Will the pandemic make us nicer people? Probably not. But it might change us in other ways

‘Throughout the pandemic, we’ve been awash in feel-good stories about celebrating essential workers, uplifting local businesses, appreciating what we have — all shining a light on our better angels. A year ago, Kelly Ripa told The Washington Post, “I think we’re all going to be better off for this” because “we’re all being satisfied with less.”

‘But, if experts in history and science are any guide, this altruism is probably not going to last. We are more likely to put this behind us as soon as possible, dive back into life with abandon and push boundaries. If anything, we will probably be less concerned with what other people think. Carpe diem, baby.’

Read here (Washington Post, May 1, 2021)

The hot-person vaccine

‘The internet has decided that Pfizer is significantly cooler than Moderna—but why?...

‘Large differences in access aren’t limited to certain brands, and some degree of “us versus them” applies across all of the available shots. White Americans continue to have higher vaccination rates than Black and Hispanic Americans, for example. And according to a vaccine-equity project run out of Duke University’s Global Health Innovation Center, high-income countries have already purchased more than half of the world’s available vaccine doses.

‘Seen in that context, ironic Pfizer elitism may feel uncomfortably close to actual elitism. Another vaccine-culture TikTok that went viral paired each brand with its equivalent cellphone—the iPhone for Pfizer, a recent-looking Android model for Moderna, an early 2010s pay-as-you-go Firefly phone for Johnson & Johnson, and a truly ancient Nokia for AstraZeneca. The video compared the slim but tangible differences between Pfizer and Moderna to the silly, perennial debate over whether iPhone users are snobby and judgmental toward people whose texts show up as “green bubbles.” For some commenters, this was a step too far. “Classism is disgusting,” one responded. “Not westerners fighting over which vaccine is best,” another wrote with a sobbing emoji.’

Read here (The Atlantic, Apr 30, 2021)

India Covid crisis: Four reasons it will derail the world economy

It is clear that there is now a humanitarian crisis of significant proportions. India is a country of 1.4 billion people and makes up a sixth of the world’s population. Here are some ways in which it is also going to affect the world economy:

1. A lost year for India?
2. International restrictions
3. Pharma problems
4. Services not rendered

Read here (The Conversation, Apr 29, 2021)

Share the intellectual property on Covid-19: Jeffrey Sachs

‘The pharmaceutical industry and the governments of several vaccine-producing countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Commission, have been resisting the IP waiver, while 150 public leaders and experts have sent an open letter to US President Joe Biden in support of it. There is no longer any question about who is right. Given the surge of COVID-19 in several regions, most recently in India, the continuing emergence of new and deadly variants of the virus, and the inability of the current vaccine producers to keep pace with global needs, an IP waiver or its equivalent has become a practical urgent need as well as a moral imperative.’

Read here (Project Syndicate, Apr 29, 2021)

Covid-19 accelerated the media’s reporting on early, drafty scientific research (for better and for worse)

‘More than 25% of Covid-19 preprints have featured in at least one news article, researchers found, and almost 100% of Covid-19 preprints were tweeted about at least twice...

‘Since the first reported case of Covid-19, cities across the world have shut down, people have stopped socializing and going to work, economies have taken a hit and there have been far too many deaths. But at the same time the scientific community has come together and produced an immense amount of knowledge on the virus, developing multiple vaccines in less than a year.

‘This has been possible because scientists have rapidly shared their research on Covid-19, and preprints — scientific papers that haven’t been formally reviewed — have proved essential in this effort. In a new piece of research, my colleagues and I found that the pandemic has resulted in scientists increasing the use of preprints to release findings, and that these papers are also being read more frequently.

‘This has also produced a cultural shift in how preprints are used and viewed by society. The media and the public are now far more likely to encounter and discuss preprints and their findings on a daily basis.’

Read here (Nieman Lab, Apr 29, 2021)

‘We are witnessing a crime against humanity’: Arundhati Roy on India’s Covid catastrophe

‘As this epic catastrophe plays out on our Modi-aligned Indian television channels, you’ll notice how they all speak in one tutored voice. The “system” has collapsed, they say, again and again. The virus has overwhelmed India’s health care “system”.

‘The system has not collapsed. The “system” barely existed. The government – this one, as well as the Congress government that preceded it – deliberately dismantled what little medical infrastructure there was. This is what happens when a pandemic hits a country with an almost nonexistent public healthcare system. India spends about 1.25% of its gross domestic product on health, far lower than most countries in the world, even the poorest ones. Even that figure is thought to be inflated, because things that are important but do not strictly qualify as healthcare have been slipped into it. So the real figure is estimated to be more like 0.34%. The tragedy is that in this devastatingly poor country, as a 2016 Lancet study shows, 78% of the healthcare in urban areas and 71% in rural areas is now handled by the private sector. The resources that remain in the public sector are systematically siphoned into the private sector by a nexus of corrupt administrators and medical practitioners, corrupt referrals and insurance rackets.

‘Healthcare is a fundamental right. The private sector will not cater to starving, sick, dying people who don’t have money. This massive privatisation of India’s healthcare is a crime.’ 

Read here (The Guardian, Apr 28, 2021)

As Covid sweeps India, experts say cases and deaths are going unreported

‘India, home to the world's worst ongoing coronavirus outbreak, has reported more than 17.6 million cases since the pandemic began last year. But the real number, experts fear, could be up to 30 times higher -- meaning more than half a billion cases. Health workers and scientists in India have long warned that Covid-19 infections and related deaths are significantly underreported for several reasons, including poor infrastructure, human error, and low testing levels.’

Read here (CNN, Apr 28, 2021)

Ventilation system design and the coronavirus (Covid-19)

‘Most new office buildings in Nordic countries are equipped with balanced mechanical ventilation systems. The purpose of ventilation in office buildings is to provide thermal control by supplying cold or warm air for adequate indoor air quality. However, the role of ventilation in preventing virus transmission and maintaining a sufficient fresh air supply to obtain a low virus level through dilution is not currently well defined. Ventilation in office buildings is expected to contribute to preventing the spread of contaminants and provide comfort for occupants. The study reveals differences between risk areas for spreading airborne contaminants in office buildings in northern Europe, including Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The differences in the spread depends on different ventilation designs used in different countries.’

Read here (Frontiers in Built Environment, April 27, 2021)

Covid-19 in India—profits before people

...‘In the interim, in a uniquely cynical strategy, the Modi government has passed the buck on vaccination to the states, without providing any funding—indeed making them pay higher prices. It has agreed with the private producers a pricing system whereby state governments already desperately short of finances and facing hard budget constraints will have to pay up to four times what the central government pays for the same vaccines...

Disaster capitalism: ‘The latest sign of this active encouragement of disaster capitalism by the Indian state is even more egregious. In the proposed opening up of vaccination to the 18-45 age group from May 1st, access is to be limited to private hospitals and clinics, and only on payment—with prices ranging from ₹1,200 to ₹2,400 (€13.25-€26.5) per dose! Obviously, the poor will be unable to afford the vaccines, and so the pandemic will rage on, the massive human suffering will continue and countless lives will be lost.’

Read here (Social Europe, Apr 27, 2021)

Why the world should worry about India

‘The world’s largest vaccine producer is struggling to overcome its latest COVID-19 surge—and that’s everyone’s problem...

