European Union funding boosts COVID-19 vaccination in Africa 29 March 2022 A contribution of €16 million from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) will help the World Health Organization (WHO) boost COVID-19 vaccination campaigns and increase coverage in 15 African countries, where only 15 percent of the population is vaccinated. The funding is part of the European Union’s (EU) humanitarian initiative for COVID-19 vaccination in Africa, which aims to ensure increased access for the most vulnerable and those living in hard-to-reach, remote and conflict-affected areas. The EU also supports the COVAX Facility, the vaccines part of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator created to develop and deliver tools to fight the pandemic…
Government of India – Press Information Bureau Latest Press Releases COVID – 19 Vaccination Update – Day 442
:: India’s cumulative vaccination coverage crosses 184.64 Crore
:: More than 11 lakh Vaccine doses administered today till 7 pm
:: More than 1.84 Crore Vaccine Doses administered to 12-14 age group so far Posted On: 02 APR 2022 8:06PM by PIB Delhi
Entire Shanghai Placed Under Lockdown City reported more than 6,300 new Covid infections Friday Eastern half of city remains under tight restrictions Bloomberg News. April 1, 2022, 10:43 PM EDT Updated onApril 2, 2022, 6:44 AM EDT
Shanghai’s 25 million residents are almost all under some form of lockdown as the financial hub struggles to contain the coronavirus’s highly contagious omicron variant.
The eastern half of the mega Chinese city remains under tight movement restrictions despite the end of a four-day sweeping lockdown Friday morning, according to a government statement Saturday. That means the entire population of the metropolis is currently under some form of quarantine as the two-part lockdown shifted to the western half of Shanghai on Friday.
Residents in the western part of the city, where about two-thirds of its population live, began their four-day lockdown at 3 a.m. local time on Friday as the program approached an end in the east. During the restrictions, residents are barred from leaving home except for mandatory mass Covid tests…
“At present, the epidemic situation is severe and complex, and the task of prevention and control is extremely arduous,” Wu Qianyu, an official at the Shanghai municipal health commission, said at a media briefing…
Polio this week as of 30 March 2022
:: On 21 March, the Federal Government of Somalia, World Health Organization (WHO) and members of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) recommitted to stopping the ongoing outbreak of circulating poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in Somalia at a three-day meeting convened in Nairobi, Kenya. Details of the summit are available here.
:: Revised containment guidance (GAPIII) available for public consultation: On recommendation from the Containment Advisory Group (CAG), and through wide engagement of stakeholders, WHO’s Global Action Plan for Poliovirus Containment (GAPIII, 2015) has been revised. Following a period of critical review by the CAG, the document draft is now available for public consultation until 1 May 2022. Revisions to the guidance have been made based on CAG recommendations, review of relevant bio-risk management documents to determine alignment, scientific evidence and solicited stakeholder comments on various sections. WHO encourages feedback from containment stakeholders. For queries, please email: containment@who.int
Summary of new WPV and cVDPV viruses this week (AFP cases and ES positives): – DR Congo: six cVDPV2 cases – Egypt: two cVDPV2 positive environmental samples – Nigeria: three cVDPV2 cases and two positive environmental samples – Yemen: 16 cVDPV2 cases
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Disease Outbreak News (DONs)
Latest WHO Disease Outbreak News (DONs), providing information on confirmed acute public health events or potential events of concern. No new DONs reported.
UN OCHA – Current Emergencies Current Corporate Emergencies Afghanistan No new updates identified.
Northern Ethiopia Ethiopia – Northern Ethiopia Humanitarian Update Situation Report, 31 March 2022 HIGHLIGHTS
In Amhara, the regional Government authorities continued with the relocation of internally displaced people.
The number scabies cases in Tigray increased eight-fold from about 400 cases since the start of the year to more than 3,100 cases during the reporting week.
Partners provided health services to only more than 26,500 people in Tigray during the reporting week. 3.9 million people are estimated to need health care in the region.
