Organization Announcements

::::::

 

Organization Announcements
Editor’s Note:
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.

Airfinity [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.airfinity.com/insights
INSIGHTS & COMPANY NEWS
COVID-19 vaccine market forecast to grow 29% to $84.9B in 2022, according to Airfinity
Published by Airfinity
Jan 20, 2022
Airfinity forecasts the COVID-19 vaccine market is expected to reach $65.6B in 2021 and grow to $84.9B in 2022, a 29% growth. This excludes both the Chinese vaccines and market.
Our analysis predicts the 2022 market will be dominated by mRNA vaccines. Pfizer/BioNTech is expected to generate $42.7B and Moderna $25.7B. AstraZeneca is expected to be the third largest revenue generating vaccine with $4.3B in revenue, followed by J&J with $3.5B.
This would make the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccine the two best selling medical products in 2022…

Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://alleninstitute.org/news-press/
News
No new digest content identified.

BARDA – U.S. Department of HHS [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.phe.gov/about/barda/Pages/default.aspx
News
No new digest content identified.

BMGF – Gates Foundation [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/media-center
Press Releases and Statements
Press release Jan 18, 2022
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome Pledge US$300 Million to CEPI for COVID-19 Pandemic Response and to Accelerate Epidemic Preparedness
[See COVID Perspectives above for detail]

Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.gatesmri.org/news
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 22 Jan 2022]
https://carb-x.org/
News
No new digest content identified.

Center for Vaccine Ethics and Policy – GE2P2 Global Foundation [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://centerforvaccineethicsandpolicy.net/
News/Analysis/Statements
:: Past weekly editions and posting of all segments of Vaccines and Global Health: The Week in Review are available here.
:: Informed Consent: A Monthly Review – January 2022 is now posted here
 
 
CEPI – Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://cepi.net/
Latest News
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome pledge $300 million to CEPI to fight COVID-19 and combat threat of future pandemics
New funding commitments will support CEPI’s goal to condense new vaccine development timelines to 100 days, a third of the time it took to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID-19
19 Jan 2022
[See COVID Perspectives above for detail]

CEPI and Institut Pasteur de Dakar partner to advance COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing in Africa
In its initial phase, the new modular facility will manufacture up to 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine annually for use on the continent.
COVID-19
18 Jan 2022
[See COVID Perspectives above for detail]
 
 
DARPA – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency [U.S.] [to 22 Jan 2022
https://www.darpa.mil/news
News
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Duke Global Health Innovation Center [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://dukeghic.org/
Our Blog
No new digest content identified.
 
 
EDCTP [to 22 Jan 2022]
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
News
20 January 2022
Call for expression of interest for Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking scientific committee
The Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking (GH EDCTP3 JU) has now opened a call for expression of interest for the selection of the members of its Scientific Committee.
The Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking (GH EDCTP3 JU) is a partnership between the European Union and the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Association, whose members are several EU Member States and Associated countries and several African countries, and which builds on the first and second European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) programmes…

18 January 2022
EDCTP mourns the loss of Dr Ricardo Pereira
On 11 January 2022, our dear colleague Dr Ricardo Pereira, Science Officer at the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and EDCTP General Assembly representative for Portugal, passed away following a long battle against cancer. Many in the EDCTP General Assembly, Scientific Advisory Committee and the Secretariat worked with him and knew him well. We are deeply saddened by this tragic news of his untimely passing.
 
 
Emory Vaccine Center [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.vaccines.emory.edu/
Vaccine Center News
No new digest content identified.
 
 
European Vaccine Initiative [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.euvaccine.eu/
Latest News, Events
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Fondation Merieux [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.fondation-merieux.org/
News, Events
Support for Laboratories
LabMyNet Project Activities in Myanmar Build Diagnostic Capacity for HIV and SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load Surveillance
January 21, 2022, Myanmar
Renovation of the Medical Action in Myanmar laboratory, establishment of a molecular platform for HIV viral load, and training of …

Publication
The Mérieux Foundation referent of an article published in The Lancet, resulting from an international research cooperation on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
January 20, 2022, Global
Through TSARA project (an updated surveillance technique for resistance to antibiotics) in Madagascar, the Mérieux Foundation participated in a global …

 
 

Unitaid
[to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.gavi.org/
News Releases
No new digest content identified.

GHIT Fund [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.ghitfund.org/newsroom/press
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Global Fund [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/
News & Stories
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness [GloPID-R] [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.glopid-r.org/news/
News
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Hilleman Laboratories [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.hillemanlabs.org/
News & Insights
No new digest content identified.
 
 
HHMI – Howard Hughes Medical Institute [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.hhmi.org/news
Press Room
Research Jan 21 2022
These Scientists Are Racing to Beat Omicron
As teams of researchers around the world race to piece together a picture of the Omicron variant, they’re fast-tracking discoveries and transforming the way science is done.
 
 
Human Vaccines Project [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.humanvaccinesproject.org/
News
HVP COVID Report
Jan 20, 2022
John Nkengasong: Lessons from Leading Africa’s COVID-19 Response
John Nkengasong, Ph.D.
Director, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
 
 
IAVI [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.iavi.org/newsroom
Latest News
January 18, 2022
IAVI Welcomes Marion F. Gruber as Vice President, Public Health and Regulatory Science
Regulatory and public health expertise will advance the development of and global access to innovative new solutions to important global health needs
NEW YORK – JANUARY 18, 2022 – IAVI is very pleased to announce the appointment of Marion F. Gruber, Ph.D., M.S., as Vice President, Public Health and Regulatory Science.
Dr. Gruber is a preeminent vaccine expert with 30 years of experience in the development and regulation of vaccines and related biologics. Most recently, she served as Director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Vaccine Research and Review, where she led the FDA’s vaccine evaluation and licensure function and oversaw approval and authorization of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2, Zaire ebolavirus, and other global health challenges and emerging infectious disease threats…

 
 

International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities [ICMRA]
http://www.icmra.info/drupal/en/news
Selected Statements, Press Releases, Research
No new digest content identified.
 
 
ICRC [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.icrc.org/en/whats-new
Selected News Releases, Statements, Reports
No new digest content identified.

