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

Latest articles
14 Aug 2020
Use of point-of-care technologies for the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia
Special report | Spanish |

Science
14 August 2020 Vol 369, Issue 6505
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

Editorial
Vaccine nationalism’s politics
By David P. Fidler
Science14 Aug 2020
Before coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) struck, cooperation on global health—especially for pandemic preparedness and response—would, we told ourselves, enhance national security, support economic wealth, protect human rights, and facilitate humanitarian assistance around the world. However, the politics of the coronavirus catastrophe do not reflect such national interests or international solidarity. “Vaccine nationalism” is more evidence that efforts to elevate health cooperation—and the sciences that inform it—have produced more rhetoric than political roots within countries and the international community.

Concerns about vaccine nationalism were escalating even before the United States announced on 31 July its largest deal to date with pharmaceutical companies to secure COVID-19 vaccines. Other countries—including China, India, the United Kingdom, and members of the European Union—are pursuing similar strategies. To critics, this scramble to secure vaccine supplies is one of many decisions by governments that have failed to control spread of the virus, destroyed economic activity, and damaged international cooperation. Ineffective nationalistic policies appear to create a gap between science and politics that makes the pandemic worse and undermines what science and health diplomacy could achieve. In fact, vaccine nationalism reflects “business as usual” in global health.

Historically, health diplomacy has struggled with global, equitable access to drugs and vaccines during serious disease events. Countries did not achieve this goal, for example, during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. International access typically happened only after developed countries secured pharmaceuticals for use at home, as happened with vaccines for smallpox and polio and drugs for HIV/AIDS. Developing countries, such as China and India, tried to break out of this pattern by building their own pharmaceutical innovation and production capabilities. More recently, developing countries have asserted sovereignty over pathogenic samples. This approach conditions access to samples on the source country receiving benefits from research and development, including drugs and vaccines. This “viral sovereignty” strategy produced the virus-and-benefit sharing regime in the World Health Organization’s Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework in 2011.

With COVID-19, history is repeating itself. Countries with the resources to obtain vaccines have not subordinated their needs and capacities to the objective of global, equitable access. And the worldwide spread of the coronavirus eliminates leverage that viral sovereignty might have provided countries without such means. International and nongovernmental organizations launched an ad hoc effort—the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility—to achieve equitable access. But with no serious participation by major states so far, COVAX lacks game-changing support. In keeping with the longstanding pattern of political behavior during pandemics, vaccines will eventually reach most populations, but only after powerful countries have protected themselves.

Further, changes in domestic and global politics have made matters worse. Domestically, the extent to which governments have ignored science, denigrated health experts, supported quack remedies and policies, peddled disinformation, and botched social distancing and other nonpharmaceutical interventions has been astonishing. This travesty flows from the traction that populist, nationalist, antiglobalist, and authoritarian attitudes have gained around the world.

Globally, balance-of-power politics has returned to world affairs. Geopolitical calculations have shaped national responses to COVID-19, with the United States and China treating the pandemic as another front in their rivalry for power and influence. National access to coronavirus vaccines has become a priority in power politics, especially as a means to recover from the economic damage at home, in export markets, and within regions of strategic importance in the balance of power.

These changes in politics have generated ferocious headwinds against global, equitable vaccine access—an objective only approached with great difficulty when political waters were less turbulent. Reorienting health policy and diplomacy will require root-and-branch reconstruction of political interests on infectious diseases. Perhaps the mounting desperation for scientists to deliver a vaccine against COVID-19 will provide an incentive for leaders to rebuild health policies sufficiently so that, when the next pandemic hits, politicians and citizens will be less likely to drink the hydroxychloroquine.

Science
14 August 2020 Vol 369, Issue 6505
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

In Depth
Antibodies may curb pandemic before vaccines
By Jon Cohen
Science14 Aug 2020 : 752-753 Full Access
Now in efficacy trials, monoclonal antibodies promise to both prevent and treat disease.

Science
14 August 2020 Vol 369, Issue 6505
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

DNA vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 in rhesus macaques
By Jingyou Yu, Lisa H. Tostanoski, Lauren Peter, Noe B. Mercado, Katherine McMahan, Shant H. Mahrokhian, Joseph P. Nkolola, Jinyan Liu, Zhenfeng Li, Abishek Chandrashekar, David R. Martinez, Carolin Loos, Caroline Atyeo, Stephanie Fischinger, John S. Burke, Matthew D. Slein, Yuezhou Chen, Adam Zuiani, Felipe J. N. Lelis, Meghan Travers, Shaghayegh Habibi, Laurent Pessaint, Alex Van Ry, Kelvin Blade, Renita Brown, Anthony Cook, Brad Finneyfrock, Alan Dodson, Elyse Teow, Jason Velasco, Roland Zahn, Frank Wegmann, Esther A. Bondzie, Gabriel Dagotto, Makda S. Gebre, Xuan He, Catherine Jacob-Dolan, Marinela Kirilova, Nicole Kordana, Zijin Lin, Lori F. Maxfield, Felix Nampanya, Ramya Nityanandam, John D. Ventura, Huahua Wan, Yongfei Cai, Bing Chen, Aaron G. Schmidt, Duane R. Wesemann, Ralph S. Baric, Galit Alter, Hanne Andersen, Mark G. Lewis, Dan H. Barouch

Science14 Aug 2020 : 806-811 Open Access
Successful protection against SARS-CoV-2 in rhesus macaques by means of a prototype DNA vaccine is described.

Science
14 August 2020 Vol 369, Issue 6505
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

Reports
Primary exposure to SARS-CoV-2 protects against reinfection in rhesus macaques
By Wei Deng, Linlin Bao, Jiangning Liu, Chong Xiao, Jiayi Liu, Jing Xue, Qi Lv, Feifei Qi, Hong Gao, Pin Yu, Yanfeng Xu, Yajin Qu, Fengdi Li, Zhiguang Xiang, Haisheng Yu, Shuran Gong, Mingya Liu, Guanpeng Wang, Shunyi Wang, Zhiqi Song, Ying Liu, Wenjie Zhao, Yunlin Han, Linna Zhao, Xing Liu, Qiang Wei, Chuan Qin
Science14 Aug 2020 : 818-823 Open Access
SARS-CoV-2 infection was able to induce robust protective immunity against reexposure to virus in nonhuman primates.

Science
14 August 2020 Vol 369, Issue 6505
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

SARS-CoV-2 infection protects against rechallenge in rhesus macaques
By Abishek Chandrashekar, Jinyan Liu, Amanda J. Martinot, Katherine McMahan, Noe B. Mercado, Lauren Peter, Lisa H. Tostanoski, Jingyou Yu, Zoltan Maliga, Michael Nekorchuk, Kathleen Busman-Sahay, Margaret Terry, Linda M. Wrijil, Sarah Ducat, David R. Martinez, Caroline Atyeo, Stephanie Fischinger, John S. Burke, Matthew D. Slein, Laurent Pessaint, Alex Van Ry, Jack Greenhouse, Tammy Taylor, Kelvin Blade, Anthony Cook, Brad Finneyfrock, Renita Brown, Elyse Teow, Jason Velasco, Roland Zahn, Frank Wegmann, Peter Abbink, Esther A. Bondzie, Gabriel Dagotto, Makda S. Gebre, Xuan He, Catherine Jacob-Dolan, Nicole Kordana, Zhenfeng Li, Michelle A. Lifton, Shant H. Mahrokhian, Lori F. Maxfield, Ramya Nityanandam, Joseph P. Nkolola, Aaron G. Schmidt, Andrew D. Miller, Ralph S. Baric, Galit Alter, Peter K. Sorger, Jacob D. Estes, Hanne Andersen, Mark G. Lewis, Dan H. Barouch

Science
14 August 2020 Vol 369, Issue 6505
http://www.sciencemag.org/current.dtl

A mathematical model reveals the influence of population heterogeneity on herd immunity to SARS-CoV-2
By Tom Britton, Frank Ball, Pieter Trapman

Science14 Aug 2020 : 846-849 Open Access
Human population heterogeneities bring down estimates for herd immunity.

