Did former CDC director offer a ham sandwich theory of Covid-19? Maybe. Maybe not.

‘As Robert Redfield awoke Friday morning, he found himself transformed in his TV into a gigantic target of viral scorn.

‘The former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lifted many expert eyebrows from their microscopes, telling CNN’s Sanjay Gupta he believes the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 originated in a lab in China. In clips CNN aired from an upcoming special this Sunday (which Gupta dubbed an “autopsy” of the pandemic), Redfield dismissed the possibility that the virus could have evolved sufficiently on its own to have “somehow jumped” quickly from bats to humans. “I just don’t think this makes biological sense,” Redfield told Gupta, arguing it’s easier to conclude that the virus gained greater efficiency at infecting humans inside a lab.

Read here (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Mar 26, 2021)

Long Covid affects most hospital patients, two UK studies find

‘Most patients treated in hospital for Covid-19 are still suffering a wide range of symptoms five months after discharge — and middle-aged women are even more likely to have long Covid than other groups — according to two UK studies released on Wednesday.

‘The larger study, led by the University of Leicester and called Phosp-Covid, analysed 1,077 people discharged from hospitals across the UK and found that only 29 per cent were fully recovered.

‘The remainder had an average of nine persistent symptoms each. These covered a wide range, including muscle pain and fatigue, breathlessness, pain, joint pain or swelling, weakness, short-term memory loss and “brain fog”.’

Read here (Financial Times, Mar 25, 2021)

China’s exotic farms may be a missing link behind the pandemic’s leap to people

‘Given that more than a year passed between late 2019, when the disease was linked to the market, and December 2020, when China says it shut down all its food-supplying wildlife farms, acquiring such evidence may prove impossible. Still, filling in gaps about how the virus may have leaped to humans is essential for understanding the COVID-19 pandemic and combating future zoonotic diseases.

‘Yunnan, the southern Chinese province where many of the now-shuttered wildlife farms are located, is also where virologists found a bat virus almost identical to the coronavirus circulating in humans. Some wildlife farms sold animals that can be infected with other coronaviruses, including civets, so scientists suspect that these species may also be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. “Potentially, some of these animals were infected at those farms and then brought the virus into the market,” Peter Ben Embarek, the Danish food safety scientist heading WHO’s delegation, told Science in February, after he and the WHO team returned from China, adding that more testing was needed.’

Read here (National Geographic, Mar 25, 2021)

What it will take to vaccinate the world against Covid-19

‘A special report outlines the challenges — from unleashing the power of mRNA vaccines, to the battle for temporary relief on intellectual-property rights...

‘In the long term, argues Friede, every region needs a facility that fully owns the production know-how and can produce vaccines. The gap is most egregious in Africa, a continent that imports 99% of its vaccines, says Nkengasong. It has only three big vaccine manufacturers. “Can a continent of 1.2 billion — projected to be 2.4 billion in 30 years, where one in four people in the world will be African — continue to import 99% of its vaccines?” Nkengasong asks.’

Read here (Nature, Mar 25, 2021)

From the pandemic, a roadmap for lowering the costs of medicine

‘To speed Covid-19 treatments, federal officials adopted a new, nimbler regulatory posture. The change was long overdue...

‘In recent decades, for example, the FDA — scarred by episodes like the Vioxx debacle and buoyed by scientists’ increased understanding of the body — has pressed drug makers to demonstrate increasingly rigorous understanding of the mechanisms by which their medicines work. Yet, one might argue that these guidelines reflect either hubris or naivete: The vast majority of safe and effective drugs were approved despite uncertainty about their mechanisms of action. Even today, scientists do not completely understand how acetaminophen works, yet the world is a far healthier place for having this drug...

‘In some high-profile cases during the pandemic, the FDA leaned less on mechanistic proof of effectiveness and more on empirical indicators, such as patient survival rates. For instance, when objective data revealed that the steroid dexamethasone helped severely ill patients survive what might otherwise have been deadly coronavirus infections, the FDA was quick to support the drug’s use, despite scientists having only a speculative understanding of how the steroid works against the disease. To be sure, the FDA must continue to prioritize its mandate to protect patients and clinical trial volunteers. But the pandemic has shown that safety and speed need not be an either-or proposition.’

Read here (Undark, Mar 25, 2021)

Covid-19 in the classroom: Over 2,000 infected in three months

‘The Health Ministry has reminded educational facilities nationwide to take precautions to prevent Covid-19 infection, after three of the eight new clusters reported today involved learning institutions. Its director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said 41 such clusters have been reported to date since the beginning of the year, infecting 2,228 people so far.

‘Most of the cases (1,058 cases; 47.5 percent) involved tertiary educational institutions, although they comprised only 15 of the 41 clusters. This was followed by 631 cases (28.3 percent) involving 13 secondary school clusters, and 419 cases (18.8 percent) involving 10 primary school and preschool clusters. Other educational institutions account for three clusters, totalling 120 cases (5.4 percent).’

Read here (Malaysiakini, Mar 25, 2021)

The coronavirus variants don’t seem to be highly variable so far

‘No doubt you’ve heard about the novel coronavirus variants that are evolving around the world. There now appear to be more than a dozen versions of SARS-CoV-2, which are of varying degrees of concern because some are linked to increased infectivity and lethality while others are not. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by this diversity and to fear that we’ll never achieve herd immunity. Yet evidence is growing that these variants share similar combinations of mutations. This may not be the multifront war that many are dreading, with an infinite number of new viral versions.’

Read here (Scientific American, Mar 24, 2021)

Greed is the problem, not the solution, for vaccine woes

‘On the anniversary of the United Kingdom’s first lockdown of the coronavirus pandemic, as candles were lit in doorways and the country mourned 125,000 deaths, the prime minister was in the mood for gloating. “The reason we have the vaccine success is because of capitalism, because of greed my friends,” Boris Johnson reportedly told Conservative MPs, before pleading “forget I said that”.

‘The AstraZeneca jab was actually developed by scientists from the University of Oxford, a publicly-funded institution, working with scientists from a range of backgrounds, including many educated in state schools. Those scientists had initially wanted to make their vaccine patent-free, before AstraZeneca entered the scene, effectively privatising the research.

‘The vaccines have been brought to market thanks to tens of thousands of trial volunteers who risked their health by putting themselves forward, not out of greed, but out of a desire to end this pandemic and help their families and communities. And the rollout is being managed by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), a world-class public healthcare system that, despite market-driven reforms in recent years, exists entirely outside the logic of the market.

‘Greed, however, drove Big Pharma companies to privatise vaccines developed with public resources, and patent lifesaving medicines, in an effort to keep a grip on their monopolies. As a result, pharmaceutical giants sold these jabs almost exclusively to rich countries, allowing the UK to secure enough doses to vaccinate its population three times over.’

Read here (Aljazeera, Mar 24, 2021)

These moms work as doctors and scientists. But they've also taken on another job: Fighting Covid-19 misinformation online

‘While experts throughout the U.S. are trying to tackle misinformation and persuade Americans to get their shots when they become eligible, these doctor-scientist moms believe they are uniquely positioned to make the case. Not only do they have the expertise to answer medical questions and clear up misperceptions, but they can relate to the people they encounter on social media as fellow parents who also want what’s best for their families and communities. They film video Q&As and explain how the safety standards were met in the development of currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines. They interview one another to reach a wider audience through Instagram and YouTube. They warn each other about strategies that trolls may use to drag them into arguments.’

Read here (Time magazine, Mar 24, 2021)

The doomsday prophecy of Dr Geert Vanden Bossche

‘The COVID-19 pandemic has attracted a swarm of vocal contrarians like little else in the recent past. These public commentators, often bedazzled with advanced degrees, have painted themselves as brave mavericks escaping from the mainstream herd to denounce the cataclysmic consequences of public health measures. The latest example of this phenomenon comes in the form of Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche, who recently published an alarming manifesto. In it, Dr. Bossche makes a number of incorrect or exaggerated claims about the use of mass vaccination during a pandemic and urges international health authorities to stop the current crop of COVID-19 vaccines or else risk unleashing “a global catastrophe without equal.” This is scary stuff, but it’s all quite misguided.’

Read here (McGill Office for Science and Society, Mar 24, 2021)

Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine appears safe, triggers antibodies in trial in children: Researcher

‘Sinovac Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine appears to be safe and able to trigger immune responses among children and adolescents, according to preliminary results from early and mid-stage trials, the company said late on Monday (March 22). The preliminary data was from Phase I and II clinical trials involving over 500 people between the ages of three and 17 who received two shots of either medium or low dosage of vaccine, or a placebo. Most adverse reactions were mild, Zeng Gang, a researcher with the company, told an academic conference in Beijing.’

Read here (Straits Times, Mar 23, 2021)

Covid-19 recovery: Science isn’t enough to save us (Nature publication, Mar 23, 2020)

‘Policymakers sometimes talk about science as if it has superhero powers. When it comes to COVID-19, they often sound as though they hope vaccines will bring life back to how things were before. There will be no such luxury.

