Public Health
Volume 201 Pages 1-126 (December 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/public-health/vol/201/suppl/C
Review article Full text access
Development of a critical appraisal tool for models predicting the impact of ‘test, trace, and protect’ programmes on COVID-19 transmission
J.W. Frank, G. Marion, A. Doeschl-Wilson
Pages 55-60
Public Health
Volume 201 Pages 1-126 (December 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/public-health/vol/201/suppl/C
Research article Full text access
Understanding and addressing vaccine hesitancy in the context of COVID-19: development of a digital intervention
H. Knight, R. Jia, K. Ayling, K. Bradbury, … K. Vedhara
Pages 98-107
Public Health Ethics
Volume 14, Issue 3, November 2021
http://phe.oxfordjournals.org/content/current
Original Articles
The ‘Ethical’ COVID-19 Vaccine is the One that Preserves Lives: Religious and Moral Beliefs on the COVID-19 Vaccine
Alberto Giubilini, Francesca Minerva, Udo Schuklenk, Julian Savulescu
Public Health Ethics, Volume 14, Issue 3, November 2021, Pages 242–255, https://doi.org/10.1093/phe/phab018
Research Ethics
Volume 18 Issue 1, January 2022
http://journals.sagepub.com/toc/reab/current
Topic Piece
Reshaping the review of consent so we might improve participant choice
Hugh Davies on behalf of the Oxford “A” Research Ethics Committee
First Published September 15, 2021; pp. 3–12
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública/Pan American Journal of Public Health (RPSP/PAJPH)
https://www.paho.org/journal/en
10 Dec 2021
Global control of COVID-19: good vaccines may not suffice
Opinion and analysis | English |
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública/Pan American Journal of Public Health (RPSP/PAJPH)
https://www.paho.org/journal/en
Selected Articles
10 Dec 2021
Investigations of socioeconomic factors associated with follow-up compliance with malaria treatment in Haiti
Original research | English |
Risk Management and Healthcare Policy
https://www.dovepress.com/risk-management-and-healthcare-policy-archive56
[Accessed 11 Dec 2021]
Commentary
The 2018–2020 Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A Better Response Had Been Achieved Through Inter-State Coordination in Africa
Guetiya Wadoum RE, Sevalie S, Minutolo A, Clarke A, Russo G, Colizzi V, Mattei M, Montesano C
Risk Management and Healthcare Policy 2021, 14:4923-4930
Published Date: 10 December 2021
Risk Management and Healthcare Policy
https://www.dovepress.com/risk-management-and-healthcare-policy-archive56
[Accessed 11 Dec 2021]
Original Research
Control and Prevention of the COVID-19 Epidemic in China: A Qualitative Community Case Study
Wu Y, Zhang Q, Li L, Li M, Zuo Y
Risk Management and Healthcare Policy 2021, 14:4907-4922
Published Date: 9 December 2021
Science
Volume 374| Issue 6573| 10 Dec 2021
https://www.science.org/toc/science/current
Editorial
Academic freedom under fire
BY Jonathan R. Cole
09 Dec 2021: 1300-1300
Science
Volume 374| Issue 6573| 10 Dec 2021
https://www.science.org/toc/science/current
Policy Forum
Filling gaps in trustworthy development of AI
BY Shahar Avin […] Noa Zilberman
09 Dec 2021: 1327-1329
Incident sharing, auditing, and other concrete mechanisms could help verify the trustworthiness of actors
Science
Volume 374| Issue 6573| 10 Dec 2021
https://www.science.org/toc/science/current
Research Articles
Protection against SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant in mRNA-1273 vaccine–boosted nonhuman primates
BY Kizzmekia S. Corbett, […] Robert A. Seder
21 Oct 2021: 1343-1353
Open Access
COVID vaccine boosting should help to sustain protection against severe disease, reduce the frequency of infection, and limit transmission.
Science
Volume 374| Issue 6573| 10 Dec 2021
https://www.science.org/toc/science/current
Membrane fusion and immune evasion by the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant
BY Jun Zhang […] Bing Chen
26 Oct 2021: 1353-1360
Open Access
Structural and functional studies explain the heightened transmissibility and immune evasion of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant.
Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 49 Pages 7117-7220 (3 December 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/49
Discussion Full text access
COVID-19 from a polio perspective
Robert Hill
Pages 7117-7118
Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 49 Pages 7117-7220 (3 December 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/49
Discussion Full text access
SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for domestic and captive animals: An effort to counter COVID-19 pandemic at the human-animal interface
Khan Sharun, Ruchi Tiwari, AbdulRahman A. Saied, Kuldeep Dhama
Pages 7119-7122
Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 49 Pages 7117-7220 (3 December 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/49
Discussion Full text access
The influence of interval between doses on response to vaccines
Charlene M.C. Rodrigues, Stanley A. Plotkin
Pages 7123-7127
Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 49 Pages 7117-7220 (3 December 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/49
Discussion Full text access
COVAX no fault compensation program for COVID-19 vaccine injuries in 92 low and middle income countries
Anne Mazur, Stefanie Benitez, Stéphanie Chuffart-Finsterwald, Rafael La Rotta, Lee M. Hampton
Pages 7128-7130
Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 49 Pages 7117-7220 (3 December 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/49
Research article Full text access
Social inequalities in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and uptake for children and adolescents in Montreal, Canada
Britt McKinnon, Caroline Quach, Ève Dubé, Cat Tuong Nguyen, Kate Zinszer
Pages 7140-7145
Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 49 Pages 7117-7220 (3 December 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/49
Research article Abstract only
Mandatory immunization and vaccine injury support programs: A survey of 28 GNN countries
Shawn H.E. Harmon, David E. Faour, Noni E. MacDonald
Pages 7153-7157
Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 49 Pages 7117-7220 (3 December 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/49
Advancing vaccine-product innovations for LMICs: Updates from the Vaccine Innovation Prioritisation Strategy (VIPS)
Discussion Full text access
A global collaboration to advance vaccine product innovations – The Vaccine Innovation Prioritisation Strategy
Debra Kristensen, Birgitte Giersing, Julian Hickling, Fatima Kazi, … Marion Menozzi-Arnaud
Pages 7191-7194
Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 49 Pages 7117-7220 (3 December 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/49
Research article Open access
Vaccine innovation prioritisation strategy: Findings from three country-stakeholder consultations on vaccine product innovations
Mercy Mvundura, Collrane Frivold, Anna Janik Osborne, Priyanka Soni, … Debra Kristensen
Pages 7195-7207
Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 49 Pages 7117-7220 (3 December 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/49
Review article Open access
Strategies for vaccine-product innovation: Creating an enabling environment for product development to uptake in low- and middle-income countries
Birgitte Giersing, Natasha Shah, Debra Kristensen, Jean-Pierre Amorij, … Marion Menozzi-Arnaud
Pages 7208-7219
Pre-Print Servers
Gates Open Research
https://gatesopenresearch.org/browse/articles
[Accessed 11 Dec 2021]
Research Article metrics AWAITING PEER REVIEW
Do differentiated service delivery models for HIV treatment in sub-Saharan Africa save money? Synthesis of evidence from field studies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa in 2017-2019 [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Sydney Rosen, Brooke Nichols, Teresa Guthrie, Mariet Benade, Salome Kuchukhidze, Lawrence Long
Peer Reviewers Invited
Funder – NIH
PUBLISHED 08 Dec 2021
medRxiv
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/about-medrxiv
medRxiv is a free online archive and distribution server for complete but unpublished manuscripts (preprints) in the medical, clinical, and related health sciences. Preprints are preliminary reports of work that have not been certified by peer review. They should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information. medRxiv is for the distribution of preprints – complete but unpublished manuscripts – that describe human health research conducted, analyzed, and interpreted according to scientific principles…
[Accessed 11 Dec 2021]
Selected Content
SARS-CoV-2 Omicron has extensive but incomplete escape of Pfizer BNT162b2 elicited neutralization and requires ACE2 for infection
Sandile Cele, Laurelle Jackson, Khadija Khan, David S Khoury, Thandeka Moyo-Gwete, Houriiyah Tegally, Cathrine Scheepers, Daniel Amoako, Farina Karim, Mallory Bernstein, Gila Lustig, Derseree Archary, Muneerah Smith, Yashica Ganga, Zesuliwe Jule, Kajal Reedoy, James Emmanuel San, Shi-Hsia Hwa, Jennifer Giandhari, Jonathan Blackburn, Bernadett I Gosnell, Salim Abdool Karim, Willem Hanekom, NGS-SA, COMMIT-KZN Team, Anne von Gottberg, Jinal Bhiman, Richard Lessells, Mahomed-Yunus S Moosa, Miles Philip Davenport, Tulio de Oliveira, Penny L. Moore, Alex Sigal
medRxiv 2021.12.08.21267417; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.08.21267417
The prevalence of adaptive immunity to COVID-19 and reinfection after recovery, a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis
Tawanda Chivese, Joshua Matizanadzo, Omran Musa, George Hindy, Luis Furuya-Kanamori, Nazmul Islam, Rafal Al-Shebly, Rana Shalaby, Mohammad Habibullah, Talal Al-Marwani, Rizeq F Hourani, Ahmed D Nawaz, Mohammad Haider, Mohamed M Emara, Farhan Cyprian, Suhail A. R. Doi
medRxiv 2021.09.03.21263103; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.03.21263103
Screening and vaccination against COVID-19 to minimize school closure
Elisabetta Colosi, Giulia Bassignana, Diego A Contreras, Canelle Poirier, Pierre-Yves Boëlle, Simon Cauchemez, Yazdan Yazdanpanah, Bruno Lina, Arnaud Fontanet, Alain Barrat, Vittoria Colizza
medRxiv 2021.08.15.21261243; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.15.21261243
Estimates of reduced vaccine effectiveness against hospitalization, infection, transmission and symptomatic disease of a new SARS-CoV-2 variant, Omicron (B.1.1.529), using neutralizing antibody titers
Billy J Gardner, A. Marm Kilpatrick
medRxiv 2021.12.10.21267594; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.10.21267594
Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19: A quick online cross-sectional survey among Tanzanian residents.