Vaccine
Volume 38, Issue 36 Pages 5741-5876 (10 August 2020)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/38/issue/36

Review article Open access
Implementation of the United Kingdom’s childhood influenza national vaccination programme: A review of clinical impact and lessons learned over six influenza seasons
George Kassianos, Pauline MacDonald, Ivan Aloysius, Arlene Reynolds

Vaccine
Volume 38, Issue 36 Pages 5741-5876 (10 August 2020)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/38/issue/36

Research article Abstract only
Impact of a decision-aid tool on influenza vaccine coverage among HCW in two French hospitals: A cluster-randomized trial
Florian Saunier, Philippe Berthelot, Benoît Mottet-Auselo, Carole Pelissier, … Amandine Gagneux-Brunon
Pages 5759-5763

Vaccine
Volume 38, Issue 36 Pages 5741-5876 (10 August 2020)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/38/issue/36

Research article Abstract only
Spread of vaccine hesitancy in France: What about YouTube™?
Marin Lahouati, Antoine De Coucy, Jean Sarlangue, Charles Cazanave
Pages 5779-5782

Vaccine
Volume 38, Issue 36 Pages 5741-5876 (10 August 2020)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/38/issue/36

Research article Open access
Two decades of vaccine innovations for global public good: Report of the Developing Countries’ Vaccine Manufacturers Network 20th meeting, 21–23 october 2019, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Sonia Pagliusi, Maureen Dennehy, Akira Homma
Pages 5851-5860

Vaccine
Volume 38, Issue 36 Pages 5741-5876 (10 August 2020)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/38/issue/36

Research article Open access
A framework for the systematic consideration of ethics, equity, feasibility, and acceptability in vaccine program recommendations
Shainoor J. Ismail, Kendra Hardy, Matthew C. Tunis, Kelsey Young, … Caroline Quach
Pages 5861-5876

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 15 Aug 2020
The Plan That Could Give Us Our Lives Back
The U.S. has never had enough coronavirus tests. Now a group of epidemiologists, economists, and dreamers is plotting a new strategy to defeat the virus, even before a vaccine is found.
Story by Robinson Meyer and Alexis C. Madrigal
August 14, 2020

BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
Coronavirus: Russia calls international concern over vaccine ‘groundless’
12 August 2020

The Economist
http://www.economist.com/
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
The Intelligence
“It would make sense to spend as much as $200bn on bringing forward a vaccine by just one week”

Financial Times
http://www.ft.com/home/uk
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
[No new, unique, relevant content]

Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
Editors’ Pick  |  
10 hours ago
How Long Are You Immune After Covid-19 Coronavirus? Here Is What CDC Says
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has some new guidance about whether you should get tested for SARS-CoV2 or quarantine after recovering from Covid-19.
By Bruce Y. Lee Senior Contributor

Aug 14, 2020
Lessons From The Frontlines: Preparing A Global Vaccine Workforce
Ashoka talks to Dr. Sanjeev Arora, founder of Project ECHO, on the challenge ahead: readying a multi-million-person vaccine workforce in as little as seven months.
By Ashoka Contributor

Aug 14, 2020
Valuing Innovative Drugs Based On Their Cost Of Manufacturing Will Prolong The Covid-19 Pandemic
The myth that an innovative drug’s value can be assessed by counting up its cost of production is dangerous. In reality, the value of an innovative drug is derived from the new practical knowledge created, and how that knowledge benefits patients.
By Wayne Winegarden Contributor

Foreign Affairs
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
Essay September/October 2020
The Tragedy of Vaccine Nationalism
Global cooperation on vaccine allocation would be the most efficient way to disrupt the spread of the virus
Thomas J. Bollyky and Chad P. Bown

Foreign Policy
http://foreignpolicy.com/
Accessed 15 Aug 2020 |
[No new, unique, relevant content]

The Guardian
http://www.guardiannews.com/
Jeremy Farrar: ‘Viruses know no borders. Until every country is protected, we are all at risk’
Jeremy Farrar
Fri 14 Aug 2020
There is no future in narrow nationalism. The only way out of this crisis is by working together

New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
Daily Comment
The Case for a Coronavirus-Vaccine Bond
Is financial engineering the key to ending pandemics?
By Bernard Avishai

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
Middle East
UAE, Israeli Companies Sign ‘Strategic Commercial Agreement’ on Coronavirus R&D
The Emirati APEX National Investment company signed a “strategic commercial agreement” with Israel’s Tera Group to cooperate on research and development related to COVID-19, including a testing device, the UAE’s state news agency WAM said late on Saturday.
By Reuters Aug 15

Americas
Coronavirus Crisis Has Made Brazil an Ideal Vaccine Laboratory
Widespread contagion, a deep bench of scientists and a robust vaccine-making infrastructure have made Brazil an important player in the quest to find a vaccine.
By Manuela Andreoni and Ernesto Londoño
Aug 15

Asia Pacific
Modi Says India Set to Mass Produce COVID-19 Vaccine, Launches Digital Health Mission
India is ready to mass produce COVID-19 vaccines when scientists give the go-ahead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day speech on Saturday, also launching a national project to roll out health identities for each citizen.
By Reuters Aug 14

Americas
Argentine Firm Behind AstraZeneca COVID Vaccine Latam Production Sees April/May Launch
The Argentine biotech firm working on the production of 400 million doses of an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for Latin America said on Friday it could begin shipping the active substance of the product to Mexico for completion.
By Reuters Aug 14

U.S.
Vaccine Makers Including Moderna Must Hit U.S. Timing Goals for Full Payments
The United States is tying payments for COVID-19 vaccines to timing milestones for production and approval, according to public documents and a Trump administration official, putting pressure on drugmakers including Moderna Inc to meet ambitious targets.
By Reuters Aug 14

U.S.
As COVID-19 Cases Rise in U.S., Precious Plasma Donations Lag
In late April, a coalition of New Mexico healthcare systems began asking local COVID-19 survivors to donate their plasma, the antibody-rich blood product used to help treat people hospitalized with the disease.
By Reuters Aug 14

Europe
Russian Doctors Wary of Rapidly Approved COVID-19 Vaccine, Survey Shows
A majority of Russian doctors would not feel comfortable being injected with Russia’s new COVID-19 vaccine due to the lack of sufficient data about it and its super-fast approval, a survey of more than 3,000 medical professionals showed on Friday.
By Reuters Aug 14

Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
CDC asks 4 states and a city to draft coronavirus vaccine distribution plans
The federal government is asking four states and one city to draft plans for how they would distribute a coronavirus vaccine when limited doses become available, possibly as early as this fall.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Defense Department and other agencies began working with officials in California, Florida, Minnesota, North Dakota and Philadelphia this week to develop plans to transport and store vaccine doses, and to prioritize who would receive them…
Lena H. Sun and Brady Dennis · Aug 14, 2020

Think Tanks et al

Brookings
http://www.brookings.edu/
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
Report
Sustainable development finance proposals for the global COVID-19 response
Homi Kharas and Meagan Dooley
Friday, August 14, 2020

Center for Global Development [to 15 Aug 2020]
http://www.cgdev.org/page/press-center
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
August 12, 2020
Maternal Health Pandemic Response Act Proposes Concrete Actions to Improve Evidence, Outcomes, and Equity for Pregnant People
The US is facing growing concerns about how COVID-19 could negatively impact maternal health & exacerbate racial inequities in care and outcomes surrounding childbirth—but there’s an opportunity for reform ahead.
Carleigh Krubiner, Ruth Faden and Ruth Karron

Chatham House [to 15 Aug 2020]
https://www.chathamhouse.org/
[No new relevant content]

CSIS
https://www.csis.org/
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
Podcast Episode
Coronavirus Crisis Update: Is it Possible to Avert Chaos in the Vaccine Scramble?
August 12, 2020 | By J. Stephen Morrison, Anna Carroll, Katherine E. Bliss

Transcript
Online Event: Humanitarian Operations During Covid-19: A Conversation with António Vitorino of the International Organization for Migration
August 11, 2020

On Demand Event
Online Event: The Scramble for Vaccines and the COVAX Facility
August 11, 2020
line Event: The Scramble for Vaccines and the COVAX Facility … global scramble for Covid-19 vaccines is a historic enterprise … scale, and speed. Although vaccine nationalism dominates the …

Council on Foreign Relations
http://www.cfr.org/
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
[No new relevant content]

Kaiser Family Foundation
https://www.kff.org/search/?post_type=press-release
Accessed 15 Aug 2020
[No new relevant content]

EMERGENCIES

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

Situation report – 201
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
8 August 2020

Confirmed cases :: 19 187 943 [week ago: 17 396 943]
Confirmed deaths :: 716 075 [week ago: 635 173]

Highlights [selected]
:: WHO has published guidance on the public health surveillance of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in humans caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This document combines and supersedes the Global surveillance guidance for COVID-19 caused by human infection with COVID-19 virus: Interim guidance, and Surveillance strategies for COVID-19 human infection: Interim Guidance 10 May 2020.