‘None of the Indian government’s missteps absolve the world from caring about what happens to the country, nor should they. Beyond the obvious moral reasons are practical ones too. As I have repeatedly written before, uncontrolled outbreaks anywhere pose a threat everywhere, including vaccine-rich countries such as the United States. Perhaps the biggest concern right now, in India and elsewhere, is the threat posed by more transmissible variants and their potential ability to overcome vaccine immunity. Though virtually every known variant, including those from Britain, Brazil, and South Africa, has been identified in India, in some states the Indian strain has become the most prevalent.

“It’s very similar to what we saw in Manaus,” Christina Pagel, the director of clinical operational research at University College London, told me, referring to the badly hit Brazilian city. She noted that “it’s not a coincidence that these variants are arising in populations that have developed immunity through infection.”

Read here (The Atlantic, Apr 26, 2021)

The Bill Gates factor

‘Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has a key role in shaping the global response to the pandemic. And it’s not good news for health equality... 

‘A charitable take is that Gavi’s work, including Covax, bridges a gap – enabling the pharmaceuticals market to serve the needs of the poorest. But its model also props up that market, simultaneously bolstering an ideology of protection for intellectual property that socializes research and development risks but privatizes profits and control.

‘Intellectual property restrictions have created monopolies in both pharmaceuticals and software, crucial for the massive profits of Microsoft, where Gates made his billions. Meanwhile the Gates Foundation also has its own investments in Big Pharma, including Pfizer, and has funded organizations lobbying for industry-friendly regulations, such as the Drug Information Association and American Legislative Exchange Council.’

Read here (New Internationalist, April 26, 2021)

Right to life: Dead in India?

‘Constitution and national health policies should have been the guiding philosophy for leaders and planners. But did we even read them?... The deadly combination of uneducated leaders, greedy corporates, ignorant public, and the contemptuous disregard for science has wreaked havoc. Our priorities are misaligned and actions ill-intentioned.’

Read here (Outlook India, Apr 25, 2021)

Antiseptic throat spray can reduce Covid-19 spread in high-risk settings, say Singapore researchers

‘A type of antiseptic throat spray, as well as an oral drug usually prescribed to treat malaria and arthritis, have been found to be effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in high-transmission settings, said Singapore researchers on Sunday (Apr 25).

‘The findings were made after a large-scale clinical trial conducted last May, involving more than 3,000 migrant workers living in Tuas South dormitory.

‘During the six-week trial, workers were given a povidone-iodine throat spray, which can be bought off the counter, and oral hydroxychloroquine, which requires a prescription.’

Read here (Channel News Asia, Apr 25, 2021)

Covid-19: Medical experts call on govt to implement a more targeted MCO to prevent fourth wave of infections

‘The government has been urged to implement a more targeted movement control order (MCO) with mass targeted testing to prevent a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections. The Health and Sciences Covid-19 Advisory Group of Experts (EAG) said the government should prioritise mitigating the spread of the virus as it was no longer realistic to try and get infection rates down to zero. 

‘It said all resources must be focused on enhancing the implementation of targeted MCOs. It recommended that all MCO areas must fully employ the digitised find, test, trace, isolation, and support (FTTIS) system, which includes the proposed targeted mass testing strategy. "A highly targeted MCO will minimise economic disruption, on top of reducing the spread of Covid-19, balancing the wellbeing of both lives and livelihoods.

"State and district health authorities must be empowered to work with external experts and determine clear and transparent thresholds for when an area should be placed under MCO. The thresholds should be defined according to population density, number of cases, and geo-characteristics of the area, and communicated clearly to the public," it said in a statement on Sunday (April 25).

‘EAG comprises representatives from the Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, Malaysian Medical Association, Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association, and the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia, as well as two distinguished members of the medical fraternity. It is chaired by former director-general of Health and International Medical University chairman Tan Sri Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman.’

Read here (The Star, Apr 25, 2021)

Pakistan can get the dangerous Indian Covid situation, warns Indian doctor

‘A very important public service message started circulating in WhatsApp groups in Pakistan and India. It highlights that new Indian COVID variant can be as disastrous for Pakistan as it has been for India. It is written by Dr Pradeep Senha from Sassoon General Hospital Maharashtra. He says “COVID19 new mutation is giving false negatives in nasal swaps.”...

‘He writes, “The virus is now hitting straight into the lungs. It is carrying no symptoms like fever or cough. Just body ache, weakness, loss of appetite. Patients go from mild condition to extreme life and death situation within 8 to 10 hours.”

‘Dr Senha reports an alarming situation in India, he writes, “Our colleagues in small towns across India especially North Eastern regions are saying it is a battle we have already lost. It is now damage control and save as many lives as possible. We have seen 400 plus children just in our district die within 10 to 12 hours. Initial period they showed no symptoms and within hours their oxygen levels dropped and deceased.”

‘He says “We have also attended to several patients who traveled into Mumbai from overseas and had received their jabs and ended up contracting the Indian COVID and 17 out of 28 have died. Health services both in public and private hospitals have collapsed. Rich, middle class and poor all are affected and it is spreading fast, very fast. Any further mutation or variants will potentially be a doomsday scenario.”

Read here (Global Village Space, Apr 24, 2021)

Revealed: How a single pill home cure for Covid could be available this year

‘At two anonymous Pfizer buildings, one in the US and one in Belgium, a remarkable experiment is under way. Up to 60 volunteers, all clean-living adults aged between 18 and 60, are being given the first pill specifically designed to stop SARS-CoV-2.

‘If the trial is successful, it is just possible that a home cure for Covid-19 will become available later this year. The Prime Minister, who announced the formation of a UK Antivirals Taskforce last week specifically to invest in such products, will no doubt be scanning his text messages for early updates.

‘The molecule being tested is a bespoke antiviral codenamed PF 07321332. Classed as a "protease inhibitor", it has been formulated to attack the "spine" of the SARS-Cov-2 virus and stop it replicating in our noses, throats and lungs. It was protease inhibitors that turned the tide on the spread of HIV in the UK and around the world. Now researchers hope they may be on the brink of a similar pandemic-busting breakthrough.’

Read here (The Telegraph, Apr 24, 2021)

More risks to pregnant women, their newborns from COVID-19 than known before - Study

‘Pregnant women infected with COVID-19 and their newborn children face higher risks of complications than was previously known, a study by British scientists showed on Friday. An infection of the new coronavirus in such newborns is associated with a three-fold risk of severe medical complications, according to a study conducted by scientists at the University of Oxford. (https://bit.ly/3tNwkJ7)

‘Pregnant women are at higher risk of complications such as premature birth, high blood pressure with organ failure risk, need for intensive care and possible death. "Women with COVID-19 during pregnancy were over 50% more likely to experience pregnancy complications compared to pregnant women unaffected by COVID-19," said Aris Papageorghiou, co-lead of the trial and a professor of fetal medicine at Oxford University.’

Read here (Reuters, Apr 23, 2021)

PM Modi owns India’s unfolding Covid disaster: Bloomberg

‘As in so many of the pandemic’s worst-hit countries, this tragedy was avoidable — and is largely the fault of a boastful and incompetent government. Yet, judging by the fate of other bungling far-right politicians such as Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, the UK’s Boris Johnson, Hungary’s Viktor Urban, and the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may well suffer few political consequences for his devastating missteps...

