Lancet Digital Health
Mar 2020 Volume 2 Number 3 e102-e148
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landig/issue/current

Editorial
Child and adolescent health in the digital age
The Lancet Digital Health

Nature
Volume 579 Issue 7799, 19 March 2020
http://www.nature.com/nature/current_issue.html

Editorial | 17 March 2020
Coronavirus: three things all governments and their science advisers must do now
Follow World Health Organization advice, end secrecy in decision-making and cooperate globally.

Nature
Volume 579 Issue 7799, 19 March 2020
http://www.nature.com/nature/current_issue.html

World View | 16 March 2020
Don’t rush to deploy COVID-19 vaccines and drugs without sufficient safety guarantees
We must urgently develop measures to tackle the new coronavirus — but safety always comes first, says Shibo Jiang.
Shibo Jiang

Nature
Volume 579 Issue 7799, 19 March 2020
http://www.nature.com/nature/current_issue.html

World View | 16 March 2020
Don’t rush to deploy COVID-19 vaccines and drugs without sufficient safety guarantees
We must urgently develop measures to tackle the new coronavirus — but safety always comes first, says Shibo Jiang.
Shibo Jiang

Nature Medicine
Volume 26 Issue 3, March 2020
https://www.nature.com/nm/volumes/26/issues/3

Editorial | 11 March 2020
Patient trust must come at the top of researchers’ priority list
Secondary use of patient health data can be a boon for medical research and development, but only if researchers can cultivate patient trust in the system.

Nature Medicine
Volume 26 Issue 3, March 2020
https://www.nature.com/nm/volumes/26/issues/3

Comment | 28 January 2020
In emergencies, health research must go beyond public engagement toward a true partnership with those affected
An Ebola virus outbreak taking place in the complex political and social context of The Democratic Republic of the Congo has forced the research community to reflect on their approach to community engagement. Katharine Wright and Michael Parker, on behalf of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Working Group on research in global health emergencies, say that those affected need to influence research choices from the very beginning and that the value of their knowledge must be recognized.
Katharine Wright, Michael Parker[…] & Paulina Tindana

New England Journal of Medicine
March 19, 2020 Vol. 382 No. 12
http://www.nejm.org/toc/nejm/medical-journal

Perspective
The Dishonesty of Informed Consent Rituals
Matt Bivens, M.D.
Out of respect for patient autonomy, we ritually inform patients of self-evident risks, even as we mock the very idea of informed consent by routinely prescribing combined medications that we must know will cost 10 times as much as the separate components.

PLoS Medicine
http://www.plosmedicine.org/
(Accessed 21 Mar 2020)

Research Article
Safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of influenza vaccination with a high-density microarray patch: Results from a randomized, controlled phase I clinical trial
Angus H. Forster, Katey Witham, Alexandra C. I. Depelsenaire, Margaret Veitch, James W. Wells, Adam Wheatley, Melinda Pryor, Jason D. Lickliter, Barbara Francis, Steve Rockman, Jesse Bodle, Peter Treasure, Julian Hickling, Germain J. P. Fernando
Research Article | published 17 Mar 2020 PLOS Medicine
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003024

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
http://www.plosntds.org/
(Accessed 21 Mar 2020)

Immunogenicity of a killed bivalent whole cell oral cholera vaccine in forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
Fahima Chowdhury, Taufiqur Rahman Bhuiyan, Afroza Akter, Md Saruar Bhuiyan, Ashraful Islam Khan, Motaher Hossain, Imam Tauheed, Tasnuva Ahmed, Shaumik Islam, Tanzeem Ahmed Rafique, Shah Alam Siddique, Nabila Binta Harun, Khaleda Islam, John D. Clemens, Firdausi Qadri
Research Article | published 16 Mar 2020 PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0007989
Abstract
After the large influx of Rohingya nationals (termed Forcibly Displaced Myanmar National; FDMN) from Rakhine State of Myanmar to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, it was apparent that outbreaks of cholera was very likely in this setting where people were living under adverse water and sanitation conditions. Large campaigns of oral cholera vaccine (OCV) were carried out as a preemptive measure to control cholera epidemics. The aim of the study was to evaluate the immune responses of healthy adults and children after administration of two doses of OCV at 14 days interval in FDMN population and compare with the response observed in Bangladeshi’s vaccinated earlier. A cross-sectional immunogenicity study was conducted among FDMNs of three age cohort; in adults (18+years; n = 83), in older children (6–17 years; n = 63) and in younger children (1–5 years; n = 80). Capillary blood was collected at three time points to measure vibriocidal antibodies using either plasma or dried blood spot (DBS) specimens. There was a significant increase of responder frequency of vibriocidal antibody titer at day 14 in all groups for Vibrio cholerae O1 (Ogawa/Inaba: adults-64%/64%, older children-70%/89% and younger children-51%/75%). There was no overall difference of vibriocidal antibody titer between FDMN and Bangladeshi population at baseline (p = 0.07–0.08) and at day 14, day 28 in all age groups for both serotypes. The seroconversion rate and geometric mean titer (GMT) of either serotype were comparable using both plasma and DBS specimens. These results showed that OCV is capable of inducing robust immune responses in adults and children among the FDMN population which is comparable to that seen in Bangladeshi participants in different age groups or that reported from other cholera endemic countries. Our results also suggest that the displaced population were exposed to V. cholerae prior to seeking shelter in Bangladesh.

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 21 Mar 2020]

Knowledge gaps and acquisition about HPV and its vaccine among Brazilian medical students
Annielson de Souza Costa, Jéssica Menezes Gomes, Ana Cláudia Camargo Gonçalves Germani, Matheus Reis da Silva, Edige Felipe de Sousa Santos, José Maria Soares Júnior, Edmund Chada Baracat, Isabel Cristina Esposito Sorpreso
Research Article | published 19 Mar 2020 PLOS ONE
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230058

Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública/Pan American Journal of Public Health (RPSP/PAJPH)
https://www.paho.org/journal/en

Latest articles
20 Mar 2020
Clinical trials of drug repositioning for COVID-19 treatment
Brief communication | English |
Rosa and Santos
The World Health Organization (WHO) was informed in December 2019 about a coronavirus pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province (China). Subsequently, on March 12, 2020, 125,048 cases and 4,614 deaths were reported. Coronavirus is an enveloped RNA virus, from the genus Betacoronavirus, that is distributed in birds, humans, and other mammals. WHO has named the novel coronavirus disease as COVID-19. More than 80 clinical trials have been launched to test coronavirus treatment, including some drug repurposing or repositioning for COVID-19. Hence, we performed a search in March 2020 of the clinicaltrials.gov database. The eligibility criteria for the retrieved studies were: contain a clinicaltrials.gov base identifier number; describe the number of participants and the period for the study; describe the participants’ clinical conditions; and utilize interventions with medicines already studied or approved for any other disease in patients infected with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (2019-nCoV). It is essential to emphasize that this article only captured trials listed in the clinicaltrials.gov database. We identified 24 clinical trials, involving more than 20 medicines, such as human immunoglobulin, interferons, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, arbidol, remdesivir, favipiravir, lopinavir, ritonavir, oseltamivir, methylprednisolone, bevacizumab, and traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). Although drug repurposing has some limitations, repositioning clinical trials may represent an attractive strategy because they facilitate the discovery of new classes of medicines; they have lower costs and take less time to reach the market; and there are existing pharmaceutical supply chains for formulation and distribution.

Science
20 March 2020 Vol 367, Issue 6484
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

Special Issue: Antarctica
Policy Forum
Time for NIH to lead on data sharing
By Ida Sim, Michael Stebbins, Barbara E. Bierer, Atul J. Butte, Jeffrey Drazen, Victor Dzau, Adrian F. Hernandez, Harlan M. Krumholz, Bernard Lo, Bernard Munos, Eric Perakslis, Frank Rockhold, Joseph S. Ross, Sharon F. Terry, Keith R. Yamamoto, Deborah A. Zarin, Rebecca Li
Science20 Mar 2020 : 1308-1309 Full Access
A draft policy is generally supportive but should start mandating data sharing
Summary
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest global funder of biomedical research, is in the midst of digesting public comments toward finalizing a data sharing policy. Although the draft policy is generally supportive of data sharing (1), it needs strengthening if we are to collectively achieve a long-standing vision of open science built on the principles of findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) (2) data sharing. Relying on investigators to voluntarily share data has not, thus far, led to widespread open science practices (3); thus, we suggest steps that NIH could take to lead on scientific data sharing, with an initial focus on clinical trial data sharing.