:: A plane carrying 20 tonnes of trauma and surgical supplies from WHO has landed in Beirut, Lebanon to support the treatment of patients injured by the blast which occurred in the city on 4 August. This latest emergency has occurred at a time of recent civil unrest, economic crisis, the COVID-19 outbreak and heavy refugee burden. “We are in this together, and we are committed to supporting Lebanon in this very difficult time” said Dr Najat Rochdi, UN Resident Coordinator in Lebanon…

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COVID-19 Vaccines – Access/Procurement/Supply

Up to 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to be made available for low- and middle-income countries as early as 2021
:: New landmark collaboration between the Serum Institute of India (SII), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate manufacturing and delivery of up to 100 million doses of future safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines for low- and middle-income countries in 2021

:: Vaccines will be priced at maximum US$ 3 per dose and made available to up to 92 countries included in Gavi’s COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC)

:: Dr Seth Berkley: New collaboration will help “ensure we have additional manufacturing capacity to begin producing doses for every country, not just the wealthy few”

Geneva, 7 August 2020 – A new landmark collaboration between SII, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, Gavi and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will accelerate the manufacture and delivery of up to 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as part of the Gavi COVAX AMC, a mechanism within the COVAX Facility.

The collaboration will provide upfront capital to SII to help them increase manufacturing capacity now so that, once a vaccine, or vaccines, gains regulatory approval and WHO Prequalification, doses can be produced at scale for distribution to LMIC countries as part of the Gavi COVAX AMC mechanism as early as the first half of 2021.

“Too many times we’ve seen the most vulnerable countries left at the back of the queue when it comes to new treatments, new diagnostics and new vaccines,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “With COVID-19 vaccines we want things to be different. If only the wealthiest countries in the world are protected, then international trade, commerce and society as a whole will continue to be hit hard as the pandemic continues to rage across the globe. This new collaboration is an important step in our efforts to prevent this from happening, helping to ensure we have additional manufacturing capacity to begin producing doses for every country, not just the wealthy few. We now need other vaccine manufacturers to step up and follow SII’s lead.”

The funding will help de-risk manufacturing by SII for candidate vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax, which will be available for procurement if they are successful in attaining full licensure and WHO Prequalification. SII has set a ceiling price of US$ 3 per dose, a price enabled by investments made by partners such as CEPI and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The arrangement also provides an option to secure additional doses if the vaccines pillar of the ACT Accelerator sees a need for it.

“In an attempt to make our fight against COVID-19 stronger and all-embracing; SII has partnered with Gavi and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance the manufacturing and delivery of up to 100 million doses of future COVID vaccines for low and middle income countries in 2021,” said Adar Poonawalla, CEO of Serum Institute of India. “The rampant spread of the virus has rendered the entire world in an unimaginable halt of uncertainty. And to ensure maximum immunization coverage and contain the pandemic, it is important to make sure that the most remote and poorest countries of the world have access to affordable cure and preventive measures. Through this association, we seek to ramp up our constant efforts to save the lives of millions of people from this dreadful disease.”

The Gavi COVAX AMC, which is currently seeking at least US$ 2 billion in initial seed funding, will meet at least part of the cost of procurement for the vaccine doses. Last week the Gavi Board agreed upon the final list of 92 countries that will be supported by the AMC. Under the new collaboration, AstraZeneca’s candidate vaccine, if successful, will be available to 57 Gavi-eligible countries. Novavax’s candidate, if successful, will be available to all 92 countries supported by the AMC. These countries align with SII’s licensing agreements with the two partners.

This collaboration underscores India’s proven-track record in developing safe and quality vaccines. There is a long history of Gavi and pharmaceutical companies successfully partnering with Indian manufactures, particularly the Serum Institute of India, to manufacture vaccines that protect against meningitis, severe diarrhoea, pneumonia and measles.

“It is encouraging to see an Indian vaccine manufacturer, SII, work collaboratively with global partners with a view to making available affordable Covid-19 vaccine supplies for India and the world,” said Professor K VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. “Normally it would take more than a decade to develop such a vaccine but with the efforts of our researchers, academia and private sector, working closely with global collaborators we are hopeful of accelerating the availability of a successful vaccine, at reasonable cost and in sufficient quantities, to fight the pandemic.”

“Researchers are making good progress on developing safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “But making sure everyone has access to them, as soon as possible, will require tremendous manufacturing capacity and a global distribution network. This collaboration gives the world some of both: the power of India’s manufacturing sector and Gavi’s supply chain. It’s just a start. Organizations like Gavi and CEPI need much more support to facilitate development and delivery of hundreds of millions – maybe billions – of vaccine doses by next year.”

The collaboration between Gavi, SII, and the Gates Foundation supports the efforts of the ACT Accelerator’s vaccines pillar, also known as COVAX, co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO), to accelerate the development of COVID-19 vaccines and ensure rapid, global access to them. Decisions around investment in manufacturing are taken in close collaboration between these three lead organisations of the COVAX pillar.

Under the COVAX umbrella, Gavi is leading the COVAX Facility, which provides governments with the opportunity to benefit from a large portfolio of COVID-19 candidate vaccines using a range of technology platforms, produced by more manufacturers across the world, with a bigger market to provide security of demand. The Facility, which is available to any country or economy, includes the AMC which specifically provides funding for vaccines for 92 low- and middle-income countries.

The COVAX pillar is working to accelerate R&D for promising vaccine candidates, manufacture doses at scale and deliver 2 billion doses globally by the end of 2021. CEPI, as a co-lead for the ACT Accelerator’s Vaccines pillar, has agreements to support R&D for nine candidate vaccines, including the AstraZeneca and Novavax vaccine candidates.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, via its Strategic Investment Fund, will provide at-risk funding of US$150 million to Gavi, which will be used to support the Serum Institute of India to manufacture potential vaccine candidates, and for future procurement of vaccines for low- and middle-income countries via Gavi’s COVAX AMC.

The deal is additional to a Memorandum of Understanding between AstraZeneca and Gavi, announced in June, which will guarantee an additional 300 million doses of AstraZeneca’s candidate vaccine to the wider COVAX Facility, to be supplied upon licensure or prequalification. These two deals can help guarantee access to early doses for the most vulnerable on a truly global scale.

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Johnson & Johnson Announces Agreement with U.S. Government for 100 Million Doses of Investigational COVID-19 Vaccine
Company working to ensure broad global access to COVID-19 vaccine candidate, following approval from regulators
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (the Company) today announced its Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies have entered into an agreement with the U.S. government for the large scale domestic manufacturing and delivery in the U.S. of 100 million doses of Janssen’s SARS-CoV-2 investigational vaccine, Ad26.COV2.S, for use in the United States following approval or Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense, is committing over $1 billion for this agreement. The vaccine will be provided at a global not-for-profit basis for emergency pandemic use. The U.S. government may also purchase an additional 200 million doses of Ad26.COV2.S under a subsequent agreement…

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COVID-19 Vaccines – Discovery

Novavax and Takeda Announce Collaboration for Novavax’ COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate in Japan
August 07, 2020

See NIH below in Announcements

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COVID-19 Vaccines – Manufacturing

CEPI survey assesses potential COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity
05 Aug 2020 By The CEPI Sustainable Manufacturing Team
One of the many challenges we are presented with by the COVID-19 pandemic is finding a way to meet the sheer scale of demand for a vaccine when it has been demonstrated to be safe and effective. We have to take a global view on what manufacturing capacity is available and to ensure we are investing in reserving such capacity now to avoid any delays in the manufacture and distribution of vaccines.

To deliver on its mission CEPI has undertaken a survey of vaccine manufacturers to assess what capacity might be available to meet demand for a COVID-19 vaccine.