‘Yet, while Trump lost to Joe Biden in large part because of his callous and clueless handling of the pandemic, the margin was disturbingly narrow. Other strongmen look more likely to survive politically — and to continue to add to the toll of needless deaths.

‘For his part, Modi not only enjoys much higher approval ratings than Trump ever did. He has also survived, already, blunders that would have wrecked any other political career: demonetization in 2016 and a botched lockdown last year that caused the biggest and most desperate internal migration witnessed in India since 1947.

‘Modi has flourished with the help of something Trump never had and the likes of Boris Johnson only sporadically enjoys: a compliant media. Indeed, one reason why complacency about the virus spread so widely in India is that Modi personally asked owners and editors of press and television in March last year to focus on “positive” stories. Evidently, as his website put it, “it was important to tackle the spread of pessimism, negativity and rumor.”

Read here (Times of India, Apr 21, 2021)

Governments are using Covid-19 as an excuse to crack down on press freedom

‘Cases abound of how the “Covid-19 excuse” has led to the inability of journalists to do their job of reporting medically endorsed effective public health measures, or to challenge lethal disinformation...

‘According to RSF’s [Reporters Without Borders] data, journalism is currently completely blocked or seriously impeded in 73 countries and constrained in 59 countries. Taken together, these figures represent 73% of the 180 countries assessed. Only 12 out of the countries ranked are deemed to have a free and favorable environment for journalism (one fewer than last year): Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Costa Rica, Netherlands, Jamaica, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium, and Ireland.’

Read here (Nieman Lab, Apr 21, 2021)

Social media influencers are spreading wild rumours about Covid-19 vaccines and periods

‘It will be an uphill battle to quell the rumours that have already spread...

‘Over the last few days, social media accounts from those opposed to vaccines have begun to promote the outlandish idea that simply being around people who have been vaccinated causes menstrual issues and even miscarriage. The first, as far as I can tell, was Kim Alberts, a self-described “health and medical freedom” enthusiast who runs an Instagram account with more than 64,000 followers. Albert’s previous posts read like a greatest hits list of health misinformation and conspiracy theories: She warns of the dangers of chemtrails and extols the virtues of coffee enemas. In recent posts, Albert has shared anecdotes supposedly submitted by thousands of her followers who have “caught” cycle changes from vaccinated people.’

Read here (Mother Jones, Apr 20, 2021)

Learning to breathe: German clinic helps Covid long haulers

‘Located in Heiligendamm, a north German seaside spa popular since the late 18th century, the clinic specializes in helping people with lung diseases such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and cancer. Over the past year it has become a major rehabilitation center for COVID-19 patients, treating 600 people from across Germany, according to its medical director, Dr. Joerdis Frommhold.

‘Some of her patients came close to death and now have to relearn how to breathe properly, rebuild their stamina and overcome a host of neurological problems associated with severe illness. But Frommhold also treats a second group of patients who experienced mild to medium COVID-19 symptoms, and only spent a short time in the hospital, if at all. “These patients get rebound symptoms after about one to four months,” Frommhold said.

Read here (Associated Press, Apr 20, 2021) 

Are we losing the fight against Covid-19? – P Gunasegaram

‘With neither vaccinations to provide herd immunity nor control measures to reduce the infectivity rate, it looks like the government has indeed lost control of the fight against Covid 19, and we, the people, may have to pay the price.

‘There is a terribly urgent need to increase the vaccination rate. While this is being done, controls must be reimposed. It is a time for tough decisions, and one can only hope that this backdoor government will put politicking on the back-burner, and prioritise the last big battle against Covid-19 and minimise the damage.

‘To simply wait for vaccination to take its course and stop the pandemic may result in far too many casualties.’

Read here (The Vibes, Apr 20, 2021)

Large clinical trial to study repurposed drugs to treat Covid-19 symptoms

‘The National Institutes of Health will fund a large, randomized, placebo‑controlled Phase 3 clinical trial to test several existing prescription and over-the-counter medications for people to self-administer to treat symptoms of COVID-19. Part of the Accelerating COVID‑19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) public–private partnership, the ACTIV-6 trial aims to provide evidence-based treatment options for the majority of adult patients with COVID-19 who have mild-to-moderate symptoms and are not sick enough to be hospitalized. NIH will provide an initial investment of $155 million in funding for the trial.

‘Several drugs currently are recommended for the treatment of hospitalized patients with moderate to severe COVID-19, including the antiviral drug remdesivir, the anti-inflammatory baricitinib, and corticosteroids. Additionally, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use of intravenous monoclonal antibodies in non-hospitalized patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk for severe disease. However, medications that can be self-administered at home to reduce COVID-19 symptoms are critically needed.’

Read here (NIH, Apr 19, 2021)

WHO panel against requiring vaccination proof for travel

‘The World Health Organisation’s emergency committee said Monday (April 19) it was against international travellers being required to have proof of vaccination, partly on grounds such a measure would deepen inequities.

“Do not require proof of vaccination as a condition of entry, given the limited (although growing) evidence about the performance of vaccines in reducing transmission and the persistent inequity in the global vaccine distribution,” the committee said in a statement summarising its April 15 meeting, the results of which were only published on Monday.

“States Parties are strongly encouraged to acknowledge the potential for requirements of proof of vaccination to deepen inequities and promote differential freedom of movement,” the committee added.’

Read here (Straits Times, Apr 19, 2021)

Oral drug effective against Covid in hamsters, now in final stages of human trials: Study

‘An orally-administered antiviral drug initially developed to treat influenza can significantly decrease novel coronavirus levels in hamsters and is in the final stages of human trials, holding out promise of a pill to combat COVID-19, say researchers.

‘Scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US and the University of Plymouth in the UK found that MK-4482, also called Molnupiravir, was effective when provided up to 12 hours before or 12 hours after infection with SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The drug can also decrease damage it causes to lungs, states the study conducted on hamsters.

‘Published in the journal Nature Communications on April 16, it suggests that treatment with MK-4482 could potentially mitigate high-risk exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and might be used to treat established SARS-CoV-2 infection alone or in combination with other agents. There are currently no drugs suitable for high-risk exposure use against SARS-CoV-2, the researchers said.’

Read here (Economic Times, Times of India, Apr 19, 2021)

Covid-19 breathalyser tests could be used on large scale in Singapore soon

‘Mass deployment of Covid-19 breathalysers that produce results on the spot may soon happen here. This will facilitate safe travel arrangements and screenings at large-scale events.

‘The Straits Times has learnt that local medtech firm Silver Factory Technology is working with the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Changi Airport and security firm Certis to develop the breathalysers.

‘Silver Factory's breathalyser, TracieX, has been shown to be almost as accurate as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, while taking a fraction of the time - at two minutes - to turn in results.’

Read here (Straits Times, Apr 19, 2021)

10 questions for Khairy on Covid-19 vaccinations: Ong Kian Ming & Kelvin Yii (April 16). Khairy replies on April 18

‘In the lead-up to the start of phase two of the National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme, there are many questions which need to be asked and hopefully answered. We commend the job which Coordinating Minister of the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme Khairy Jamaluddin has carried out thus far under challenging circumstances. We hope that he can respond to the following 10 questions as phase two starts on April 19.