Science
20 March 2020 Vol 367, Issue 6484
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

Research Articles
Insights into human genetic variation and population history from 929 diverse genomes
By Anders Bergström, Shane A. McCarthy, Ruoyun Hui, Mohamed A. Almarri, Qasim Ayub, Petr Danecek, Yuan Chen, Sabine Felkel, Pille Hallast, Jack Kamm, Hélène Blanché, Jean-François Deleuze, Howard Cann, Swapan Mallick, David Reich, Manjinder S. Sandhu, Pontus Skoglund, Aylwyn Scally, Yali Xue, Richard Durbin, Chris Tyler-Smith
Science20 Mar 2020 Restricted Access
Genomes from diverse human populations record human genetic diversity and illuminate the history of our species.
Genomes from around the globe
Genomic sequencing of diverse human populations to understand overall genetic diversity has lagged behind in-depth examination of specific populations. To add to our understanding of human genetic diversity, Bergström et al. generated whole-genome sequences surveying individuals in the Human Genome Diversity Project, which is a panel of global populations that has been instrumental in understanding the history of human populations. The authors’ study adds data about African, Oceanian, and Amerindian populations and indicates that diversity tends to result from differences at the single-nucleotide level rather than copy number variation. An analysis of archaic sequences in modern populations identifies ancestral genetic variation in African populations that likely predates modern humans and has been lost in most non-African populations.

Science Translational Medicine
18 March 2020 Vol 12, Issue 535
https://stm.sciencemag.org/

Review
Priorities for developing respiratory syncytial virus vaccines in different target populations
By Simon B. Drysdale, Rachael S. Barr, Christine S. Rollier, Christopher A. Green, Andrew J. Pollard, Charles J. Sande
Science Translational Medicine18 Mar 2020 Restricted Access
About 38 candidate vaccines and monoclonal antibodies are in clinical development for treating respiratory syncytial virus in different populations.

Science Translational Medicine
18 March 2020 Vol 12, Issue 535
https://stm.sciencemag.org/

Research Articles
Strong vaccine responses during chemotherapy are associated with prolonged cancer survival
By Cornelis J. M. Melief, Marij J. P. Welters, Ignace Vergote, Judith R. Kroep, Gemma G. Kenter, Petronella B. Ottevanger, Wiebren A. A. Tjalma, Hannelore Denys, Mariette I. E. van Poelgeest, Hans W. Nijman, Anna K. L. Reyners, Thierry Velu, Frederic Goffin, Roy I. Lalisang, Nikki M. Loof, Sanne Boekestijn, Willem Jan Krebber, Leon Hooftman, Sonja Visscher, Brent A. Blumenstein, Richard B. Stead, Winald Gerritsen, Sjoerd H. van der Burg
Science Translational Medicine18 Mar 2020 Full Access
A strong vaccine-induced T cell response during standard-of-care chemotherapy correlates with survival in patients with advanced cervical cancer.

Vaccine
Volume 38, Issue 12 Pages 2643-2748 (10 March 2020)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/38/issue/12

Research article Abstract only
Vaccine information seeking on social Q&A services
Aviv J. Sharon, Elad Yom-Tov, Ayelet Baram-Tsabari
Pages 2691-2699

Vaccine
Volume 38, Issue 12 Pages 2643-2748 (10 March 2020)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/38/issue/12

Research article Abstract only
Tdap vaccination during pregnancy interrupts a twenty-year increase in the incidence of pertussis
Dean Langsam, Emilia Anis, Eric J. Haas, Ruslan Gosinov, … Dan Yamin
Pages 2700-2706

Vaccine
Volume 38, Issue 12 Pages 2643-2748 (10 March 2020)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/38/issue/12

Research article Abstract only
Maternal knowledge and infant uptake of valid hepatitis B vaccine birth dose at routine immunization clinics in Enugu State – Nigeria
Uchechukwu Joel Okenwa, Magbagbeola David Dairo, Eniola Bamgboye, Olufemi Ajumobi
Pages 2734-2740

Vaccines — Open Access Journal
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/vaccines
(Accessed 21 Mar 2020)

Open Access Article
Vaccination Perception and Attitude among Undergraduate Medical and Teacher Education Students at Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
by Jiří Šálek , Alexander M. Čelko and Jana Dáňová
Vaccines 2020, 8(1), 136; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8010136 – 19 Mar 2020
Abstract
This cross-sectional comparative study was designed to evaluate different opinions and their impact on vaccine confidence, as perceived by students of two different university programs (medicine and teacher education), as both of them play important roles in patient education, with the latter major shaping the skills of critical thinking. Multi-item, opinion-based, paper-and-pencil anonymous questionnaires were distributed among students of medicine and teacher education. Data were sorted and divided into two sets to be analyzed using logistic regression. Out of a total of 722 respondents, 386 were medical students and 336 were teacher education students. While most respondents said they were not in favor of alternative medicine, a significantly higher number of alternative medicine followers were teacher education students. The positive vaccination perception rate (PVPR) is not dependent on the behavioral factors of student respondents (irrespective of their major) but is largely affected by their attitude to alternative medicine. Fear of infection dramatically increased the PVPR (up to 6.7 times) in those who were versus were not afraid of getting infected or were not quite sure whether to fear it. Fear of side effects of vaccination clearly decreased the PVPR, by at least 84%

From Google Scholar & other sources: Selected Journal Articles, Newsletters, Dissertations, Theses, Commentary

No new digest content identified.

Media/Policy Watch
This watch section is intended to alert readers to substantive news, analysis and opinion from the general media and selected think tanks and similar organizations on vaccines, immunization, global public health and related themes. Media Watch is not intended to be exhaustive, but indicative of themes and issues CVEP is actively tracking. This section will grow from an initial base of newspapers, magazines and blog sources, and is segregated from Journal Watch above which scans the peer-reviewed journal ecology.
We acknowledge the Western/Northern bias in this initial selection of titles and invite suggestions for expanded coverage. We are conservative in our outlook in adding news sources which largely report on primary content we are already covering above. Many electronic media sources have tiered, fee-based subscription models for access. We will provide full-text where content is published without restriction, but most publications require registration and some subscription level.

The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
Ideas
The Crisis Could Last 18 Months. Be Prepared.
The shutdowns happened remarkably quickly, but the process of resuming our lives will be far more muddled.
21 Mar 2020 Juliette Kayyem
Former Department of Homeland Security official and author of Security Mom

Ideas
COVID-19 Vaccines Are Coming, but They’re Not What You Think
These novel approaches could fail in many ways.
21 Mar 2020

BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
Health
Coronavirus: How close are we to a vaccine or drug?
By James Gallagher Health and science correspondent
20 March 2020

The Economist
http://www.economist.com/
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
[No new, unique, relevant content]

Financial Times
http://www.ft.com/home/uk
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
Coronavirus
Coronavirus patient shows encouraging immune system fightback
Woman in study makes recovery three days after doctors saw numerous infection-free cells
20 Mar 2020
The most detailed scientific study yet of a coronavirus patient has produced encouraging findings about the human immune system’s ability to fight the virus and help the body recover. Researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Australia analysed blood samples from a previously healthy 47-year-old woman who contracted Covid-19 and found that her recovery was due to an unexpectedly strong immune response. The woman, whose blood was tested at four different points during the course of the disease, had travelled to Melbourne from Wuhan in China where Covid-19 originated…

Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/
Mar 21, 2020
Coronavirus Crisis Shines Light On Sustainability In Global Pharma And Medical Supply Chain
Will the rush to meet medical and pharmaceutical demand for COVID-19 testing and treatment, lead to a secondary environmental challenge.
By Nishan Degnarain Contributor

Foreign Affairs
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
Pandemic Disease Is a Threat to National Security
As the United States now grapples with the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, the time is long past to make pandemic disease a national security priority…
Lisa Monaco