 
 

IFFIm
http://www.iffim.org/
Press Releases/Announcements
No new digest content identified.
 
 
IFRC [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/news/press-releases/
Selected Press Releases, Announcements
19/01/2022
WHO and IFRC partnership aims to build regional capacity in responding to key public health challenges [Middle East and North Africa]
 
 
Institut Pasteur [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.pasteur.fr/en/press-area
Press Documents
No new digest content identified.
 
 
IOM / International Organization for Migration [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.iom.int/press-room/press-releases
News – Selected
News
18 Jan 2022
Mongolia’s Ban on Moving to Overcrowded Capital Hurt Migrants: IOM Research

News
18 Jan 2022
IOM and KSrelief Sign USD 20 Million Agreement to Help Yemen’s Vulnerable Communities Needing Shelter, Clean Water and Sanitation
 
 
ISC / International Science Council [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://council.science/current/
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.
News Blogs Podcasts
INGSA Horizons podcast hosts conversations on the science informing smart policy
19.01.2022
Six podcasts available now from the International Network for Government Science Advice (INGSA) explore the critical space between scientific evidence and policy decisions on topics such as cities, COVID-19, and societal transformation.
 
 
IVAC [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/ivac/index.html
Updates; Events
No new digest content identified.
 
 
IVI [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.ivi.int/
IVI News & Announcements
IVI and SK bioscience Complete Recruitment for Phase III Clinical Trial of SKBS’ COVID-19 Vaccine
:: Recruitment of global Phase III clinical trial of ‘GBP510’ completed, with vaccine expected to be authorized in the first half of 2022
:: A booster dose study is concurrently being planned to bring additional vaccine to the global COVID-19 vaccine market
January 19, 2022 SEOUL, Korea — The International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and SK bioscience announced on January 18 that they have completed the recruitment of participants for the Phase III global clinical trial of GBP510, SKBS’ COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The Phase III clinical trial is the final stage of development to verify the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine…
 
 
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/news/center-news/
Center News
CommuniVax Coalition Launches Second Phase
Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security continues CommuniVax, a research coalition funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
January 22, 2021, Baltimore, MD – The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has received a new round of funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to continue support of the CommuniVax coalition. The purpose of the coalition is to strengthen community roles and involvement in equitable COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. The project’s second phase will focus on strengthening the relationships between communities of color and key local public health systems…
 
 
MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.msf.org/
Latest [Selected Announcements]
Iraq
The restless challenge of tackling COVID-19 in Iraq
Project Update 21 Jan 2022
 
 
National Academy of Medicine – USA [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://nam.edu/programs/
Selected News/Programs/Events
Expert Papers from the National Academy of Medicine Identify Lessons Learned and Compelling Needs for Health Product Manufacturers & Innovators and Digital Health After COVID-19
January 18, 2022
WASHINGTON – In response to the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the American health system, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has convened experts in nine sectors of health, health care, and biomedical research to review how each sector responded to COVID-19, identify challenges encountered in combating the pandemic, and outline opportunities to reinforce, revitalize, and transform the health system including improving health equity for all. These insights are being released as nine NAM Perspectives discussion papers, and then bundled into a NAM Special Publication titled Emerging Stronger After COVID-19: Priorities for Health System Transformation, which is scheduled to be released in Spring 2022. The NAM Special Publication will include all nine previously published papers and a new concluding chapter that reviews cross-cutting themes and opportunities from the individual papers.
The final two papers in this series, focused on health product manufacturers and innovators and on digital health, were published January 18, 2022. Health Product Manufacturers and Innovators COVID-19 Impact Assessment: Lessons Learned and Compelling Needs focuses on the experience of organizations that research, develop, and manufacture products and services to support health and health care. The discussion paper focuses specifically on five product types: diagnostics, hospital equipment, medical devices, therapeutics, and vaccines…
 
 
National Academy of Sciences – USA [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/
News
No new digest content identified.
 
 
National Vaccine Program Office – U.S. HHS [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.hhs.gov/vaccines/about/index.html
Upcoming Meetings/Latest Updates
National Vaccine Advisory Committee [NVAC] 2022 Meetings
February 10-11, 2022
 
 
NIH [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases
News Releases
Researchers highlight COVID-19 neurological symptoms and need for rigorous studies
January 20, 2022 — Scientists explain the importance of increased research into the underlying causes of Long Covid and possible ways to treat its symptoms.

COVID-19 vaccination does not reduce chances of conception, study suggests
January 20, 2022 — NIH-funded research shows infection can affect male fertility.

SARS-CoV-2 may cause fetal inflammation even in the absence of placental infection
January 18, 2022 — Small NIH study contributes to understanding of COVID-19 during pregnancy.
 
 
OECD [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/publicationsdocuments/bydate/
Newsroom
No new digest content identified.
 
 
PATH [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.path.org/media-center/
Press Releases
PATH appoints Meïssa Diaw as Chief People and Diversity Officer
January 20, 2022 by PATH
Seattle, WA – Meïssa Diaw, formerly Human Resources Director for Africa, is taking on new responsibilities at PATH to serve as the organization’s first Africa-based Chief People and Diversity Officer. Based in Senegal, he will direct PATH’s global HR functions and lead an empowered team of HR specialists across Asia, Africa, and North America…
 
 
Sabin Vaccine Institute [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.sabin.org/updates/pressreleases
Statements and Press Releases
No new digest content identified.
 
 
UNAIDS [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.unaids.org/en
Selected Press Releases/Reports/Statements
8 January 2022
Empowering people who inject drugs in Uganda

17 January 2022
Pre-exposure prophylaxis use expands, but not fast enough

UNHCR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/media-centre.htmlS
Selected News Releases, Announcements
No new digest content identified.
 