‘One key issue is who is being called on to aid recovery. Governments have sought expert advice from the beginning of the pandemic, but that expertise tended to come from people in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) — despite it being clear from the start that human behaviour, motivations and culture were key to an effective response. There are more than 80 people who have sat on the UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies — yet only a narrow range of social scientists, and a single person representing the humanities, are included.

‘This approach needs to change. Science gave us vaccines, but SHAPE (social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy) disciplines help us get to social realities, such as vaccine hesitancy. Humanity’s insight is more robust when STEM and SHAPE come together.’

Read here (Nature publication, Mar 23, 2020)

End vaccine apartheid before millions more die

‘At least 85 poor countries will not have significant access to coronavirus vaccines before 2023. Unfortunately, a year’s delay will cause an estimated 2.5 million avoidable deaths in low and lower-middle income countries. As the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General has put it, the world is at the brink of a catastrophic moral failure.’

This story is well argued and contains several relevant and informative links under the following subheadings:

• Vaccine apartheid
• Suppressing vaccine access
• Big Pharma’s price gouging
• Hypocrisy
• Biden must act
• Sharing knowledge crucial

Read here (IPS News, Mar 23, 2021)

World Bank support for Covid-19 vaccination fails to ensure equitable access

• World Bank rolls out $12 billion programme to support global Covid-19 vaccination
• New report finds that wider Bank pandemic programme does not ensure free access to health care
• World Bank fails to address key challenges to universal and equitable access to vaccines in Global South

Read here (Bretton Woods Project, Mar 23, 2021)

Covid-19: Dangerous dance with complacency – P Gunasegaram

‘Early signals of rising rates of Covid-19 infection should be taken seriously, and appropriate measures enforced to prevent a resurgence in the pandemic. Stronger moves may have to be imposed, such as quickly closing schools when there are cases and delaying giving the green light to interstate movement ahead of and beyond Hari Raya, if necessary. Complacency is perilous.

‘A close look at the figures indicates that we are at a dangerous inflection point, where a wrong premature move in favour of lifting restrictions may send the number of new infections skyrocketing again.’

Read here (The Vibes, Mar 23, 2021)

Cuban socialist internationalist medicine puts capitalist countries to shame: Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford

‘So few of its own citizens have [died from] Covid-19 – less than 300 — that Cuba must test its vaccines in other countries, said Dr Layla Brown-Vincent, professor of Africana Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and author of “The Pandemic of Racial Capitalism: Another World is Possible.” Cuba “is helping control this global pandemic in ways that none of the capitalist countries attempt to do,” said Brown-Vincent.’

Listen here (Defend Democracy Press, Mar 22, 2021)

Covid: The countries that nailed it, and what we can learn from them

‘I have reported on Covid for the past year - now my mission was to find out from global leaders and senior health officials across four continents what their priorities were in tackling the virus.

‘What has emerged strongly for me are four key areas which have been most effective in containing the spread of the virus and preventing deaths.

• Early and effective action to control borders and monitoring of arrivals
• Testing, tracking and tracing everyone suspected of being infected
• Welfare support for those in quarantine to contain the virus
• Effective leadership and consistent and timely public messaging

Read here (BBC, Mar 22, 2021)

Yuval Noah Harari: 'The world after Covid'

Yuval Noah Harari interviewed by Alec Russell, FT Weekend editor, in the session, 'The World after Covid', during the FTWeekend Digital Festival 2021

View here (FTWeekend Digital Festival 2021, Youtube, Mar 22, 2021)

How Taiwan triumphed over Covid as the UK faltered

‘Taiwan’s leaders, helped perhaps by having an epidemiologist as vice-president, perhaps by its experience of the outbreak of the Sars coronavirus in 2003, recognised the terrible threat posed by Covid-19, even as the earliest data trickled in. They decided the only way to protect their country, its people and economy, was to keep the virus out.

‘Britain, by contrast, made the catastrophic decision to treat the disease as akin to flu, aiming to limit its spread rather than stamp it out, said Jay Patel, a Covid-19 researcher at Edinburgh who studies comparative approaches to the pandemic worldwide. “Their playbook to begin with was different,” he said.’

Read here (Defend Democracy Press, Mar 21, 2021)

Why you can't compare Covid-19 vaccines

‘In the US, the first two available Covid-19 vaccines were the ones from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. Both vaccines have very high "efficacy rates," of around 95%. But the third vaccine introduced in the US, from Johnson & Johnson, has a considerably lower efficacy rate: just 66%.

‘Look at those numbers next to each other, and it's natural to conclude that one of them is considerably worse. Why settle for 66% when you can have 95%? But that isn't the right way to understand a vaccine's efficacy rate, or even to understand what a vaccine does. And public health experts say that if you really want to know which vaccine is the best one, efficacy isn't actually the most important number at all.’

View here (Vox, Youtube, Mar 20, 2021)

Vaccine makers say coronavirus could be stopped around the globe in months rather than years. Here's how

‘[Bangladhesh's] drug makers say they could produce hundreds of millions of doses in a quick timeframe, if only they could secure a vaccine blueprint... Incepta Pharmaceuticals lies on the outskirts of the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, in an industrial neighbourhood. Fitted out with the latest technology from Germany, the company already produces vaccines to fight a wide array of diseases such as hepatitis b, typhoid, the flu, tetanus, measles, meningococcal and rabies.

‘Mr [Abdul] Muktadir [chairman of Incepta Pharmaceuticals] said the company had plenty of capacity to produce more drugs and could manufacture between 600 to 800 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines annually. "If we get the ready-to-fill material or antigen, instead of waiting until 2023, we can make this vaccine available to our entire nation population within two to three months' time," he said.’

Read here (ABC News, Mar 20, 2021)

We need social science, not just medical science, to beat the pandemic

‘The polio pandemic of the 1950s is another often-ignored “teachable” moment. On the surface, it would seem that it was a scientific, medical and policy success story. But the reality is closer to what we are seeing with COVID.

‘In 1954, when polio was at its most virulent, the Eisenhower administration declared that every child should receive the polio vaccine being developed at that time. But there was no cohesive plan at the federal level to make that happen, so the mandate was not a success. In addition, lack of oversight regarding the quality of the vaccine manufacturing process led to some children becoming sick or dying. Limited resources to administer the vaccine on a national scale were another problem, and it was not until Eisenhower’s signing of the Polio Vaccination Assistance Act in 1955 that there were enough federal funds available for a national public inoculation program. Such massive confusion resulted in public distrust that took years to abate.

‘When the sociologist Alondra Nelson was named as the new deputy director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy [in 2021], she noted that the pandemic had “held up a mirror to our society, reflecting … the inequality we’ve allowed to calcify.” She also noted that “science is a social phenomenon.” This implies not just that science requires real insight into the society with which it interacts, but also that it is forged in relationship to social forces and meanings. Social science can assist us in understanding social reactions to scientific knowledge, as well as in ensuring that science becomes aware of its own social biases and interests.’

Read here (Scientific American, Mar 20, 2021)

Rare Covid reactions might hold key to variant-proof vaccines

 ‘Some people mount an immune response able to fend off a menagerie of coronavirus variants...

‘Some of the vaccines that have been administered to millions of people might already be triggering variant-resilient immune responses. In another March preprint, a long-running COVID-19 study in Seattle, Washington, reported that after receiving a single dose of an mRNA vaccine, participants who had previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2 produced heaps of antibodies that can neutralize B.1.351, as well as an earlier circulating variant8. Those people also produced much higher levels of antibodies than typically seen even in those who have received two vaccine doses.

‘Leonidas Stamatatos, an immunologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) in Seattle who co-led the study, suspects that a single vaccine dose boosted the levels of pre-existing antibodies that were capable of recognizing diverse variants. It’s not clear how to mimic this response in people who haven’t had COVID-19. One possibility is that a lag of several months between infection and vaccination was responsible, and that its effect could be replicated with another vaccine dose, given six months or a year after the first two, says Andy McGuire, an FHCRC immunologist who co-led the study.’

Read here (Nature, March 19, 2021)

AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is ‘haram’, but permissible due to urgent situation: Indonesia Islamic body

‘Indonesia’s most influential Islamic organisation said AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is “haram” or forbidden for Muslims, but its use can be temporarily permitted due to a lack of alternatives. The Indonesian Council of Ulema or MUI said it has conducted studies on the vaccine to see if it is “holy and halal” for Muslims to use.

‘The studies, said head of the council’s fatwa department Asorirun Niam Sholeh, showed that the AstraZeneca vaccine uses pork-derived trypsin – which is needed to break down proteins – in its production. Pork is considered unclean by Muslims.’  

Read here (Channel News Asia, Mar 19, 2021)

EU states to resume AstraZeneca vaccine rollout

‘The EU's leading states are to restart their roll-out of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine after Europe's medicines regulator concluded it was "safe and effective". The European Medicines Agency (EMA) reviewed the jab after 13 EU states suspended use of the vaccine over fears of a link to blood clots. It found the jab was "not associated" with a higher risk of clots. Germany, France, Italy and Spain said they would resume using the jab.’