Editors’ Pick  |
How Deforestation Drives The Emergence Of Novel Coronaviruses
Scientists have been warning for several years that deforestation is creating an accidental laboratory for the emergence of new viruses in environments that have been altered by humans.
By Jeff McMahon Senior Contributor

Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/
Accessed 21 Mar 2020 Accessed 21 Mar 2020
[No new, unique, relevant content]

The Guardian
http://www.guardiannews.com/
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
[No new, unique, relevant content]

New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
Q. & A.
The Coronavirus and Building a Better Strategy for Fighting Pandemics
“If we had got on top of this thing two months ago, America would look very, very different” right now, Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said.
By Isaac Chotiner March 20, 2020

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
Family
Coronavirus Vaccine Dreams
If we get a vaccine for the coronavirus, it will immediately make our world a safer, easier, more reassuring place once again. That’s what vaccines do.
By Perri Klass, M.D. March 16

Health
Trial of Coronavirus Vaccine Made by Moderna Begins in Seattle
Healthy volunteers will test different doses of the first vaccine to find out if it is safe.
By Denise Grady

Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
Where Are We in Quest for Coronavirus Drugs, Vaccine?: QuickTake
Mar 19, 2020

Think Tanks et al

Brookings
http://www.brookings.edu/
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
[No new relevant content]

Center for Global Development [to 21 Mar 2020]
http://www.cgdev.org/page/press-center
Selected Publications, News and Events
[No new relevant content]

CSIS
https://www.csis.org/
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
Podcast Episode
Coronavirus Crisis Update: Fmr. FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg on Testing and Where We Go From Here
March 20, 2020 | By J. Stephen Morrison, H. Andrew Schwartz

Council on Foreign Relations
http://www.cfr.org/
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
[No new relevant content]

Kaiser Family Foundation
https://www.kff.org/search/?post_type=press-release
Accessed 21 Mar 2020
[No new relevant content]

EMERGENCIES

Coronavirus [COVID-19]
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

Editor’s Note:
We certainly recognize the velocity of global developments in the COVID-19 pandemic. While we have concentrated the most current key reports just below, COVID-19 announcements, analysis and commentary will be found throughout this issue, in all sections.
Beyond the considerable continuing coverage in the global general media:
:: Daily WHO situation reports here: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports
:: WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) daily press briefings here: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/media-resources/press-briefings

::::::

Situation report – 53 [WHO]
Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
13 March 2020
[Excerpts]
SITUATION IN NUMBERS
Globally :: 132,0 758 confirmed [7499 new]
China :: 80,991 confirmed [11 new]
:: 3,180 deaths [07 new]
Outside of China
:: 51,767 confirmed [7488 new]
:: 122 countries/territories/areas [5 new]
:: 1775 deaths [335 new]

WHO RISK ASSESSMENT
China – Very High
Regional Level – Very High
Global Level – Very High

HIGHLIGHTS
:: Five new countries/territories/areas (Jersey, Réunion, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba and Guyana) have reported cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

:: The WHO, UN Foundation and partners launched a first-of-its-kind COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund today. The fund will raise money from a wide range of donors to support the work of the WHO and partners to help countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

:: Since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) has been a major factor in preventive and mitigation measures. To ensure evidence-based quality guidance and prompt response to global demand, WHO convened a WHO Health Emergencies Programme Experts Advisory Panel for IPC.

:: A team of experts from WHO, Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network partners, the Robert Koch Institute in Germany and the Chinese Center for Disease Control concluded a technical support mission on COVID-19 to Iran on 10 March 2020. During the team’s mission in Iran, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) launched a national campaign to control COVID-19.

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We Cannot Let Fear Go Viral in Fight against COVID 19, says Secretary-General, Stressing importance of Moving Forward ‘With Resolve and Without Stigma’
11 March 2020
SG/SM/20004

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WHO, UN Foundation and partners launch first-of-its-kind COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund
13 March 2020 News release
GENEVA and Washington, D.C. – A new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Solidarity Response Fund will raise money from a wide range of donors to support the work of the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners to help countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund, the first-of-its-kind, enables private individuals, corporations and institutions anywhere in the world to come together to directly contribute to global response efforts, and has been created by the United Nations Foundation and the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, together with WHO.

“We are at a critical point in the global response to COVID-19 – we need everyone to get involved in this massive effort to keep the world safe,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “We are immensely grateful to the UN Foundation and the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation for coming forward to help us set up this fund. A lot of people and institutions have been saying they want to contribute to the fight against the novel coronavirus. Now they can.”

The fund launches with major support already lined up, including from Facebook and Google who have instituted a matching scheme for funds raised through their platforms, while individual donors are also supporting the fund through www.COVID19ResponseFund.org…

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard Launch Initiative to Speed Development and Access to Therapies for COVID-19
COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator will coordinate R&D efforts and remove barriers to drug development and scale-up to address the epidemic
SEATTLE, March 10, 2020 – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard today committed up to $125 million in seed funding to speed-up the response to the COVID-19 epidemic by identifying, assessing, developing, and scaling-up treatments. The partners are committed to equitable access, including making products available and affordable in low-resource settings. The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator will play a catalytic role by accelerating and evaluating new and repurposed drugs and biologics to treat patients with COVID-19 in the immediate term, and other viral pathogens in the longer-term. Currently there are no broad-spectrum antivirals or immunotherapies available for the fight against emerging pathogens, and none approved for use on COVID-19.

The Gates Foundation and Wellcome are each contributing up to $50 million, and the Mastercard Impact Fund has committed up to $25 million to catalyze the initial work of the accelerator. The Gates Foundation’s funding is part of its up to $100 million commitment to the COVID-19 response announced last month.

“Viruses like COVID-19 spread rapidly, but the development of vaccines and treatments to stop them moves slowly,” said Mark Suzman, chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “If we want to make the world safe from outbreaks like COVID-19, particularly for those most vulnerable, then we need to find a way to make research and development move faster. That requires governments, private enterprise, and philanthropic organizations to act quickly to fund R&D.”

The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator will work with the World Health Organization, government and private sector funders and organizations, as well as the global regulatory and policy-setting institutions. The Accelerator will have an end-to-end focus, from drug pipeline development through manufacturing and scale-up. By sharing research, coordinating investments, and pooling resources, these efforts can help to accelerate research. This kind of collaboration was a key lesson from the 2014 Ebola outbreak. By providing fast and flexible funding at key stages of the development process, the Accelerator will de-risk the pathway for new drugs and biologics for COVID-19 and future epidemic threats, ensuring access in lower-resource countries.

The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator will operate jointly as an initiative of the funders, drawing on expertise from inside and outside their organizations. The Accelerator will pursue several aspects of the development cycle to streamline the pathway from candidate product to clinical assessment, use, and manufacturing. To identify candidate compounds, the Accelerator will take a three-pronged approach: testing approved drugs for activity against COVID-19, screening libraries of thousands of compounds with confirmed safety data, and considering new investigational compounds and monoclonal antibodies. Drugs or monoclonal antibodies that pass initial screening would then be developed by an industry partner. The biotech and pharmaceutical industries will be critical partners, bringing their compound libraries and clinical data to the collaboration and lending commercialization and other expertise that will be required to scale up successful drugs and monoclonal antibodies. In parallel to the development of the COVID-19 drug pipeline, the Accelerator will work with regulators to align criteria and develop manufacturing capacity with industry. An accelerated pathway to bringing effective treatments to patients is around one year for products that have current regulatory approval or candidates with existing clinical data. The timeline would be longer for compounds further upstream in the pipeline that have limited existing clinical data.

Dr. Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome said, “This virus is an unprecedented global threat, and one for which we must propel international partnerships to develop treatments, rapid diagnostics, and vaccines. Science is moving at a phenomenal pace against COVID-19, but to get ahead of this epidemic we need greater investment and to ensure research co-ordination. The Therapeutics Accelerator will allow us to do this for potential treatments with support for research, development, assessment, and manufacturing. COVID-19 is an extremely challenging virus, but we’ve proved that through collaborating across borders we can tackle emerging infectious diseases. We must strive to strengthen efforts in the face of COVID-19, and in doing so, continue to make sure advances are accessible and affordable to all. Investing now, at scale, at risk and as a collective global effort is vital if we are to change the course of this epidemic. We welcome others to join us in this effort.”

