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Guests enjoy the Kocherlball at the Chinese Tower in the English Garden in Munich at the weekend

Covid-19: WHO warns of 'challenging' autumn and winter

The World Health Organization's European office has warned of a "challenging" autumn and winter amid a summer surge of Covid-19 cases and reduced surveillance among member states.

Coronavirus • 19 Jul 22

The spread of monkeypox has raised alarm

WHO emergency committee decides on monkeypox outbreak

A World Health Organization committee of experts has met decide whether the monkeypox outbreak constitutes a global health emergency.

World • 23 Jun 22

Close-up of a patient's hands showing lesions from the monkeypox virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo

How concerned should we be about monkeypox?

Global health officials have sounded the alarm over rising cases in Europe and elsewhere of monkeypox, a type of viral infection more common to west and central Africa.

World • 21 May 22

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the world must work to bring acute phase of pandemic to an end (File)

WHO chief says world can end Covid emergency this year

The head of the World Health Organization has said the world can end the Covid-19 emergency this year, but urged countries to work harder to ensure equitable access to vaccines and treatment.

Coronavirus • 24 Jan 22

Many countries have been rolling out booster shots already

Data supports vaccine boosters after three months - EMA

The European Union's drugs regulator said it could make sense for countries in the bloc to administer Covid-19 vaccine boosters as early as three months after the initial two-shot regimen.

Coronavirus • 09 Dec 21

The WHO said blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread

WHO advises vulnerable, over-60s against travel

The World Health Organization said that while blanket travel bans would not stop the spread of the Omicron variant, Covid-vulnerable people, including the over-60s, should postpone plans to travel abroad.

Coronavirus • 30 Nov 21

The panel evaluated how the WHO and member countries handled the pandemic

World must bolster WHO, agree pandemic treaty - experts

The World Health Organization must be strengthened with more funding and greater ability to investigate pandemics through a new treaty, an independent panel has said.

Coronavirus • 22 Nov 21

Pfizer and healthcare provider Kaiser Permanente looked at records from 3.4 million residents of southern California

Pfizer vaccine 'highly effective' against severe Covid

Vaccination with two doses of the Pfizer jab stays highly effective against severe Covid - including the Delta variant - for at least six months, an analysis of US patients has found.

Coronavirus • 05 Oct 21

A woman walks past a Covid-19 related display at the Science Gallery in Dublin

Pandemic consequences 'on shoulders of women' - Ryan

Women and girls have experienced the pandemic in a very different way across the world to men, according to Dr Mike Ryan of the World Health Organization.

Coronavirus • 08 Sep 21

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said hospitalisation and death rates mattered more than case numbers

England to scrap isolation rules for fully vaccinated

People in England who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will, from 16 August, no longer have to self-isolate after close contact with someone who tests positive, health minister Sajid Javid said.

Coronavirus • 06 Jul 21

Under the new system, the variant first reported in Kent, England is renamed Alpha

WHO renames variants of concern using Greek alphabet

The World Health Organization has announced a new naming system for variants of interest (VOI) and variants of concern (VOC), the forms of the Covid-19 virus with important mutations.

Coronavirus • 31 May 21

Workers digging grave sites at a burial location for victims of the virus in Jakarta

WHO warns of 'significant undercount' in Covid deaths

Up to three times more people have died due to the pandemic than indicated by the officially reported Covid-19 deaths, the World Health Organization has said.

Coronavirus • 21 May 21

To date, only 10% of the region's total population have received one vaccine dose

WHO says Europe's vaccine rollout 'unacceptably slow'

The World Health Organization has criticised Europe's "unacceptably slow" vaccine roll-out and said the region's surge in coronavirus infections was "worrying".

Coronavirus • 01 Apr 21

Global Citizen hosted a livestream concert featuring numerous musicians and artists in the early stages of the pandemic

Advocacy group launches Covid-19 campaign

Advocacy group Global Citizen has launched a campaign around ending the Covid-19 pandemic and improving equality worldwide.

Business • 24 Feb 21

United States to pay $200 million in WHO obligations

The United States will pay more than $200 million to the World Health Organization by the end of the month after reversing Donald Trump's plan to withdraw, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

World • 17 Feb 21

Nigerian woman named new boss in double first for WTO

Nigerian economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been appointed the first female and first African head of the World Trade Organization, at a special general meeting today.

Business • 15 Feb 21

The vaccine is yet to receive emergency use authorisation from the World Health Organization

AZ vaccine can be used for people aged over 65 - WHO

WHO vaccine experts have said that the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine could be used for people aged over 65, and also in settings where variants of the virus are circulating.

Coronavirus • 10 Feb 21

The WHO team attend a press conference at the end of its mission

WHO team says lab virus leak theory extremely unlikely

Experts from the World Health Organization have all but eliminated a controversial theory that Covid-19 came from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Coronavirus • 09 Feb 21

There are 195 vials per tray of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine

WHO warns rich countries against 'vaccine nationalism'

The head of the World Health Organization has warned against "vaccine nationalism", saying there was a "real danger that the very tools that could help to end the pandemic - vaccines - may exacerbate" global inequality.

Coronavirus • 30 Jan 21

Members of the World Health Organization team arrive at Xinhua Hospital in Wuhan

WHO virus investigation begins with fieldwork in Wuhan

Experts from the World Health Organization visited a Wuhan hospital today as the fieldwork began in a closely watched coronavirus origins probe that will take in a food market presumed to be "ground zero" of the pandemic.

Coronavirus • 29 Jan 21

A health worker carries syringes to administer the Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Harlem, New York

Warning over 'catastrophic moral failure' on vaccines

The head of the World Health Organization said the world is on the brink of a "catastrophic moral failure" on distributing vaccines, urging countries and manufacturers to share Covid-19 doses more fairly around the world.

Coronavirus • 18 Jan 21

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the mission is a priority for WHO

WHO virus investigators still waiting for Chinese visas

An international expert team has set off for China to investigate the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, but Beijing has yet to provide the necessary access, the WHO chief has said.

Coronavirus • 05 Jan 21

Dr David Nabarro said it will be some weeks before it is know if vaccines are slowing the pandemic (file image)

WHO envoy says ferocity of virus surge a surprise

The World Health Organization's Special Envoy on Covid-19 has said the "the ferocity and the rapidity of the (current) surge has surprised us somewhat".

Coronavirus • 05 Jan 21

The WHO said it would be down to individual countries as to how they want to conduct their vaccination campaigns

WHO against mandatory Covid-19 vaccines

The World Health Organization has said that persuading people on the merits of a Covid-19 vaccine would be far more effective than trying to make the jabs mandatory.

Coronavirus • 07 Dec 20

The recommendations apply in areas of known or suspected cluster or community transmission of the virus

WHO recommends masks indoors if ventilation poor

The World Health Organization has recommended wearing face masks when indoors with other people, if the ventilation has been deemed inadequate, in an update to its Covid-19 guidance on masks.

Coronavirus • 02 Dec 20