CEPI’s Sustainable Manufacturing Project

In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, CEPI established a Sustainable Manufacturing Project to support the supply of CEPI’s investigational vaccines to tackle epidemic events. The Sustainable Manufacturing Project, led by James Robinson, consisted of modelling the supply of vaccines (supply side), modelling the epidemiology of CEPI’s priority diseases (demand side), evaluating potential manufacturing networks to secure capacity for manufacturing and stockpiling to ensure flexibility, affordability, and reliable supply. When COVID-19 emerged in early 2020, CEPI quickly pivoted this effort to focus on the pandemic response, so that we could quickly build a reliable evidence base for what facilities were potentially available for COVID-19 vaccine manufacture.

Survey of global COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity
CEPI – in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Clinton Health Access Initiative, and PATH – undertook a broad, worldwide, survey of vaccine manufacturers to understand capabilities, capacities and interest in responding to the pandemic. We aimed to assess potential bottlenecks in the vaccine manufacturing and to work out what global capacity might be available to produce billions of doses of vaccine.

Between April 3, and June 19, 2020, CEPI invited vaccine manufactures from around the world to take part in an anonymised survey to assess what manufacturing capacity was available to produce drug substance (ie, the unformulated active [immunogenic] substance) and drug product (ie, the finished dosage form of the product including final container) in the coming months, specifically between Oct 1, 2020, and Dec 31, 2021.

A key objective of this survey was to understand how COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing could be scaled up without affecting the manufacture of other important vaccines and to identify additional capacity in the global manufacturing system for both drug substance and drug product.

There is a risk that a few countries could monopolise global vaccine supply, limiting the supply of vaccines to those who need them most, as was the case with the 2009 flu pandemic. To truly end COVID-19 pandemic, it’s crucial that the world works together to enable fair, global distribution of any vaccine.

In gathering these survey data, CEPI aims build a picture of the availability and global distribution of manufacturing capacity, which would inform how and where it could make strategic investments in vaccine manufacturing to ensure equitable access to any successful vaccine candidate.

Key findings
113 manufacturers, from over 30 countries, responded to our survey. 43 respondents were both drug-substance and drug-product manufacturers. 56 were drug-substance manufacturers only. 100 were drug-product manufacturers only.
:: 2 to 4 billion doses :: Global capacity to produce COVID-19 vaccines through to end of year 2021

:: 113 :: Number of manufacturers who responded to the survey

:: 20% :: Proportion of the population who will be vaccinated in countries that participate in COVAX

As reflected by the number of manufacturers with regulatory approvals for their operations, mature manufacturing capacity is available for both drug-substance and drug-product manufacturing in multiple locations around the world.

India has the largest production capacity for drug substance (specifically for microbial or yeast expression systems; recombinant protein from suspension cells; recombinant protein from insect cells; viruses; and DNA), followed by Europe and North America. Europe has the largest production capacity for RNA-based drug substance.

For drug product, the base-case estimates showed that China has the largest production capacity, followed by North America, and the rest of Asia and Oceania.

Crucially, the survey data show that there is potential global capacity to produce at least 2-4 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine through end of year 2021. This finding is important for CEPI’s wider COVID-19 response because – in collaboration with Gavi and WHO – we aim to distribute 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021 through a programme called COVAX. Vaccines manufactured and procured through COVAX will be delivered equally to all countries who participate in the initiative, proportional to their populations (initially prioritising healthcare workers then expanding to cover 20% of their population). Our survey confirm that this 2 billion manufacturing target can not only be achieved but can be delivered without displacing other critical vaccine manufacturing activities.

This analysis represents a snapshot in time from our survey responders and will have changed dramatically since the data was collected between May and June, 2020. To the best of our knowledge, this is the only publicly available data on global drug-substance and drug-product manufacturing capacity for vaccines gathered specifically during the early days of the pandemic.

CEPI has been and will continue to use this information in its COVID-19 pandemic response including matchmaking between vaccine developers and available capacity to maximise global capacity for COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing.

See survey results here.

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

Emergencies

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

Last WHO Situation Report published 23 June 2020

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

Emergencies

POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

Polio this week as of 5 August 2020

Summary of new WPV and cVDPV viruses this week (AFP cases and environmental samples):
:: Afghanistan: two WPV1 positive environmental samples
:: Pakistan: three WPV1 cases, 12 WPV1 positive environmental samples and one cVDPV2 positive environmental sample
:: Cameroon: one cVDPV2 case
:: Chad: three cVDPV2 cases
:: Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo): two cVDPV2 cases

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

WHO Grade 3 Emergencies [to 8 Aug 2020]

Democratic Republic of the Congo – No new digest announcements identified
Mozambique floods – No new digest announcements identified
Nigeria – No new digest announcements identified
Somalia – No new digest announcements identified
South Sudan – No new digest announcements identified
Syrian Arab Republic – No new digest announcements identified
Yemen – No new digest announcements identified

::::::

WHO Grade 2 Emergencies [to 8 Aug 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
Iran floods 2019 – No new digest announcements identified
Iraq – No new digest announcements identified
Libya – No new digest announcements identified
Malawi – No new digest announcements identified
Measles in Europe – 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
HIV in Pakistan – No new digest announcements identified
Sao Tome and Principe Necrotizing Cellulitis (2017) – 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 8 Aug 2020]

Chad – No new digest announcements identified
Djibouti – Page not responding at inquiry
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
:: Syrian Arab Republic: COVID-19 Response Update No. 08 – 4 August 2020
:: Recent Developments in Northwest Syria – Flash Update – As of 07 August 2020

Yemen
:: 05 August 2020 Yemen Humanitarian Update Issue 07 (July 2020)

::::::

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.
East Africa Locust Infestation
::  Desert Locust situation update – 7 August 2020

COVID-19 – No new digest announcements identified

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

WHO & Regional Offices [to 8 Aug 2020]
5 August 2020 News release
Plane carrying WHO trauma and surgical supplies arrives in Beirut, Lebanon

::::::

Weekly Epidemiological Record, 7 August 2020, vol. 95, 32 (pp. 369–380)
;; Lessons learnt in expediting prequalification and registration of Ebola Zaire vaccine
;; Monthly report on dracunculiasis cases, January-June 2020

::::::

WHO Regional Offices
Selected Press Releases, Announcements
WHO African Region AFRO
No new digest content identified

WHO Region of the Americas PAHO
No new digest content identified

WHO South-East Asia Region SEARO
:: 7 August 2020 News release
World breastfeeding week 2020: Focus on access to skilled support
As the world marks Breastfeeding Week amidst the COVID-19 pandemic spread, WHO and partners are focusing on increasing mother’s access to skilled breastfeeding support…
:: 6 August 2020 News release
Maintain essential health services during COVID-19 response: WHO
The World Health Organization urged Member countries in South-East Asia Region to maintain essential health and accelerate resumption of disrupted health-care services, hit by the…

WHO European Region EURO
:: Patient guides build bridge between Syrian refugees and doctors in Turkey 07-08-2020
:: Epidemics and Public Health Emergency Operations Centre opens in North Macedonia 07-08-2020
:: New WHO tools to support health-care workers promoting breastfeeding in Europe 06-08-2020
:: Marko Obradovic: why new mothers need our support and why breastfeeding concerns us all 05-08-2020

WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region EMRO
:: WHO requires US$ 15 million to support immediate Beirut blast response and ensure vital health and disease prevention activities are maintained
Cairo/Beirut, August 6, 2020 – As the public health impact of the Beirut blast becomes clearer, WHO is calling for US$ 15 million to cover immediate emergency trauma and humanitarian health needs and ensure the continuity of the response to COVID-19 across the country. “We are particularly concerned about overburdened hospital and health workforce capacity, shortages of medicines and medical supplies, and the…

:: Statement by WHO’s Regional Director on standing with the people of Lebanon following deadly Beirut blast
6 August 2020 – Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, our Region was plagued by emergencies. More than 70 million people were directly or indirectly affected by political conflict or natural disasters and in need of humanitarian aid. In the past 6 months, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, the Region was impacted by another large-scale crisis that resulted in…

Plane carrying WHO trauma and surgical supplies arrives in Beirut, Lebanon
5 August 2020, Beirut, Lebanon – A plane carrying 20 tonnes of WHO health supplies has landed in Beirut, Lebanon, to support the treatment of patients injured by the massive blast that occurred in the city on 4 August. The supplies will cover 1000 trauma interventions and 1000 surgical interventions for people suffering from injuries and burns resulting from the…

WHO Western Pacific Region
No new digest content identified

CDC/ACIP [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.cdc.gov/media/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/index.html
Latest News Releases
CDC Expects 2020 Outbreak of Life-Threatening Acute Flaccid Myelitis Transcript
Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Africa CDC [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.africacdc.org/
News
Press Releases
World Mask Week aims to inspire global movement to wear face coverings in public
6 August 2020

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
Aug 8: Daily briefing on novel coronavirus cases in China
On Aug 7, 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on the Chinese mainland reported 31 new cases of confirmed infections, 5 new cases of suspected infections, and no deaths.