 
UNICEF [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.unicef.org/media/press-releases
Press Releases, News Notes, Statements [Selected]
News note
01/18/2022
UNICEF enters supply agreements for COVID-19 oral antiviral medicine Molnupiravir
NEW YORK/COPENHAGEN, 18 January 2022 – UNICEF has signed several long term agreements (LTA) with suppliers for the procurement of the new antiviral medicine Molnupiravir.
UNICEF procurement of Molnupiravir is dependent on clinical recommendations, regulatory approvals and compliance with UNICEF quality assurance requirements. In December, the US Food and drug administration issued an emergency use authorization for the use of Molnupiravir in the treatment of COVID19 in certain patients. Molnupiravir is currently under assessment by WHO.
These agreements will help ensure that low and middle-income countries (LMICs) have timely access to novel COVID-19 therapies.  UNICEF will continue to work with ACT-A (Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator) partners and industry to ensure supply availability, achieve affordable prices and capacity to meet country needs. Supply will also be available for ACT-A partners wishing to deploy Molnupiravir in countries.
UNICEF will work closely with other ACT-A partners such as WHO, the Global Fund and Unitaid to ensure an equitable access to supply for LMICs.

Unitaid [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://unitaid.org/
Featured News
No new digest content identified.
 
 
USAID [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/2021
Selected Press Releases, Statements, Announcements
News
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Vaccine Equity Cooperative [nee Initiative] [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://vaccineequitycooperative.org/news/
News
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Vaccination Acceptance & Demand Initiative [Sabin) [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.vaccineacceptance.org/
Announcements
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Vaccine Confidence Project [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.vaccineconfidence.org/
News, Research and Reports
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Vaccine Education Center – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center
News
No new digest content identified.
 
 
Wellcome Trust [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://wellcome.ac.uk/news
News. Opinion, Reports
News
$300 million invested in vaccine innovations to end Covid-19 and prevent future epidemics
19 January 2022
Wellcome and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have both pledged $150 million each to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to help end the Covid-19 pandemic and prevent another major outbreak.
 
 
The Wistar Institute [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.wistar.org/news/press-releases
Press Releases
Jan. 17, 2022
Wistar Scientists Identify Therapeutic Target for Epstein-Barr Virus
They found that EBV uses some of the same proteins as the host cell to express itself, and one of the proteins is already targeted by an existing drug.
 
 
WFPHA: World Federation of Public Health Associations [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.wfpha.org/
Latest News – Blog
Letter from the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) on behalf of the Sustainable Health Equity Movement (SHEM) to the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (EB-WHO). 24-29 January 2022
…WFPHA and SHEM ask the EB-WHO to bring the following proposals to the WHA:
1) Aligned with the Multilateral Leaders Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccines, Therapeutics and Diagnostics, WHO Member States must implement an equitable distribution of vaccines against COVID-19, which presupposes patent wavering, the sharing of knowledge and the transfer of technology, enabling the expansion of production and distribution based on ethical and epidemiological criteria, at no cost to the end consumer. This must be combined with the WHO’s decisive support to vaccine production initiatives for patent pooling and technology transfer contributing to global equity Covid vaccine coverage.
2) The WHA must agree to develop and, on an accelerated timeline, negotiate and adopt a new Pandemic Treaty that, in addition to improving global preparedness and response to health emergencies, helps all countries – especially low- and middle-income – to strengthen their national health systems to ensure everyone’s right to health. The Treaty must also consider the social determinants of health, contemplating intersectoral measures around social, environmental, and economic responses to support health actions.
3)The WHA must recognize that COVID-19 is more than a pandemic and is best characterized as a syndemic. The world suffers from the synergy of COVID-19 and other communicable and non-communicable diseases with political, economic, and environmental macro-processes that jointly cause deep changes that favor the emergence of zoonoses, and which reflect and generate social inequalities and inequities among and within countries. The construction of a “new normal”, better and fairer than the one that brought us here, requires facing all the dimensions of this complex reality, where the global unfair economic order must be faced and the right to development can be achieved by all nations and peoples…
 
 
World Bank [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all
Selected News, Announcements
South Africa’s Covid-19 Response Gets a $750 Million Boost
WASHINGTON, January 20, 2022 —The World Bank Group Board of Executive Directors today approved South Africa’s request for a $750 million development policy loan (DPL). This loan will support the Government…
Date: January 21, 2022 Type: Press Release

Transcript: Exceptional Uncertainty and the Global Economy: A Conversation with David Malpass and Adam Posen
You can watch a replay of the event here. MR. ADAM POSEN:  It is my honor and pleasure to be hosting a conversation with David Malpass, the 13th President of the World Bank Group.  And I will…
Date: January 19, 2022 Type: Speeches and Transcripts
 
 
World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.oie.int/en/media/news/
Press Releases, Statements
No new digest content identified.
 
 
WTO – World Trade Organisation [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news_e.htm
WTO News and Events
DG Okonjo-Iweala calls on ministers to step up negotiating efforts, harvest outcomes
21 January 2022
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on 21 January called on ministers from a cross-section of WTO members to push ahead in all ongoing negotiations, and work with “pragmatism, creativity, and flexibility” to harvest agreements as and when they are within reach. Ministers broadly accepted her suggestion to accelerate work, both in Geneva and in capitals, so WTO members can deliver results despite the uncertainty regarding the rescheduling of the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) following its Omicron-induced postponement in November.

The informal gathering of around 30 trade ministers is traditionally hosted by the Swiss government in Davos but was held virtually this year in line with the World Economic Forum’s decision to cancel its in-person annual meeting.

In her remarks to the event, the Director-General noted that pandemic-related uncertainty would continue to prevail so long as large numbers of people in much of the world remained unvaccinated against COVID-19 – and that the WTO had a contribution to make in ending vaccine inequity. She said that while the desire to hold an in-person MC12 was widely shared, the changing epidemiological conditions made it difficult to set a date at this time. This does not rule out reassessing and fixing a date at a more propitious time since there was clearly a desire on the part of members to schedule a physical ministerial at some point…

The Director-General called ministers’ attention to the key sticking points on the WTO’s response to the pandemic, fisheries subsidies and agriculture, while also making the case for moving ahead with WTO reform, including dispute settlement.