While antiviral drugs are approved to lessen the severity of seasonal flu and treat HIV, among other viral diseases, none have demonstrated efficacy against the current epidemic. One reason for the lack of effective treatments is that products may not have an immediate market, which can slow or prevent their research and commercial development. The COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator is designed to help by bringing together resources and expertise to lower the financial and technical risk for academia, biotech, and pharmaceutical companies, while ensuring that these products are accessible and affordable to people in low-resource settings. The expertise of pharmaceutical companies will be critical in identifying, researching, and commercializing successful drugs.

“We’re proud to join this crucial effort to combat COVID-19 in furtherance of our commitment to inclusive growth,” said Mike Froman, vice chairman of Mastercard. “This global challenge not only represents a risk to the health and safety of populations all over the world, but also poses a potential disruption to the economic vitality of millions of people, businesses, and organizations worldwide. Our experience with financial inclusion shows us the importance of building a network of parties who bring not only their capital, but complementary assets and skill sets to the table, and we welcome other partners concerned about inclusive growth to join this effort.”

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COVID-19: IFRC, UNICEF and WHO issue guidance to protect children and support safe school operations
Guidance includes practical actions and checklists for administrators, teachers, parents and children
10 March 2020 Joint News Release
GENEVA/NEW YORK – The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC), UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) today issued new guidance to help protect children and schools from transmission of the COVID-19 virus. The guidance provides critical considerations and practical checklists to keep schools safe. It also advises national and local authorities on how to adapt and implement emergency plans for educational facilities.
In the event of school closures, the guidance includes recommendations to mitigate against the possible negative impacts on children’s learning and wellbeing. This means having solid plans in place to ensure the continuity of learning, including remote learning options such as online education strategies and radio broadcasts of academic content, and access to essential services for all children. These plans should also include necessary steps for the eventual safe reopening of schools…

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The economic impact of COVID-19: Can policy makers avert a multi-trillion dollar crisis?
UNCTAD/PRESS/PR/2020/003
Geneva, Switzerland, (09 March 2020)
:: Debt, delusion and policy drift likely to impact economic effects of health crisis.
:: Downside scenario sees a $2 trillion shortfall in global income with a $220 billion hit to developing countries.
:: Coordinated policymaking is needed to ensure localized incidents do not impact global markets.
The spread of the coronavirus is first and foremost a public health emergency, but it is also, a significant economic threat. The so-called “Covid-19” shock will cause a recession in some countries and depress global annual growth this year to below 2.5 per cent, the recessionary threshold for the world economy.
Even if the worst is avoided, the hit to global income, compared with what forecasters had been projecting for 2020 will be capped at around the trillion-dollar mark. But could it be worse? Published today, a new UNCTAD analysis suggests why this may be the case.
Losses of consumer and investor confidence are the most immediate signs of spreading contagion, the analysis suggests.
However, a combination of asset price deflation, weaker aggregate demand, heightened debt distress and a worsening income distribution could trigger a more vicious downward spiral. Widespread insolvency and possibly another “Minsky moment”, a sudden, big collapse of asset values which would mark the end of the growth phase of this cycle cannot be ruled out…

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PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/
[Accessed 14 Mar 2020]

Impact of international travel and border control measures on the global spread of the novel 2019 coronavirus outbreak
Chad R. Wells, Pratha Sah, Seyed M. Moghadas, Abhishek Pandey, Affan Shoukat, Yaning Wang, Zheng Wang, Lauren A. Meyers, Burton H. Singer, and Alison P. Galvani
PNAS first published March 13, 2020.
Significance
To contain the global spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19), border control measures, such as airport screening and travel restrictions, have been implemented in several countries. Our results show that these measures likely slowed the rate of exportation from mainland China to other countries, but are insufficient to contain the global spread of COVID-19. With most cases arriving during the asymptomatic incubation period, our results suggest that rapid contact tracing is essential both within the epicenter and at importation sites to limit human-to-human transmission outside of mainland China.
Abstract
The novel coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) in mainland China has rapidly spread across the globe. Within 2 mo since the outbreak was first reported on December 31, 2019, a total of 566 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS CoV-2) cases have been confirmed in 26 other countries. Travel restrictions and border control measures have been enforced in China and other countries to limit the spread of the outbreak. We estimate the impact of these control measures and investigate the role of the airport travel network on the global spread of the COVID-19 outbreak. Our results show that the daily risk of exporting at least a single SARS CoV-2 case from mainland China via international travel exceeded 95% on January 13, 2020. We found that 779 cases (95% CI: 632 to 967) would have been exported by February 15, 2020 without any border or travel restrictions and that the travel lockdowns enforced by the Chinese government averted 70.5% (95% CI: 68.8 to 72.0%) of these cases. In addition, during the first three and a half weeks of implementation, the travel restrictions decreased the daily rate of exportation by 81.3% (95% CI: 80.5 to 82.1%), on average. At this early stage of the epidemic, reduction in the rate of exportation could delay the importation of cases into cities unaffected by the COVID-19 outbreak, buying time to coordinate an appropriate public health response.

::::::
::::::

[U.S.] White House

Proclamations
Proclamation on Declaring a National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak
Mar 13, 2020

Proclamations
Proclamation—Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus
Mar 11, 2020

::::::
::::::

Industry

Pfizer Outlines Five-Point Plan to Battle COVID-19
Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla Calls on Biopharma Industry to Collaborate on Combatting the Global Pandemic
March 13, 2020
Pfizer today issued a five-point plan calling on the biopharmaceutical industry to join the company in committing to unprecedented collaboration to combat COVID-19. Dr. Albert Bourla, Chairman and CEO…
…Pfizer is making five promises that will help scientists more rapidly bring forward therapies and vaccines to protect humankind from this escalating pandemic and prepare the industry to better respond to future global health crises.

1. Sharing tools and insights: With very little known about this virus, many are working to develop cell-based assays, viral screening, serological assays, and translational models to test potential therapies and vaccines. Pfizer is committed to making the vital tools we develop available on an open source platform to the broader scientific community and to sharing the data and learnings gained with other companies in real time to rapidly advance therapies and vaccines to patients.

2. Marshalling our people: Human capital is our most valuable resource. Pfizer has created a SWAT team of our leading virologists, biologists, chemists, clinicians, epidemiologists, vaccine experts, pharmaceutical scientists and other key experts to focus solely on addressing this pandemic. This team is applying their passion, commitment and expertise to a single focus of accelerating the discovery and development process that will deliver therapies and vaccines to patients as soon as possible.

3. Applying our drug development expertise: Many smaller biotech companies are screening compounds or existing therapies for activity against the virus causing COVID-19, but some lack the experience in late stage development and navigating the complex regulatory systems. Pfizer is committed to sharing our clinical development and regulatory expertise to support the most promising candidates these companies bring forward.

4. Offering our manufacturing capabilities: Once a therapy or vaccine is approved it will need to be rapidly scaled and deployed around the world to put an end to this pandemic. As one of the largest manufacturers of vaccines and therapeutics, Pfizer is committed to using any excess manufacturing capacity and to potentially shifting production to support others in rapidly getting these life-saving breakthroughs into the hands of patients as quickly as possible.

