The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors today approved an envelope of $12 billion for developing countries to finance the purchase and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and treatments for their citizens.

The financing, which aims to support vaccination of up to a billion people, is part of an overall World Bank Group (WBG) package of up to $160 billion through June 2021 to help developing countries fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a new clinical trial, UC Davis Health will test the effectiveness and safety of REGN-COV2, the monoclonal antibody cocktail, in preventing COVID-19 in adults living with infected patients. The drug was recently administered to President Donald Trump as part of his treatment for SAR-CoV-2 infection. It is still in the clinical experimental stage as potential treatment and prevention for COVID-19.

For every two deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the U.S., a third American dies as a result of the pandemic, according to new data publishing Oct. 12 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study, led by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University, shows that deaths between March 1 and Aug. 1 increased 20% compared to previous years - maybe not surprising in a pandemic. But deaths attributed to COVID-19 only accounted for 67% of those deaths.

Vaccines currently being developed for COVID-19 should not be affected by recent mutations in the virus, according to a new study involving a University of York virologist.

Most vaccines under development worldwide have been modelled on the original 'D-strain' of the virus, which were more common amongst sequences published early in the pandemic.

People who survive serious COVID-19 infections have long-lasting immune responses against the virus, according to a new study led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The study, published in Science Immunology, offers hope that people infected with the virus will develop lasting protection against reinfection.

A new study by Simon Fraser University (SFU) researchers has found clear evidence that wearing a mask can have a significant impact on the spread of COVID-19. The researchers, from SFU's Department of Economics, have determined that mask mandates are associated with a 25 per cent or larger weekly reduction in COVID-19 cases.

Being previously infected with a coronaviruses that cause the "common cold" may decrease the severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infections, according to results of a new study. Led by researchers at Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, the study also demonstrates that the immunity built up from previous non-SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infections does not prevent individuals from getting COVID-19.