Read here (Malaysiakini, Apr 16, 2021)

Read Khairy’s reply here (The Vibes, Apr 18, 2021)

Pentagon team reveals Covid-19-detecting chip that can be implanted in the body

‘A team of US scientists working under the US Department of Defense has unveiled a chip that it said can detect signs of the new coronavirus in human bodies within minutes when it is implanted under the skin. Retired Colonel Matt Hepburn said that the implant invented by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a Pentagon unit that develops emerging technologies for military use, can continuously test blood.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Apr 18, 2021)

Coronavirus set to scar world economy for decades amid an uneven, unequal recovery, observers say

‘All told, the decline in gross domestic product last year was the biggest since the Great Depression. The International Labour Organization estimates it cost the equivalent of 255 million people full-time jobs. Researchers at the Pew Research Centre reckon the global middle class shrank for the first time since the 1990s.

‘The costs will fall unevenly. A scorecard of 31 metrics across 162 nations devised by Oxford Economics Ltd. highlighted the Philippines, Peru, Colombia and Spain as the economies most vulnerable to long-term scarring. Australia, Japan, Norway, Germany and Switzerland were seen as best placed.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Apr 18, 2021)

India’s health system has collapsed

‘As human tragedy unfolds, there is a shortage of everything — oxygen, drugs, beds, vaccines, even cremation space...

“We have collapsed, Maharashtra is sinking and other states will follow.” The starkness of these words from Dr Jalil Parkar, a top pulmonologist in Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital, silenced me in a way that little has through 2020 and 2021, when most of my journalistic energy has been spent on reporting the Covid crisis on the ground. “This is worse than World War Two,” Parkar said, lashing out in rage and hurt at how doctors and health workers are still targeted by angry and distraught families as well as armchair commentators “who sit behind their laptops and in their ivory towers”.

Read here (Hindustan Times, Apr 17, 2021)

The blood-clot problem is multiplying

‘Whether the blood issues are ultimately linked to only one vaccine, or two vaccines, or more, it’s absolutely crucial to remember the unrelenting death toll from the coronavirus itself—and the fact that COVID-19 can set off its own chaos in the circulatory system, with blood clots showing up in “almost every organ.” That effect of the disease is just one of many reasons the European Medicines Agency has emphasized that the “overall benefits of the [AstraZeneca] vaccine in preventing COVID-19 outweigh the risks of side effects.” The same is true of Johnson & Johnson’s. These vaccines are saving countless lives across multiple continents.

‘But it’s also crucial to determine the biological cause of any vaccine-related blood conditions. This global immunization project presents a lot of firsts: the first authorized use of mRNA vaccines like the ones from Pfizer and Moderna; the first worldwide use of adenovirus vectors for vaccines like AstraZeneca’s, Johnson & Johnson’s, and Sputnik V; and the first attempt to immunize against a coronavirus. Which, if any, of these new frontiers might be linked to serious side effects? Which, if any, of the other vaccines could be drawn into this story, too? How can a tiny but disturbing risk be mitigated as we fight our way out of this pandemic? And what might be the implications for vaccine design in the years to come?

‘To answer these questions, scientists will have to figure out the biology behind this rare blood condition: what exactly causes it; when and why it happens. This is not an easy task. While the evidence available so far is fairly limited, some useful theories have emerged...

• Theory 1: Platelet problems
• Theory 2: The spike’s the problem
• Theory 3: A suspect sequence
• Theory 4: The mixed bag

Read here (The Atlantic, Apr 17, 2021)

China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine 67% effective in preventing symptomatic infection: Chile govt report

‘China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine was 67% effective in preventing symptomatic infection, data from a huge real-world study inChile has shown, a potential boost for the jab which has come under scrutiny over its level of protection against the virus.

‘The CoronaVac vaccine was 85% effective in preventing hospitalizations and 80% effective in preventing deaths, the Chilean government said in a report, adding that the data should prove a "game changer" from the vaccine more widely.’

Read here (Reuters, Apr 17, 2021)

Lancet report says Covid-19 is primarily airborne, safety protocol should change urgently

‘A report published in the journal The Lancet has dismissed the predominant scientific view that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, is not an airborne pathogen. The authors of the report have listed 10 reasons for their claim that "SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted primarily by the airborne route".

‘The paper, written by six experts from the UK, the US and Canada, argues that there are "insufficient grounds for concluding that a pathogen is not airborne" while "the totality of scientific evidence indicates otherwise". The experts called for urgent modification in the Covid-19 safety protocol.’

Read here (India Today, Apr 16, 2021)

Ten scientific reasons in support of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2

Read here (The Lancet, April 15, 2021)

FDA revokes emergency use authorization for monoclonal antibody bamlanivimab

‘Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked the emergency use authorization (EUA) that allowed for the investigational monoclonal antibody therapy bamlanivimab, when administered alone, to be used for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults and certain pediatric patients. Based on its ongoing analysis of emerging scientific data, specifically the sustained increase of SARS-CoV-2 viral variants that are resistant to bamlanivimab alone resulting in the increased risk for treatment failure, the FDA has determined that the known and potential benefits of bamlanivimab, when administered alone, no longer outweigh the known and potential risks for its authorized use. Therefore, the agency determined that the criteria for issuance of an authorization are no longer met and has revoked the EUA.’

Read here (US FDA, Apr 16, 2021)

Orally delivered MK-4482 inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication in the Syrian hamster model

‘The COVID-19 pandemic progresses unabated in many regions of the world. An effective antiviral against SARS-CoV-2 that could be administered orally for use following high-risk exposure would be of substantial benefit in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Herein, we show that MK-4482, an orally administered nucleoside analog, inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication in the Syrian hamster model. The inhibitory effect of MK-4482 on SARS-CoV-2 replication is observed in animals when the drug is administered either beginning 12 h before or 12 h following infection in a high-risk exposure model. These data support the potential utility of MK-4482 to control SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans following high-risk exposure as well as for treatment of COVID-19 patients.’

Read here (Nature, Apr 16, 2021)

India: ’A coronavirus tsunami we have not seen before’

‘India's Covid caseload has risen sharply in the past few weeks. The country's been reporting more than 150,000 cases a day. In January and February daily cases fell below 20,000.

‘So, how did India get from relative calm to its new crisis? Workplaces, markets and malls have reopened, and transport is operating at full capacity. Big weddings, festivals and election rallies are also being held. The result: a situation that one doctor described as a "Covid tsunami".’

View here (BBC, Apr 15, 2021)

CDC finds less than 1 percent of fully vaccinated people got Covid-19

‘The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the agency has documented about 5,800 “breakthrough” COVID-19 cases among the millions of Americans who are fully vaccinated, totaling far less than 1 percent of fully vaccinated people.

"Vaccine breakthrough infections make up a small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated,” the CDC told The Hill in a statement. “CDC recommends that all eligible people get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as one is available to them.”

‘The CDC told The Hill on Thursday that about 7 percent of the recorded breakthrough cases resulted in hospitalization and about 1 percent of the people who contracted breakthrough infections died.’

