WHO

Officials said it was unclear who was behind the occupation of the National Public Health Laboratory in the capital Khartoum.

The city has been ravaged by fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The WHO told the BBC on Tuesday that workers can no longer access the lab.

It warned power cuts were making it impossible to properly manage material at the lab.

Officials said a broad range of biological and chemical materials were stored in the lab.

The draft resolution, hammered out in negotiations over the weekend, will be presented for adoption to health ministers at the WHO's three-day special assembly that opens on November 29, they said.

The diplomatic breakthrough came amid growing international concern over the new coronavirus variant Omicron, first detected in South Africa this month, which has spread further around the world.

WHO Chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a pause would allow for at least 10% of the population in every country to be vaccinated.

A number of nations including Israel and Germany have announced plans to administer a third dose.

But Dr Tedros has warned poorer nations are falling behind.

According to the WHO, low-income countries have only been able to administer 1.5 doses for every 100 people due to a lack of supply.

Dr Tedros said that there needs to be a reversal and that the majority of vaccines should go to lower income countries.

The World Health Organization’s Division of Pacific Technical Support based in Suva, Fiji, and the WHO Country Liaison Office in Tonga are working to meet these varied needs alongside partners like the government of the United Kingdom (UK).

The B.1.617 variant is the fourth variant to be designated as being of global concern and requiring heightened tracking and analysis. The others are those first detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil.

"We are classifying this as a variant of concern at a global level," Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead on Covid-19, told a briefing. "There is some available information to suggest increased transmissibility."

This follows the new Financing Agreement the EU and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) signed, to repurpose funding to support the Pacific’s response to COVID-19.

In a media briefing yesterday, (Tuesday), the World Health Organisation Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom said, “The scientific community has set a new standard for vaccine development.”

“Now the international community must set a new standard for access.” 

“COVAX has been backed by 190 countries and economies and I want to see all manufacturers channel supply to COVAX quickly so that rollouts can begin and those at high-risk are protected around the world,” he said.

The Pacific Island Times reports Takeshi Kasai also advised Pacific island countries that have remained Covid-free to work hard to maintain their health status.

In a virtual press conference, Dr Kasai asked Pacific countries to immediately address the high incidence of non-communicable diseases in the region as people with these conditions have a very high risk of contracting the coronavirus.

He also said many small island countries in the region are vulnerable because of already difficult living conditions and limited healthcare capacity.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the manufacturers Abbott and SD Biosensor had agreed with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to "make 120 million of these new, highly portable and easy-to-use rapid Covid-19 diagnostic tests available over a period of six months".

He told a news conference in Geneva the tests were currently priced at a maximum of $5 each but were expected to become cheaper.

"The coming three months present a crucial window of opportunity to scale out the impact of the ACT [Access to COVID-19 Tools] accelerator for global impact," Dr Tedros said on Monday.

"However to exploit this window, we have to fundamentally scale up the way we are funding the ACT Accelerator and prioritise the use of new tools.

"There is a vast global gap between our ambition for the ACT accelerator, and the amount of funds that have been committed."