In their interventions, many ministers said that while they want to hold MC12 when circumstances permit, they would be prepared to continue work in all areas in the interim and conclude negotiations where achievable. As countries seek to promote recovery from the social and economic consequences of the pandemic, many highlighted the importance of ensuring adequate access to medical products, including vaccines. A number of ministers said the negotiations on pandemic response and fisheries subsidies should be concluded as soon as possible…

 
 

WTO report looks into steps taken to boost LDCs’ participation in international trade
19 January 2022
A new WTO publication launched on 19 January highlights that further support will be needed from the international community in the next decade to strengthen least-developed countries’ (LDC) participation in world trade. While LDCs have benefited over the past ten years from greater market access opportunities, flexibilities in implementing WTO rules and trade-related technical assistance, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to even greater challenges for these countries, hitting their exports hard.

 

::::::
 
 
ARM [Alliance for Regenerative Medicine] [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://alliancerm.org/press-releases/
Selected Press Releases
No new digest content identified.
 
 
BIO [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.bio.org/press-releases
Press Releases, Letters, Testimony, Comments [Selected]
No new digest content identified.
 
 
DCVMN – Developing Country Vaccine Manufacturers Network [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.dcvmn.org/
News; Upcoming events
No new digest content identified.
 
 
ICBA – International Council of Biotechnology Associations [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://internationalbiotech.org/news/
News
No new digest content identified.
 
 
IFPMA [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.ifpma.org/resources/news-releases/
Selected Press Releases, Statements, Publications
11 billion COVID-19 vaccines produced in 2021 has resulted in the biggest immunization campaign in human history and 2022 will require more and better vaccine redistribution and innovation
16 December 2021
[See COVID Perspectives above for detail]

A timely reality check on silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance
20 January 2022
The scale and threat of antimicrobial resistance is much bigger and more imminent than previously anticipated. New evidence shows that, in 2019, the global burden associated with drug-resistant infections was an estimated 4.95 million deaths, of which AMR was the direct cause of at least 1.27 million deaths. This number is only set to grow further, unless action is taken. The direction of travel is not downwards, with COVID-19 further fuelling the issue of AMR, leaving us on the course of 10 million deaths per year by 2050…

 
 

International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association [IGBA]
https://www.igbamedicines.org/
News
GENEZIS, the Serbian and Montenegrin Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association, joins IGBA (January 2022)
IGBA, the International Generic and Biosimilar medicines Association, representing global manufacturers of generic and biosimilar medicines, announced today that GENEZIS has been accepted and welcomed as a new IGBA Associate Member.
 
 
International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations – IAPO [to 22 Jan 2022]
https://www.iapo.org.uk/news/topic/6
Press and media [Selected]
No new digest content identified.
 
 
PhRMA [to 22 Jan 2022]
http://www.phrma.org/
Latest News [Selected]
No new digest content identified.

Journal Watch

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

Inequity Along the Medical/Dental Divide

AMA Journal of Ethics
Volume 24, Number 1: E1-105 Jan 2022
https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/issue/inequity-along-medicaldental-divide

 

Inequity Along the Medical/Dental Divide
Dental and medical health systems in the United States have evolved as fully separate entities. This division exacerbates health inequity, since patients’ poor oral health affects their general health. The professionally entrenched view that what’s in patients’ mouths is somehow isolated from what’s going on in the rest of their bodies is one all clinicians need to resist, since this view can be a source of harm, particularly among vulnerable patients and communities. Practical and ethical strategies for better aligning medical and dental goals of care are considered in this issue.

Influenza Vaccine Uptake and Missed Opportunities Among the Medicare-Covered Population With High-Risk Conditions During the 2018 to 2019 Influenza Season

Annals of Internal Medicine
January 2022 Volume 175, Issue 1
http://annals.org/aim/issue

 

Original Research
Influenza Vaccine Uptake and Missed Opportunities Among the Medicare-Covered Population With High-Risk Conditions During the 2018 to 2019 Influenza Season
A Retrospective Cohort Study
Bo-Hyun Cho, PhD, Cindy Weinbaum, MD, MPH, Yuping Tsai, PhD, Ram Koppaka, MD, PhD

Update on and Future Directions for Use of Anti–SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies: National Institutes of Health Summit on Treatment and Prevention of COVID-19

Annals of Internal Medicine
January 2022 Volume 175, Issue 1
http://annals.org/aim/issue

 

Special Articles
Update on and Future Directions for Use of Anti–SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies: National Institutes of Health Summit on Treatment and Prevention of COVID-19
FREE
César Boggiano, PhD, Robert W. Eisinger, PhD, Andrea M. Lerner, MD, James M. Anderson, MD, PhD,
… et al.
Pages:119–126

Low incidence of COVID-19 case severity and mortality in Africa; Could malaria co-infection provide the missing link?

BMC Infectious Diseases
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdis/content
(Accessed 22 Jan 2022)

 

Low incidence of COVID-19 case severity and mortality in Africa; Could malaria co-infection provide the missing link?
Despite reports of malaria and coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) co-infection, malaria-endemic regions have so far recorded fewer cases of COVID-19 and deaths from COVID-19, indicating a probable protection…
Authors: Silas Acheampong Osei, Robert Peter Biney, Alberta Serwah Anning, Lydia Nkuah Nortey and George Ghartey-Kwansah
Citation: BMC Infectious Diseases 2022 22:78
Content type: Research
Published on: 22 January 2022

Protocol for SARS-CoV-2 post-vaccine surveillance study in Australian adults and children with cancer: an observational study of safety and serological and immunological response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (SerOzNET)

BMC Infectious Diseases
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdis/content
(Accessed 22 Jan 2022)

 

Protocol for SARS-CoV-2 post-vaccine surveillance study in Australian adults and children with cancer: an observational study of safety and serological and immunological response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination (SerOzNET)
Cancer is associated with excess morbidity and mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) following infection by the novel pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2 have been rap…
Authors: Amy Body, Elizabeth Ahern, Luxi Lal, Karen Gillett, Hesham Abdulla, Stephen Opat, Tracey O’Brien, Peter Downie, Stuart Turville, C. Mee Ling Munier, Corey Smith, C. Raina MacIntyre and Eva Segelov
Citation: BMC Infectious Diseases 2022 22:70
Content type: Study protocol
Published on: 20 January 2022