5. Improving future rapid response: Finally, to address future global health threats, Pfizer is reaching out to federal agencies including NIH, NIAID and CDC to build a cross-industry rapid response team of scientists, clinicians and technicians able to move into action immediately when future epidemics surface…

::::::

Johnson & Johnson Announces Collaboration with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to Accelerate COVID-19 Vaccine Development
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Johnson & Johnson today announced that its Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies have entered a collaboration with the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) to support the development of a preventive vaccine candidate for COVID-19. The parties have commenced preclinical testing of multiple vaccine prospects, with the aim to identify by the end of the month a COVID-19 vaccine candidate for clinical trials.
Janssen is optimistic that, in collaboration with multiple global strategic partners, it can initiate a Phase 1 clinical study of a potential vaccine candidate by the end of the year. In parallel to these efforts, Janssen is preparing to upscale production and manufacturing capacities to levels required to meet global public health vaccination needs…

::::::
::::::

Emergencies

Ebola – DRC+
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

Ebola Outbreak in DRC 83: 10 March 2020
[Excerpts]
Situation Update
No new cases of Ebola virus disease have been reported since 17 February 2020, and on 3 March 2020, the only person confirmed to have EVD in the last 21 days (Figure 1) was discharged from an Ebola Treatment Centre after recovering and testing negative twice for the virus. This is an important milestone in the outbreak. However, there is still a high risk of re-emergence of EVD, and a critical need to maintain response operations to rapidly detect and respond to any new cases, and to prioritize continued survivor support, monitoring and cooperative relationships with the survivors’ associations – as outlined in the WHO recommended criteria for declaring the end of the EVD outbreak.…

…Conclusion
Given the long duration and large magnitude of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there is a high risk of re-emergence of the virus during the lead up to the declaration of the end of the outbreak, and for several months following that declaration. These risks are exacerbated by potential limitations (e.g. shortages funding, access to communities, competing health emergencies) imposed on the response. To mitigate the risk of re-emergence, it is critical to maintain surveillance and rapid response capacities, and to prioritize survivor care and the maintenance of cooperative relationships with survivors’ associations during and well beyond the 42 days lead up to the end of outbreak declaration.

::::::
::::::

Emergencies

POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
http://polioeradication.org/polio-today/polio-now/this-week/

Polio this week as of 11 March 2020
Summary of new viruses this week (AFP cases and ES positives):
:: Afghanistan: one WPV1 positive environmental sample
:: Pakistan: four WPV1 cases and 13 WPV1 positive environmental samples
:: Angola: one cVDPV2 case
:: Chad: Seven cVDPV2 positive environmental samples
:: Côte d’Ivoire: one cVDPV2 positive environmental sample
:: Democratic Republic of the Congo: three cVDPV2 cases
:: Ghana: one cVDPV2 case

::::::
::::::

WHO Grade 3 Emergencies [to 14 Mar 2020]

Democratic Republic of the Congo
:: Ebola Outbreak in DRC 83: 10 March 2020
[See Ebola above for detail]

Syrian Arab Republic
:: In 4 years, 494 attacks on health killed 470 patients and health staff in Syria
March 2020, Geneva/Copenhagen/Cairo – The World Health Organization condemns in the strongest terms, attacks on health care that have been a hallmark of the complex humanitarian crisis in Syria that this month enters its tenth year.
“The data we can now reveal on attacks on health in Syria is a grim testament to a blatant disrespect for international humanitarian law and the lives of civilians and health workers,“ said Richard Brennan, WHO‘s Regional Emergency Director in the Eastern Mediterranean…

Nigeria – No new digest announcements identified
Mozambique floods – No new digest announcements identified
Somalia – No new digest announcements identified
South Sudan – No new digest announcements identified
Yemen – No new digest announcements identified

::::::

WHO Grade 2 Emergencies [to 14 Mar 2020]
Measles in Europe
:: WHO donates equipment to support response to measles outbreak in Kyrgyzstan 10-03-2020

Afghanistan – No new digest announcements identified
Angola – No new digest announcements identified
Burkina Faso [in French] – No new digest announcements identified
Burundi – No new digest announcements identified
Cameroon – No new digest announcements identified
Central African Republic – No new digest announcements identified
Ethiopia – No new digest announcements identified
HIV in Pakistan – No new digest announcements identified
Iran – No new digest announcements identified
Iraq – No new digest announcements identified
Libya – No new digest announcements identified
Malawi – No new digest announcements identified
MERS-CoV – No new digest announcements identified
Myanmar – No new digest announcements identified
Niger – No new digest announcements identified
occupied Palestinian territory – No new digest announcements identified
Sudan – No new digest announcements identified
Ukraine – No new digest announcements identified
Zimbabwe – No new digest announcements identified

::::::

WHO Grade 1 Emergencies [to 14 Mar 2020]

Chad – No new digest announcements identified
Djibouti – No new digest announcements identified
Kenya – No new digest announcements identified
Mali – No new digest announcements identified
Namibia – viral hepatitis – No new digest announcements identified
Tanzania – No new digest announcements identified

::::::
::::::

UN OCHA – L3 Emergencies
The UN and its humanitarian partners are currently responding to three ‘L3’ emergencies. This is the global humanitarian system’s classification for the response to the most severe, large-scale humanitarian crises. 
Syrian Arab Republic
:: Recent Developments in Northwest Syria – Situation Report No. 10 – As of 12 March 2020
:: Syrian Arab Republic: COVID-19 Update No. 02 – 11 March 2020

Yemen – No new digest announcements identified

::::::

UN OCHA – Corporate Emergencies
When the USG/ERC declares a Corporate Emergency Response, all OCHA offices, branches and sections provide their full support to response activities both at HQ and in the field.
CYCLONE IDAI and Kenneth – No new digest announcements identified
EBOLA OUTBREAK IN THE DRC – No new digest announcements identified

::::::
::::::

WHO & Regional Offices [to 14 Mar 2020]
13 March 2020 News release
WHO, UN Foundation and partners launch first-of-its-kind COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund
[See Milestones above for detail]

::::::

Weekly Epidemiological Record, 13 March 2020, vol. 95, 11 (pp. 97–104)
97 Evaluation of the early warning, alert and response system for the Rohingya crisis, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
104 COVID-19 update

::::::

WHO Regional Offices
Selected Press Releases, Announcements
WHO African Region AFRO
:: Africa is one-step away from wild polio eradication verdict 13 March 2020
The African region completes a critical step towards wild polio eradication as the independent commission to decide on the African Region’s wild poliovirus-free status has concluded its final field visit to Nigeria today, after conducting critical analysis to verify the documentation presented by the Nigerian Government.
:: First case of COVID-19 confirmed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 10 March 2020
:: South African Development Community unites to tackle COVID-19 10 March 2020

WHO Region of the Americas PAHO
No new digest content identified.

WHO South-East Asia Region SEARO
No new digest content identified.

WHO European Region EURO
:: SCRC statement on COVID-19 situation in Europe 13-03-2020
:: Azerbaijan steps up COVID-19 preparedness and readiness measures, welcoming WHO mission 12-03-2020
:: A new plan for healthcare in North Macedonia 12-03-2020

WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region EMRO
:: Statement by Regional Director Dr Ahmed Al Mandhari on COVID-19 in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
12 March 2020, Cairo, Egypt – Today in our region, 9960 cases in 16 countries have been reported, including 366 deaths reported in five countries (as of 3pm Cairo local time). Almost all the deaths were patients aged 60 years or above, who had preexisting conditions that were exasperated when they contracted the virus.
:: Delegation of WHO and public health experts concludes COVID-19 mission to Iran
12 March 2020

WHO Western Pacific Region
No new digest content identified.

CDC/ACIP [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.cdc.gov/media/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/index.html
Latest News Releases
Transcript – CDC Media Telebriefing: Update on COVID-19
Press Briefing Transcript
Wednesday, March 10, 2020

Africa CDC [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.africacdc.org/
News
Africa CDC to Partner with SACIDS Foundation for One Health and East African Integrated Disease Surveillance Network
Partnership for COVID-19 Preparedness and Response
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, 10 MARCH 2020. The Skoll Foundation has attributed a total of $7 million to support Coronavirus (COVID-19) preparedness and response activities in Africa.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the SACIDS Foundation for One Health (SACIDS), and the East African Integrated Disease Surveillance Network (EAIDSNet), through this funding, have agreed to collaborate and coordinate their efforts in order to better prepare and respond to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak across Africa…

China CDC
http://www.chinacdc.cn/en/
No new digest content identified.

National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China
http://en.nhc.gov.cn/
News
March 14: Daily briefing on novel coronavirus cases in China
2020-03-14
On March 13, 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported 11 new cases of confirmed infections, 17 new cases of suspected infections, and 13 deaths (all in Hubei province). 1,430 patients were released from hospital after being cured. 2,174 people who had had close contact with infected patients were freed from medical observation. Serious cases decreased by 410.
As of 24:00 on March 13, the National Health Commission had received 80,824 reports of confirmed cases and 3,189 deaths in 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and in all 65,541 patients had been cured and discharged from hospital. There still remained 12,094 confirmed cases (including 3,610 in serious condition) and 115 suspected cases. So far, 678,935 people have been identified as having had close contact with infected patients. 10,879 are now under medical observation…

Announcements

Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group    [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://alleninstitute.org/what-we-do/frontiers-group/news-press/
Press Release
No new digest content identified.
 