Read here (BBC, Mar 19, 2021)

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)

Covid hollows out the middle class everywhere, pushing millions into poverty, new research finds

‘The COVID-19 pandemic has eroded living standards around the globe, shrinking the global middle class and swelling the number of people in poverty amid a historic collapse in economic activity.

‘Analysis from Pew Research Center found that the global economic recession brought on by the pandemic shrank the worldwide middle class by 54 million, and increased the number of people in poverty by 131 million.

‘The middle-class falloff was most evident in South Asia, East Asia, and the Pacific, where the expansion seen over previous years came to a virtual halt. But it could have been worse: “The erosion in the middle class might have been deeper if not for the fact that China—which is home to more than one-third of the global middle class—evaded an economic contraction, even though growth there was slower than anticipated,” the Pew study said.’

Read here (Fortune, Mar 18, 2021)

Five reasons why Covid herd immunity is probably impossible

As Covid-19 vaccination rates pick up around the world, people have reasonably begun to ask: how much longer will this pandemic last? It’s an issue surrounded with uncertainties. But the once-popular idea that enough people will eventually gain immunity to SARS-CoV-2 to block most transmission — a ‘herd-immunity threshold’ — is starting to look unlikely.

• It’s unclear whether vaccines prevent transmission
• Vaccine roll-out is uneven
• New variants change the herd-immunity equation
• Immunity might not last forever
• Vaccines might change human behaviour

Read here (Nature, March 18, 2021) 

Covid-19 vaccination: Can we achieve herd immunity? ― Amar-Singh HSS

‘To achieve herd immunity against Covid-19, a substantial proportion of a population would need to be vaccinated but we are currently uncertain as to what this percentage is. In some diseases like measles 90-95 per cent of a population need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity; in others like polio we require about 80 per cent.

‘It is very likely that for Covid-19 we will require at least 75-85 per cent of the population to be vaccinated. This can be supplemented by those who had prior infection with Covid-19.’

Read here (Malay Mail, Mar 18, 2021)

March 18, 2020 and beyond: One year with Covid-19 and life under lockdown in Malaysia

‘A year has passed since Malaysia first went into a partial lockdown after the Covid-19 pandemic hit. This saw the public forced into complying with numerous unprecedented measures introduced by the government to contain the virus’ spread. Here is a recap of some of the ups and downs that the nation has survived.’

Read here (Malay Mail, Mar 18, 2020)

Michael Yeadon: The ex-Pfizer scientist who became an anti-vax hero

‘Late last year, a semi-retired British scientist co-authored a petition to Europe’s medicines regulator. The petitioners made a bold demand: Halt COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. Even bolder was their argument for doing so: They speculated, without providing evidence, that the vaccines could cause infertility in women.

‘The document appeared on a German website on Dec.1. Scientists denounced the theory. Regulators weren’t swayed, either: Weeks later, the European Medicines Agency approved the European Union’s first COVID-19 shot, co-developed by Pfizer Inc. But damage was already done.

‘Social media quickly spread exaggerated claims that COVID-19 jabs cause female infertility. Within weeks, doctors and nurses in Britain began reporting that concerned women were asking them whether it was true, according to the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. In January, a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a non-profit organization, found that 13% of unvaccinated people in the United States had heard that “COVID-19 vaccines have been shown to cause infertility.”

‘What gave the debunked claim credibility was that one of the petition’s co-authors, Michael Yeadon, wasn’t just any scientist. The 60-year-old is a former vice president of Pfizer, where he spent 16 years as an allergy and respiratory researcher. He later co-founded a biotech firm that the Swiss drugmaker Novartis purchased for at least $325 million.’

Read here (Reuters, Mar 18, 2021)

The scene from Cuba: How it’s getting so much right on Covid-19

‘As the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately harms underprivileged people globally, Cuba’s “people over profit” approach has been saving many lives — both on the island and abroad. From the onset, Cuba’s approach has been holistic and integrated.

‘Its response is among the most respected in the world. Widespread confidence in the Cuban government’s science-based policies, public service media messaging and volunteerism are key reasons as to why Cuba has been able to control the viral reproduction rate until mass vaccination begins.

‘The cash-strapped Caribbean island risked opening to holiday visitors at the end of 2020 and is currently managing higher COVID-19 caseloads than ever before. Its health experts are combining international clinical trials of its vaccine candidates with mass production. Cuba is the only Latin American country with the capacity to manufacture a vaccine domestically other than Brazil, which is not doing so. Cuba aims to protect its populace, then give away or sell its vaccines abroad.’

Read here (The Conversation, Mar 17, 2021)

Lab leak: A scientific debate mired in politics — and unresolved

‘More than a year into the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, some scientists say the possibility of a lab leak never got a fair look...

‘As it stands now, pandemic preparedness faces two simultaneous fronts. On the one hand, the world has experienced numerous pandemic and epidemic outbreaks in the last 20 years, including SARS, chikungunya, H1N1, Middle East Respiratory virus, several Ebola outbreaks, three outbreaks of norovirus, Zika, and now SARS-CoV-2. Speaking of coronaviruses, says Ralph Baric, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, “it’s hard to imagine there aren’t variants” in bats with mortality rates approaching MERS’ 30 percent that also have “a transmissibility that is much more efficient. And that is terrifying.” Baric is emphatic that genetic research with viruses is essential to staying ahead of the threat.

‘Yet according to Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University, lab-release dangers are growing as well. The risk increases in proportion with the number of labs handling bioweapons and potential pandemic pathogens (more than 1,500 globally in 2010), he says, many of them, like the Wuhan lab, located in urban areas close to international airports. “The most dramatic expansion has occurred in China during the last four years — driven as an arms-race-style reaction to biodefense expansion in the U.S., Europe, and Japan,” Ebright wrote in an email to Undark. “China opened two new BSL-4 facilities, in Wuhan and in Harbin, in the last four years,” he added, “and has announced plans to establish a network of hundreds of new BSL-3 and BSL-4 labs.”

Read here (Undark, Mar 17, 2021)

Covid: From boom to bust - Why lockdown hasn't led to more babies

‘For those who thought that lockdown would leave couples with little else to do than procreate, there was a surprise - not a baby boom but a baby bust. Research shows that the US is facing the biggest slump in births in a century and in parts of Europe the decline is even steeper. For those who study population the baby bust was not a revelation. "Having seen how bad the pandemic was I'm not surprised," says Philip N Cohen, professor of sociology at the University of Maryland. "But it is still just shocking to see something like this happen in real time."

‘In June last year economists at the Brookings Institute in the United States estimated that US births would fall by 300,000 to half a million babies. At the same time a survey of fertility plans in Europe showed 50% of people in Germany and France who had planned to have a child in 2020 were going to postpone it. In Italy 37% said they had abandoned the idea altogether. A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report indicates an 8% drop in births in the month of December.’

Read here (BBC, Mar 17, 2021)

Covid-19: EU warns UK over vaccine exports

‘Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, has said that if Covid vaccine supplies in Europe do not improve, the EU "will reflect whether exports to countries who have higher vaccination rates than us are still proportionate". Post-Brexit disagreements between the EU and the UK have been heightened by the diplomatic row over the export of the vaccines.

‘The European Council president, Charles Michel, claimed last week that the UK had imposed an "outright ban" on the export of vaccines and their components - there is no ban though, and his claim was dismissed by the government as "completely false". But Mrs von der Leyen says the EU is still waiting for exports from the UK, and it wants reciprocity.’

Read here (BBC, Mar 17, 2021)

Malaysia PM Muhyiddin unveils RM20 billion economic stimulus package

‘Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced a new economic stimulus package worth RM20 billion (US$4.8 billion) on Wednesday (Mar 17), one year after Malaysia first imposed a lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. This is the sixth package unveiled since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.’

Read here (Channel News Asia, Mar 17, 2020)

Why the pandemic experts failed: We’re still thinking about pandemic data in the wrong ways

‘Not until early May, when the CDC published its own deeply inadequate data dashboard, did we realize the depth of its ignorance. And when the White House reproduced one of our charts, it confirmed our fears: The government was using our data. For months, the American government had no idea how many people were sick with COVID-19, how many were lying in hospitals, or how many had died. And the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic, started as a temporary volunteer effort, had become a de facto source of pandemic data for the United States.

‘After spending a year building one of the only U.S. pandemic-data sources, we have come to see the government’s initial failure here as the fault on which the entire catastrophe pivots. The government has made progress since May; it is finally able to track pandemic data. Yet some underlying failures remain unfixed. The same calamity could happen again.

‘Data might seem like an overly technical obsession, an oddly nerdy scapegoat on which to hang the deaths of half a million Americans. But data are how our leaders apprehend reality. In a sense, data are the federal government’s reality. As a gap opened between the data that leaders imagined should exist and the data that actually did exist, it swallowed the country’s pandemic planning and response.’

Read here (The Atlantic, Mar 16, 2021)

Traveling to China just got easier—if you take a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine (Wall Street Journal, Mar 16, 2021)

‘After a year of barring entry by most foreign citizens, China’s government plans to ease restrictions for those who have been inoculated against Covid-19. The hitch for now: Only vaccines made in China will qualify.