Humoral immune response after different SARS-CoV-2 vaccination regimens

BMC Medicine
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmed/content
(Accessed 22 Jan 2022)

 

Humoral immune response after different SARS-CoV-2 vaccination regimens
The humoral immune response after primary immunisation with a SARS-CoV-2 vector vaccine (AstraZeneca AZD1222, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, Vaxzevria) followed by an mRNA vaccine boost (Pfizer/BioNTech, BNT162b2; Moderna, …
Authors: Ruben Rose, Franziska Neumann, Olaf Grobe, Thomas Lorentz, Helmut Fickenscher and Andi Krumbholz
Citation: BMC Medicine 2022 20:31
Content type: Research article
Published on: 21 January 2022

COVID-19 myth-busting: an experimental study

BMC Public Health
http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles
(Accessed 22 Jan 2022)

 

COVID-19 myth-busting: an experimental study
COVID-19 misinformation is a danger to public health. A range of formats are used by health campaigns to correct beliefs but data on their effectiveness is limited. We aimed to identify A) whether three common…
Authors: Aimée Challenger, Petroc Sumner and Lewis Bott
Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:131
Content type: Research article
Published on: 19 January 2022

Knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of COVID-19 vaccine and refusal to receive COVID-19 vaccine among healthcare workers in northeastern Ethiopia

BMC Public Health
http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles
(Accessed 22 Jan 2022)

 

Knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of COVID-19 vaccine and refusal to receive COVID-19 vaccine among healthcare workers in northeastern Ethiopia
Major efforts are being made to control the spread and impacts of the coronavirus pandemic using vaccines. Ethiopia began on March 13, 2021, to vaccinate healthcare workers (HCWs) for COVID-19 with the AstraZe…
Authors: Metadel Adane, Ayechew Ademas and Helmut Kloos
Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:128
Content type: Research
Published on: 18 January 2022

Association between COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and generalized trust, depression, generalized anxiety, and fear of COVID-19

BMC Public Health
http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles
(Accessed 22 Jan 2022)

 

Association between COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and generalized trust, depression, generalized anxiety, and fear of COVID-19
Although numerous studies have been published on the predictors of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, some possible predictors remain underexplored. In this study, we explored the associations of unwillingness and in…
Authors: Yoichi Sekizawa, Sora Hashimoto, Kenzo Denda, Sae Ochi and Mirai So
Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:126
Content type: Research
Published on: 18 January 2022

Examining COVID-19 vaccine uptake and attitudes among 2SLGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness

BMC Public Health
http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles
(Accessed 22 Jan 2022)

 

Examining COVID-19 vaccine uptake and attitudes among 2SLGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted 2SLGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness. Little is known about vaccine attitudes and uptake among this population. To address this, the objectives of this…
Authors: Alex Abramovich, Nelson Pang, Sharumathy Kunasekaran, Amanda Moss, Tara Kiran and Andrew D. Pinto
Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:122
Content type: Research
Published on: 18 January 2022

Vaccination against influenza among Lebanese health care workers in the era of coronavirus disease 2019

BMC Public Health
http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles
(Accessed 22 Jan 2022)

 

Vaccination against influenza among Lebanese health care workers in the era of coronavirus disease 2019
Health-care workers (HCWs) are at a higher occupational risk of contracting and transmitting influenza. Annual vaccination is an essential tool to prevent seasonal influenza infection. However, HCWs vaccine he…
Authors: Dalal Youssef, Atika Berry, Janet Youssef and Linda Abou-Abbas
Citation: BMC Public Health 2022 22:120
Content type: Research
Published on: 18 January 2022

Effectiveness of tests to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus, and antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, to inform COVID-19 diagnosis: a rapid systematic review

BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine
February 2022 – Volume 27 – 1
https://ebm.bmj.com/content/27/1

 

Evidence synthesis
Effectiveness of tests to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus, and antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, to inform COVID-19 diagnosis: a rapid systematic review (1 October, 2020) Free
David Jarrom, Lauren Elston, Jennifer Washington, Matthew Prettyjohns, Kimberley Cann, Susan Myles, Peter Groves

The Ethical Implications of Big Data Research in Public Health: “Big Data Ethics by Design” in the UK-REACH Study

Ethics & Human Research
Volume 44, Issue 1 Pages: 1-39 January–February 2022
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/25782363/current

 

Articles Open Access
The Ethical Implications of Big Data Research in Public Health: “Big Data Ethics by Design” in the UK-REACH Study
Ruby Reed-Berendt, Edward S. Dove, Manish Pareek, on behalf of the UK-REACH Study Collaborative Group
Pages: 2-17
First Published: 22 December 2021

Biobank Participants’ Attitudes toward Requiring Understanding for Biobank Consent

Ethics & Human Research
Volume 44, Issue 1 Pages: 1-39 January–February 2022
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/25782363/current

 

Articles
Biobank Participants’ Attitudes toward Requiring Understanding for Biobank Consent
T.J. Kasperbauer, Colin Halverson, Abigail Garcia, Karen K. Schmidt, Peter H. Schwartz
Pages: 18-28
First Published: 22 December 2021

Research Documents for Populations with Limited English Proficiency: Translation Approaches Matter

Ethics & Human Research
Volume 44, Issue 1 Pages: 1-39 January–February 2022
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/25782363/current

 
Research Documents for Populations with Limited English Proficiency: Translation Approaches Matter
Sonia Colina, Miriam Rodríguez-Guerra, Nicole Marrone, Maia Ingram, Karla J. Navarro, Genesis Arizmendi, Laura Coco

 

Pages: 29-39
First Published: 22 December 2021

Biobank Participants’ Attitudes toward Requiring Understanding for Biobank Consent

Ethics & Human Research
Volume 44, Issue 1 Pages: 1-39 January–February 2022
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/25782363/current

 

Articles
Biobank Participants’ Attitudes toward Requiring Understanding for Biobank Consent
T.J. Kasperbauer, Colin Halverson, Abigail Garcia, Karen K. Schmidt, Peter H. Schwartz
Pages: 18-28
First Published: 22 December 2021