sima rugarabamu, Aisha Byanaku, Mariam Ibrahim
medRxiv 2020.04.26.20080820; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.26.20080820
Surveillance of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness – a real-time case-control study in southern Sweden
Jonas Björk, Carl Bonander, Mahnaz Moghaddassi, Magnus Rasmussen, Ulf Malmqvist, Fredrik Kahn, Malin Inghammar
medRxiv 2021.12.09.21267515; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.09.21267515
Trust in the research community predicts intent to comply with COVID-19 prevention measures: An analysis of a large-scale international survey dataset
Hyemin Han
medRxiv 2021.12.08.21267486; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.08.21267486
Vaccine hesitancy for COVID-19 explored in a phenomic study of 259 socio-cognitive-behavioural measures in the UK-REACH study of 12,431 UK healthcare workers
I Chris McManus, Katherine Woolf, Christopher A Martin, Laura B Nellums, Anna L Guyatt, Carl Melbourne, Luke Bryant, Amit Gupta, Catherine John, Martin D Tobin, Sue Carr, Sandra Simpson, Bindu Gregary, Avinash Aujayeb, Stephen Zingwe, Rubina Reza, Laura J Gray, Kamlesh Khunti, Manish Pareek
medRxiv 2021.12.08.21267421; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.08.21267421
Vaccine hesitancy for COVID-19 explored in a phenomic study of 259 socio-cognitive-behavioural measures in the UK-REACH study of 12,431 UK healthcare workers
I Chris McManus, Katherine Woolf, Christopher A Martin, Laura B Nellums, Anna L Guyatt, Carl Melbourne, Luke Bryant, Amit Gupta, Catherine John, Martin D Tobin, Sue Carr, Sandra Simpson, Bindu Gregary, Avinash Aujayeb, Stephen Zingwe, Rubina Reza, Laura J Gray, Kamlesh Khunti, Manish Pareek
medRxiv 2021.12.08.21267421; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.08.21267421
Global disparities in SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance
Anderson F. Brito, Elizaveta Semenova, Gytis Dudas, Gabriel W. Hassler, Chaney C. Kalinich, Moritz U.G. Kraemer, Joses Ho, Houriiyah Tegally, George Githinji, Charles N. Agoti, Lucy E. Matkin, Charles Whittaker, Danish Covid-19 Genome Consortium, COVID-19 Impact Project, Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA), GISAID core curation team, Benjamin P Howden, Vitali Sintchenko, Neta S. Zuckerman, Orna Mor, Heather M Blankenship, Tulio de Oliveira, Raymond T. P. Lin, Marilda Mendonça Siqueira, Paola Cristina Resende, Ana Tereza R. Vasconcelos, Fernando R. Spilki, Renato Santana Aguiar, Ivailo Alexiev, Ivan N. Ivanov, Ivva Philipova, Christine V. F. Carrington, Nikita S. D. Sahadeo, Céline Gurry, Sebastian Maurer-Stroh, Dhamari Naidoo, Karin J von Eije, Mark D. Perkins, Maria van Kerkhove, Sarah C. Hill, Ester C. Sabino, Oliver G. Pybus, Christopher Dye, Samir Bhatt, Seth Flaxman, Marc A. Suchard, Nathan D. Grubaugh, Guy Baele, Nuno R. Faria
medRxiv 2021.08.21.21262393; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.21.21262393
Abstract
Genomic sequencing provides critical information to track the evolution and spread of SARS-CoV-2, optimize molecular tests, treatments and vaccines, and guide public health responses. To investigate the spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the global SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance, we estimated the impact of sequencing intensity and turnaround times (TAT) on variant detection in 167 countries. Most countries submit genomes >21 days after sample collection, and 77% of low and middle income countries sequenced <0.5% of their cases. We found that sequencing at least 0.5% of the cases, with a TAT <21 days, could be a benchmark for SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance efforts. Socioeconomic inequalities substantially impact our ability to quickly detect SARS-CoV-2 variants, and undermine the global pandemic preparedness. The challenge of limited vaccine supplies: impact of prior infection on anti-spike IgG antibody trajectories after a single COVID-19 vaccination
Jia Wei, Philippa C. Matthews, Nicole Stoesser, Ian Diamond, Ruth Studley, Emma Rourke, Duncan Cook, John I Bell, John N Newton, Jeremy Farrar, Alison Howarth, Brian D. Marsden, Sarah Hoosdally, E Yvonne Jones, David I Stuart, Derrick W. Crook, Tim E. A. Peto, A. Sarah Walker, David W. Eyre, Koen B. Pouwels, the COVID-19 Infection Survey team
medRxiv 2021.12.08.21267353; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.08.21267353
Long COVID Citizen Scientists – Developing a needs-based research agenda by persons affected by Long COVID
Sarah Ziegler, Alessia Raineri, Vasileios Nittas, Natalie Rangelov, Fabian Vollrath, Chantal Britt, Milo A Puhan
medRxiv 2021.12.08.21267181; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.08.21267181
COVID-19 Vaccination Mandates and Vaccine Uptake
Alexander Karaivanov, Dongwoo Kim, Shih En Lu, Hitoshi Shigeoka
medRxiv 2021.10.21.21265355; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.21.21265355
Abstract
We evaluate the impact of government mandated proof of vaccination requirements for access to public venues and non-essential businesses on COVID-19 vaccine uptake. We find that the announcement of a mandate is associated with a rapid and significant surge in new vaccinations (more than 60% increase in weekly first doses) using the variation in the timing of these measures across Canadian provinces in a difference-in-differences approach. Time-series analysis for each province and for France, Italy and Germany corroborates this finding, and we estimate cumulative gains of up to 5 percentage points in provincial vaccination rates and 790,000 or more first doses for Canada as a whole as of October 31, 2021 (5 to 13 weeks after the provincial mandate announcements). We also find large vaccination gains in France (3 to 5 mln first doses), Italy (around 6 mln) and Germany (around 3.5 mln) 11 to 16 weeks after the proof of vaccination mandate announcements.