‘Chinese embassies in the U.S., Italy, India, the Philippines and other locations say they will provide “visa facilitation” to foreign applicants who can certify that they have received a Chinese shot. To enter China, most travelers also still need to prove they have tested negative for Covid-19, obtain an antibody test, and quarantine upon arrival, according to statements Tuesday.’

Read here (Wall Street Journal, Mar 16, 2021)

Analysis: How for-profit health care worsened the pandemic

‘The U.S. remains the only one of the 25 wealthiest countries to not provide universal health care, and the health care system’s focus on profits and not health has cost Americans their lives. Despite having less than 5% of the world’s population, the U.S. has had 25% of the world’s confirmed cases and 20% of the deaths. Public Citizen’s new report demonstrates how:

• Before the pandemic, approximately 87 million Americans were uninsured or underinsured. About one-third of COVID-19 deaths and 40% of infections were tied to a lack of insurance;
• About half of Americans receive their health care through their employer. With more than 22 million Americans losing their job during the pandemic, millions have lost their health insurance;
• Racial health disparities, including access to care, have led to disproportionate deaths in communities of color;
• We have the highest rate of unmet need of any comparably wealthy country, with one-third of Americans reporting that they or a family member has avoided going to the doctor when sick or injured in the past year due to cost;
• Americans are significantly more likely to die of chronic respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes or cancer than people in comparably wealthy countries with universal health care systems; and
• A lack of essential funding led to insufficient hospital capacity. The U.S. had only around half the hospital beds per capita of peer nations and far fewer than countries like Japan or Germany.’

Read here (Public Citizen, Mar 16, 2021)

BioNTech and Fosun Pharma form Covid-19 vaccine strategic alliance in China

• BioNTech and Fosun Pharma will jointly conduct clinical trials of BNT162 in China, leveraging BioNTech’s proprietary mRNA vaccine technology and Fosun Pharma’s clinical development and commercialization capabilities in China
• Fosun Pharma will commercialize the vaccine in China upon regulatory approval, with BioNTech retaining full rights to develop and commercialize the vaccine in the rest of the world
• Fosun Pharma will pay BioNTech up to USD 135M (EUR 120M) in upfront and potential future investment and milestone payments; the two companies will share future gross profits from the sale of the vaccine in China

Read here (BioNTech press statement, Mar 16, 2021)

Moderna begins study of Covid-19 vaccine in kids

‘Moderna Inc has begun dosing patients in a mid-to-late stage study of its COVID-19 vaccine, mRNA-1273, in children aged six months to less than 12 years, the company said on Tuesday (Mar 16). The study will assess the safety and effectiveness of two doses of mRNA-1273 given 28 days apart and intends to enrol about 6,750 children in the United States and Canada.’

Read here (Channel News Asia, Mar 16, 2021)

Molnupiravir: A new hope for prevention and treatment of Covid-19 and other dangerous viruses

‘The positive results of Molnupiravir represent an emerging hope for more Covid-19 therapies to come. Its oral administration indicates a potential drug that could come before hospitalization and perhaps even prevent severe symptoms. Were a pill-based treatment for Covid-19 available, many lives would be easily saved and many hospital beds could be opened for those who need them. 

‘In addition to its reduction of Covid-19 transmission, Molnupiravir is likely to be useful against influenza, ebola, and a large swath of other viruses as well. Its development appears to be a major advancement in virus control and should be active against Covid-19 variants and variants of other viruses. However, we caution Molnupiravir should be administered in conjunction with other therapies to avoid viruses rapidly developing resistance, which all these viruses are well-equipped to do. 

‘Though, as these results are preliminary, we eagerly await the full release of the phase two data and the drug’s eventual full trial outcomes. This could be a real winner.’

Read here (Forbes, Mar 16, 2021)

What’s the best Covid vaccine? Why it’s not so simple: Quick take on seven issues

‘A range of vaccines with different efficacy results now has given rise to worries that some people may refuse the shot on offer in hopes of getting a “better” one later. In reality, comparing efficacy numbers isn’t necessarily the best way to measure a vaccine’s value. And as suppliers struggle to meet global demand, experts say the best vaccine for you is probably whichever one you can get now.’

Bloomberg's Quick Take answers seven questions:

1. What does efficacy mean?
2. What efficacies are being reported?
3. Are the numbers reliable?
4. Why isn’t efficacy all that counts?
5. So numbers may be misleading?
6. What matters beyond the efficacy number?
7. What’s the bottom line?

Read here (Bloomberg, Mar 15, 2021)

Covid-19: Only 0.11% of 300,000 vaccine recipients so far are govt officials, elected reps, says Khairy

‘Only 0.11% of the 300,000 Covid-19 vaccine recipients in Malaysia so far are government officials and elected representatives, says Khairy Jamaluddin. The coordinating minister of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme said the 0.11% constituted 302 people, while the rest are mostly healthcare workers.

“Based on the breakdown of the 292,104 people who have been vaccinated as of March 13, they comprise 23.86% nurses, 22.23% doctors and 23.4% other healthcare workers such as medical assistants, X-ray specialists and ambulance drivers. Another 21.33% are frontline workers from the armed forces, police, civil defence force, Rela (people’s volunteer corps) and Customs officers, among others. Another 5.62% are dentists while 3.45% are pharmacists.”

Read here (The Star, Mar 15, 2021)

UK clinical trial confirms SaNOtize’s breakthrough treatment for Covid-19

• Patients with a self-administered nasal spray application found to have reduced SARS-CoV-2 log viral load by more than 95% in infected participants within 24 hours of treatment, and by more than 99% in 72 hours
• Trial concluded that treatment accelerated clearance of SARS-CoV-2 by a factor of 16-fold versus a placebo
• Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluated 79 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the majority heavily-infected with the UK variant
• No adverse events were recorded in the group
• Submission for Emergency Use in the UK and Canada for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 is planned immediately

Read here (Business Wire, Mar 15, 2021)

Mark Zuckerberg announces Facebook's plans to help get people vaccinated against Covid-19

‘Today we're launching a global campaign to help bring 50 million people a step closer to getting Covid-19 vaccines. 

‘We've already connected over 2 billion people to authoritative Covid-19 information. Now that many countries are moving towards vaccinations for all adults, we're working on tools to make it easier for everyone to get vaccinated as well. 

‘First, we're launching a tool that shows you when and where you can get vaccinated and gives you a link to make an appointment. This will be in the Covid Information Center, which we'll show people right in their News Feed. We've already seen people use Facebook to find vaccination appointments, so this should enable millions more people to do the same.

‘Second, we're bringing the Covid Information Center to Instagram, and we'll show it to people prominently there too. 

‘Third, we're working with health authorities and governments to expand their WhatsApp chatbots to help people register for vaccines. More than 3 billion messages related to Covid have already been sent by governments, non-profits and international organizations to citizens through official WhatsApp chatbots, so this update will help with the vaccination effort as well.’

Read here (Facebook, Mar 15, 2020)

Coronavirus vaccine: China can meet demand ‘at home and abroad’

‘China is giving priority to coronavirus inoculation campaigns at home but will still be able to honour promises of vaccines for other countries, according to a senior official in charge of producing the doses. Tian Yulong, chief engineer with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said domestic needs had taken precedence but with expanded production of four approved vaccines, he was confident that China would be able to meet the combined demand of domestic inoculation, foreign aid and exports.

“We have successfully met demand to give out more than 64 million doses at home. We have also had good feedback about our exports and foreign aid,” Tian said in Beijing on Monday.

Read here (South China Morning Post, Mar 15, 2021)

Khairy set to be first recipient of Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine this Thursday

‘Malaysia will start using the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine this Thursday, with the Coordinating Minister for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, Khairy Jamaluddin, becoming the first recipient of the Chinese-produced vaccine.

‘Announcing the matter in a press conference on the development of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme here today, Khairy said that he would receive the Sinovac vaccine at the Rembau Hospital, Negri Sembilan.’

Read here (Malay Mail, Mar 15, 2021)

Khairy: No charges for Covid-19 vaccination at private facilities

‘Individuals who get an appointment for Covid-19 vaccine injection at private hospitals or clinics involved in the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme will not have to pay any charges, said National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme Coordinating Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. 

“The charges are borne by the government,” he told a press conference on developments involving the progamme here today. 

‘Elaborating, Khairy, who is Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, said Covid-19 vaccination centres (PPV) are set based on the address registered by the individual through the MySejahtera application. 

“If the vaccination centre near the address given is a private hospital, then they will go to that private hospital. Everything is based on location because we want to facilitate this immunisation programme,” he said.

Read here (Malay Mail, Mar 15, 2021)

‘A can of worms’: Experts weigh in on the vaccine passport debate

‘From Israel to Iceland, several governments around the world are adopting so-called coronavirus vaccine passports as they bid to safely reopen borders, unfreeze economies from costly lockdowns and restore a semblance of normality to social life. 

‘Supporters of the vaguely-defined certificates argue they have a critical role to play in ending restrictions imposed to curtail the spread of the pandemic, at least in countries with widescale access to vaccines.