Humanitarian partners reached more than 62,000 people with food assistance in Afar and more than 7,700 people with medical consultations during the reporting week.
Humanitarian partners reached more than 726,000 people with food assistance in Amhara during the reporting period.
WHO & Regional Offices [to 02 Apr 2022] https://www.who.int/news News [Selected] 1 April 2022
Departmental news Parliaments promote women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health in the time of COVID-19
31 March 2022
Departmental news Letter to malaria partners (March 2022)
31 March 2022
Departmental news WHO launches guidance on digitally documenting SARS-CoV-2 test results
31 March 2022
News release Indian manufacturer new recipient of mRNA technology through the mRNA technology transfer hub
30 March 2022
News release Egypt and Nigeria medicines regulators achieve high maturity level in WHO classification and WHO launches list of regulatory authorities that meet international standards
30 March 2022
Departmental news WHO urges quality care for women and newborns in critical first weeks after childbirth
30 March 2022
News release WHO releases 10-year strategy for genomic surveillance of pathogens
29 March 2022
Departmental news European Union funding boosts COVID-19 vaccination in Africa
28 March 2022
Departmental news The Netherlands and WHO: Partners for health and human rights around the world
WHO Region of the Americas PAHO
:: 31 Mar 2022 New WHO 10-year strategy aims to scale up genomic surveillance
PAHO regional network forms part of worldwide effort to track pathogens Washington, D.C., 31 March 2022 (PAHO) – The World Health Organization (WHO) released a strategy this week to strengthen genomic surveillance around the world. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) COVID-19 Genomic Surveillance Regional Network, created at the…
:: 30 Mar 2022 WHO urges quality care for women and newborns in critical first weeks after childbirth
New recommendations stress urgency of both physical and mental health support in postnatal period Geneva, 30 March 2022- The World Health Organization (WHO) today launched its first ever global guidelines to support women and newborns in the postnatal period – the first six weeks after birth. This is a critical time for ensuring newborn and…
Public hearings regarding a new international instrument on pandemic preparedness and response
12 – 13 April 2022
In a consensus decision aimed at protecting the world from future infectious diseases crises, in December 2021 the World Health Assembly agreed to kickstart a global process by establishing an intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) to draft and negotiate a convention, agreement or other international instrument under the Constitution of the World Health Organization to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said the decision by the World Health Assembly was historic in nature, vital in its mission, and represented a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strengthen the global health architecture to protect and promote the well-being of all people.
As part of this historic decision, the World Health Assembly requested the Director-General to hold public hearings, in line with standard WHO practice, to support the work of the INB. [Registration link not yet available]
28 March 2022 Global genomic surveillance strategy for pathogens with pandemic and epidemic potential, 2022–2032 [WHO] Overview
The Strategy provides a high-level unifying framework to leverage existing capacities, address barriers and strengthen the use of genomic surveillance in the detection, monitoring and response to public health threats. Genomic surveillance is part of the broader surveillance and laboratory system, and its implementation should reinforce end-to-end capacities including sample collection, diagnostics, data sharing and analysis. The strategy aims to facilitate the connectivity between different disease control programs and surveillance networks. This interoperability will strengthen the cross-cutting essential public health laboratory functions underpinning genomics holistically. The strategy articulates the overarching goal, objectives and strategic actions needed. These are dependent on commitments from countries, partners and WHO for their implementation.
CDC Recommends Additional Boosters for Certain Individuals
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
… CDC is updating its recommendations to allow certain immunocompromised individuals and people over the age of 50 who received an initial booster dose at least 4 months ago to be eligible for another mRNA booster to increase their protection against severe disease from COVID-19. Separately and in addition, based on newly published data, adults who received a primary vaccine and booster dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine at least 4 months ago may now receive a second booster dose using an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine….
Careful readers will note that the number and range of organizations now monitored in our Announcements section below has grown as the impacts of the pandemic have spread across global economies, supply chains and programmatic activity of multilateral agencies and INGOs.