Nation readies for fall, winter COVID-19 spikes
2020-08-06
China is gearing up for a serious battle against the novel coronavirus in the fall and winter by building a more expansive and agile network of nucleic acid testing resources, officials said on Aug 5.
The country’s current testing capacity is sufficient to cope with sporadic clusters of infections and meet demand for implementing regular disease control measures. More efforts will then be devoted to stepping up regional testing capabilities, increasing the number of mobile laboratories and accelerating development of rapid testing kits, according to officials.
The persistent drive to ramp up testing was recently stressed by the central government as health experts urged caution against potential COVID-19 outbreaks in fall and winter months, which could be worsened by the circulation of other contagious viruses－such as the seasonal flu－and gradual reopening of borders while the virus continues to rage globally.
“We should conduct a thorough evaluation of the transmission risk in fall and winter and step up preparedness in advance. It is better to have excessive stockpiles than face shortages,” said Wang Jiangping, vice-minister of the Ministry of Industry and Technology Information…

WHO advance team to China concludes their mission: WHO chief
2020-08-04
GENEVA – World Health Organization (WHO) chief said Monday that the WHO advance team that traveled to China has concluded their mission to lay the groundwork for further joint efforts to identify the virus origins.
“One of the areas that we’ve been continuing to study is the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference from Geneva.
As a result of these efforts, he said that WHO and Chinese experts have drafted the Terms of Reference for the studies and program of work for an international team, led by WHO.
“The international team will include leading scientists and researchers from China and around the world,” the WHO chief said…

Announcements

Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://alleninstitute.org/what-we-do/frontiers-group/news-press/
News
Could treatments aimed at Alzheimer’s disease help combat COVID-19?
August 5, 2020
A team of cardiology researchers had a creative idea for a new way to treat dementia. Now they think it could help coronavirus patients too.

BARDA – U.S. Department of HHS [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.phe.gov/about/barda/Pages/default.aspx
BARDA News
August 5, 2020: HHS, DOD Collaborate With Johnson & Johnson to Produce Millions of COVID-19 Investigational Vaccine Doses
[See Milestones above for detail]

BMGF – Gates Foundation [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Media-Center/Press-Releases
No new digest content identified.

Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute [to 8 Aug 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 8 Aug 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 8 Aug 2020]
http://cepi.net/
Latest News
CEPI survey assesses potential COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity
05 Aug 2020
By The CEPI Sustainable Manufacturing Team
[See Milestones above for detail]

EDCTP [to 8 Aug 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 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.vaccines.emory.edu/
Vaccine Center News
No new digest content identified.

European Medicines Agency [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/
News & Press Releases
No new digest content identified.

European Vaccine Initiative [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.euvaccine.eu/
Latest News
No new digest content identified.

FDA [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/default.htm
Press Announcements
August 7, 2020 – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: Daily Roundup August 7, 2020

August 6, 2020 – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: Daily Roundup August 6, 2020

August 5, 2020 – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: Daily Roundup August 5, 2020

August 4, 2020 – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: Daily Roundup August 4, 2020

August 3, 2020 – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: Daily Roundup August 3, 2020

Fondation Merieux [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.fondation-merieux.org/
News, Events
No new digest content identified.

Gavi [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.gavi.org/
News releases
6 August 2020
Up to 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to be made available for low- and middle-income countries as early as 2021
[See Milestones above for detail]

GHIT Fund [to 8 Aug 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 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/
Updates
The Global Fund Appoints Leading Global Health Experts to Head HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria Teams
04 August 2020
The Global Fund has announced the appointment of three leading global health experts to head the organization’s HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria teams to accelerate action to fight the three diseases.
Siobhan Crowley has been appointed Head of HIV, Eliud Wandwalo as Head of Tuberculosis and Scott Filler as Head of Malaria.
In their new roles, the appointees will develop and expand highly effective teams of senior disease advisors with the primary role of supporting Global Fund country teams, strengthening collaboration and alignment on key opportunities across the Global Fund Secretariat and deepening technical partner engagement to strengthen in-country results…

Hilleman Laboratories [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.hillemanlabs.org/
No new digest content identified.

Human Vaccines Project [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.humanvaccinesproject.org/media/press-releases/
Press Release
2020 Michelson Prizes Support Groundbreaking Research by Young Scientists
August 3, 2020 – The Michelson Medical Research Foundation and the Human Vaccines Project are pleased to announce the 2020 Michelson Prizes for Human Immunology and Vaccine Research and support the outstanding research of two young scientists advancing human immunology, vaccine discovery and immunotherapy across major global diseases.
We live in historic times. 2020 will be remembered as the year the world endured an unprecedented pandemic with vast implications on the entire global community. The COVID pandemic has highlighted the critical need for groundbreaking research in immunology and vaccine discovery. Now, more than ever, it is crucial to support and cultivate young scientists advancing the fields of immunology, vaccinology, and immunotherapy. That is why the Michelson Medical Research Foundation and the Human Vaccines Project engage in an annual international search to identify and support the most promising projects from young investigators.
This year’s winners are Danika Hill, a research fellow at Monash University, and Michael Birnbaum, assistant professor at MIT. They will be awarded the 2020 Michelson Prize for Human Immunology and Vaccine Research, receiving $150,000 each…

IAVI [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.iavi.org/newsroom
Features
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/
Announcements
IFFIm issues NOK 2 billion in Vaccine Bonds for COVID-19 vaccine development
07 Jul 2020
IFFIm has issued NOK 2 billion in Vaccine Bonds to accelerate the availability of financing for urgent COVID-19 vaccine research and development by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

IFRC [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/news/press-releases/
Selected Press Releases, Announcements
Africa, South Africa
South Africa: Lessons of HIV/AIDS key to halting COVID-19 slide, says Red Cross
Johannesburg/Geneva, 7 August 2020 – A senior Red Cross official has warned that South Africa needed to learn lessons from the country’s fight against HIV/AIDS to help curb the rise in the number of people testing positive for COVID-19, as the number c …
7 August 2020

Asia Pacific, Bangladesh, India, Nepal
17.5 million affected by floods and threatened by disease in South Asia
Dhaka/Kuala Lumpur, 6 August 2020 – Monsoon floods are robbing millions of people of their homes and livelihoods, with mounting risk of more deadly disease outbreaks when health resources are stretched to breaking point by COVID-19. So far almost 17.5 …
6 August 2020

IRC International Rescue Committee [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.rescue.org/press-release-index
Media highlights
Press Release
As confirmed COVID cases more than double in July across African countries, a lack of testing in crisis-affected contexts keeps responders in the dark about the real spread of the disease, warns IRC
July 30, 2020
:: Each country in Africa where the IRC works has done less than 8,000 tests per million people, compared to the UK (205,782 per million), United Arab Emirates (472,590 per million), and Singapore (199,904 per million).
:: The countries in Africa where the IRC works which have done the least tests per million are Tanzania* (63 tests per million), Niger (373 tests per million), Chad (383 tests per million, DRC (467 tests per million), and Burundi (563 tests per million).
:: The UK has done up to 550 times more tests per million than the countries in Africa where the IRC works.
:: The WHO recommends at least 1 test per 1,000 people per week – while countries like Niger and South Sudan have done 1 test per every 2,680 and 930 people in total respectively.
:: The WHO recommends countries have a test positivity rate of 5% or under for at least 14 days; Most African countries where the IRC works are not meeting this target, such as Somalia (32%), DRC (21%), South Sudan (18%), Cote d’Ivoire (17%) and CAR (16%).
:: Despite efforts to expand testing capacities, hard-hit countries need additional resources and support from the international community to expand testing and mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

IVAC [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/ivac/index.html
Updates
DoVE Return on Investment (ROI) Publication Launch
August 2020
The Decade of Vaccine Economics (DoVE) Project, carried out by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) for nearly ten years, has computed the return-on-investment for vaccines preventing 10 infectious diseases in 73 countries that have received support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

IVI [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.ivi.int/
Selected IVI News & Announcements
No new digest content identified.