‘But sceptics say they present insurmountable scientific, legal, and ethical issues – at least for now – and should not be used either within individual countries or as a tool to unlock international travel. As the debate continues, Al Jazeera asked five United Kingdom-based experts for their opinions.’

Read here (Aljazeera, Mar 14, 2021)

After a year of MCO, recovery is in sight

‘On March 18, 2020, the first Movement Control Order (MCO) was imposed and there was much uncertainty among the public and business community over what would happen next. One year on, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has taken 1,177 lives and infected 314,989 people in the country (as at March 10). Despite the grim circumstances, many see light at the end of the tunnel as Malaysia rolls out its National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NCIP).

‘Speaking to experts, we identify three main areas that beckons attention — healthcare, economy and last but not least politics. Covid-19 is still raging on globally, and the challenge is to vaccinate the community as quickly as possible so as to not allow the more transmissible variants to get a foothold in the community. Meanwhile, vaccine effectiveness is seen as one key driver for economic recovery. When that has effectively been executed, the focus should be on repairing the damage that has been caused by the pandemic.

‘Many also believe that political stability is one challenge Malaysia will face. There is a need to exit from the emergency rule and for the country to be given a clear mandate from a stable government.

‘In the accompanying stories, we take a look at the winners and losers in the post-pandemic era. Will pandemic winners such as the glove and technology players continue to prosper? Will the tourism, retail, hospitality and manufacturing industries as well as small and medium enterprises move away from the dire conditions brought on by Covid-19 anytime soon?

‘Nonetheless, it has been a fruitful year for local equities since the pandemic outbreak, with healthcare and technology stocks being the top gainers. What can we expect for the rest of the year after stock prices for most sectors rebounded significantly from their lows last year? We speak to heads of research to find out what they think about the market direction.’ 

Get the full story in this week’s issue of The Edge Malaysia.

Read here (The Edge, Mar 13, 2021)

'Covid is taking over': Brazil plunges into deadliest chapter of its epidemic

‘[André] Machado saw several explanations for the torrent of cases he and other doctors are now seeing, including political mismanagement and the slackening of social distancing measures, principally among the young. In recent months such containment efforts have largely collapsed, with schools and businesses reopening and Bolsonaro’s tourism minister even urging citizens to start holidaying again.

‘But the doctor suspected a third, more troubling element was also at work: an enigmatic and apparently more contagious variant called P1 that is thought to have emerged in the Amazon region in late 2020 but is now circulating across Brazil, including in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, where Machado works.’

Read here (The Guardian, Mar 13, 2021)

WHO approves J&J's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency listing

‘The World Health Organization on Friday (Mar 12) approved the emergency listing of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, giving its seal of approval to expedite use especially in countries with weaker regulatory agencies. It is the third COVID-19 vaccine after the two-shot regimens of Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca to receive backing from the WHO, and the first requiring just a single injection.’

Read here (Channel News Asia, Mar 13, 2021)

Coronavirus economic relief: Are we getting value for the money thrown at the pandemic? - Andrew Sheng

‘The US fiscal deficit rose from 6.4 per cent of GDP in 2019 to 17.5 per cent in 2020. This is an increase of 11.1 percentage points in GDP fiscal support to defend a decline of 5.8 percentage points in GDP growth...

‘The Biden administration is betting that the largest US stimulus package since World War II will restore American competitiveness and heal the nation. But much of this is not funded by domestic savings, such as taxing the rich, but by borrowing on the US dollar. 

‘The rest of the world will not fund the dollar forever, certainly not at near-zero interest rates. And if interest rates rise, the fiscal costs would be substantially higher. So bet on the Fed doing more to keep rates low. The truth of US debt is that it is not debt, but the rest of the world’s equity. America is the world’s too-big-to-fail borrower. If Biden fails, we will lose.’

Read here (South China Morning Post, Mar 13, 2021)

US and allies (India, Australia and Japan) promise one billion jabs for South East Asia

‘The leaders of the US, Australia, India and Japan have agreed to deliver one billion doses of coronavirus vaccine to much of Asia by the end of 2022. The joint commitment was made following the first leaders' meeting of the so-called Quad - a group formed in 2007. The vaccines - expected to be the single-dose Johnson & Johnson product - are set to be manufactured in India.’

Read here (BBC, Mar 13, 2021)

Defying rules, anti-vaccine accounts thrive on social media

‘Efforts to crack down on vaccine misinformation now, though, are generating cries of censorship and prompting some posters to adopt sneaky tactics to avoid the axe. “It’s a hard situation because we have let this go for so long,” said Jeanine Guidry, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies social media and health information. “People using social media have really been able to share what they want for nearly a decade.”

‘The Associated Press identified more than a dozen Facebook pages and Instagram accounts, collectively boasting millions of followers, that have made false claims about the COVID-19 vaccine or discouraged people from taking it. Some of these pages have existed for years. Of more than 15 pages identified by NewsGuard, a technology company that analyzes the credibility of websites, roughly half remain active on Facebook, the AP found.’

Read here (APNews, Mar 12, 2021)

On the psychology of the conspiracy denier

‘We know, without question, that politicians lie and hide their connections and that corporations routinely display utter contempt for moral norms – that corruption surrounds us. We know that revolving doors between the corporate and political spheres, the lobbying system, corrupt regulators, the media and judiciary mean that wrongdoing is practically never brought to any semblance of genuine justice. We know that the press makes noise about these matters occasionally but never pursues them with true 

‘So exactly what is it that conspiracy deniers refuse to acknowledge with such fervour, righteousness and condescension? Why, against all the evidence, do they sneeringly and contemptuously defend the crumbling illusion that ‘the great and good’ are up there somewhere, have everything in hand, have only our best interests at heart, and are scrupulous, wise and sincere? That the press serves the people and truth rather than the crooks? That injustice after injustice result from mistakes and oversights, and never from that dread word: conspiracy?’

\Read here (OffGuardian, Mar 12, 2021)

Has the pandemic changed public attitudes about science?

Has the pandemic changed public attitudes about science?

‘These results [of surveys] show clear evidence that scientific and medical experts are enjoying a surge in public support on top of their already high levels of public trust. With some variation from country to country and among different groups within countries, the overall picture of pandemic-era public opinion is a success story for science’s status amidst this crisis.

‘The impacts from COVID-19 will be with us for years to come. However, questions remain as to how this re-affirmed trust might be built on. How can the increased levels of trust in science be maintained? What proactive steps can scientific institutions take to ensure that they continue earning this trust? How might support for science be used to focus further public engagement on other global challenges such as climate change? Framed in these terms, moves such as the UK government’s decision to invest in a new research agency (ARIA), may indicate more widespread changes in the direction of science policy.

‘At a structural level, the public faith in science’s trustworthiness and value can also be ‘future proofed’ through ongoing initiatives to make scientific research open and transparent, enhanced efforts to ensure a more diverse and inclusive scientific workforce and other efforts to improve science from within. Initiatives working in this direction include increased adoption of open science policies by research funders and global public policy that promotes more socially responsible research and innovation. Indeed, this moment of strong public support may be the perfect opportunity for long-needed structural reforms to make research more socially responsible and sustainable. In other words, it’s time to fix the roof while the sun is shining!’

Read here (LSE Blog, Mar 12, 2021)

Fake news law is government’s attempt to silence voice of every citizen — National Union of Journalists Peninsular Malaysia

‘The National Union of Journalists Peninsular Malaysia (NUJM) expresses its grave concern over the  government’s move to gazette an ordinance purportedly to combat “fake news” relating to Covid-19 or  the Emergency proclamation. NUJ Malaysia is not agreeing to this kind of step backwards action taken as it seems like the ruling  government is trying to silent the voice of every citizen regardless of their race, religion or various  background.

‘We called on the government’s plan of setting up the Media Council to be revived and accelerate just to tackle any issues regarding to media practitioners especially journalists who are in the frontline. The union is in the view that Media Council can also be in charge of looking into the alleged fake news crime committed instead of the government having to gazette new laws to tackles this. This in turn will  display transparency over the alleged crime committed.’

Read here (Malay Mail, Mar 12, 2021)

There is no one pandemic anniversary

‘Disaster anniversaries are powerful in part because they’re communal. The bomb went off in an instant. The tornado tore through town in an afternoon. The earthquake rocked the whole region at once. The pandemic, though, did not come to everyone on the same day, or even in the same month, and nor will its anniversary. In this way, as in so many others, this is not an ordinary disaster.

‘For each of the country’s more than 526,000 dead, nine people grieve. Hundreds of thousands have spent time in the ICU, an experience that can bring its own unique trauma. And then there are the smaller losses, the ones that did not threaten lives but still changed them. Today is the day I missed my mother’s funeral. The day I would have gone to prom. Met my grandson. Gotten married.’

Read here (The Atlantic, Mar 12, 2021)

Waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS agreement for the prevention, containment and treatment of Covid-19: A compilation of resources

‘On 2nd October India and South Africa made a joint submission (IP/C/W/669) to the World Trade Organization seeking a waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement (patents, trade secrets, copyright and industrial designs) in relation to the containment, prevention and treatment of COVID-19. This proposal is now co-sponsored by 57 developing countries including the Africa Group and the Least Developed Country Group and has received global support from most of the other developing countries and the international community. Technical Briefing by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as well as this video provides information on the importance of the waiver from TRIPS obligations.