Global research activity on mathematical modeling of transmission and control of 23 selected infectious disease outbreak

Globalization and Health
http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/
[Accessed 22 Jan 2022]

 

Global research activity on mathematical modeling of transmission and control of 23 selected infectious disease outbreak
Mathematical analysis and modeling allow policymakers to understand and predict the dynamics of an infectious disease under several different scenarios. The current study aimed to analyze global research activity on mathematical modeling of transmission and control of several infectious diseases with a known history of serious outbreaks.
Authors: Waleed M. Sweileh
Content type: Research
21 January 2022

An Overview of Cell and Gene Therapy Development in China

Human Gene Therapy
Volume 33, Issue 1-2 / January 2022
https://www.liebertpub.com/toc/hum/33/1-2

 

Review Free
An Overview of Cell and Gene Therapy Development in China
Yitong Wang, Tingting Qiu, Shuyao Liang, and Mondher Toumi
Pages:14–24
Published Online:6 September 2021
https://doi.org/10.1089/hum.2021.126
Abstract
China, the first country worldwide to approve a gene therapy in 2003, almost lost the advantage for a head start in cell and gene therapy (CGT) development due to a lack of clear and strict regulatory frameworks. The rapid advancements of CGTs’ development worldwide as well as their therapeutic potential have triggered the government to conduct a spate of regulatory reforms to promote normative development of CGTs in China. Encouraged by policy support, the remarkable progress for CGTs in China has been observed over the past few years, thereby catapulting China back into the forefront of CGTs worldwide. This article aims to provide an overview of regulatory reforms, the current development landscape of CGTs, as well as key contributors and challenges for CGT development in China.

Localisation and local humanitarian action

Humanitarian Exchange Magazine
Number 79, May 2021
https://odihpn.org/magazine/localisation-and-local-humanitarian-action/

 

Localisation and local humanitarian action
by HPN October 2020
The theme of this edition of Humanitarian Exchange is localisation+ and local humanitarian action. Five years ago this week, donors, United Nations (UN) agencies,  non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) committed within the Grand Bargain to increase multi-year investments in the institutional capacities of local and national responders, and to provide at least 25% of humanitarian funding to them as directly as possible. Since then, there is increasing consensus at policy and normative level, underscored by the Covid-19 pandemic, that local leadership should be supported.  Localisation has gone from a fringe conversation among policy-makers and aid agencies in 2016 to a formal priority under the Grand Bargain. Wider global movements on anti-racism and decolonisation have also brought new momentum to critical reflections on where power, knowledge and capacity reside in the humanitarian system. Yet progress has been slow and major gaps remain between the rhetoric around humanitarian partnerships, funding and coordination and practices on the ground.

Immunogenicity of Extended mRNA SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Dosing Intervals

JAMA
January 18, 2022, Vol 327, No. 3, Pages 199-294
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/currentissue

 

Research Letter
Immunogenicity of Extended mRNA SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Dosing Intervals
Brian Grunau, MD, MHSc; David M. Goldfarb, MD; Michael Asamoah-Boaheng, MPhil; et al.
free access has active quiz
JAMA. 2022;327(3):279-281. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.21921
This study investigates the immunogenicity of extended mRNA vaccine dosing intervals.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children by COVID-19 Vaccination Status of Adolescents in France

JAMA
January 18, 2022, Vol 327, No. 3, Pages 199-294
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/currentissue

 

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children by COVID-19 Vaccination Status of Adolescents in France
Michael Levy, MD, PhD; Morgan Recher, MD, PhD; Hervé Hubert, MD, PhD; et al.
free access has active quiz
JAMA. 2022;327(3):281-283. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.23262
This study examines the risk of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children among those aged 12 years or older by COVID-19 vaccination status during September 2021 and October 2021 in France.

A National Strategy for the “New Normal” of Life With COVID

JAMA
January 18, 2022, Vol 327, No. 3, Pages 199-294
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/currentissue

 

Viewpoint
A National Strategy for the “New Normal” of Life With COVID
Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD; Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH; Celine R. Gounder, MD, ScM
free access has multimedia has audio
JAMA. 2022;327(3):211-212. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.24282
This Viewpoint discusses how US policy makers should address how the nation can move forward as the pandemic persists.

A National Strategy for COVID-19 Testing, Surveillance, and Mitigation Strategies

JAMA
January 18, 2022, Vol 327, No. 3, Pages 199-294
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/currentissue

 

A National Strategy for COVID-19 Testing, Surveillance, and Mitigation Strategies
David Michaels, PhD, MPH; Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD; Rick A. Bright, PhD
free access has multimedia has audio
JAMA. 2022;327(3):213-214. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.24168
This Viewpoint discusses the areas on which the US needs to improve its public health infrastructure in order to reduce COVID-19 transmission and achieve a “new normal”: testing, surveillance, masking, and ventilation.

A National Strategy for COVID-19 Medical Countermeasures Vaccines and Therapeutics

JAMA
January 18, 2022, Vol 327, No. 3, Pages 199-294
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/currentissue

 

A National Strategy for COVID-19 Medical Countermeasures Vaccines and Therapeutics
Luciana L. Borio, MD; Rick A. Bright, PhD; Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD
free access has multimedia has audio
JAMA. 2022;327(3):215-216. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.24165
This Viewpoint proposes a multistep plan that US can implement to achieve a “new normal” of living, in which the combined risk of all viral respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, does not exceed the risk during prepandemic years.

The First 2 Years of COVID-19Lessons to Improve Preparedness for the Next Pandemic

JAMA
January 18, 2022, Vol 327, No. 3, Pages 199-294
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/currentissue

 

The First 2 Years of COVID-19Lessons to Improve Preparedness for the Next Pandemic
Jennifer B. Nuzzo, DrPH, SM; Lawrence O. Gostin, JD
free access
JAMA. 2022;327(3):217-218. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.24394
This Viewpoint examines the lessons that the COVID-19 pandemic can provide public health institutions and health care personnel to advance preparedness, detection, and response regarding future pandemics.