JEE Alliance [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.jeealliance.org/
Selected News and Events
No new digest content identified.

MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.msf.org/
Latest [Selected Announcements]
Lebanon
MSF supporting Beirut’s health services in wake of massive blast
Project Update 6 Aug 2020

Mediterranean migration
MSF and Sea-Watch announce collaboration to save lives at sea
Press Release 6 Aug 2020

South Africa
Western Cape begins to breathe after COVID-19 peak
Project Update 6 Aug 2020

Iraq
Mosul: MSF works on dual front of COVID-19 and lifesaving medical care
Project Update 5 Aug 2020

Brazil
Chasing COVID-19 in the Brazilian Amazon
Exposure.co 4 Aug 2020

National Vaccine Program Office – U.S. HHS [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.hhs.gov/vaccines/about/index.html
NVAC Meetings
September 23-24, 2020 Meeting (Virtual)
February 4-5, 2021 NVAC Meeting
June 16-17, 2021 NVAC Meeting

NIH [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases
Selected News Releases
Friday, August 7, 2020
NIH-funded project seeks to identify children at risk for MIS-C
Research effort will develop tests to predict severe COVID-19-linked illness.
The National Institutes of Health has announced research funding to encourage the development of approaches that identify children at high risk for developing Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), thought to be a severe complication of COVID-19. Up to $20 million will be awarded to successful research proposals over four years.
Most children exposed to or infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, develop only a mild form of the illness. However, others go on to develop MIS-C(link is external), a severe, sometimes fatal, inflammation of organs and tissues, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin and eyes. The new effort seeks to encourage studies of genetic, immune, viral, environmental, and other factors that influence how severe a case of COVID-19 will be and the chances of developing to MIS-C.
“We urgently need methods to distinguish children at high risk for MIS-C from those unlikely to experience major ill effects from the virus, so that we can develop early interventions to improve their outcomes, ” said Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., director of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)…

Thursday, August 6, 2020
NIH clinical trial testing remdesivir plus interferon beta-1a for COVID-19 treatment begins
A randomized, controlled clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of a treatment regimen consisting of the antiviral remdesivir plus the immunomodulator interferon beta-1a in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has begun. The study, called the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial 3 (ACTT 3), is anticipated to enroll more than 1,000 hospitalized adults with COVID-19 at as many as 100 sites in the United States and abroad. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, is sponsoring the trial…

Wednesday, August 5, 2020
NIH harnesses AI for COVID-19 diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring
Collaborative network to enlist medical imaging and clinical data sciences to reveal unique features of COVID-19.
The National Institutes of Health has launched the Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC), an ambitious effort that will harness the power of artificial intelligence and medical imaging to fight COVID-19. The multi-institutional collaboration, led by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), part of NIH, will create new tools that physicians can use for early detection and personalized therapies for COVID-19 patients.
“This program is particularly exciting because it will give us new ways to rapidly turn scientific findings into practical imaging tools that benefit COVID-19 patients,” said Bruce J. Tromberg, Ph.D., NIBIB Director.  “It unites leaders in medical imaging and artificial intelligence from academia, professional societies, industry, and government to take on this important challenge.”
The features of infected lungs and hearts seen on medical images can help assess disease severity, predict response to treatment, and improve patient outcomes. However, a major challenge is to rapidly and accurately identify these signatures and evaluate this information in combination with many other  clinical symptoms and tests. The MIDRC goals are to lead the development and implementation of new diagnostics, including machine learning algorithms, that will allow rapid and accurate assessment of disease status and help physicians optimize patient treatment.
“This effort will gather a large repository of COVID-19 chest images,” explained Guoying Liu, Ph.D., the NIBIB scientific program lead on this effort, “allowing researchers to evaluate both lung and cardiac tissue data, ask critical research questions, and develop predictive COVID-19 imaging signatures that can be delivered to healthcare providers.”…

NIH-Moderna investigational COVID-19 vaccine shows promise in mouse studies
August 5, 2020 — Vaccine currently being evaluated in Phase 3 clinical testing.

NIH clinical trial to test antibodies and other experimental therapeutics for mild and moderate COVID-19
August 4, 2020 — Initial trial to determine if monoclonal antibodies can shorten severity of COVID-19 in outpatients.

NIH launches clinical trial to test antibody treatment in hospitalized COVID-19 patients
August 4, 2020 — ​Study aims to determine safety and efficacy of experimental monoclonal antibodies.

PATH [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.path.org/media-center/
No new digest content identified.

Sabin Vaccine Institute [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.sabin.org/updates/pressreleases
Statements and Press Releases
No new digest content identified.

UNAIDS [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.unaids.org/en
Selected Press Releases/Reports/Statements
4 August 2020
Virtual training for antiretroviral therapy prescribers launched in Papua New Guinea

UNICEF [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.unicef.org/media/press-releases
Selected Press releases/Announcements
Press release
08/07/2020
UNICEF loses life-saving supplies in Kinshasa warehouse fire

Press release
08/07/2020
Geneva Palais briefing note on situation for children affected by Beirut explosions and UNICEF response

Press release
08/06/2020
80,000 children displaced due to Beirut explosions – UNICEF
UNICEF scales up response and assistance to children and families

Statement
08/05/2020
UNICEF sad and shocked at Beirut explosions, concerned about the wellbeing of children, and supporting partners on the ground
Statement from Ms. Yukie Mokuo, UNICEF Representative in Lebanon

Press release
08/04/2020
UNICEF condemns attack in Cameroon’s Far North that reportedly killed 10 children

Statement
08/03/2020
Support breastfeeding for a healthier planet
Joint message for World Breastfeeding Week 2020 by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Press release
08/03/2020
Children in Central America and the Caribbean facing dual threat of stronger hurricane season and COVID-19
Displacement and service interruption caused by storms could leave children and families more vulnerable to virus, UNICEF warns

Unitaid [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://unitaid.org/
Featured News
No new digest content identified.

Vaccination Acceptance Research Network (VARN) [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://vaccineacceptance.org/news.html#header1-2r
Announcements
No new digest content identified.

Vaccine Confidence Project [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.vaccineconfidence.org/
Research and Reports
Cross-Country Comparison of Public Awareness, Rumors, and Behavioral Responses to the COVID-19 Epidemic: Infodemiology Study
4 Aug 2020

Vaccine Education Center – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center
No new digest content identified.

Wellcome Trust [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://wellcome.ac.uk/news
No new digest content identified.

The Wistar Institute [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.wistar.org/news/press-releases
Press Releases
No new digest content identified.

WFPHA: World Federation of Public Health Associations [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.wfpha.org/
Latest News
No new digest content identified.

World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.oie.int/en/for-the-media/press-releases/2020/
No new digest content identified.

::::::

ARM [Alliance for Regenerative Medicine] [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://alliancerm.org/press-releases/
Press Releases
New Report: Regenerative Medicine & Advanced Therapies Sector Thriving Despite COVID-19
August 6, 2020
Washington, DC
The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), the leading international advocacy organization dedicated to realizing the promise of regenerative medicines and advanced therapies, today announces the publication of its H1 2020 Global Sector Report, “Innovation in the Time of COVID-19.” The report provides an in-depth look at trends and metrics in the gene, cell, and tissue-based therapeutic sector in the midst of the pandemic.

BIO [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://www.bio.org/press-releases
Press Releases
Ensuring Scientific Justice by Building Bridges to Minority Communities is Centerpiece of BIOEquality Agenda
August 6, 2020
New focus on justice through equity in diverse clinical trials, STEM education and expanding entrepreneurship to undeserved communities will drive nation’s largest life science advocacy organization The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)…

DCVMN – Developing Country Vaccine Manufacturers Network [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.dcvmn.org/
News; Upcoming events
Gavi/UNICEF SD information session on COVAX Facility
August 12th, 2020 13:00 – 15:30 CET

ICBA – International Council of Biotechnology Associations [to 8 Aug 2020]
https://internationalbiotech.org/
News
No new digest content identified.

IFPMA [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.ifpma.org/resources/news-releases/
Selected Press Releases, Statements, Publications
No new digest content identified.