COVID-19 infections post-vaccination by HIV status in the United States
Sally B. Coburn, Elizabeth Humes, Raynell Lang, Cameron Stewart, Brenna C Hogan, Kelly A. Gebo, Sonia Napravnik, Jessie K. Edwards, Lindsay E. Browne, Lesley S. Park, Amy C. Justice, Kirsha Gordon, Michael A. Horberg, Julia M. Certa, Eric Watson, Celeena R Jefferson, Michael Silverberg, Jacek Skarbinski, Wendy A Leyden, Carolyn F. Williams, Keri N. Althoff, for the Corona-Infectious-Virus Epidemiology Team (CIVETs) of the NA-ACCORD of IeDEA
medRxiv 2021.12.02.21267182; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.02.21267182
Wellcome Open Research [to 11 Dec 2021]
https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/browse/articles
[Accessed 11 Dec 2021]
Wellcome Open Research provides all Wellcome researchers with a place to rapidly publish any results they think are worth sharing. All articles benefit from rapid publication, transparent peer review and editorial guidance on making all source data openly available.
Research Article metrics
Revised
Estimating the number of undetected COVID-19 cases among travellers from mainland China [version 3; peer review: 3 approved]
Sangeeta Bhatia, Natsuko Imai, Gina Cuomo-Dannenburg, Marc Baguelin, Adhiratha Boonyasiri, Anne Cori, Zulma Cucunubá, Ilaria Dorigatti, Rich FitzJohn, Han Fu, Katy Gaythorpe, Azra Ghani, Arran Hamlet, Wes Hinsley, Daniel Laydon, Gemma Nedjati-Gilani, Lucy Okell, Steven Riley, Hayley Thompson, Sabine van Elsland, Erik Volz, Haowei Wang, Yuanrong Wang, Charles Whittaker, Xiaoyue Xi, Christl A. Donnelly, Neil M. Ferguson
Peer Reviewers Jeremy Bingham and Juliet R.C. Pulliam; Sebastian Funk; Hannah E. Clapham
Funders
Wellcome Trust
European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership
National Institute for Health Research
Department for International Development, UK Government
Medical Research Council
LATEST VERSION PUBLISHED 06 Dec 2021
Think Tanks
Brookings [to 11 Dec 2021]
http://www.brookings.edu/
Accessed 11 Dec 2021
Up Front
What we can learn from Israel’s COVID-19 vaccination of children
Oren Heller, Yaniv Shlomo, and Michal Grinstein-Weiss
Friday, December 10, 2021
A study conducted by the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis shows that among surveyed parents in Israel, only 37 percent intended to vaccinate their child (aged 5-11) against COVID-19 when the option became available, while 23 percent of parents were undecided and 40 percent had no intention to vaccinate their children.
The study was conducted November 3-8, 2021, among a representative sample of Israeli parents of children aged 5-11 (N = 912)…
Center for Global Development [to 11 Dec 2021]
http://www.cgdev.org/page/press-center
Accessed 11 Dec 2021
Applications of Machine Learning and Advanced Analytics in Pandemic Preparedness and Response: Translating Models into Policy Action
Event
12/15/21
The Updated International Health Regulations Need Better Rules for Travel Restrictions
December 9, 2021
The last week has demonstrated the level of security theatre that has often been involved with travel bans put in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19. But heavy travel restrictions have played a role in the strategies of some of the countries that have most successfully battled the pandemic. As part of an effort to strengthen the International Health Regulations, the World Health Organization (WHO) should propose approaches that will limit travel restrictions to where they are most likely to be effective and design them to be minimally disruptive.
Charles Kenny
We Should Prepare for an Omicron COVID-19 Wave by Prioritising Cost-Effective Essential Emergency Critical Care Now
December 6, 2021
Hiral Anil Shah et al.
Chatham House [to 11 Dec 2021]
https://www.chathamhouse.org/
Accessed 11 Dec 2021
Covid’s solidarity failure
Pledges of ‘vaccines for everyone’ may have gone unfulfilled but the case for universal health reforms is gaining ground, writes Rob Yates
The World Today
3 December 2021
CSIS
https://www.csis.org/
Accessed 11 Dec 2021
Upcoming Event
The Road to the 2022 Summit of the Americas: Vaccine Diplomacy and Engagement
December 14, 2021
Kaiser Family Foundation
https://www.kff.org/search/?post_type=press-release
Accessed 11 Dec 2021
December 10, 2021 News Release
Health Employment Continues Slow Recovery Since the Beginning of the Pandemic
Unlike past recessions, the health sector saw a big drop in employment in early 2020 similar to other sectors as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the nation’s economy and remains below expected employment levels through November 2021, a new KFF chart collection shows. The chart collection takes a…
December 9, 2021 News Release
Half of Parents of Adolescents 12-17 Say Their Child Has Gotten a COVID-19 Vaccine, though Uptake Has Slowed; 16% of Parents of 5-11 Year-olds Say Their Child Has Gotten a Vaccine
COVID-19 vaccine uptake among adolescents ages 12-17 has slowed after an initial wave of enthusiasm over the summer, with half (49%) of parents saying their adolescent has received at least one dose, a new KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor report reveals. The share is little changed since earlier in the fall.…
December 8, 2021 News Release
Following an Early Period of High Demand, Vaccination for Children Ages 5-11 Has Significantly Slowed
As of December 5, 16.7% of 5-11 year-olds had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose with 4.3% of children reaching full vaccination, according to a new KFF analysis. After a short period of high demand, the rate of new vaccinations slowed significantly leading into the Thanksgiving holiday and has…
ODI [Overseas Development Institute] [to 11 Dec 2021]
https://odi.org/en/publications/
Publications
[No new digest content identified]
Vaccines and Global Health: The Week in Review is a weekly digest summarizing news, events, announcements, peer-reviewed articles and research in the global vaccine ethics and policy space. Content is aggregated from key governmental, NGO, international organization and industry sources, key peer-reviewed journals, and other media channels. This summary proceeds from the broad base of themes and issues monitored by the Center for Vaccine Ethics & Policy in its work: it is not intended to be exhaustive in its coverage. You are viewing the blog version of our weekly digest, typically comprised of between 30 and 40 posts below all dated with the current issue date