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
…International policymakers, scientists, and representatives of industry, philanthropy and civil society were united at the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit—co-hosted in London by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the UK Government on March 7-8, 2022—in endorsing the ambition to have safe, effective, and globally accessible vaccines against the next pandemic threat ready in just 100 days.
But the devil will be in the detail in realizing this goal—from raising the US$3.5 billion required by CEPI to deliver on its pandemic-busting plan over the next five years, to realigning global regulatory systems, to scaling up manufacturing and ensuring supplies of everything down to rubber stoppers for vials….
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
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria enthusiastically welcomes President Joe Biden’s request to the United States Congress for a commitment of US$2 billion for the Global Fund for fiscal year 2023, the first year of the Global Fund…
Twenty years after scientists first reported reading the human genome, the Telomere-to-Telomere consortium has now unveiled a complete version. Their work uncovered hundreds of new genes and opens the door to new insights into evolution and disease.
For over two decades, scientists have puzzled over how vertebrates make the essential polysaccharide hyaluronic acid, which has broad medical applications. One team took a different tack and solved the mystery.
ISC is a non-governmental organization with a unique global membership that brings together 40 international scientific Unions and Associations and over 140 national and regional scientific organizations including Academies and Research Councils.
The ISC co-signs the Joint Statement of Intent on Digital Transformation in the International Scientific and Quality infrastructure. As the world enters the era of digitalization, it is important to establish a world-wide uniform and secure data exchange format based on the International System of Units.
The need for science advice in policymaking is on the rise. While the processes by which science advice is provided to governments and within the multilateral system were made apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, the interest for scientific evidence precedes it. This ISC-INGSA Occasional Paper is intended to explain key structures and processes in a clear and straightforward manner, so the essential elements of science advice are understood.
The African Open Science Platform (AOSP), which has been hosted by the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa since 2020, aims to position scientists and science systems in Africa at the cutting edge of data-intensive open science. The Platform was first initiated in 2017, and is now ramping up its activities following the appointments of Tshiamo Motshegwa as Director and Nokuthula Mchunu as Deputy-Director.
April 1, 2022, SEOUL, Republic of Korea — The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), Republic of Korea, have agreed to strengthen cooperation to promote the development and delivery of vaccines and bio manufacturing workforce training for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to help advance global health.
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security [to 02 Apr 2022]
April 1, 2022 — NIH-funded study shows screening for substance use disorder in teens may help predict adult prescription drug use and misuse and prevent overdose.
March 31, 2022 — Achieving herd immunity thresholds have been less successful with respiratory viruses which continually mutate. … DM Morens et al. The Concept of Classical Herd Immunity May Not Apply to COVID-19. The Journal of Infectious Diseases DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiac109(link is external) (2022).
March 31, 2022 — Completion is critical for understanding the full spectrum of human genomic variation and for understanding the genetic contributions to certain diseases.
A new OECD report, “Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2022: An OECD Scoreboard” shows that outstanding SME loans increased significantly during the first year of the pandemic. The median stock of SME loans increased by 4.9%, the highest upturn registered since the OECD Scoreboard was created 10 years ago.
The project aims to create an equitable entrepreneurial environment for digital health developers in the places where PATH works by advancing the broad use of common open-source platforms that speed uptake and ensure sustainability.
JUBA, March 31, 2022—Today the World Bank approved $200 million in additional financing to support South Sudan’s continued efforts to improve its capacity to respond to COVID-19. This International Development…
Statement by UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education Stefania Giannini; UNICEF Director of Education Robert Jenkins; World Bank Global Director for Education Jaime Saavedra NEW YORK/PARIS/WASHINGTON…
Nearly two years after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, gender-based violence (GBV) continues to be an ongoing challenge for countries. Following early evidence of increased risks of GBV in the first…
Additional Financing for the Panama COVID-19 Emergency Response will enable access to vaccines and help ensure effective vaccine deployment. WASHINGTON, D.C., March 28, 2022 – The World Bank approved today…
29 March – The WCO and the World Trade Organization (WTO) held a webinar to launch their joint publication on Customs use of advance technologies. The event attracted more than 700 attendees and provided insights into how advanced technologies can help Customs administrations facilitate the flow of goods across borders. The publication titled, “The role of advanced technologies in cross-border trade: A customs perspective” provides the current state of play and sheds light on the opportunities and challenges Customs face when deploying these technologies.