Read here (The Hill, Apr 15, 2021)

A coronavirus epidemic may have hit East Asia about 25,000 years ago

‘An ancient coronavirus, or a closely related pathogen, triggered an epidemic among ancestors of present-day East Asians roughly 25,000 years ago, a new study indicates.

‘Analysis of DNA from more than 2,000 people shows that genetic changes in response to that persistent epidemic accumulated over the next 20,000 years or so, David Enard, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Arizona in Tucson, reported April 8 at the virtual annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. The finding raises the possibility that some East Asians today have inherited biological adaptations to coronaviruses or closely related viruses.

‘The discovery opens the way to exploring how genes linked to ancient viral epidemics may contribute to modern disease outbreaks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Genes with ancient viral histories might also provide clues to researchers searching for better antiviral drugs, although that remains to be demonstrated.’

Read here (ScienceNews, Apr 14, 2021)

Are China’s Covid shots less effective? Experts size up Sinovac

‘The good news is the vaccines work extremely well in combating severe Covid infections, according to Fiona Russell from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne and Paul Griffin, a professor from the University of Queensland in Brisbane. We asked them key questions about the merits of the Sinovac shot. Their comments have been edited and condensed for brevity.

‘How effective is the Sinovac vaccine really?

‘Russell: The Sinovac study was to look at how the vaccine works against the entire range of clinical symptoms, from mild infections to severe ones, including death. The efficacy data of about 50% is for very mild disease, requiring no treatment. For infections requiring some medical intervention, it’s about 84% and for moderate-to-severe Covid cases, it’s 100%.’

Read here (Bloomberg, Apr 14, 2021)

‘A tsunami of cases’: Desperation as Covid second wave batters India

‘Dr K Senthil had feared it was coming. He had feared it as he saw the reckless crush of hundreds of people taking part in large wedding parties over the past months, feared it as he saw the maskless faces of shoppers at the market, feared it as he witnessed thousands come together for political rallies in the ongoing elections in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where he is the president of the state medical council.

‘But despite his growing sense of foreboding, the second wave of coronavirus that began to engulf India last month has confounded even Senthil’s worst expectations.’

Read here (The Guardian, Apr 14, 2021)

The race for antiviral drugs to beat Covid — and the next pandemic

‘Despite dire warnings, a stockpile of ready compounds to fight viral pandemics was sorely lacking. Can drugmakers finally do the right thing?...

“What we will hopefully find”, he [Alejandro Chavez, a bioengineer and antiviral drug researcher at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City] says, “are inhibitors that work on, if you’re really lucky, an entire family.” That would make the best-case scenario a pan-coronavirus inhibitor. But a more reasonable goal might be developing a drug for a subset of coronaviruses, such as alphacoronaviruses, which currently cause non-lethal infections in humans, and having a different drug for betacoronaviruses, the group responsible for SARS, MERS, and COVID-19.

‘Once the viral lineage is identified, “the same principles of drug discovery apply”, says Marnix Van Loock, head of emerging pathogens at Johnson & Johnson’s global public-health unit in Beerse, Belgium. As he explains, researchers need to find ‘druggable pockets’ on the surface of essential enzymes that are conserved between related viruses and can be used to design active molecules.’

Read here (Nature, Apr 14, 2021)

Covid-19 and mandatory vaccination: Ethical considerations and caveats

‘Vaccines are one of the most effective tools for protecting people against COVID-19. Consequently, with COVID-19 vaccination under way or on the horizon in many countries, some may be considering whether to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory in order to increase vaccination rates and achieve public health goals and, if so, under what conditions, for whom and in what contexts.

‘It is not uncommon for governments and institutions to mandate certain actions or types of behaviour in order to protect the wellbeing of individuals or communities. Such policies can be ethically justified, as they may be crucial to protect the health and wellbeing of the public. Nevertheless, because policies that mandate an action or behaviour interfere with individual liberty and autonomy, they should seek to balance communal well-being with individual liberties (1). While interfering with individual liberty does not in itself make a policy intervention unjustified, such policies raise a number of ethical considerations and concerns and should be justified by advancing another valuable social goal, like protecting public health.

‘This document does not provide a position that endorses or opposes mandatory COVID-19 vaccination. Rather, it identifies important ethical considerations and caveats that should be explicitly evaluated and discussed through ethical analysis by governments and/or institutional policy-makers who may be considering mandates for COVID-19 vaccination.’

Download here (WHO Policy Brief, April 13, 2021)

Physical inactivity is associated with a higher risk for severe Covid-19 outcomes: a study in 48,440 adult patients

What are the findings?

‘Patients with COVID-19 who were consistently inactive during the 2 years preceding the pandemic were more likely to be hospitalised, admitted to the intensive care unit and die than patients who were consistently meeting physical activity guidelines. Other than advanced age and a history of organ transplant, physical inactivity was the strongest risk factor for severe COVID-19 outcomes.

‘Meeting US Physical Activity Guidelines was associated with substantial benefit, but even those doing some physical activity had lower risks for severe COVID-19 outcomes including death than those who were consistently inactive.’

How might it impact on clinical practice in the future?

‘The potential for habitual physical activity to lower COVID-19 illness severity should be promoted by the medical community and public health agencies.’

Read here (BMJ British Journal of Sports Medicine, April 13, 2021)

Three different futures for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine

‘Based on what we know so far, the future of the J&J vaccine can fork in at least three different directions. In one, the vaccine flames out; unless many, many more cases come to light soon, this seems unlikely. Either of the other two—in which officials end the pause and return the nation to its regularly scheduled vaccine programming, with or without restrictions on who gets J&J next—are more likely. No matter the outcome, though, today’s announcement won’t quickly be forgotten. Pauses in clinical trials, sprinkled through the past year, have already stoked vaccine hesitancy, skepticism, and outright denialism in many circles. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, previously stigmatized for being “less effective,” now risks a second label: “less safe.” It’s on the precipice of becoming our country’s grody vaccine; maybe it’s already toppled over the edge. An altered reputation in the U.S. will reverberate throughout the world, and set back the global struggle to contain the coronavirus.

‘If the J&J vaccine does return with the FDA’s blessing, we’ll need to rehabilitate it with clear and nuanced messaging, Gounder and many others told me. A vaccine can be excellent. A vaccine can also carry risks. Both can be true; both have been true, for other shots we’ve used. In this case, the gamble could be very small—and still be well worth it.’

Read here (The Atlantic, Apr 13, 2021)

Brazil after the collapse

‘Health experts warned about it for weeks. In early March, the Brazilian health system entered a state of collapse under the weight of a nationwide spike in COVID-19 infections. Hospitals were not able to attend to all patients who needed treatment. By the end of March, all over Brazil, more than 6000 people were waiting for an ICU bed, most of them in overcrowded health centres and emergency wards without the necessary equipment and personnel for treatment.

‘In parallel, the power bases of the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro eroded in rapid fashion after he seemed to have consolidated his power in early February with the election of his preferred candidates to the powerful positions of speaker of the Parliament and of the Senate.’

Read here (The Bullet, Apr 13, 2021) 

Sweden has highest new Covid cases per person in Europe

‘Sweden has reported Europe’s highest number of new coronavirus infections per head over the past week and has more patients in intensive care than at any time since the pandemic’s first wave.