PhRMA [to 8 Aug 2020]
http://www.phrma.org/
Selected Press Releases, Statements
Press Release
PhRMA Statement on the “Buy American” Executive Order
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 6, 2020) – Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America President and CEO Stephen J. Ubl made the following statement:

“At a time when our nation’s priority should be to beat COVID-19, President Trump today signed yet another executive order that creates even more barriers to ongoing biopharmaceutical manufacturing and innovation. Companies are working around the clock to research and develop treatments and a vaccine for COVID-19. At the same time, they are working to ensure they have the capacity to manufacture the treatments and vaccines once approved so that every patient that needs them has access to them. These efforts are all hands on deck for the biopharmaceutical industry but each executive order issued by the administration adds another roadblock, making it harder to fight this pandemic.

“The administration is forcing biopharmaceutical companies to shift their critical attention and resources away from COVID-19 work to focus on making substantial changes to their business models necessary to comply with this and other recent executive orders. Increasing U.S. manufacturing of medicines is a laudable goal, but it cannot happen overnight and should not come at the expense of medical innovation or Americans’ access to the medicines they need.

“The recent executive orders also contradict and undermine each other, creating chaos in an industry that is on the frontlines of fighting COVID-19. With today’s ‘Buy American’ executive order, the administration effectively is taking the unprecedented step of mandating manufacturing of medicines in the United States. Yet at the same time, through the ‘most favored nation’ executive order, the administration is creating a huge disincentive to invest in U.S. biopharmaceutical research and manufacturing. Together, the result is less investment in U.S. innovation and the potential for major long-term supply chain disruptions – the opposite of wht America needs right now. None of these executive orders will help patients access or afford their medicines.

“The ‘Buy American’ executive order could disrupt the global pharmaceutical supply chain, jeopardizing our ability to respond to the current crisis and potentially leading to major long-term supply chain disruptions, including shortages. Rather than government mandates, we should look for policies that enable more domestic manufacturing without putting the stability of pharmaceutical supply chains at risk.”

Industry Watch [to 8 Aug 2020]
:: GSK launches national public awareness campaign to reverse steep decline in already low immunization rates for adults
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — GSK today launched a national campaign to help increase low rates of vaccination among older adults. The campaign, Brought to You By Vaccines, will educate adults ages 50 and older about the value of vaccines and the urgent need to talk to their healthcare provider or pharmacist about the recommended vaccines they need or may have recently missed…

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

BMJ Global Health
August 2020 – Volume 5 – 8
https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/8

Commentary
Patient-centric research in the time of COVID-19: conducting ethical COVID-19 research in Africa (6 August, 2020)
Victoria Nembaware, Nchangwi Syntia Munung, Alice Matimba, Nicki Tiffin

BMJ Global Health
August 2020 – Volume 5 – 8
https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/8

Original research
A checklist to improve health system resilience to infectious disease outbreaks and natural hazards (5 August, 2020)
Diane Meyer, David Bishai, Sanjana J Ravi, Harunor Rashid, Shehrin Shaila Mahmood, Eric Toner, Jennifer B Nuzzo

BMJ Global Health
August 2020 – Volume 5 – 8
https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/8

Practice
How to set up government-led national hygiene communication campaigns to combat COVID-19: a strategic blueprint (6 August, 2020)
Val Curtis, Robert Dreibelbis, Myriam Sidibe, Jason Cardosi, Jennifer Sara, Chris Bonell, Kaposo Mwambuli, Soma Ghosh Moulik, Sian White, Robert Aunger

BMC Public Health
http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles
(Accessed 8 Aug 2020)

Introduction of multi-dose PCV 13 vaccine in Benin: from the decision to vaccinators experience
In 2011, Benin introduced the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugated vaccine (PCV13), in a single-dose vial, into its Expanded Programme for Immunisation (EPI) with support from Gavi. In April 2018, with the support of the Agence de Médecine Préventive Afrique (AMP) and other technical and financial partners, the single-dose vial was transitioned to a four-dose vial. Here we describe the decision-making process and the experience of the vaccinators during the change.
Authors: Daleb Abdoulaye Alfa, Roch A. Houngnihin, G. Patrick Ilboudo, Naomi Dick, Landry Kaucley and Téné-Alima Essoh
Citation: BMC Public Health 2020 20:1216
Content type: Research article
Published on: 8 August 2020

EMBO Reports
Volume 21 Issue 8 5 August 2020
https://www.embopress.org/toc/14693178/current

Science & Society 27 July 2020
The moral status of human embryo‐like structures: potentiality matters? : The moral status of human synthetic embryos
Tsutomu Sawai et al
New techniques to generate and culture embryo‐like structures from stem cells require a more fine‐grained distinction of potential to define the moral status of these structures.

Expert Review of Vaccines
Vol 19 (6) 2020
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ierv20/current

Review
Review of poliovirus modeling performed from 2000 to 2019 to support global polio eradication
Kimberly M. Thompson & Dominika A. Kalkowska
Received 28 Feb 2020, Accepted 22 Jun 2020, Published online: 08 Aug 2020
ABSTRACT
Introduction
Over the last 20 years (2000-2019) the partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) invested in the development and application of mathematical models of poliovirus transmission as well as economics, policy, and risk analyses of polio endgame risk management options, including policies related to poliovirus vaccine use during the polio endgame.
Areas covered
This review provides a historical record of the polio studies published by the three modeling groups that primarily performed the bulk of this work. This review also systematically evaluates the polio transmission and health economic modeling papers published in English in peer-reviewed journals from 2000 to 2019, highlights differences in approaches and methods, shows the geographic coverage of the transmission modeling performed, identified common themes, and discusses instances of similar or conflicting insights or recommendations.
Expert opinion
Polio modeling performed during the last 20 years substantially impacted polio vaccine choices, immunization policies, and the polio eradication pathway. As the polio endgame continues, national preferences for polio vaccine formulations and immunization strategies will likely continue to change. Future modeling will likely provide important insights about their cost-effectiveness and their relative benefits with respect to controlling polio and potentially achieving and maintaining eradication.

Globalization and Health
http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/

Promoting the use of evidence in health policymaking in the ECOWAS region: the development and contextualization of an evidence-based policymaking guidance
The Economic Commission of the West African States (ECOWAS), through her specialised health Institution, the West African Health Organization (WAHO) is supporting Members States to improve health outcomes in West Africa. There is a global recognition that evidence-based health policies are vital towards achieving continued improvement in health outcomes. The need to have a tool that will provide systematic guide on the use of evidence in policymaking necessitated the production of the evidence-based policy-making (EBPM) Guidance.
Authors: Chigozie Jesse Uneke, Issiaka Sombie, Ermel Johnson, Bilikis Iyabo Uneke and Stanley Okolo
Content type: Research
6 August 2020

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (formerly Human Vaccines)
Volume 16, Issue 7, 2020
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/khvi20/current

Article
ASVAC2019: 7th Asian Vaccine Conference
Kyaw Linn , Lulu Bravo , Daniel Yam Thiam Goh & E. Anthony S. Nelson
Pages: 1476-1484
Published online: 06 Jan 2020

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (formerly Human Vaccines)
Volume 16, Issue 7, 2020
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/khvi20/current

Article
Inequality in measles vaccination coverage in the “big six” countries of the WHO South-East Asia region
Yaqing Gao , Ashish Kc , Chunyi Chen , Yue Huang , Yinping Wang , Siyu Zou & Hong Zhou
Pages: 1485-1497
Published online: 09 Apr 2020

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (formerly Human Vaccines)
Volume 16, Issue 7, 2020
http://www.tandfonline.com/Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (formerly Human Vaccines)
Volume 16, Issue 7, 2020
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/khvi20/current

Review
Vaccination coverage and vaccine hesitancy among vulnerable population of India
Karpaga Priya P , Vineet Kumar Pathak & Anjan Kumar Giri
Pages: 1502-1507
Published online: 04 Feb 2020

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (formerly Human Vaccines)
Volume 16, Issue 7, 2020
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/khvi20/current

Article
Vaccine hesitancy and the resurgence of vaccine preventable diseases: the way forward for Malaysia, a Southeast Asian country
L. P. Wong , P. F. Wong & S. AbuBakar
Pages: 1511-1520
Published online: 24 Jan 2020

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (formerly Human Vaccines)
Volume 16, Issue 7, 2020
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/khvi20/current