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David R. Curry, MS
Executive Director
Center for Vaccine Ethics and Policy
Gavi Board approves malaria vaccine programme funding, COVAX 2022 strategic approach and measures to maintain, restore and strengthen routine immunisation
A new malaria vaccination programme has been approved, providing Gavi-eligible countries in sub-Saharan Africa a powerful new tool with which to fight malaria
In 2022, Gavi, through COVAX, will continue to help countries meet COVID-19 vaccination targets, focusing mostly on lower-income countries and those most in need including support for delivery at scale
Gavi will invest US$ 250 million over 2022-2026 in its partnership with India; US$ 53 million over 2022-2025 will be channelled towards supporting the availability of diagnostic tests for yellow fever, cholera, typhoid, meningococcus, measles, and rubella
José Manuel Barroso, Board Chair: “I am greatly heartened that the Gavi Board has endorsed decisions that allow progress to be made on all fronts: for leveraging the latest innovations to tackle malaria, for COVAX to support national COVID-19 vaccination strategies, and for maintaining, restoring and strengthening routine immunisation programmes – including targeting the increasing numbers of zero dose children in the world today.”
Geneva, 3 December 2021 – The Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance this week approved a number of measures aimed at tackling malaria, driving equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines and maintaining, restoring and strengthening routine immunisation in 2022.
During the three-day meeting, the Board approved a new malaria vaccination programme to support the introduction, procurement and delivery of the malaria vaccine to Gavi-eligible countries in sub-Saharan Africa. An initial investment of US$ 155.7 million for 2022-2025 will initiate the implementation of this additional tool in the fight against malaria alongside currently recommended malaria control interventions, which could save tens of thousands of lives annually and drive down child mortality in Africa.
The Board also approved the Vaccine Alliance’s strategic direction and role in COVAX. In 2022, Gavi, through COVAX, will continue building the foundations of COVID-19 protection with a focus on lower-income countries and the most in need; deploying a flexible portfolio of COVID-19 vaccines to manage uncertainty and anticipate risk; and providing support for delivery at-scale.
“Events of 2021, illustrated most recently by the emergence of the omicron variant, have highlighted the danger of leaving COVID-19 to flourish unchecked in large parts of the world, but also of the vital importance of maintaining routine life-saving immunisation programmes that have been hit so hard by the pandemic”, said José Manuel Barroso, Chair of the Gavi Board. “I am greatly heartened that the Gavi Board has endorsed decisions that allow progress to be made on all fronts: for leveraging the latest innovations to tackle malaria, for COVAX to support national COVID-19 vaccination strategies, and for maintaining, restoring and strengthening routine immunisation programmes – including targeting the increasing numbers of zero dose children in the world today.”
Malaria vaccine programme
The Board’s historical approval of a malaria vaccine programme and financing will provide a critical new tool for African countries in the fight against malaria. With an initial investment of approximately US$ 155.7 million for 2022-2025, the Board noted that a successful malaria vaccine programme should support deliberate and intensive coordination between malaria control and immunisation programmes at global and country levels to ensure most impactful deployment of the vaccine alongside other interventions.
The Board also recognised the opportunity for integration and strengthening of primary healthcare given the wide acceptance of the vaccine among caregivers and healthcare workers, as was seen during the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP). Child immunisation provides a powerful platform to reach vulnerable children, including those who are unreached with bednets or other existing prevention measures, and can help advance the equity agenda. Finally, the Board noted opportunities for next generation vaccines and a need for market-shaping efforts to support the development of a healthy malaria vaccine market.
“Today marks an important milestone in our fight against malaria,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “This decision by the Gavi Board to finance a new malaria vaccination programme for countries in sub-Saharan Africa could save tens of thousands of lives annually in Africa. The vaccine is an important additional tool to control malaria in Africa, alongside other interventions, such as routine use of insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor spraying with insecticides, malaria chemoprevention, and timely testing and treatment. We look forward to working with global malaria stakeholders to make sure that countries are able to implement this additional tool in the fight against malaria.”
After considerable gains in the past two decades, progress in malaria control has stalled and new tools are urgently needed to get back on track. More than 260,000 African children under the age of five die from malaria annually, and six Gavi-eligible countries account for 50% of global mortality. Africa continues to bear the heaviest malaria burden and African children are at highest risk of dying of malaria, especially at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic threatens disruptions to immunisation programmes.
Following the decision by the Gavi Board, a series of critical next steps will need to take place before the vaccine is rolled-out to Gavi-supported countries. This includes technical guidance on the use of the vaccine alongside other malaria interventions, procurement of the vaccine, and the opening of the funding window to allow applications from Gavi-supported countries. Additionally, countries will need to make decisions on the rollout of malaria vaccine, taking in consideration such factors as the public health priority of the disease, evidence of disease burden, and the optimal mix of malaria interventions tailored to the local context.