‘Below is a list of interventions by the co-sponsors, statements and op-eds supporting the waiver proposal and news reports about the proposal...‘

Read here (Third World Network, ongoing work)

Strong support for TRIPS waiver amidst opposition by Big Pharma

‘More than 100 countries have upped the stakes for text-based negotiations on the TRIPS waiver proposal that seeks to temporarily suspend certain provisions of the WTO’s TRIPS Agreement in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, amidst attempts by Big Pharma to kill the waiver proposal, said people familiar with the development.

‘Ahead of the WTO’s TRIPS Council meeting on 10 March, the representatives of Big Pharma wrote to President Joseph Biden that the “US government has stood alongside other governments, including the European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Brazil, and Norway to oppose this waiver.”

“We urge your administration to maintain this longstanding support for innovation and American jobs by continuing to oppose the TRIPS waiver,” said the CEOs of Pfizer, AstraZeneca, PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America), Eli Lilly, Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Merck, Sanofi, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Abbvie, Bayer AG, Amgen Inc, and Biogen among others.

‘The CEOs of these companies, who constitute the powerful Big Pharma, decried the waiver proposal, saying that “in requesting the waiver, India and South Africa argued without evidence that the intellectual property is hindering the global response to the pandemic and that the waiver would help scale up research, development, manufacturing and supply of needed products.”

Read here (Third World Network, Mar 12, 2021)

Bar council slams ‘disturbing’ new fake news law

‘The latest clampdown on fake news comes as a shock for lawyers, with Bar Council president Salim Bashir describing the powers the government has given itself to clamp down on such news as “disturbing”. Speaking to FMT, he also said the “imprecise definition” of fake news that includes anything related to Covid-19 and the proclamation of emergency, was “worrisome.”

‘Gazetted today, the Emergency (Essential Powers) (No. 2) Ordinance 2021 penalises those who create, publish or distribute fake news with a fine of up to RM100,000, a jail term of up to three years or both. If they fail to apologise after being ordered to do so by the court, they can be fined an additional RM50,000, and those who pay to “create” such news can be fined up to RM500,000. All fines come with jail terms as well.’

Read here (Free Malaysia Today, Mar 12, 2021)

Home Ground: Ethical issues in Covid-19 vaccine roll-outs

‘A principled and pragmatic approach to securing and allocating Covid-19 vaccines works best... ‘Every vaccination programme carries with it ethical concerns over, among other things, safety, efficacy and how to distribute and allocate the vaccine when there are limited supplies...

‘A vaccine programme in the middle of a global pandemic is even trickier. On the one hand, speedy access to the vaccine can make the difference between life and death. On the other hand, the vaccines for Covid-19 are new and relatively untested: The world is learning of side effects as millions more get jabbed; and while we know the short-term efficacy, no one knows how long the protection lasts.

‘As Prof Lim said at the webinar, rolling out vaccination in the middle of a public health emergency is like chasing after a moving target. This requires constant monitoring and updating of rules and plans.’

This account also discusses, in the Singapore context: (1) The race to get hold of supplies (2) Who gets jabbed first and why (3) Why giving a choice of vaccine is not a good idea.

Read here (Straits Times, Mar 12, 2021)

Covid: Asthma drug 'speeds up recovery at home'

‘A cheap drug, commonly used to treat asthma, can help people at home recover more quickly from Covid-19, a UK trial has found.

‘Two puffs of budesonide twice a day could benefit many over-50s with early symptoms around the world, said the University of Oxford research team.’

Read here (BBC, Mar 12, 2021)

Nobel prize economists Joseph Stiglitz and Michael Spence call for vaccine equity and debt relief

‘Nobel Prize-winning economists Joseph Stiglitz and Michael Spence are spearheading calls for urgent action to help poorer countries recover from the economic ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, including measures to advance vaccine equity, debt relief, and bolstering fiscal resources for cash-strapped nations.

‘The proposals were outlined in a new interim report released on Thursday – the one-year anniversary of the global pandemic – by the Institute for New Economic Thinking’s Commission on Global Economic Transformation, co-chaired by Stiglitz and Spence.‘

Read here (Aljazeera, Mar 11, 2021)\

The pandemic and the economic crisis: A global agenda for urgent action

Read full text here (Institute for New Economic Thinking, March, 2021)

The catch to ‘free’ Covid-19 vaccination by private hospitals – P Gunasegaram

‘I read with great interest the story that private hospitals are prepared to help the government inoculate people against Covid-19 – and here’s the curious part – by disseminating the vaccine without charge. Yes, you read that right. But if the government is not careful, it may end up giving private hospitals windfall gains of over half a billion ringgit, as we shall show.

‘It was reported that this will be for vaccines procured by the government, with private hospitals appointed as implementers of the free jabs...’

Read here (The Vibes, March 11, 2021)

How the US pandemic response went wrong — and what went right — during a year of Covid

‘Among the biggest shocks was that the U.S. fared worse than most other countries, with more than 29 million cases and nearly 530,000 deaths as of this writing. “We absolutely can’t say that we had the most robust response to the pandemic, up till this point, because we have had a higher death rate per capita than so many other places,” says Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

‘As the country raced to react to this new and terrifying scourge, mistakes were made that together cost hundreds of thousands of lives. Yet the tireless efforts of health care workers, along with an unprecedented vaccine push, have saved countless others. Scientific American interviewed scientists and public health experts about the biggest mistakes in the U.S.’s response, some of the key successes and the lingering questions that still need to be answered.’

Read here (Scientific American, Mar 11, 2021)

Pandemic: One year - A round-up by Associated Press

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The Associated Press explores the ensuing year of loss, perseverance and hope:

• Faith leaders' year of pandemic: grief, solace, resilience
• As pandemic enters 2nd year, voices of resilience emerge
• AP-NORC poll: People of color bear COVID-19′s economic brunt
• ‘It’s exhausting.’ A year of distance learning wears thin
• As pandemic enters 2nd year, voices of resilience emerge
• AP-NORC poll: People of color bear COVID-19′s economic brunt
• Only on AP: Italian doctor a chronic COVID patient
• One year on: stars’ COVID-19 experiences
• March 11, 2020: The night sports, as we knew them, ended
• AP-NORC poll: 1 in 5 in US lost someone close in pandemic
• A year on, WHO still struggling to manage pandemic response
• Why the pandemic left long-term scars on global job market
• After pandemic year, weary world looks back — and forward
• A homebound year has meant rethinking our rooms, belongings
• And more...

Read here (Associated Press, Mar 11, 2021)

A year on, WHO still struggling to manage pandemic response

‘When the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic one year ago Thursday, it did so only after weeks of resisting the term and maintaining that the highly infectious virus could still be stopped. A year later, the U.N. agency is still struggling to keep on top of the evolving science of COVID-19, to persuade countries to abandon their nationalistic tendencies and help get vaccines where they’re needed most.

‘The agency made some costly missteps along the way: It advised people against wearing masks for months and asserted that COVID-19 wasn’t widely spread in the air. It also declined to publicly call out countries — particularly China — for mistakes that senior WHO officials grumbled about privately. That created some tricky politics that challenged WHO’s credibility and wedged it between two world powers, setting off vociferous Trump administration criticism that the agency is only now emerging from.’

Read here (APNews, Mar 11, 2021)

Canadian-pharma solution to aid worldwide Covid vaccine access

‘Despite the optimism [over vaccines], there remains a missing space for people in low-income nations who desperately need these vaccines and who may wait too long. As the World Health Organization (WHO) noted in a recent media conference, the global vaccine stocks remain critically short of supply at this time.

‘Biolyse Pharma an Ontario based manufacturer of sterile injectable medicine hopes to be part of a solution. Biolyse has the potential of producing up to twenty million doses per year. In order to do so, the company will need access to the drug master file of an already approved vaccine which is generally patent protected. The Canadian Access to Medicines Regime (CAMR) relating to emergency-patent transfer may permit the company to achieve its objective.  

‘CAMR is the Canadian enabling legislation that reflects the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), a protocol between all the member nations of the World Trade Organisation. Under CAMR, there is an emergency provision for the federal government to waive patent rights, allowing other generic-producing companies to start expedited production of critical preventative or curative drugs. Canada therefore has a mechanism in place to allow drug companies to a compulsory license from a patent holder.’

Read here (Newswire, Mar 11, 2021)

Khairy welcomes private sector procuring approved Covid-19 vaccines

“With regards to the purchase of vaccines by the private sector, as I have mentioned yesterday, most of the vaccine manufacturers only carry out negotiations with governments,” Khairy responded to Najib in a comment on his Facebook post...

“But if there are private parties who are able to carry out negotiations with vaccine manufacturers, especially those that have received approval from the NPRA (National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency) (Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Sinovac), please do so. I really welcome it,” added the science, technology and innovation minister. 

