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Covid-19: No herd immunity in 2021, WHO warns

WHO’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan warned it would take time to produce and administer enough vaccine doses to halt the spread of the virus.

“We are not going to achieve any levels of population immunity or herd immunity in 2021,” she said, stressing the need to maintain physical distancing, hand-washing and mask-wearing to rein in the pandemic.

BioNTech, warned that Covid-19 would “likely become an endemic disease”, and said vaccines would need to fight against the emergence of new viral variants and a “naturally waning immune response”.

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COVID-19 spurs calls to boost protections for millions of homeworkers

“Homeworkers have been invisible for too long. But the explosion in homeworking during the pandemic has highlighted the poor working conditions experienced by millions worldwide,” ILO economist Janine Berg told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Homeworkers earn on average 13% less than non-homeworkers in Britain, 22% less in the United States, 25% less in South Africa and about 50% less in Argentina, India and Mexico, the ILO said in a report.

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Ebola vaccines stockpiled against future outbreaks

In a statement, WHO, Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said they were establishing an emergency reserve of about 500,000 doses; nearly 7,000 are available now and more will be added throughout the year and beyond. Financial support for the vaccine stockpile was provided by the vaccines alliance GAVI.

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Governments should partner with pvt sector to maximise the potential of digital healthcare in Asia:Survey

Social media is the most frequently cited source of personal health and wellness information. However, the survey respondents overwhelmingly agreed that the most trustworthy sources are national government and public health authorities. Governments can seize the opportunity by becoming the most reliable source of quality health information for citizens.

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