 
BMGF – Gates Foundation  [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Media-Center/Press-Releases
MARCH 10, 2020
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard Launch Initiative to Speed Development and Access to Therapies for COVID-19
COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator will coordinate R&D efforts and remove barriers to drug development and scale-up to address the epidemic
[See Milestones above for detail]
 
 
Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute    [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.gatesmri.org/
The Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute is a non-profit biotech organization. Our mission is to develop products to fight malaria, tuberculosis, and diarrheal diseases—three major causes of mortality, poverty, and inequality in developing countries. The world has unprecedented scientific tools at its disposal; now is the time to use them to save the lives of the world’s poorest people
No new digest content identified.
 
 
CARB-X   [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://carb-x.org/
CARB-X is a non-profit public-private partnership dedicated to accelerating antibacterial research to tackle the global rising threat of drug-resistant bacteria.
No new digest content identified.
 
 
CEPI – Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations  [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://cepi.net/
News
14 Mar 2020
$2 billion required to develop a vaccine against the COVID-19 virus
New funding will increase number vaccine candidates in development and enable crucial clinical trials

13 Mar 2020
CEPI-funded Nipah virus vaccine candidate first to reach Phase 1 clinical trial
This trial marks the first time a vaccine developed to prevent Nipah virus infection will be studied in humans.

13 Mar 2020
CEPI gets €140 million funding boost from Germany while expanding coronavirus vaccine search
CEPI also this week announced additional coronavirus vaccine development partnerships with Novavax and The University of Oxford.
10 Mar 2020
CEPI expands investment in COVID-19 vaccine development
CEPI will provide a further $4.4 million to rapidly advance 2 additional vaccine candidates against the novel coronavirus, with Novavax, Inc. and The University of Oxford.
 
 
Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI)  [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://clintonhealthaccess.org/
News & Press Releases
No new digest content identified.
 
 
EDCTP    [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.edctp.org/
The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) aims to accelerate the development of new or improved drugs, vaccines, microbicides and diagnostics against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as well as other poverty-related and neglected infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on phase II and III clinical trials
Latest news
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Emory Vaccine Center    [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.vaccines.emory.edu/
No new digest content identified.
 
 
European Medicines Agency  [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/
News & Press Releases
News: COVID-19: developers of medicines or vaccines to benefit from free scientific advice
Last updated: 13/03/2020
News: COVID-19: EMA meetings with delegates and experts will be held virtually until end April 2020
Last updated: 11/03/2020
News: Addressing the potential impact of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on medicines supply in the EU
Last updated: 10/03/2020

 
 
European Vaccine Initiative  [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.euvaccine.eu/news-events
No new digest content identified.

 
FDA [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/default.htm
Press Announcements
March 13, 2020 – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization to Thermo Fisher
 
March 13, 2020 – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA gives flexibility to New York State Department of Health, FDA issues Emergency Use Authorization diagnostic

March 11, 2020 – FDA Launches New Campaign to Help Consumers Use the New Nutrition Facts Label

March 10, 2020 – Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Update: Foreign Inspections

March 9, 2020 – Coronavirus Update: FDA and FTC Warn Seven Companies Selling Fraudulent Products that Claim to Treat or Prevent COVID-19

Fondation Merieux  [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.fondation-merieux.org/
News, Events
COVID-19: The Mérieux Foundation deploys diagnostic and research expertise to strengthen partner laboratories on the front line of the outbreak
March 4, 2020 – Lyon (France)
The Mérieux Foundation is working to strengthen novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) detection and infection control capability among its partner laboratory networks. The Foundation’s support focuses on two interventions: strengthening diagnostic capacity by quickly deploying a molecular test to detect SARS-CoV-2, and assessing the risk of nosocomial transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in hospitals in order to better understand hospital-based prevention and infection control measures. The work is being carried out in partnership with Prof. Philippe Vanhems from Hospices Civils de Lyon and Prof. Jianwei Wang from the Christophe Mérieux Laboratory in Beijing.

 
 
Gavi [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.gavi.org/
Stories
13 March 2020
What is an emergency vaccine stockpile and how can they prevent pandemics?
10 March 2020
Will coronavirus herald a new era in vaccine innovation?

 
 
GHIT Fund   [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.ghitfund.org/newsroom/press
GHIT was set up in 2012 with the aim of developing new tools to tackle infectious diseases that No new digest content identified.

 
 
Global Fund  [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/
News & Stories
Sourcing & Management of Health Products
COVID-19 Impact on Supply Chain Logistics: Assessment and Recommendations
12 March 2020
…download in English

Sourcing & Management of Health Products
Opportunity for Evaluation of Selected Medicines
10 March 2020

 
 
Hilleman Laboratories   [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.hillemanlabs.org/
No new digest content identified.

 
 
Human Vaccines Project   [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.humanvaccinesproject.org/media/press-releases/
Press Releases
No new digest content identified.

 
 
IAVI  [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.iavi.org/newsroom
No new digest content identified.

 
 
International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities [ICMRA]
http://www.icmra.info/drupal/en/news
Selected Statements, Press Releases, Research
No new digest content identified.

 
 
International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association [IGBA]
https://www.igbamedicines.org/
News
No new digest content identified.

 
 
IFFIm
http://www.iffim.org/
No new digest content identified.

IFRC   [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/news/press-releases/
Selected Press Releases, Announcements
Global
COVID-19: IFRC, UNICEF and WHO issue guidance to protect children and support safe school operations

GENEVA/NEW YORK, 10 March 2020 – The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) today issued new guidance to help protect children and schools from transmission of the COV …

Africa, Mozambique
Mozambique: Thousands remain vulnerable to recurrent disasters one year on from Cyclone Idai
Beira/Nairobi/Geneva, 11 March 2020 — It is almost 12 months since Cyclone Idai hit Mozambique, but communities remain intensely vulnerable to the next big disaster, which is a matter of “when, not if”—the International Federation of Red Cross and Red …

 
 
IVAC  [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/ivac/index.html
Updates
No new digest content identified.

 
 
IVI   [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.ivi.int/
Selected IVI News & Announcements
No new digest content identified.

 
 
JEE Alliance  [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.jeealliance.org/
Selected News and Events
No new digest content identified.

 
 
MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières  [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.msf.org/
Latest [Selected Announcements]
Refugees, IDPs and people on the move
Evacuation of squalid Greek camps more urgent than ever ov…
Press Release 12 Mar 2020

COVID-19 coronavirus
MSF starts COVID-19 response activities in four northern Italia…
Press Release 12 Mar 2020

Greece
Greece, the ‘shield’ of Europe, and EU leaders push migran…
Project Update 11 Mar 2020

DRC Ebola outbreaks
After the fire – how we could have better managed the DRC …
Op-Ed 11 Mar 2020

Mali
Fleeing violence in Niger, refugees in Mali remain vulnera…
Project Update 9 Mar 2020

Syria
Displaced people face a desperate situation in Idlib
Project Update 9 Mar 2020

 
 
DRC Ebola outbreaks
Crisis update – March 2020
Crisis Update 9 Mar 2020

 
 
National Vaccine Program Office – U.S. HHS  [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.hhs.gov/vaccines/about/index.html
NVAC 2020 Meetings
June 9-10, 2020 NVAC Meeting
September 23-24, 2020 Meeting (Virtual)

 
 
NIH  [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases

Selected News Releases

Newer anti-HIV drugs safest, most effective during pregnancy
March 11, 2020 — Dolutegravir-containing regimen exhibited superior safety profile in large, NIH-supported study of pregnant women.

Drug-delivery technology leads to sustained HIV antibody production in NIH study
March 9, 2020 — New strategy could be applied to other infectious diseases.

 
 
PATH  [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.path.org/media-center/
Selected Announcements
No new digest content identified.

