code that trains the body’s immune system to recognize the spike protein on the surface of the Covid-19 virus and helps mount an organic defence when the attack comes.

“The development of safe and effective vaccines is one thing. Producing them in adequate quantities and reaching everyone who needs them is another,” WHO Regional Director Dr. Takeshi Kasai told reporters in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

While some countries that have independent vaccine purchase agreements might start vaccination campaigns in the coming months, others could see vaccination begin in the middle or late 2021, said Dr. Socorro Escalante, WHO’s coordinator for essential medicines and health technologies.

The report titled, ‘Global progress report on WASH in health care facilities: fundamentals first’, comes as the ongoing pandemic is exposing key vulnerabilities within health systems, including inadequate infection prevention and control, reports Xinhua news agency.
Worldwide, one in four healthcare facilities has no water services, one in three does not have access to hand hygiene where care is provided, one in 10 has no sanitation services, and one in three does not segregate waste safely.

Employment in Asia-Pacific showed a 4.2% decline compared with the pre-crisis trend, with the gap at 4.6% for women and 4% for men, the ILO said in a report. Young people have been especially affected by working-hour and job losses, the ILO said, with the youth share of employment losses three to 18 times higher than their share of total employment.