‘The Scandinavian country, which has opted against strict lockdowns but gradually ratcheted up its still mostly voluntary restrictions, has a seven-day average of 625 new infections per million people, according to ourworldindata.org.

‘That compares with 521 in Poland, 491 in France, 430 in the Netherlands, 237 in Italy and 208 in Germany, the data showed. The figure was many times higher than the 65, 111 and 132 per million in Sweden’s Nordic neighbours Finland, Denmark and Norway.’

Read here (The Guardian, Apr 13, 2021)

Indonesia satisfied with effectiveness of Chinese Covid-19 vaccine

‘Indonesia said on Monday (Apr 12) that it is satisfied with the effectiveness of the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine it is using, after the acknowledgement by China’s top disease control official that current vaccines offer low protection against the virus.

‘Siti Nadia Tarmizi, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s COVID-19 vaccine programme, said the World Health Organization had found the Chinese vaccines had met requirements by being more than 50 per cent effective. She noted that clinical trials for the Sinovac vaccine in Indonesia showed it was 65 per cent effective.’

Read here (AP News, Apr 13, 2021)

Vaccines alone will not stop Covid spreading - Here's why

‘Many of us are hoping vaccines against coronavirus will be our route out of lockdown, enabling us to reclaim our old lives. But scientists say jabs alone will not currently be enough and other measures are still needed.’

Read here (BBC, Apr 12, 2021)

When will life return to ‘pre-Covid normal’?

‘A majority of people expect life to return to something like 'normal' within the next 12 months, according to a new World Economic Forum-Ipsos survey. There are large differences between countries on this, though. The pandemic has also impacted people's emotional and mental health...

‘Differences emerged around the world about the return to something like a pre-COVID normal. Although more than half think it'll happen within the next 12 months, one-in-five think it will take more than 3 years, while 8% don't think it'll happen at all. Opinions on when the pandemic will be contained also closely matched opinions on a return to normal - suggesting that people believe the two to be closely linked.

‘On average, 58% of those surveyed expect the pandemic to be contained within the next year. Some countries - India, mainland China and Saudi Arabia, for example - are more optimistic. But, four-in-five in Japan and more than half in countries including Australia and Sweden expect it will take more than a year for the pandemic to be contained.’

Read here (World Economic Forum, Apr 12, 2021)

Official: Chinese vaccines’ effectiveness low

‘In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country’s top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to give them a boost. Chinese vaccines “don’t have very high protection rates,” said the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, at a conference Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

‘Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses in other countries while also trying to promote doubt about the effectiveness of Western vaccines. “It’s now under formal consideration whether we should use different vaccines from different technical lines for the immunization process,” Gao said.’

Read here (AP News, Apr 11, 2021)

‘Tough decision’ in September on mandatory vaccination - Khairy Jamaluddin

‘Drastic measures including mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations are on the cards once Malaysia’s vaccination campaign reaches a “critical point” in September, said the campaign’s coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin. He said Malaysia will begin receiving an influx of vaccine deliveries in June, particularly from Pfizer and Sinovac, and supply will outpace demand in June or July.

‘By September, it is expected that vaccine administration rates will begin to slow not because of lack of vaccine doses or staff to administer it, but the lack of people willing to receive the vaccines. “So I told the cabinet that I'm going to come back in September and advise cabinet whether or not we go for mandatory vaccinations in September. That is going to be a big call.’

Read here (Malaysiakini, April 9, 2021)

Vaccinations, increasing Covid-19 cases, and the Peltzman effect

‘How security measures and regulations meant to protect, actually increase risky behaviour in the public, and how not to become a stereotype...

‘So, what has this got to do with Covid-19 vaccinations? This is where Dr Puri and his message come in. Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan reportedly tested positive with the coronavirus a few days after being vaccinated.  People assume, wrongly, that vaccination (especially after the first dose) makes you invincible and you can get back to partying and a pre-Covid-19 normal life. Not true. The immunity builds up only a few weeks after the second dose. Also, immunity is not absolute. You can still get infected after being vaccinated, just like you could die in a car accident even though you are wearing a seatbelt. If you wear a seatbelt, you should not drive recklessly. Similarly, if you are vaccinated, you should not behave recklessly. You need to follow the basics—wear a mask, maintain social distance and wash your hands. Furthermore, current vaccines may not be able to protect you against future variants of the virus.

‘So why take the vaccine? Because it does reduce the risk of you getting the virus, and more importantly the risk of dying is significantly reduced. But just like the seat belt can't protect you if you drive like an idiot, the vaccine won’t protect you if you behave like one. Sometimes a seat belt doesn't protect you even if you are driving carefully (because some other idiot is driving recklessly) or you are an innocent bystander. It's the same case with the vaccine. Some other idiot can get you infected, even if you are an innocent bystander. Hence, please don’t believe that being vaccinated makes you superhuman.’

Read here (Forbes India, Apr 8, 2021) 

CDC: Covid-19 surface transmission risk below 1 in 10,000

‘The likelihood of contracting Covid-19 from touching contaminated surfaces is low at less than one in 10,000, announced the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

‘In new guidance released on April 5, the CDC said although it is possible for people to contract the coronavirus from surface transmission, the main mode of transmission of the disease is through direct contact with an infected person, droplet transmission (most likely to occur when one is within two metres of an infected person exhaling virus-containing respiratory droplets), and airborne transmission (exposure to smaller virus-containing respiratory droplets that can remain suspended in the air).’

Read here (Code Blue, Apr 9, 2021)

The Covid-19 vaccine: Lessons and challenges

‘The rapid deployment of vaccines is key in accelerating the return to normalcy... As policymakers vaccinate their populations against an ever-changing COVID-19, they’re discovering numerous challenges along the way. In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, McKinsey partners Lieven Van der Veken and Tania Zulu Holt share insights on progress and lessons learned so far, and how to help get the vaccine distributed as quickly and safely as possible. An edited transcript of their conversation follows.’

Listen here (McKinsey & Co, Apr 9, 2021)

How Covid-19 vaccines are being weaponised as countries jostle for influence

‘A new hybrid Cold War is underway, with US, China and pivotal states engaging in a power play, says NUS Business School’s Alex Capri...

‘[V]accine diplomacy has shed light on an even more fundamental truth: A hybrid cold war is underway, involving the US, China and other pivotal states. Its by-product is hybrid warfare, a mix of diplomatic, economic, cyber and information-related actions, all of which fall below the threshold of armed conflict but are, nonetheless, disruptive to the workings of the international system.

‘There will be no returning to the kind of globalisation the world experienced over the past four decades. Consequently, state and non-state actors must adapt.’

Read here (Channel News Asia, Apr 8, 2021)

Q&A: BioNTech vaccine is only ‘mRNA 1.0’. This is just the beginning, say co-founders

‘The successful development of mRNA vaccines for Covid-19 is ‘transformational’ and opens the doors to new types of vaccines for other infectious diseases as well as cancer, according to Dr Özlem Türeci and Dr Uğur Şahin, the co-founders of Germany’s BioNTech.’