 
 
Sabin Vaccine Institute  [to 14 Mar 2020]

http://www.sabin.org/updates/pressreleases

Statements and Press Releases

Sabin Vaccine Institute Receives $10M Grant to Raise Confidence in Vaccines

WASHINGTON, D.C – The Sabin Vaccine Institute (Sabin) today announced it has received a three-year grant valued at $10.4 million to strengthen vaccine acceptance. In 2019, the World Health Organization identified vaccine hesitancy – the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines – as one of the top 10 threats to global health.

Funding provided through a National Philanthropic Trust grant will launch Sabin’s new Vaccine Acceptance and Demand initiative and support several program areas: educating media and health care professionals on vaccines and immunization, supporting community-level social and behavioral research to understand vaccine acceptance and hesitancy, and enhancing understanding of social media influence on vaccination decisions.

The initiative is led by Sabin Global Immunization President Dr. Bruce Gellin who commented, “Vaccine hesitancy is creating a global health risk that must be addressed. Misinformation and disinformation about vaccines cost lives daily in communities around the world, as witnessed during the ongoing global measles resurgence. Through Sabin’s role at the intersection of immunization programs, policy and research, we will partner with local researchers, national immunization programs and other global health organizations to build evidence and provide the resources, connections and information stakeholders need to reverse this dangerous trend.”…

 
 
UNAIDS [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.unaids.org/en
Selected Press Releases/Reports/Statements
13 March 2020
UNAIDS—a leading organization for gender equality

11 March 2020
Mozambique: helping people living with HIV to get back on treatment

11 March 2020
Getting HIV services to marginalized groups in Papua New Guinea

9 March 2020
Adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa more than twice as likely to acquire HIV
… In sub-Saharan Africa, gender-related factors fueling the epidemic are especially stark: adolescent girls and young women were more than twice (2.4 times) as likely to acquire HIV than their male peers.
 
 
UNICEF  [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.unicef.org/media/press-releases
Statement
Message from UNICEF
NEW YORK, 13 March 2020 – We have just been informed that three people working in UNICEF House in midtown east, New York have developed flu-like symptoms. They have not been confirmed positive to COVID-19. Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken the decision to close the UNICEF building and are strongly encouraging all our New York-based staff to work remotely for the next four weeks.  We are in contact with the UN medical team and the relevant local authorities. The safety and well-being of our staff and the wider New York community are first and foremost in our actions.

Press release
FACT SHEET: Handwashing with soap, critical in the fight against coronavirus, is ‘out of reach’ for billions
13/03/2020

Statement
UNICEF statement on COVID-19 outbreak
11/03/2020

Press release
UNICEF and UNFPA renew multi-country initiative to protect millions of girls from child marriage
10/03/2020
 
 
Press release

COVID-19: IFRC, UNICEF and WHO issue guidance to protect children and support safe school operations

Guidance includes practical actions and checklists for administrators, teachers, parents and children

10/03/2020
 
 
Press release
A third of youth surveyed globally by UNICEF say their education is not preparing them with the skills to get jobs
PwC and UNICEF join forces to boost youth skills worldwide
10/03/2020
 
 
Vaccination Acceptance Research Network (VARN)  [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://vaccineacceptance.org/news.html#header1-2r
Announcements
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Vaccine Confidence Project  [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.vaccineconfidence.org/
Latest News & Archive
No new digest content identified.
 
 
 
Vaccine Education Center – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia  [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Wellcome Trust  [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://wellcome.ac.uk/news
News | 9 March 2020
Wellcome pledges up to $50 million to new initiative to speed development of COVID-19 treatments
Wellcome joins the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Mastercard in launching a new initiative to speed the development of and access to therapies for COVID-19. Together they are committing up to $125 million in seed funding.
 
 
The Wistar Institute   [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.wistar.org/news/press-releases

Press Releases

Mar. 11, 2020

Coupling Computational Protein Engineering with Synthetic DNA Technology Enhances Nanovaccine Efficacy Allowing the Patient’s Own Body to Customize Production

Synthetic DNA technology allows for in vivo assembly of complex nanovaccines able to elicit stronger immune responses in preclinical studies
 
 
WFPHA: World Federation of Public Health Associations  [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.wfpha.org/
Latest News
No new digest content identified.
 
 
World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)   [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.oie.int/en/for-the-media/press-releases/2020/
Press Releases
No new digest content identified.

::::::

 
ARM [Alliance for Regenerative Medicine]  [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://alliancerm.org/press-releases/
Press Releases
ARM Announces the Cancellation of the 2020 Meeting on the Med
March 12, 2020
 
 
BIO    [to 14 Mar 2020]
https://www.bio.org/press-releases
Press Releases
No new digest content identified.
 
 
 
DCVMN – Developing Country Vaccine Manufacturers Network  [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.dcvmn.org/
News
No new digest content identified.
 
 
IFPMA   [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.ifpma.org/resources/news-releases/
Selected Press Releases, Statements, Publications
No new digest content identified.
 
 
PhRMA    [to 14 Mar 2020]
http://www.phrma.org/
Selected Press Releases, Statements
Nearly 400 cell and gene therapies in development to target a broad range of diseases
Andrew Powaleny   |     March 10, 2020
In 2017, the U.S. approved its first cell and gene therapy, making the idea of altering a gene to cure or treat a disease a reality. As the increasing pace of R&D propels cell and gene therapy forward, patients can expect more personalized treatments on the horizon. A new report released today finds that there are 362 investigational cell and gene therapies currently in clinical development – a 20% increase since 2018.

Among the cell and gene therapies in development are potential treatments for:
:: A gene therapy using adeno-associated virus (AAV)-factor VIII is designed to stimulate the production of factor VIII for the treatment of hemophilia A.
:: A gene therapy using AAV vectors is delivering a high-activity Factor IX gene to the liver for the treatment of hemophilia B.
:: A second-generation CAR-T cell therapy comprised of genetically-modified T-cells, is designed to target B-cell maturation antigen and to redirect the T-cells to recognize and kill malignant myeloma cells.
:: A gene therapy for the treatment of Stargardt disease delivers a corrected version of the ABCR gene directly in the photoreceptors in the retina.
:: A gene therapy uses a recombinant AAV9 capsid to deliver a shortened version of human dystrophin to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
While there are hundreds of potential cell and gene therapies in the pipeline, a few of these innovative medicines have already been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are helping patients today. Currently, there are six diseases currently treated with gene or cell therapy for the treatment of cancer, eye diseases and rare hereditary diseases…

Journal Watch
Vaccines and Global Health: The Week in Review continues its weekly scanning of key peer-reviewed journals to identify and cite articles, commentary and editorials, books reviews and other content supporting our focu-s on vaccine ethics and policy. Journal Watch is not intended to be exhaustive, but indicative of themes and issues the Center is actively tracking. We selectively provide full text of some editorial and comment articles that are specifically relevant to our work. Successful access to some of the links provided may require subscription or other access arrangement unique to the publisher.
If you would like to suggest other journal titles to include in this service, please contact David Curry at: david.r.curry@centerforvaccineethicsandpolicy.org

BMC Medical Ethics
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmedethics/content
(Accessed 14 Mar 2020)

Developing a toolkit for engagement practice: sharing power with communities in priority-setting for global health research projects
Communities’ engagement in priority-setting is a key means for setting research topics and questions of relevance and benefit to them. However, without attention to dynamics of power and diversity, their engagement can be tokenistic. So far, there remains limited ethical guidance on how to share power with communities, particularly those considered disadvantaged and marginalised, in global health research priority-setting. This paper generates a comprehensive, empirically-based “ethical toolkit” to provide such guidance, further strengthening a previously proposed checklist version of the toolkit. The toolkit places community engagement and power-sharing at the heart of priority-setting for global health research projects.
Authors: Bridget Pratt
Content type: Research article
14 March 2020

BMC Medicine
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmed/content
(Accessed 14 Mar 2020)

What further should be done to control COVID-19 outbreaks in addition to cases isolation and contact tracing measures?
Authors: Zhenjian He
Citation: BMC Medicine 2020 18:80
Content type: MedViews
Published on: 13 March 2020

BMC Public Health
http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles
(Accessed 14 Mar 2020)

Knowledge about cervical cancer and HPV immunization dropout rate among Brazilian adolescent girls and their guardians
Infections with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) are the main cause of cervical cancer. Since 2014, the HPV vaccine was introduced in the Brazilian National Vaccination Calendar. The purpose of this study was to ass…
Authors: Ana Carolina da Silva Santos, Nayara Nascimento Toledo Silva, Cláudia Martins Carneiro, Wendel Coura-Vital and Angélica Alves Lima
Citation: BMC Public Health 2020 20:301
Content type: Research article
Published on: 6 March 2020

Conflict and Health
http://www.conflictandhealth.com/
[Accessed 14 Mar 2020]

Obituary for Dr. Peter Salama
Authors: Paul Spiegel
Content type: Obituary
6 March 2020

EMBO Reports
Volume 21 Issue 3 4 March 2020
https://www.embopress.org/toc/14693178/current

Opinion 20 February 2020 Open Access
The courage to change science
Tiago Fleming Outeiro
Bureaucracy, performance assessment and other pressures increasingly encroach on scientists’ ability to do science. The research community as a whole needs to address these perils.