‘Previously, Malaysian-based pharmaceutical company Pharmaniaga Bhd announced that it planned to sell some of its Sinovac vaccine doses to the private sector. Pharmaniaga is undertaking the fill-and-finish processing of Sinovac’s vaccine. Solution Biologics, the distributor of Chinese CanSino’s vaccine, has also expressed plans to supply private health care providers with the vaccine, on top of selling 3.5 million doses to the Malaysian government.’ 

Read here (Code Blue, Mar 10, 2021)

Coronavirus and the money behind vaccines

The FT explains how the vaccine market works – including the cost of a vaccine and the vaccine development process – and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This short documentary features global experts including Bill Gates, the CEOs of Moderna and Gavi, and the lead scientist behind the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. 

View here (Financial Times, Youtube, Mar 10, 2021)

WTO DG meets Big Pharma and opts for voluntary licenses

‘The World Trade Organization Director-General Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said on 9 March that she fully supports the TRIPS waiver, insisting that she has conveyed to Big Pharma that they need to understand the “practicalities and sentiments” behind the demand for the waiver, said people familiar with the development.

‘Yet, she maintained that the TRIPS waiver may not be able to address the issue of ramping up production of vaccines to combat COVID-19 due to difficult manufacturing conditions that need to be complied with for producing vaccines, said people familiar with her remarks.

‘Her continued ambivalent positions seem to have undermined the move towards text-based negotiations on the TRIPS waiver, said people familiar with the development.’

Read here (Third World Network, Mar 10, 2021)

Malaysia vaccinates one third of frontliners within fortnight

‘A third of 500,000 frontliners have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, some three weeks before the targeted vaccination completion by March 31. As of March 8, a total of 166,363 frontliners have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, achieving 33.3 per cent of the national Covid-19 immunisation programme’s Phase One target in 13 days after the vaccines were rolled out from February 24.

‘If the current pace continues, the government will need another 26 days to administer at least the first dose to all 500,000 frontline workers, just slightly missing the March 31 target by three days.’ 

Read here (Code Blue, Mar 9, 2021)

Prioritise pandemic relief, recovery: No time for debt buybacks

‘Developing country governments are being wrongly advised to use their modest fiscal resources to pay down accumulated debt instead of strengthening pandemic relief and recovery. Thus, debt phobia risks deepening and extending COVID-19 recessions by prioritising buybacks...

‘With ‘collective action’ complications affecting negotiations, and the greater number and variety of heavily indebted countries and creditors, equitable debt buybacks are impossible to negotiate. Worse, prioritising buybacks means rejecting former debt hawk Reinhart’s current pragmatic advice to “First fight the war, then figure out how to pay for it”.

‘The urgent priority is for fiscal resources to strengthen relief, recovery and reform measures. Prioritising debt buybacks, instead of urgently augmenting fiscal resources, may thus contribute to another “lost decade” or worse.’

Read here (IPS News, March 9, 2021)

Coronavirus: How can travel be more sustainable post-pandemic?

"The coronavirus pandemic has been a global shock moment that has led to a rethink in the tourism industry, which is so accustomed to success," said Martin Balas of the Center for Sustainable Tourism (ZENAT) at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development.

‘Issues such as climate protection and overtourism, which were already major challenges for tourism before COVID, have now come into even sharper focus, Balas told DW. The German Travel Association (DRV) also sees the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity for more sustainability in the industry.

"Sustainable travel is a trend that has been around for years, and the travel industry has already responded to it and will continue to do so in the future," said Ellen Madeker of DRV. Several large travel companies are preparing awareness campaigns designed to increase travelers' awareness of the impacts of travel.’

Read here (DW, Mar 9, 2021)

The new normal (Phase 2)

‘So, we’re almost a year into the “New Normal” (a/k/a “pathologized totalitarianism”) and things are still looking … well, pretty totalitarian. Most of Western Europe is still in “lockdown,” or “under curfew,” or in some other state of “health emergency.” Police are fining and arresting people for “being outdoors without a valid reason.”  Protest is still banned. Dissent is still censored.

‘The official propaganda is relentless. Governments are ruling by edict, subjecting people to an ever-changing series of increasingly absurd restrictions of the most fundamental aspects of everyday life.

‘And now, the campaign to “vaccinate” the entirety of humanity against a virus that causes mild to moderate flu-like symptoms or, more commonly, no symptoms at all, in over 95% of those infected, and that over 99% of the infected survive (and that has no real effect on age-adjusted death rates, and the mortality profile of which is more or less identical to the normal mortality profile) is being waged with literally religious fervor.

“Vaccine passports” (which are definitely creepy, but which bear no resemblance to Aryan Ancestry Certificates, or any other fascistic apartheid-type documents, so don’t even think about making such a comparison!) are in the pipeline in a number of countries. They have already been rolled out in Israel.’

Read here (OffGuardian, Mar 9, 2020)

Can vaccinated people transmit COVID-19? The answer will be key to ending the pandemic

‘There’s been positive news about how effective the vaccines might be in preventing transmission—but as several experts note, some studies that have been made public so far are inconclusive. Until we have a better answer on transmission, social distancing, hand hygiene, testing, and mask wearing will remain important in the fight to limit and eventually end the pandemic.

‘A recent, unpublished Israeli study showed a nearly 90 percent reduction in infections among the vaccinated population. Wired magazine writer Megan Molteni noted that the media framing of the study may have been overly optimistic. While the headlines about this unpublished study were wildly enthusiastic, the reality is more nuanced.  “Israel finds BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine reduced virus transmission,” read one headline. But Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, told Wired he was skeptical about drawing any conclusions about the extent to which the Pfizer vaccine cut transmission rates. He told the magazine that to accurately study asymptomatic transmission, both vaccinated and unvaccinated people should be regularly tested. “The testing rates were such a hodgepodge, I don’t know you can make any conclusions about how much the vaccine cut transmission in Israel, let alone assigning a number as concrete as 89.4 percent,” he told Molteni.’

Read here (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March 9, 2021)

Sg Buloh Hospital: Lessons from frontline of country's main Covid-19 centre

‘Sungai Buloh Hospital (HSB) had been at the forefront of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic since the day the virus was detected on our shores. Serving as the main dedicated Covid-19 centre, it has treated nearly 50,000 positive patients to date.

‘While the hospital had been successful in helping the country battle the outbreak, little is known about what has been happening behind the scenes, especially the struggles faced by frontliners who had dedicated their lives for the sake of their patients.

‘Malaysiakini spoke to HSB director Dr Kuldip Kaur (above) in an exclusive interview recently, during which she revealed some of the biggest challenges they faced.’

Read here (Malaysiakini, Mar 9, 2021)

Most Covid-19 hospitalisations due to four conditions

‘Based on this data, the model calculated the percentage of COVID-19 hospitalizations that could have been prevented without these four underlying conditions. Results were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association on February 25, 2021. The researchers estimated that more than 900,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations occurred through November 2020. Based on their model, 30% of these hospitalizations were attributable to obesity, 26% to hypertension, 21% to diabetes, and 12% to heart failure. These people would still have been infected with COVID-19, but likely would not have been sick enough to need hospitalization.

‘More than one of these conditions are often present in the same person. The model also estimated hospitalizations due to different combinations. The numbers weren’t simply additive. In total, 64% of the hospitalizations might have been prevented if not for the four conditions. The model suggested that COVID-19 hospitalizations due to these conditions varied by age. Older adults with diabetes, heart failure, or hypertension were more likely to be hospitalized than younger people with the same condition. However, obesity affected COVID-19 hospitalization risk similarly across age groups.’

Read here (NIH, Mar 9, 2021)

The differences between the vaccines matter

‘It’s certainly true that all three of the FDA-authorized vaccines are very good—amazing, even—at protecting people’s health. No one should refrain from seeking vaccination on the theory that any might be second-rate. But it’s also true that the COVID-19 vaccines aren’t all the same: Some are more effective than others at preventing illness, for example; some cause fewer adverse reactions; some are more convenient; some were made using more familiar methods and technologies. As for the claim that the vaccines have proved perfectly and equally effective at preventing hospitalization and death? It’s just not right.

‘These differences among the options could matter quite a bit, in different ways to different people, and they should not be minimized or covered over. Especially not now: Vaccine supplies in the U.S. will soon surpass demand, even as more contagious viral variants spread throughout the country. In the meantime, governors are revoking their rules on face masks, or taking other steps to loosen their restrictions. It’s tempting to believe that a simple, decisive message—even one that verges on hype—is what’s most needed at this crucial moment. But if the message could be wrong, that has consequences.’

Read here (The Atlantic, Mar 8, 2021)

Unlocking the mysteries of Long Covid

‘A growing number of clinicians are on an urgent quest to find treatments for a frighteningly pervasive problem. They’ve had surprising early success...

‘The unlucky remainder—more than 90 percent of the patients the center has seen—was a puzzling group “where we couldn’t see what was wrong,” Chen said. These tended to be the patients who had originally had mild to moderate symptoms. They were overwhelmingly women, even though men are typically hit harder by acute COVID‑19. (Acute COVID‑19 refers to the distinct period of infection during which the immune system fights off the virus; the acute phase can range from mild to severe.) And they tended to be young, between the ages of 20 and 50—not an age group that, doctors had thought, suffered the worst effects of the disease. Most of the patients were white and relatively well-off, raising concern among clinicians that many people of color with ongoing symptoms were not getting the care they needed.

