Europe is lashing out like a wounded animal but its injuries are self-inflicted

‘As if banning the shipment of 250,000 AstraZeneca doses to Australia earlier this month didn’t set a bad enough precedent, the EU went even further on Wednesday by threatening to take over AstraZeneca’s factories and strip the company of its intellectual property rights unless the pharmaceutical giant delivered more doses over the coming months.

‘European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has grounds to be upset: while Pfizer and Moderna have delivered on their first quarter commitments and pledged to deliver a combined 235 million doses in the second, AstraZeneca is dragging the chain. The firm will give the bloc only 100 million doses over the first six months of 2021 when the EU was expecting 270 million...

‘AstraZeneca certainly bears no blame for the week’s other baffling decision by some EU members to suspend the jab over unfounded safety fears.’

Read here (Sydney Morning Herald, Mar 19, 2021)

Scientists call for pause on AstraZeneca vaccine rollout

‘The Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology says the federal government should immediately pause the planned rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine because it may not be effective enough to generate herd immunity.

‘Phase three clinical trials of the vaccine, which is the centrepiece of Australia's vaccination strategy, show it is only 62 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 when given in the recommended dose. Trials suggest vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are about 95 per cent effective.’

Read here (Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 12, 2021)

Big Pharma chief who developed first Ebola shot breaks silence on Covid-19

‘It's not that we couldn't have done something earlier. The reason that we're announcing these things now is because as we tried to select approaches, we did it with a view that we needed vaccines with three characteristics: No. 1, they have to be vaccines that can be deployed broadly, globally. No. 2, and this is extremely important, these have to be vaccines that we have reasonable confidence could be effective with just a single dose. No. 3, we wanted to develop vaccines that used technology, platforms that have already been proven to work safely and effectively in people.’

Read here (Sydney Morning Herald, May 27, 2020)

‘Dangerous, damaging’: China trade dispute triggers national division

‘Victoria and Queensland have warned the federal government to be more diplomatic in pursuit of a coronavirus inquiry, fearing that Australia's escalating trade dispute with China will harm already fragile state economies...

‘Australia-China Business Council chief executive Helen Sawczak said the inquiry had been politicised for domestic point scoring and warned more Australian industries to prepare for trade strikes if the government could not negotiate with China.’

Meanwhile... ‘Beijing is also pushing new beef and resources deals with Brazil and barley trade with Canada and eastern Europe. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro recently spoke with China's President Xi Jinping after China supplied medical equipment. The country is one of Australia's top rivals in the critical iron ore, coal and LNG sectors.’

Read here (Sydney Morning Herald, May 13, 2020)

‘Very worried’: Britain issues alert as possible new coronavirus syndrome emerges in children

‘Health officials in Britain warn that a potential new coronavirus-related syndrome is emerging in children, with a rise in cases prompting an urgent alert to doctors across the country. The alert revealed an "apparent rise in the number of children of all ages presenting with a multi-system inflammatory state requiring intensive care across London and also in other regions of the United Kingdom".’

Read here (The Sydney Morning Herald, April 28, 2020)

Inside a COVID-19 lab and why more people return inconclusive tests

The head of NSW’s busiest COVID-19 testing lab says rising numbers of people will return undefined coronavirus results as the testing blitz picks up cases that shed the virus weeks ago. According to Professor Bill Rawlinson, director of Serology, Virology and OTDS Laboratories (SAViD), NSW Health Pathology based at Prince of Wales Hospital, “We are at the stage when individuals may only be positive for one of the several targets that PCR tests pick up,” he said, referring to the molecular testing performed samples collected by the nasal and throat swabs at COVID clinics. “These indeterminate results are going to increase because there will be people who had [the virus] a long time ago and still have some residual RNA [ribonucleic acid].”

Read here (The Sydney Morning Herald, April 25, 2020)

Boris Johnson recovery shows need for rehabilitation after coronavirus

‘One answer is having more rehabilitation teams – comprising doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, social workers, pharmacists and dieticians – treat patients in their own homes. This can be done via telehealth and online platforms, which allows services to be delivered in a way that minimises risk to health professionals and doesn’t further deplete personal protection equipment.

‘Rehabilitation reduces bed block as patients are discharged more quickly. It also takes pressure off GPs and reduces re-presentations to emergency departments for issues that can be dealt with at home.’

Read here (The Sydney Morning Herald, April 15, 2020)