COVAX’s 2022 strategic approach
The Board approved the Vaccine Alliance’s strategic direction for 2022 to support 91 lower-income countries towards achieving their individual COVID-19 vaccination coverage ambitions in view of the WHO Global Vaccination Target of 70% by mid-2022 and taking into account sources of supply beyond COVAX. COVAX has supplied over 80% of all vaccines shipped to low-income countries and has secured access to enough additional doses to protect around 40% of each countries’ population by early next year.
Subject to funding availability for the COVAX AMC, the COVAX Facility’s approach to procurement of COVID-19 vaccines for 2022, devised to provide maximum flexibility in the event of new evidence appearing or markets evolving, was also approved by the Gavi Board. The core element of the approach, the Pandemic Vaccine Pool, will enable COVAX to manage demand- and supply-side risks, as well as provide doses to the countries that are most reliant on COVAX, including vulnerable countries, countries where current rates of coverage are the lowest and others that need certainty of supply in order to be able to plan successfully.
The COVAX 2022 strategic approach also recognises the difference in countries’ capacity to roll-out vaccines and the fact that many partners are providing support to countries to scale up delivery. The Alliance’s role in the scale up of COVID-19 vaccination in 2022 will focus on more systematic collaboration with other funders at global, regional and country levels; more targeted financial support and enhanced technical support to AMC-eligible countries; as well as enhanced monitoring of delivery progress and risks.
In order to strengthen COVAX’s processes from supply allocation to last mile delivery, the Board recognised the need to establish an enhanced and unified COVAX delivery coordination structure, agreeing to set up a temporary Steering Committee with delegated authority over delivery-related strategy and decisions of the COVAX Facility. The Committee will also oversee COVID-19 vaccination delivery support provided by COVAX, including alignment on allocation strategy, country absorptive capacity and funding. Recognising the important role that each Vaccine Alliance member needs to play in this coordination structure, it also requested that the new structure work with existing and additional partners and countries to rapidly accelerate vaccination delivery, including through campaigns, mass vaccination and hard-to-reach populations while safeguarding routine immunisation. The enhanced coordination structure will report on delivery progress to the Gavi Board through the temporary Steering Committee on a regular basis.
The Board also delegated to Gavi, at the guidance of the new COVAX coordination structure, the authority to allot current and future COVID-19 delivery funding without requiring independent review given the emergency context and urgent country needs, while utilising existing programmatic and fiduciary risk mitigation mechanisms.
The Board also noted the importance of COVAX’s cost-sharing mechanism as an important voluntary mechanism for countries to access additional doses and approved its extension until December 2023.
Disease surveillance and diagnostics
As part of Gavi’s efforts to restore, maintain and strengthen routine immunisation, the Board approved US$ 32 million in funding in 2022-2025 for costs related to the procurement and distribution of yellow fever, cholera, typhoid, meningococcus, measles, and rubella diagnostic test kits, reagents, supplies, and equipment. This market purchase commitment will put incentives in place for improved commercially available diagnostics. Additionally, US$ 21 million was approved to ensure that any test kits procured with Gavi funding are accurate, reliable, and useful for vaccine programmes’ efforts to use vaccines in the right places and times.
Fit-for-purpose diagnostic tools are critical for countries’ abilities to plan and implement targeted vaccination programmes. Making such diagnostic tools available to countries will help make sure that Gavi investments in these vaccine programmes, which are currently projected at over US$ 1.6 billion during 2021-2025, will be more efficient, effective, and equitable.
The Board also approved:
The renewed Gavi’s strategic partnership with India and the associated investment of US$ 250 million for 2022-2026, which will aim to further decrease the number of zero-dose and under-immunised children and expand full immunisation coverage in the next five years, as well as provide catalytic support for the introduction of Human papillomavirus (HPV) and Typhoid conjugate vaccines (TCV) in India.
The Gavi’s private sector engagement strategy which is expected to play a critical role in supporting the strategic priorities of Gavi 5.0 and COVAX related objectives, such as the zero-dose agenda, Covid vaccine delivery, innovation from the private sector and immunisation systems strengthening.
The Risk & Assurance Report 2021, which shows that Gavi’s overall risk profile remains elevated due to the ongoing uncertain environment, Gavi’s ambitious strategy and the unprecedented mission of the COVAX Facility. As per Gavi’s updated Risk Appetite Statement, approved by the Board in its June 2021 meeting, these risks are worth taking, but Gavi continues to actively monitor and mitigate them to the extent possible.
The Financial Forecast for Gavi 5.0 for the 2021-2025 strategic period and the Financial Forecast for Gavi COVAX AMC for the 2020-2022 period.
Finally, the Gavi Board gave a warm send-off to Maty Dia, Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul, Gilbert Mokoki, David Sidwell and Joan Valadou, who have all made an important contribution to Gavi’s efforts to accelerate the introduction of new vaccines and improve routine immunisation. The Board also welcomed new members, including Bernhard Braune, Silvia Lutcuta, Bvudzai Magadrize, Charlemagne Marie Ragnag-Néwendé Ouedraogo, Jan Paehler, Anne Schuchat and Rafael Vilasanjuan.
WHO Pandemic Ethics & Policy Summit
6 December 2021
Equitable access, solidarity, and global health justice: Bridging the gap between ethics and decision-making in pandemics
From resource allocation and priority-setting, access to vaccines, vaccine mandates, lockdowns, travel restrictions, public health surveillance, and obligations to conduct clinical trials, the COVID-19 pandemic has raised profound ethical challenges on an unprecedented global scale.