The WTO has published a compilation of information resources, such as databases and reports, that provide information and data on a wide range of issues relating to COVID-19. The inventory provides a useful tool for government officials and other stakeholders wishing to access information about the latest developments regarding COVID-19.
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ARM [Alliance for Regenerative Medicine] [to 02 Apr 2022]
The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, the leading international advocacy organization dedicated to realizing the promise of regenerative medicines and advanced therapies, today released its 2021 Annual Report, showcasing a year of significant advances and forecasting continued growth ahead.
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
Health Equity in US Latinx Communities
Latinx communities in the US include over 60 million people with a plurality of political beliefs, cultural practices, and wealth. This diversity is also expressed in population health data: some health indicators suggest advantages of Latinx community membership while other data demonstrate inequitable disease burden and maldistribution of environmental and occupational risk. Legacies of colonial conquest of the Americas persist in discrimination and marginalization today and are embodied by members of our Latinx communities.
An assessment of Veterans attitudes and willingness to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine: a mixed methods study
While several safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines have been available since December 2020, many eligible individuals choose to remain unvaccinated. This vaccine hesitancy is an important factor affecting our …
Authors: Jessica Gardner, Gabriel Brown, Jadisha Vargas-Correa, Frances Weaver, Israel Rubinstein and Howard S. Gordon
Citation: BMC Infectious Diseases 2022 22:308
Content type: Research article Published on: 29 March 2022
Collection and use of human materials during TB clinical research; a review of practices Human biological materials are usually stored for possible future use in research because they preserve valuable biological information, save time and resources, which would have been spent on collection of fr…
Authors: Joseph Ochieng, Betty Kwagala and Nelson Sewankambo
Citation: BMC Medical Ethics 2022 23:36
Content type: Research Published on: 29 March 2022
AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine induces robust broadly cross-reactive antibody responses in Malawian adults previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 Binding and neutralising anti-Spike antibodies play a key role in immune defence against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Since it is known that antibodies wane with time and new immune-evasive variants are emerging, we …
Authors: Marah G. Chibwana, Thandeka Moyo-Gwete, Gaurav Kwatra, Jonathan Mandolo, Tandile Hermanaus, Thopisang Motlou, Nonkululeko Mzindle, Frances Ayres, Mphatso Chaponda, Godwin Tembo, Percy Mwenechanya, Ndaona Mitole, Chisomo Jassi, Raphael Kamng’ona, Louise Afran, David Mzinza…
Citation: BMC Medicine 2022 20:128
Content type: Research article Published on: 28 March 2022
Clustering of countries according to the COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates Two years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic on December 29, 2021, there have been 281,808,270 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,411,759 deaths. This information belongs to almost 216 Countrie…
Authors: Kimiya Gohari, Anoshirvan Kazemnejad, Ali Sheidaei and Sarah Hajari
Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:632
Content type: Research Published on: 1 April 2022
Therapeutic Innovations in Neuroscience
The theme of this issue of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (CPT) encompasses neuroscience in the broad sense to include neurology and psychiatry, nonclinical and clinical aspects, novel clinical trial methodologies, and modeling and simulation approaches applicable to central nervous system (CNS) drug development and therapy. While naturally the last two years have been dominated by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), it is important not to forget that drug development for other indications has not been stopped, albeit many trials were affected in terms of delays in recruitment and collection of clinical data.
vaccines and global health :: ethics and policy 