Read here (Horizon, Apr 8, 2021)

Kati Kariko helped shield the world from the coronavirus

‘Collaborating with devoted colleagues, Dr. Kariko laid the groundwork for the mRNA vaccines turning the tide of the pandemic...

‘Now Katalin Kariko, 66, known to colleagues as Kati, has emerged as one of the heroes of Covid-19 vaccine development. Her work, with her close collaborator, Dr. Drew Weissman of the University of Pennsylvania, laid the foundation for the stunningly successful vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

‘For her entire career, Dr. Kariko has focused on messenger RNA, or mRNA — the genetic script that carries DNA instructions to each cell’s protein-making machinery. She was convinced mRNA could be used to instruct cells to make their own medicines, including vaccines.

‘But for many years her career at the University of Pennsylvania was fragile. She migrated from lab to lab, relying on one senior scientist after another to take her in. She never made more than $60,000 a year.’

Read here (New York Times, Apr 7, 2021)

A third of Covid survivors suffer neurological or mental disorders: Study

‘One in three COVID-19 survivors in a study of more than 230,000 mostly American patients were diagnosed with a brain or psychiatric disorder within six months, suggesting the pandemic could lead to a wave of mental and neurological problems, scientists said.

‘Researchers who conducted the analysis said it was not clear how the virus was linked to psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression, but that these were the most common diagnoses among the 14 disorders they looked at.

‘Post-COVID cases of stroke, dementia and other neurological disorders were rarer, the researchers said, but were still significant, especially in those who had severe COVID-19.’

Read here (Reuters, Apr 7, 2021)

Regular exercise can reduce the risk of severe outcomes for Covid-19, says study

‘Doctors at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, who led the study, included 48,440 subjects who were diagnosed with COVID-19 between January 2020 and October 2020 and asked them how often they’d exercised over the previous two years. They measured answers by the Exercise Vital Sign, a standard that identifies whether people are meeting the government’s Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. The most recent version, updated in 2018, recommends that on a weekly basis, adults do 150 minutes to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise, with additional guidelines for strength training.    

‘These are the main findings: 

• People who were “consistently inactive,” meaning they exercised anywhere from zero to 10 minutes per week, had a 2.26 greater chance of hospitalization, a 1.73 greater chance of ICU admission and 2.49 greater odds of death from COVID-19 compared to patients who were consistently active. 
• People who did “some activity,” which equaled anywhere from 11 to 149 minutes per week, had a 1.89 greater chance of hospitalization, a 1.58 greater chance of ICU admission and a 1.88 times greater chance of death than those who were consistently active.’

Read here (news.yahoo.com, Apr 16, 2021)

Physical inactivity is associated with a higher risk for severe Covid-19 outcomes: A study in 48,440 adult patients

Read here (BMJ, Apr 7, 2021)

Covax: A global multistakeholder group that poses political and health risks to developing countries and multilateralism

‘This report concentrates on the political and economic repercussions on the global South and how COVID and the multistakeholder structure of COVAX is driving a transformation of global governance. Multistakeholder governance is not the way to govern vaccine distribution, vaccine production, or the delivery of the vaccine to the peoples around the globe.

‘Multistakeholderism is premised on marginalising governments, inserting business interests directly into the global decision-making process, and obfuscating accountability. There are no standards of responsibility, obligation or liability for multistakeholder bodies. The multiple layers of the bodies ‘overseeing’ the multistakeholder COVAX program obscures any moral obligations, even while COVAX makes profound life decisions for hundreds of millions.

‘Probably no other commercial product has been produced that in its first years expects to have the entire world as its consumer base. COVAX as a multistakeholder body provides a gathering spot for business interests which otherwise may not be allowed to jointly plan marketing, productions, investments, and distribution in what is for them a major evolving vaccine global market. There is significant potential for commercial self-interest to be injected inappropriately into Covax decisions.’

Read here (Friends of the Earth International, Apr 7, 2021) 

Covid-19 & neurological conditions

‘A study published in The Lancet Psychiatry estimates that more than one-third of COVID-19 survivors experienced neurological symptoms within 6 months of their infection. Researchers at the University of Oxford (UK) evaluated medical record data for nearly 250,000 COVID-19 patients and found that 33.62% were diagnosed with a neurological or psychiatric condition in the 6 months following their infection, including 12.84% for whom this was their first such diagnosis. The proportion increased among those who were admitted to an intensive care/treatment unit (ICU/ITU), up to 46.42% and 25.79%, respectively. The most common conditions included anxiety disorders (17.39%), mood disorders (13.66%), substance use disorder (6.58%), insomnia (5.42%), nerve disorders (2.85%), and ischemic stroke (2.10%). The study breaks down each condition by disease severity.’

Read here (The Lancet, April 6, 2021)

Read press release here

Israel and Chile both led on Covid jabs, so why is one back in lockdown?

‘Chile is in the enviable position of having vaccinated faster than any other country in the Americas. More than a third of the country’s 18 million people have received at least one shot of either Pfizer/BioNTech or China’s Sinovac Biotech vaccine. However, cases have soared to the point of overwhelming the health system and strict lockdown measures are back in place.

What went wrong in Chile?

‘The speedy vaccination programme appears to have instilled a false sense of security that led the country to ease restrictions too soon without people appreciating the ongoing risks. The country reopened its borders in November and in January introduced permits for Chileans to go on summer holiday. Without strict controls on people entering the country, and the lack of an efficient contact-tracing system, travellers may have brought infections back into the country that were not picked up.’

Read here (The Guardian, Apr 6, 2021)

Brazil coronavirus strain: Variant three times more deadly for those aged 18-45, research shows

‘The new coronavirus variant sweeping through Brazil, and spreading to other nations around the world, is proving to be up to three times more deadly for young people, according to research. 

‘It is also spreading more quickly among younger people with cases among Brazilians in their 30s, 40s, and 50s are up by 565 per cent, 626 per cent and 525 per cent respectively since the beginning of January, according to Brazilian public health institute Fiocruz. In comparison, during the same periods the increase in the overall population was much lower at 316 per cent, suggesting the virus infections are making “a shift to younger age groups”. There is also growing evidence shows that young people are not only more likely to get infected with the new strain – dubbed P. 1 – but also to die from it.’

Read here (News.com, Apr 6, 2021)

The threat that Covid-19 poses now

‘After a year of waves and surges, the pandemic is entering a “tornado” phase in America...

‘The United States is entering a new phase of the pandemic. Although we’ve previously described the most devastating periods as “waves” and “surges,” the more proper metaphor now is a tornado: Some communities won’t see the storm, others will be well fortified against disaster, and the most at-risk places will be crushed. The virus has never hit all places equally, but the remarkable protection of the vaccines, combined with the new attributes of the variants, has created a situation where the pandemic will disappear, but only in some places. The pandemic is or will soon be over for a lot of people in well-resourced, heavily vaccinated communities. In places where vaccination rates are low and risk remains high, more people will join the 550,000 who have already died.’

Read here (The Atlantic, Apr 6, 2021)

New Covid variants have changed the game, and vaccines will not be enough. Lancet Covid-19 Commission calls for global ‘maximum suppression’

‘Put simply, the game has changed, and a successful global rollout of current vaccines by itself is no longer a guarantee of victory... No one is truly safe from COVID-19 until everyone is safe. We are in a race against time to get global transmission rates low enough to prevent the emergence and spread of new variants. The danger is that variants will arise that can overcome the immunity conferred by vaccinations or prior infection.