EMBO Reports
Volume 21 Issue 3 4 March 2020
https://www.embopress.org/toc/14693178/current

Science & Society 11 February 2020
Bio‐informational futures : The convergence of artificial intelligence and synthetic biology
Thom A Dixon, Natalie C Curach, Isak S Pretorius
Synthetic biology and artificial intelligence naturally converge in the biofoundry. Navigating the ethical and societal issues of the biofoundry’s potential remains a major challenge.

Health Economics, Policy and Law 
Volume 15 – Issue 2 – April 2020
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/health-economics-policy-and-law/latest-issue

Articles
Integration vs separation in the provision of health care: 24 OECD countries compared
Federico Toth
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2018, pp. 160-172
Abstract
This article proposes a classification of the different national health care systems based on the way the network of health care providers is organised. To this end, we present two rivalling models: on the one hand, the integrated model and, on the other, the separated model. These two models are defined based on five dimensions: (1) integration of insurer and provider; (2) integration of primary and secondary care; (3) presence of gatekeeping mechanisms; (4) patient’s freedom of choice; and (5) solo or group practice of general practitioners. Each of these dimensions is applied to the health care systems of 24 OECD countries. If we combine the five dimensions, we can arrange the 24 national cases along a continuum that has the integrated model and the separated model at the two opposite poles. Portugal, Spain, New Zealand, the UK, Denmark, Ireland and Israel are to be considered highly integrated, while Italy, Norway, Australia, Greece and Sweden have moderately integrated provision systems. At the opposite end, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Switzerland and Turkey have highly separated provision systems. Canada, The Netherlands and the United States can be categorised as moderately separated.

Journal of Community Health
Volume 45, Issue 2, April 2020
https://link.springer.com/journal/10900/45/2

Original Paper
Association of State Legislation of Human Papillomavirus Vaccination with Vaccine Uptake Among Adolescents in the United States
Nadja A. Vielot, Anne M. Butler, Justin G. Trogdon…

Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Volume 22, Issue 2, April 2020
https://link.springer.com/journal/10903/22/2

Original Paper
Vaccine-Preventable Disease-Associated Hospitalisations Among Migrant and Non-migrant Children in New Zealand
Nadia A. Charania, Janine Paynter, Arier C. Lee…

Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume 221, Issue 4, 15 February 2020
https://academic.oup.com/jid/issue/221/4

Editorials
Sabin Strain Inactivated Polio Vaccine for the Polio Endgame
John F Modlin, Konstantin Chumakov
J Infect Dis, Volume 221, Issue 4, 15 February 2020, Pages 504–505, https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiz077

Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume 221, Issue 4, 15 February 2020
https://academic.oup.com/jid/issue/221/4

Projection of Costs of Polio Eradication Compared to Permanent Control
Marita Zimmermann, Brittany Hagedorn, Hil Lyons
J Infect Dis, Volume 221, Issue 4, 15 February 2020, Pages 561–565, https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiz488
Abstract
Despite increased efforts and spending toward polio eradication, it has yet to be eliminated worldwide. We aimed to project economic costs of polio eradication compared to permanent control. We used historical Financial Resource Requirements from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, as well as vaccination and population data from publicly available sources, to project costs for routine immunization, immunization campaigns, surveillance and laboratory resources, technical assistance, social mobilization, treatment, and overhead. We found that cumulative spending for a control strategy would exceed that for an eradication strategy in 2032 (range, 2027–2051). Eradication of polio would likely be cost-saving compared to permanent control.

The Lancet
Mar 14, 2020 Volume 395 Number 10227 p839-920, e46-e51
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

Comment
Looming threat of COVID-19 infection in Africa: act collectively, and fast
John N Nkengasong, essam Mankoula

The Lancet
Mar 14, 2020 Volume 395 Number 10227 p839-920, e46-e51
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

Articles
Preparedness and vulnerability of African countries against importations of COVID-19: a modelling study
Marius Gilbert, et al.
Findings
Countries with the highest importation risk (ie, Egypt, Algeria, and South Africa) have moderate to high capacity to respond to outbreaks. Countries at moderate risk (ie, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola, Tanzania, Ghana, and Kenya) have variable capacity and high vulnerability. We identified three clusters of countries that share the same exposure to the risk originating from the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, and the city of Beijing, respectively.
Interpretation
Many countries in Africa are stepping up their preparedness to detect and cope with COVID-19 importations. Resources, intensified surveillance, and capacity building should be urgently prioritised in countries with moderate risk that might be ill-prepared to detect imported cases and to limit onward transmission.
Funding
EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020, Agence Nationale de la Recherche.

The Lancet
Mar 14, 2020 Volume 395 Number 10227 p839-920, e46-e51
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

Rapid Review
The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence
Samantha K Brooks,et al
Summary
The December, 2019 coronavirus disease outbreak has seen many countries ask people who have potentially come into contact with the infection to isolate themselves at home or in a dedicated quarantine facility. Decisions on how to apply quarantine should be based on the best available evidence. We did a Review of the psychological impact of quarantine using three electronic databases. Of 3166 papers found, 24 are included in this Review. Most reviewed studies reported negative psychological effects including post-traumatic stress symptoms, confusion, and anger. Stressors included longer quarantine duration, infection fears, frustration, boredom, inadequate supplies, inadequate information, financial loss, and stigma. Some researchers have suggested long-lasting effects. In situations where quarantine is deemed necessary, officials should quarantine individuals for no longer than required, provide clear rationale for quarantine and information about protocols, and ensure sufficient supplies are provided. Appeals to altruism by reminding the public about the benefits of quarantine to wider society can be favourable.

Medical Decision Making (MDM)
Volume 40 Issue 2, February 2020
http://mdm.sagepub.com/content/current

Review
Interventions to Improve Patient Comprehension in Informed Consent for Medical and Surgical Procedures: An Updated Systematic Review
Johanna Glaser, Sarah Nouri, Alicia Fernandez, Rebecca L. Sudore, Dean Schillinger, Michele Klein-Fedyshin, Yael Schenker
First Published January 16, 2020; pp. 119–143

Medical Decision Making (MDM)
Volume 40 Issue 2, February 2020
http://mdm.sagepub.com/content/current

When Does the Incremental Risk Format Aid Informed Medical Decisions? The Role of Learning, Feedback, and Number of Treatment Options
Kevin E. Tiede, Felicia Ripke, Nicole Degen, Wolfgang Gaissmaier

First Published February 8, 2020; pp. 212–221

Nature Biotechnology
Volume 38 Issue 3, March 2020
https://www.nature.com/nbt/volumes/38/issues/3

Uniform nanoparticle vaccines
Precise loading of diverse peptides for vaccination is enabled by a strategy for peptide–TLR7/8 conjugate self-assembly of uniform nanoparticles. The approach is compatible with the development of personalized strategies, such as cancer vaccines targeting patient-specific neoepitopes.

Nature Biotechnology
Volume 38 Issue 3, March 2020
https://www.nature.com/nbt/volumes/38/issues/3

Article | 13 January 2020
Peptide–TLR-7/8a conjugate vaccines chemically programmed for nanoparticle self-assembly enhance CD8 T-cell immunity to tumor antigens
Cancer vaccines that self-assemble into uniform nanoparticles improve tumor clearance.
Geoffrey M. Lynn, Christine Sedlik[…] & Robert A. Seder