‘These patients’ tests usually showed nothing obviously the matter with them. “Everything was coming back negative,” says Dayna McCarthy, a rehabilitation-medicine physician and a lead clinician at the center. “So of course Western medicine wants to say, ‘You’re fine.’ ”

‘But the patients were self-evidently not fine. An international survey by Patient-Led Research for COVID‑19, one of various groups drawing attention to persisting problems, asked nearly 3,800 patients with ongoing illness to describe their symptoms. A significant number—85.9 percent—reported having relapses in the months after their initial infection, usually triggered by mental or physical exertion. (Not all patients in this group had confirmed cases of COVID‑19, given that tests were hard to come by last March and April.) Many patients were experiencing severe fatigue and brain fog. Other patients suffered from chest tightness and tachycardia—a condition in which the heart beats more than 100 times a minute—when they stood up or walked. Others had diarrhea and lost their appetite; some had terrible bone pain. Nearly a quarter said they were still unable to work; many had gone on disability or taken medical leave. Patient groups of COVID‑19 “long-haulers” were springing up on Facebook and elsewhere online, where people shared data and compared notes about what they began to call “long COVID.”’

Read here (The Atlantic, Mar 8, 2021)

Late-stage pandemic is messing with your brain

‘This is the fog of late pandemic, and it is brutal. In the spring, we joked about the Before Times, but they were still within reach, easily accessible in our shorter-term memories. In the summer and fall, with restrictions loosening and temperatures rising, we were able to replicate some of what life used to be like, at least in an adulterated form: outdoor drinks, a day at the beach. But now, in the cold, dark, featureless middle of our pandemic winter, we can neither remember what life was like before nor imagine what it’ll be like after.

‘To some degree, this is a natural adaptation. The sunniest optimist would point out that all this forgetting is evidence of the resilience of our species. Humans forget a great deal of what happens to us, and we tend to do it pretty quickly—after the first 24 hours or so. “Our brains are very good at learning different things and forgetting the things that are not a priority,” Tina Franklin, a neuroscientist at Georgia Tech, told me. As the pandemic has taught us new habits and made old ones obsolete, our brains have essentially put actions like taking the bus and going to restaurants in deep storage, and placed social distancing and coughing into our elbows near the front of the closet. When our habits change back, presumably so will our recall.’

Read here (The Atlantic, Mar 8, 2021)

US CDC issues ‘Interim public health recommendations for fully vaccinated people’

Fully vaccinated people can:

• Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if asymptomatic

For now, fully vaccinated people should continue to:

• Take precautions in public like wearing a well-fitted mask and physical distancing
• Wear masks, practice physical distancing, and adhere to other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease
• Wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households
• Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings
• Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
• Follow guidance issued by individual employers
• Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations

Read here (US CDC, Mar 8, 2021) 

What’s ahead in the second year of Covid-19?

‘When COVID-19 began its insidious march across the globe more than a year ago, it disrupted every industry and forced fast innovation as business leaders worked to adjust to a new world order. Last year, in Wharton’s Fast Forward video series, several of the School’s faculty offered their insight into what the second half of 2020 would look like during the pandemic. That insight is needed even more this year as the ground keeps shifting, vaccines are rolled out, and new coronavirus mutations emerge.

‘Much has changed since the start of the pandemic, from consumer behavior to health care delivery to working from home. What changes are lasting? And what lessons have we learned? We’ve asked some of our faculty to analyze what’s in store for the rest of 2021. Their responses appear below:

• Will working from home become permanent for nonessential employees?
• What’s the outlook for the stock market and the economy this year?
• How will the pandemic continue to change the delivery of health care in the U.S.?
• What crisis management lessons will business leaders keep going forward?
• What changes in retail and shopping will become permanent?
• What is the future of the gig economy in the U.S.?

Read here (Wharton@Knowledge, Mar 8, 2021) 

In 2018, diplomats warned of risky Coronavirus experiments in a Wuhan lab. No one listened

‘Knowing the significance of the Wuhan virologists’ discovery, and knowing that the WIV’s top-level biosafety laboratory (BSL-4) was relatively new, the U.S. Embassy health and science officials in Beijing decided to go to Wuhan and check it out. In total, the embassy sent three teams of experts in late 2017 and early 2018 to meet with the WIV scientists, among them Shi Zhengli, often referred to as the “bat woman” because of her extensive experience studying coronaviruses found in bats.

‘When they sat down with the scientists at the WIV, the American diplomats were shocked by what they heard. The Chinese researchers told them they didn’t have enough properly trained technicians to safely operate their BSL-4 lab. The Wuhan scientists were asking for more support to get the lab up to top standards...

‘Taken together, those two points—a particularly dangerous groups of viruses being studied in a lab with real safety problems—were intended as a warning about a potential public-health crisis, one of the cable writers told me. They kept the cables unclassified because they wanted more people back home to be able to read and share them, according to the cable writer. But there was no response from State Department headquarters and they were never made public. And as U.S.-China tensions rose over the course of 2018, American diplomats lost access to labs such as the one at the WIV.’

Read here (Politico, March 8, 2021)

Covid-19's impact could mean millions more child marriages: UNICEF

‘The outsized impact COVID-19 has had on women in some countries could result in an additional 10 million child marriages in this decade, according to a new analysis released on Monday (Mar 8) by UNICEF. "School closures, economic stress, service disruptions, pregnancy and parental deaths due to the pandemic are putting the most vulnerable girls at increased risk of child marriage," said a study titled COVID-19: A Threat to Progress Against Child Marriage.’

Read here (Straits Times, Mar 7, 2021)

China to issue ‘health certificates’ for travel; open to vaccinate athletes for Games: Foreign Minister

‘China said on Sunday (March 7) that it would be issuing "health certificates" - an apparent first step to a global health passport - to allow for international travel amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The country is also open to working with the International Olympic Committee to immunise athletes taking part in the sporting event.

‘It would also be setting up regional vaccination sites to inoculate its citizens overseas, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at his annual press conference.’

Read here (Straits Times, Mar 7, 2021)

The Nightingale alternative: Cast out fear in favour of love

‘According to Miss Nightingale: “True nursing ignores infection, except to prevent it. Cleanliness and fresh air from open windows, with unremitting attention to the patient, are the only defence a true nurse either asks or needs. Wise and humane management of the patient is the best safeguard against infection.”

‘Tell that to those who decided that old people already suffering from life-threatening complaints should be shut away for months on end, deprived of free movement in the open air and of the contact they crave with those they love!

‘And what would a woman who remarked, “How very little can be done under the spirit of fear!” have thought of the deliberate incitement of terror which has been the hallmark of public policy in the UK for the past eleven months?

‘What would her opinion have been of a government that splashes out apparently unlimited sums of public money on fear-inducing propaganda, with the aim of increasing “the perceived level of personal threat…using hard-hitting emotional messaging”?

‘A Nightingale approach to Covid, and to all infections, would allow us to cast out fear in favour of love, resolving the present conflict between concern for public health and the moral imperatives which should always take precedence over panicked speculation.

‘It would, however, be exceedingly inconvenient for those currently seizing the chance to impose their anti-human agendas on humanity, under cover of a pandemic.’

Read here (OffGuardian, Mar 7, 2021) 

India’s Covid vaccine rollout ‘rescued the world’: Top US scientist

‘Dr Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston during a recent webinar said that the two mRNA vaccines may not impact the world's low- and middle-income countries, but India's vaccines, made in collaboration with universities across the world such as BCM and the Oxford University, have "rescued the world" and its contributions must not be underestimated.

‘During the webinar, "Covid-19: Vaccination and Potential Return to Normalcy - If and When", Dr Hotez, an internationally-recognised physician-scientist in neglected tropical diseases and vaccine development, said that the Covid-19 vaccine rollout is "India's gift'' to the world in combating the virus.

‘India's drugs regulator gave emergency use authorisation to Covishield, produced by Pune-based Serum Institute of India after securing licence from British pharma company AstraZeneca, and Covaxin, indigenously developed jointly by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech and Indian Council of Medical Research scientists.’

Read here (India Today, Mar 7, 2021)

Oral Covid-19 treatment yields promising trial data: Drugmakers

‘German pharmaceutical giant Merck and a US partner reported promising results on Saturday (Mar 6) in trials of a drug administered orally to fight COVID-19, saying it helps reduce patients' viral load...

‘In January, Merck halted work on two COVID-19 vaccine candidates but has pressed on with research into two products to treat the disease, including a pill-based one called molnupiravir, which it has developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.

‘This drug caused a significant drop in patients' viral load after five days of treatment with it, Merck said at a meeting with infectious disease experts. This Phase 2A test - drug trials have three stages before a product can be approved - was carried out among 202 non-hospitalised people with symptoms of COVID-19.’

Read here (Channel News Asia, Mar 7, 2021)