Article
Multidimensional social and cultural norms influencing HPV vaccine hesitancy in Asia
Li Ping Wong , Pooi-Fong Wong , Megat Mohamad Amirul Amzar Megat Hashim , Liyuan Han , Yulan Lin , Zhijian Hu , Qinjian Zhao & Gregory D. Zimet
Pages: 1611-1622
Published online: 19 May 2020

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (formerly Human Vaccines)
Volume 16, Issue 7, 2020
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/khvi20/current

Article
Fathers’ participation in the HPV vaccination decision-making process doesn’t increase parents’ intention to make daughters get the vaccine
Tomomi Egawa-Takata , Ruriko Nakae , Mariko Shindo , Ai Miyoshi , Tsuyoshi Takiuchi , Takashi Miyatake & Tadashi Kimura
Pages: 1653-1658
Published online: 09 Jan 2020

Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (formerly Human Vaccines)
Volume 16, Issue 7, 2020
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/khvi20/current

Article
Landscape of vaccine access and health technology assessment role in decision-making process in ASEAN countries
Suthira Taychakhoonavudh , Woralak Chumchujan , Raymond Hutubessy & Nathorn Chaiyakunapruk
Pages: 1728-1737
Published online: 23 Jun 2020

International Journal of Epidemiology
Volume 49, Issue 3, June 2020
https://academic.oup.com/ije/issue/49/3

Opinion
The SARS, MERS and novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemics, the newest and biggest global health threats: what lessons have we learned?
Noah C Peeri, Nistha Shrestha, Md Siddikur Rahman, Rafdzah Zaki, Zhengqi Tan …

JAMA Network
COVID-19 Update August 1, 2020

These articles on COVID-19 were published across the JAMA Network in the last week.

JAMA
August 4, 2020, Vol 324, No. 5, Pages 419-524
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/currentissue

Original Investigation
Effect of Convalescent Plasma Therapy on Time to Clinical Improvement in Patients With Severe and Life-threatening COVID-19A Randomized Clinical Trial
Ling Li, MD, PhD; Wei Zhang, MD; Yu Hu, MD, PhD; et al.
has active quiz has multimedia has audio
JAMA. 2020;324(5):460-470. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.10044
This randomized trial compares the effects of convalescent plasma therapy with standard care vs standard care alone on time to clinical improvement among patients with severe or life-threatening COVID-19 disease in China.

JAMA
August 4, 2020, Vol 324, No. 5, Pages 419-524
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/currentissue

Developing a SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine at Warp Speed
Kevin P. O’Callaghan, MB, BCh, BAO; Allison M. Blatz, MD; Paul A. Offit, MD
free access has active quiz has multimedia has audio
JAMA. 2020;324(5):437-438. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.12190
This Viewpoint discusses the mechanisms of the 5 leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates—2 messenger RNA vaccines, 1 recombinant VSV vector product, and 2 replication-defective adenovirus vector approaches—and emphasizes the need to demonstrate safety as well as efficacy to facilitate broad uptake by the public.
Conclusions
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause significant disruption to both the physical and economic health of the world’s population, pathways of vaccine development are adapting in ways that could not have been predicted even a year ago. The rapid identification of immunogenic targets of a novel coronavirus, the leveraging of experimental vaccine platforms, and the tragic nature of an ongoing pandemic have created a fertile breeding ground for innovation. Although the ultimate success of a vaccine candidate, or candidates, remains unknown, the changes in the field of vaccinology that these exigent circumstances have brought are likely here to stay.
:: Audio Author Interview: Coronavirus Vaccine Development
:: Conversations with Dr Bauchner: Coronavirus Update With Eric Topol, MD

JAMA
August 4, 2020, Vol 324, No. 5, Pages 419-524
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/currentissue

The Development of COVID-19 Vaccines – Safeguards Needed
Nicole Lurie, MD, MSPH; Joshua M. Sharfstein, MD; Jesse L. Goodman, MD, MPH

free access has multimedia has audio
JAMA. 2020;324(5):439-440. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.12461
This Viewpoint lists 4 safeguards policy makers should consider before release of a COVID-19 vaccine, including ensuring effectiveness through clinical trials, providing evidence of safety, requiring informed consent before vaccination, and establishing comprehensive adverse effects monitoring systems.
:: Audio Highlights
free access online only has audio

The Development of COVID-19 Vaccines – Safeguards Needed
Nicole Lurie, MD, MSPH; Joshua M. Sharfstein, MD; Jesse L. Goodman, MD, MPH

Communicating Science in the Time of a Pandemic
Richard Saitz, MD, MPH; Gary Schwitzer
free access has active quiz has multimedia has audio
JAMA. 2020;324(5):443-444. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.12535
This Viewpoint uses the example of rapid changes to public reporting on the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir for COVID-19 to illustrate how misinformation damages the public’s trust in science and medicine, and urges accuracy and circumspection in news reports of developments in the pandemic.

Journal of Public Health Policy
Volume 41, Issue 3, September 2020
https://link.springer.com/journal/41271/41/3

Original Article
The importance of effective risk communication and transparency: lessons from the dengue vaccine controversy in the Philippines
Manuel M. Dayrit, Ronald U. Mendoza…
Abstract
In 2016 the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) introduced a novel dengue vaccine in a mass immunization program to reduce the substantial economic and social burden of the disease on households and the government. The vaccine manufacturer’s announcement regarding new findings on the small but increased risk of severe dengue for vaccinated seronegative patients caused turmoil as various people claimed that the vaccine caused deaths and that health authorities are corrupt. While health department staff split—some having to preserve its reputation and others to monitor over 800,000 children administered the vaccine—communication between the frontline health workers and parents suffered. As a result, public confidence in vaccines dramatically dropped and the repercussions challenge the public health system. We examine factors that contributed to the crisis and argue for strengthening risk communication strategies and increasing transparency on decision making to counter misinformation and protect public health.

Lancet Public Health
Aug 2020 Volume 5 Number 8 e414-e459
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/issue/current

Editorial
COVID-19: from a PHEIC to a public mental health crisis?
The Lancet Public Health
… The COVID-19 pandemic presents a public mental health challenge. As Jonathan Campion and colleagues noted in The Lancet Psychiatry, it will be key for countries to prevent an increase in mental issues and a reduction in mental wellbeing across populations, as well as to provide appropriate public mental health interventions. Despite the existence of effective public mental health interventions, implementation is far from adequate. Public mental health interventions will need to be proportionately targeted to groups at a high risk of mental disorder and poor mental wellbeing. The unequal impacts of COVID-19, the lockdown, and its socioeconomics consequences are putting greater pressure on groups whose mental health was already more precarious before the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic is a public mental health emergency that could exacerbate inequalities in mental health—unless concerted actions are urgently taken.

Lancet Public Health
Aug 2020 Volume 5 Number 8 e414-e459
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/issue/current

Articles
Impact of delays on effectiveness of contact tracing strategies for COVID-19: a modelling study
Mirjam E Kretzschmar, Ganna Rozhnova, Martin C J Bootsma, Michiel van Boven, Janneke H H M van de Wijgert, Marc J M Bonten
In countries with declining numbers of confirmed cases of COVID-19, lockdown measures are gradually being lifted. However, even if most physical distancing measures are continued, other public health measures will be needed to control the epidemic. Contact tracing via conventional methods or mobile app technology is central to control strategies during de-escalation of physical distancing. We aimed to identify key factors for a contact tracing strategy to be successful…

Lancet Respiratory Medicine
Aug 2020 Volume 8 Number 8 p743-830, e67-e69
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/issue/current

Editorial
COVID-19 casts light on respiratory health inequalities
The Lancet Respiratory Medicine

Nature Biotechnology
Volume 38 Issue 8, August 2020
https://www.nature.com/nbt/volumes/38/issues/8

Editorial | 30 July 2020
Weighing and communicating evidence
As preliminary research findings are shared more widely and at an increasing pace, action is needed to counter the spread of misinformation.

Nature Genetics
Volume 52 Issue 8, August 2020
https://www.nature.com/ng/volumes/52/issues/8

Editorial | 03 August 2020
Naming human genes
Gene nomenclature can be complicated, and the official naming of genes requires rational standards to avoid confusion and to maximize clarity. The HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee has released updated guidelines for the naming of human genes, and we encourage the community to adopt these recommendations.