At the same time, and also in an unprecedented manner, ethical values like equity, fairness, solidarity, and trust have figured prominently in global political discussions. Despite an abundance of guidance, the question remains: how much progress, if any, have we made in achieving these values, in advancing towards global health justice? Much has been said about the importance of evidence-informed decision-making, but what have we achieved in terms of ‘Ethics-informed decision-making’? This Summit provides a forum to discuss the translation of ethics into policy making in COVID-19; where we have succeeded and failed; what are the major challenges and what steps need to be taken to improve ethics informed public health decision-making for pandemic preparedness and response.
The Summit is organized by the WHO Heath Ethics and Governance Unit in collaboration with the WHO’s Working Group on Ethics & COVID-19 and the ACT-Accelerator Ethics & Governance Working Group.
Confirmed speakers include: Thalia Arawi, Caesar Atuire, Alena Buyx, Ezekiel Emanuel, Ruth Faden, Anthony Fauci, Christine Grady, Fatima Hassan, Sharon Kaur, Ilona Kickbusch, Florencia Luna, Roli Mathur, Peter Singer, Jerome Singh, Soumya Swaminathan, Beatriz Thomé, Ross Upshur, Effy Vayena.
Register Here: https://who.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hjp0eY19RDawdZfj1EML8Q
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Extraordinary meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) – 7 December 2021
7 December 2021
This extraordinary virtual meeting for the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) will take place on Tuesday 7 December 2021 to propose recommendations to WHO on the use of COVID-19 vaccine(s).
Agenda: https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/immunization/sage/2021/december/sage-agenda-7dect2021-virtual-draft-rev26nov.pdf?sfvrsn=f2b71e9f_10
World Health Assembly – Special Session
WHASS2: Special session of the World Health Assembly referred to in decision WHA74(16)
29 November – 1 December 2021
Geneva, Switzerland | Virtual event
WHASS2 Documents [at 4 Dec 2021]
:: Statements submitted by Member States and other participants at the Second special session of the World Health Assembly.
:: Statements by non-State actors in official relations with WHO at the WHO governing bodies meetings
Decisions
The World Together: Establishment of an intergovernmental negotiating body to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response
SSA2(5) 1 December 2021 :: 2 pages
The Second special session of the World Health Assembly,
:: Recalling resolution WHA74.7 and decision WHA74(16), and welcoming the report of the Member States Working Group on Strengthening WHO Preparedness and Response to Health Emergencies (WGPR),1
:: Expressing appreciation for the ongoing work of the WGPR under resolution WHA 74.7, including to identify the tools to implement the recommendations that fall under the technical work of WHO and further develop proposals to strengthen the International Health Regulations (IHR (2005)) including potential targeted IHR (2005) amendments, and elements that may most effectively be addressed in other venues;
:: Acknowledging the need to address gaps in preventing, preparing for, and responding to health emergencies, including in development and distribution of, and unhindered, timely and equitable access to, medical countermeasures such as vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, as well as strengthening health systems and their resilience with a view to achieving UHC;
:: Emphasizing the need for a comprehensive and coherent approach to strengthen the global health architecture, and recognizing the commitment of Member States to develop a new instrument for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response with a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, prioritizing the need for equity;
:: Stressing that Member States should guide their efforts to develop such an instrument by the principle of solidarity with all people and countries, that should frame practical actions to deal with both causes and consequences of pandemics and other health emergencies.
1. DECIDES:
(1) to establish, in accordance with Rule 41 of its Rules of Procedure, an intergovernmental negotiating body open to all Member States and Associate Members2 (the “INB”) to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, with a view to adoption under Article 19, or under other provisions of the WHO Constitution as may be deemed appropriate by the INB;
(2) that the first meeting of the INB shall be held no later than 1 March 2022, in order to elect two co-chairs, reflecting a balance of developed and developing countries, and four vice-chairs, one from each of the six WHO regions, and to define and agree on its working methods and timelines, consistent with this decision and based on the principles of inclusiveness, transparency, efficiency, Member State leadership and consensus;
(3) that as part of its working methods, the INB shall determine an inclusive Member State led process, to be facilitated by the co-chairs and vice-chairs, to first identify the substantive elements of the instrument and to then begin the development of a working draft to be presented, on the basis of progress achieved, for the consideration of the INB at its second meeting, to be held no later than 1 August 2022, at the end of which the INB will identify the provision of the WHO Constitution under which the instrument should be adopted in line with paragraph 1(1);
(4) that the process referred to in paragraph 1(3) should be informed by evidence and should take into account the discussions and outcomes of the Member States Working Group on Strengthening WHO Preparedness and Response to Health Emergencies, considering the need for coherence and complementarity between the process of developing the new instrument and the ongoing work under resolution WHA74.7, particularly with regard to implementation and strengthening of the IHR (2005);
(5) that the INB shall submit its outcome for consideration by the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly [2024], with a progress report to the Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly;
2. REQUESTS the Director-General to support the INB by:
(1) convening its first meeting no later than 1 March 2022, and subsequent meetings at the request of the co-chairs as frequently as necessary;
(2) holding public hearings, in line with standard WHO practice, prior to the second meeting of the INB to inform its deliberations;
(3) facilitating the participation, to the extent the INB so decides, in accordance with relevant Rules of Procedure and resolutions and decisions of the Health Assembly, of representatives of organizations of the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations with which WHO has established effective relations, Observers, representatives of non-State actors in official relations with WHO, and of other relevant stakeholders and experts as decided by the INB, recognizing the importance of broad engagement to ensure a successful outcome;
(4) providing the INB with the necessary services and facilities for the performance of its work, including complete, relevant and timely information and advice.