The Pandemic Preparedness Program Reimagining Public Health

JAMA
January 18, 2022, Vol 327, No. 3, Pages 199-294
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/currentissue

 

The Pandemic Preparedness ProgramReimagining Public Health
Eli Y. Adashi, MD, MS; I. Glenn Cohen, JD
free access
JAMA. 2022;327(3):219-220. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.23656
This Viewpoint reviews the leading objectives of the pandemic preparedness proposal, discusses the outcome of comparable past federal efforts, and emphasizes the imperative of intragovernmental coordination.

A disease severity scale for the evaluation of vaccine and other preventive or therapeutic interventions for travellers’ diarrhoea

Journal of Travel Medicine
Volume 29, Issue 1, January 2022
https://academic.oup.com/jtm/issue

 

Editor’s Choice
A disease severity scale for the evaluation of vaccine and other preventive or therapeutic interventions for travellers’ diarrhoea
Nicole Maier, PhD, Mark S Riddle, MD, DrPH, Ramiro Gutiérrez, MD, Jamie A Fraser, MPH, Patrick Connor, MD
Journal of Travel Medicine, Volume 29, Issue 1, January 2022, taab139, https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taab139

Antimicrobial resistance: time to repurpose the Global Fund

The Lancet
Jan 22, 2022 Volume 399 Number 10322 p335-410
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

 

Editorial
Antimicrobial resistance: time to repurpose the Global Fund
The Lancet
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major cause of death globally, with a burden likely to be higher than that of HIV or malaria, according to the most comprehensive assessment of bacterial AMR to date published in The Lancet. The data presented in this analysis are striking: in 2019, the deaths of 4·95 million people were associated with drug-resistant bacterial infections. 1·27 million deaths were directly caused by AMR. For the first time, the study provides estimates for 204 countries and territories, as well as data for the regional impacts of AMR. This study also reports details of AMR burden for 23 bacterial pathogens—Escherichia coli is accountable for the most deaths—and 88 pathogen–drug combinations, with meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus causing the highest number of deaths. These new findings are pivotal to inform location-specific policy decisions and clinical practice.

The threat of AMR has long been signalled. And the steps needed to tackle AMR—boosting public awareness, better surveillance, improved diagnostics, more rational use of antibiotics, access to clean water and sanitation, embracing One Health, and investments in new antimicrobials and vaccines—have been consistently recommended in reports such as The Lancet Infectious Diseases Commission on Antibiotic Resistance in 2013 and the O’Neill report in 2016. There have been some noteworthy responses during the past decade. The Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System was launched by WHO in 2015. The Fleming Fund (an aid programme supporting 24 countries across Africa and Asia to tackle AMR) was established in 2015. In December, 2021, G7 Finance Ministers issued statements to support antibiotic development.

But action has been episodic and uneven, resulting in global inequities in AMR. Sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia have the highest burden of AMR according to the new study, likely driven by high infection rates and a lack of access to antibiotics, compounded by serious data gaps. Innovation has been extremely slow. Vaccines are available for only one of the six leading pathogens described in the study. The clinical pipeline for antibiotics is too small to tackle the increasing emergence and spread of AMR. A lot of research has described the problem of AMR, but not enough has been done to study the solutions or how to change the political conversation.

National leaders now have an obligation to move AMR to a higher position in their political agendas. Research efforts should be accelerated to address knowledge and innovation gaps and to inform policy and practices. Access to effective antibiotics must be ensured. Above all, AMR must be seen as a global issue, which needs a globally coherent plan with a One Health approach. AMR has too often been viewed as an abstract risk to health, a potential cause of illness and death at some point in the future. This way of thinking makes it easy to ignore. But the new comprehensive estimates show that AMR is killing large numbers of people now. The harms of AMR are with us today. The COVID-19 pandemic could even accelerate the problem of AMR due to antibiotic misuse and prolonged hospital stays. This fact demands that actions to address AMR be scaled up urgently.

One immediate opportunity must be seized. Later this year, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will hold its Seventh Replenishment meeting. The focus for inviting donor investment is likely to remain on the three diseases that have been the hallmark of its success. However, the Fund is actively considering how to broaden its remit in response to a very different global context—notably, the need for further measures to strengthen pandemic preparedness and create resilient health systems in an era of climate crisis. 2022 is also the 20th anniversary of The Global Fund’s inception. Now is the right moment to review its fundamental purpose. The Fund was established to invest in programmes to end the infectious diseases that cause the greatest burden of illness and death, especially in low-income and middle-income countries. It has proven itself a highly effective instrument for protecting susceptible populations from preventable and treatable diseases. The existing burden of AMR and its future threat should be an urgent stimulus to revise and widen The Global Fund’s mission. It is now time for the Fund to embrace AMR as one of its core responsibilities. And donors should invest generously in such a renewed and reinvigorated Fund.

COVID-19 vaccine strategies must focus on severe disease and global equity

The Lancet
Jan 22, 2022 Volume 399 Number 10322 p335-410
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

 

Viewpoint
COVID-19 vaccine strategies must focus on severe disease and global equity
Peter B McIntyre, et al.
[Excerpt]
Global COVID-19 vaccine strategies in 2022
:: COVID-19 vaccine strategies should continue to prioritise prevention of severe disease
:: Variants of concern such as delta and potentially omicron render strategies aimed at SARS-CoV-2 transmission unlikely to have more than a short-term effect on preventing severe COVID-19
:: In countries with a high prevalence of previous infection and a low proportion of the population being older than 60 years prioritising delivery of the first dose will have the greatest effect on preventing severe COVID-19
:: In countries with a low prevalence of previous infection and a high proportion of the population being older than 60 years, protection against severe disease in adults requires at least two doses
:: In people who are severely immunocompromised or older than 60 years, evidence supports booster doses of mRNA or adenoviral vector vaccines to prevent severe disease; booster doses for all adults could compromise timely global availability of first doses

Single-cell immunology of SARS-CoV-2 infection

Nature Biotechnology
Volume 40 Issue 1, January 2022
https://www.nature.com/nbt/volumes/40/issues/1

 

Review Article | 20 December 2021
Single-cell immunology of SARS-CoV-2 infection
This Review provides an overview of existing studies using single-cell technologies to provide insights over the immune responses and molecular mechanisms at work in COVID-19.
Yuan Tian, Lindsay N. Carpp, Raphael Gottardo