‘What’s more, many countries lack the capacity to track emerging variants via genomic surveillance. This means the situation may be even more serious than it appears.

‘As members of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission Taskforce on Public Health, we call for urgent action in response to the new variants. These new variants mean we cannot rely on the vaccines alone to provide protection but must maintain strong public health measures to reduce the risk from these variants. At the same time, we need to accelerate the vaccine program in all countries in an equitable way. Together, these strategies will deliver “maximum suppression” of the virus.’

Read here (The Conversation, Apr 6, 2021)

Download report here (Lancet Covid-19 Commission Taskforce on Public Health,  March 2021)

Covid-19, lies and statistics: Corruption and the pandemic

• Data on COVID-19 deaths and cases goes underreported in many countries
• Malpractice in procurement of vaccines, protective equipment is widespread
• Corruption and secrecy is putting lives at risk, experts warn

‘From Brazil to the Philippines, secretive governments across the world are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by covering up data and bypassing public procurement rules, undermining trust in health systems, fuelling anti-vaxxers and putting immunisation campaigns at risk.

‘Clandestine contracts for medical goods and services have become the norm in many countries, while data on COVID-19 cases and deaths has been manipulated and underreported.

‘Authorities and heads of states have used the pandemic as an opportunity to gut public bodies dedicated to openness and communication, with the worst offenders forming a rogues’ gallery of coronavirus offenders.’

Read here (SciDev, Apr 6, 2021)

How can we vaccinate the world? Five challenges facing the UN-backed COVAX programme

‘Vaccines are a key part of the solution to ending the COVID-19 pandemic and, since the early stages of the crisis, the World Health Organization (WHO) has argued that there needs to be a coordinated approach towards ensuring that everyone, not just people living in rich countries,  receives adequate protection from the virus, as it spread rapidly across the world.

‘Out of this concern grew the Global COVAX Facility, the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both higher and lower income countries.  

‘Here are five things to know about the challenges facing COVAX, and how they can be overcome...

1. Export controls: the weakest link?
2. Getting vaccines to those who need them is not easy
3. More funding is needed to help rollout in the poorest countries
4. Richer countries should share excess doses
5. Vaccine hesitancy: a continued cause for concern 

Read here (UN News, Apr 5, 2021) 

AstraZeneca: Is there a blood clot risk?

‘I have spoken to respected scientists some of whom are sceptical, others increasingly convinced. Some point to the highly unusual nature of the clots as a sign something could be going on. They are often appearing at the same time as low levels of blood platelets, which are one of the main components of a clot, and antibodies linked to other clotting disorders appearing in the blood. Others say there is not enough proof and the reported cases could plausibly be down to Covid, which itself is linked to abnormal clotting.’

Read here (BBC, Apr 3, 2021)

Strain on NHS as tens of thousands of staff suffer long Covid

‘Intense pressures on the already overstretched NHS are being exacerbated by the tens of thousands of health staff who are sick with long Covid, doctors and hospital bosses say.

‘At least 122,000 NHS personnel have the condition, the Office for National Statistics disclosed in a detailed report that showed 1.1 million people in the UK were affected by the condition. That is more than any other occupational group and ahead of teachers, of whom 114,000 have it.’

Read here (The Guardian, Apr 3, 2021)

A complete timeline of what’s going on with the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine

‘AstraZeneca, the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant based in Cambridge, England, has little track record in vaccines, but it managed to score a coup by partnering with scientists at the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute to help bring its COVID-19 vaccine to market. The company penned deals to deliver billions of vaccines around the world.

‘Yet, of the major vaccine in the global market, AstraZeneca's has had the roughest ride. Between halted trials, confusing data, and communication mishaps, the company is now facing suspended vaccinations and a decrease in trust in its vaccine.’

Read here (Fortune, Apr 2, 2021)

Vaccinating Asia: How does world's largest continent immunise 4.5 billion people in shortest time possible?

‘It is a critical issue as the world rushes to achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus. How does the largest continent in the world immunise 4.5 billion people in the shortest time possible? The Straits Times bureaus find out in this special report.’

• Grappling with myriad challenges on path towards Covid-19 immunity
• Midwives and soldiers in Indonesia mobilised to support country's inoculation drive
• Millions of undocumented migrants in Malaysia keen on Covid-19 jab but wary of arrest
• Filipinos in search of coveted 'Covid-19 passport'
• India's greatest challenge lies in vaccinating rural villages
• Quality and quantity of Covid-19 vaccines in China hamper inoculation drive
• Hong Kong's Covid-19 vaccination drive zips ahead despite woes
• South Korean govt draws flak for not mandating Covid-19 vaccine holiday after roll-out delay
• South Korean man, Singaporean fiancee inoculated ahead of May wedding
• Japan's chequered past with vaccines raises fresh fears
• No rush for Covid-19 jab in Taiwan, given fears over side effects
• Religious, community groups, experts clear doubts about Covid-19 jabs in Singapore
• Church webinar in S'pore convinces senior to take Covid-19 jab
• Tapping TikTok videos and social media influencers to spread information on vaccines in Singapore
• MCI officers create skits, dances on TikTok to debunk Covid-19 myths
• Foodcourt chat to allay fears about Covid-19 shots among Singaporeans

Read here (Straits Times, Apr 2, 2021) 

Everything you need to know about “vaccine passports”

‘Countries with digital vaccine certificates in the works include Israel, China, Japan, United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, the UK, Estonia, Australia, France, and Singapore. Other projects are more international in scope. The EU Commission hopes to launch a Digital Green Certificate that will allow travel between EU countries by summer. Airlines and various international consortia are in the process of developing passes that would work across borders and facilitate international travel. (These include the IATA travel pass, the CommonPass, American Airlines’ VeriFly, the ICC AOKpass, and IBM’s Digital Health Pass.) 

‘Elizabeth Renieris, a technology and human rights fellow at Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and former policy counsel for Evernym, points out that governing bodies like the EU Commission have never rolled out technology close to this before—no interoperable digital passports, ID cards, or driver’s licenses. “How can there be such an accelerated rollout for something that has never been done before for any other purpose?” Renieris asks. “To attempt this for the first time, and to do it at such high stakes with such potentially severe risks to very fundamental freedoms, just feels like a very rash move.” 

Read here (Mother Jones, Apr 2, 2021)

How Covid can change your personality

‘I don’t know about you, but I’ve found the latest stage of the pandemic hard in its own distinct way. The cumulative effect of a year of repetition, isolation and stress has induced a lassitude — a settling into the familiar, with feelings of vulnerability. The shock of a year ago has been replaced by a sluggish just-getting-to-the-end.

‘I’ve got the same scattered memory issues many others in this Groundhog Day life describe: walking into a room and wondering why I went there; spending impressive amounts of time looking for my earbuds; forgetting the names of people and places outside my Covid bubble.

‘My extroversion muscles have atrophied while my introversion muscles are bulging. If you tracked me on a personality chart, I suppose “liveliness” would be down and “reserved” would be up; “carefree” down and “anxious” up.’

Read here (New York Times, Apr 1, 2021)