Integrated analysis of plasma and single immune cells uncovers metabolic changes in individuals with COVID-19

Nature Biotechnology
Volume 40 Issue 1, January 2022
https://www.nature.com/nbt/volumes/40/issues/1

 

Analysis | 06 September 2021
Integrated analysis of plasma and single immune cells uncovers metabolic changes in individuals with COVID-19
The immune cells of individuals with COVID-19 show metabolic changes.
Jihoon W. Lee, Yapeng Su, James R. Heath

Incorporating Equity Concerns in Cost-Effectiveness Analyses: A Systematic Literature Review

PharmacoEconomics
Volume 40, issue 1, January 2022
https://link.springer.com/journal/40273/volumes-and-issues/40-1

 

Systematic Review
Incorporating Equity Concerns in Cost-Effectiveness Analyses: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors (first, second and last of 4) Thomas Ward, Ruben E. Mujica-Mota, Antonieta Medina-Lara
Published: 29 October 2021

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and associated factors according to sex: A population-based survey in Salvador, Brazil

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 22 Jan 2022]

 

Research Article
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and associated factors according to sex: A population-based survey in Salvador, Brazil
Nivison Nery Jr., Juan P. Aguilar Ticona, Cristiane W. Cardoso, Ana Paula Pitanga Barbuda Prates, Helena Cristina Alves Vieira, Andrea Salvador de Almeida, Mirela Maisa da Silva Souza, Olivete Borba dos Reis, Maysa Pellizzaro, Moyra Machado Portilho, Renan Rosa da Anunciação, Renato Victoriano, Rosangela Oliveira dos Anjos, Hernán Dario Argibay, Douglas Oliveira Carmo Lima, Isadora Lima Mesquita, Wesley Mota Conceição, Perla Machado Santana, Elaine Carvalho Oliveira, Pamela Santos Nascimento Santana, Claudia Ida Brodskyn, Deborah Bittencourt Mothé Fraga, Manuela da Silva Solcà, Mitermayer Galvão Reis, Federico Costa, Guilherme S. Ribeiro
Research Article | published 21 Jan 2022 PLOS ONE
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262649

Vaccines to prevent COVID-19: A living systematic review with Trial Sequential Analysis and network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 22 Jan 2022]

 

Vaccines to prevent COVID-19: A living systematic review with Trial Sequential Analysis and network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials
Steven Kwasi Korang, Elena von Rohden, Areti Angeliki Veroniki, Giok Ong, Owen Ngalamika, Faiza Siddiqui, Sophie Juul, Emil Eik Nielsen, Joshua Buron Feinberg, Johanne Juul Petersen, Christian Legart, Afoke Kokogho, Mathias Maagaard, Sarah Klingenberg, Lehana Thabane, Ariel Bardach, Agustín Ciapponi, Allan Randrup Thomsen, Janus C. Jakobsen, Christian Gluud
Research Article | published 21 Jan 2022 PLOS ONE
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260733

The impact of free vaccination policies under the Korean Influenza National Immunization Program: Trends in influenza vaccination rates in South Korea from 2010 to 2019

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 22 Jan 2022]

 

The impact of free vaccination policies under the Korean Influenza National Immunization Program: Trends in influenza vaccination rates in South Korea from 2010 to 2019
Jeongmin Seo, Juwon Lim
Research Article | published 20 Jan 2022 PLOS ONE
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262594

Ethics and society review: Ethics reflection as a precondition to research funding

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States
December 28, 2021; vol. 118 no. 52
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/52

 

Social Sciences
Open Access
Ethics and society review: Ethics reflection as a precondition to research funding
Michael S. Bernstein, Margaret Levi, David Magnus, Betsy A. Rajala, Debra Satz, and Charla Waeiss
PNAS December 28, 2021 118 (52) e2117261118; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2117261118
Significance
Research fields that hold transformative possibilities for improving the human condition also raise risks of negative ethical and societal outcomes. These ethical and societal risks fall outside the purview of most research reviews. We introduce an iterative review process that draws these fields into reflection and mitigation of ethical and societal risks by conditioning access to grant funding on completion of the process. A 1-y evaluation of our approach with an artificial intelligence funding program at our university suggests that this approach is well-received by researchers and positively influenced the design of their research. This process has also generated lists of common risks and mitigation strategies, to provide scaffolding for future processes.
Abstract
Researchers in areas as diverse as computer science and political science must increasingly navigate the possible risks of their research to society. However, the history of medical experiments on vulnerable individuals influenced many research ethics reviews to focus exclusively on risks to human subjects rather than risks to human society. We describe an Ethics and Society Review board (ESR), which fills this moral gap by facilitating ethical and societal reflection as a requirement to access grant funding: Researchers cannot receive grant funding from participating programs until the researchers complete the ESR process for their proposal. Researchers author an initial statement describing their proposed research’s risks to society, subgroups within society, and globally and commit to mitigation strategies for these risks. An interdisciplinary faculty panel iterates with the researchers to refine these risks and mitigation strategies. We describe a mixed-method evaluation of the ESR over 1 y, in partnership with a large artificial intelligence grant program at our university. Surveys and interviews of researchers who interacted with the ESR found 100% (95% CI: 87 to 100%) were willing to continue submitting future projects to the ESR, and 58% (95% CI: 37 to 77%) felt that it had influenced the design of their research project. The ESR panel most commonly identified issues of harms to minority groups, inclusion of diverse stakeholders in the research plan, dual use, and representation in datasets. These principles, paired with possible mitigation strategies, offer scaffolding for future research designs.

The role of non–COVID-specific and COVID-specific factors in predicting a shift in willingness to vaccinate: A panel study

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States
December 28, 2021; vol. 118 no. 52
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/52

 

Open Access
The role of non–COVID-specific and COVID-specific factors in predicting a shift in willingness to vaccinate: A panel study
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Daniel Romer, Patrick E. Jamieson, Kenneth M. Winneg, and Josh Pasek
PNAS December 28, 2021 118 (52) e2112266118; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2112266118