Fifth plenary meeting, 1 December 2021 SSA2/SR/5
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WHO Director-General’s closing remarks at the Special Session of the World Health Assembly –
Speech
01 December 2021
[Excerpts]
…I thank you for the overwhelming support expressed by Member States for the need for a new accord on pandemic preparedness and response.
I welcome the decision you have adopted today, to establish an intergovernmental negotiating body to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, with a view to adoption under Article 19, or under other provisions of the WHO Constitution as may be deemed appropriate by the intergovernmental negotiating body.
I welcome your commitment to an inclusive, transparent and efficient process, led by Member States and based on consensus.
I welcome your commitment to hold the first meeting of the INB no later than the first of March 2022, and to submit its outcome for consideration to the World Health Assembly in 2024.
And I give you my commitment that the Secretariat will support this process…
I call on all Member States to choose to achieve our targets of vaccinating 40% of the population of every country by the end of this year, and 70% by the middle of next year.
I call on those countries that have already reached 70% to choose to swap your vaccine delivery schedules with COVAX and AVAT, as Switzerland has just done;
I call on all Member States to choose to remove every barrier to scaling up vaccine production, by sharing technology and know-how, and by supporting a waiver of intellectual property rights.
I call on those countries that have promised to donate vaccines to choose to make good on those promises, as urgently as possible.
I call on Member States to choose to fully fund the ACT Accelerator, which needs 23.4 billion U.S. dollars over the next 12 months to get tests, treatments and vaccines to where they are needed most.
I call on every Member State to choose a comprehensive, tailored, layered combination of proven public health and social measures to reduce transmission, reduce the pressure on your health systems, and save lives.
I call on all Member States to focus on strengthening and optimizing clinical pathways, from primary to intensive care, ensuring the right patient get the right care at the right time, and that health workers are supported and protected while doing their life-saving work.
I call on all Member States to intensify and target risk communication, strengthen community engagement, empowerment and support, addressing community concerns, combatting misinformation and building trust.
I call on every Member State to choose to increase surveillance, testing, sequencing and reporting, and to refrain from penalizing countries that do, in compliance with the International Health Regulations.
And I call on all Member States to choose to commit to strengthening your WHO, especially by supporting the proposals of the Working Group on Sustainable Financing.
We are one humanity. We have one planet. We have one health. And we have one WHO. Your WHO.
1 Document SSA2/3.
2 And regional economic integration organizations as appropriate.
WTO – TRIPS Waiver Status
DG calls on members to agree on pandemic response, fisheries subsidies by end-February
2 December 2021
Following last week’s eleventh-hour decision by WTO members to postpone the 12th Ministerial Conference, negotiations are continuing in Geneva, and Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala today (2 December) urged delegation heads to redouble their efforts to bridge differences. She called on them to conclude agreements on the WTO system’s response to pandemics as well as on curbing harmful fisheries subsidies by the end of February 2022 to pave the way for approval by ministers. “Seven billion people are waiting for us on TRIPS and pandemic response. And 260 million people are waiting for us on fisheries subsidies,” she said.
Speaking to a meeting of delegation heads from all WTO members, the Director-General said the decision to postpone MC12 was “as disappointing as it was necessary”. In addition to the potential health risks from the Omicron variant, travel restrictions introduced in response to its emergence had made it impossible for all ministers to participate on an equitable basis at the conference, which had been set to run from 30 November to 3 December in Geneva.
Just because the ministerial had been postponed did not mean that negotiations had stopped, the Director-General emphasised. She welcomed the ongoing meetings among ambassadors and experts to try to keep bridging gaps they had narrowed over the course of weeks of nearly round-the-clock preparatory negotiations and encouraged them to continue. The challenge for them now was to “recover from last week’s unexpected setback to deliver results for the people we serve”.
DG Okonjo-Iweala said she had spoken to several ministers in recent days, and they all wanted negotiations in Geneva to continue — and to deliver results.
She pointed to a joint letter that the officers of MC12 — Conference Chair Timur Suleimenov, President’s Envoy for International Trade of Kazakhstan, and Vice-Chairs Dan Tehan, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment of Australia; Jerome Xavier Walcott, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados; and Harriet Ntabazi, Minister of State for Trade of Uganda — had sent to ministers from all WTO members, asking them to empower Geneva representatives to resolve outstanding differences so that ministers can reconvene in March to adopt agreements. That letter called for prioritizing outcomes on pandemic response, including a “sensible solution” on the proposed intellectual property waiver, given the global health situation, as well as on fisheries subsidies, where recent convergence had put a deal in the long-running negotiations within reach.
“If we were ready to make progress this week, we can finish pandemic response and fisheries subsidies by the end of February, and know where we are on agriculture,” the Director-General said.
“The pandemic is raging — people are dying globally in numbers similar to April 2020. The public expects a response from WTO members,” she added. “The new Omicron variant has reminded us once again of the urgency of achieving equitable access to vaccines in every country in the world.”
“It underscores how important it is for us to converge on the WTO’s contribution to achieving this goal, including the TRIPS dimension. I strongly believe that a comprehensive response to the pandemic must include intellectual property,” she said, urging all sides to come together to find a compromise.
Noting that it was not clear whether the epidemiological situation would permit ministers to gather in March, the Director-General said Geneva representatives should seek to prepare clean texts, or at most texts with one outstanding issue to be resolved, for ministers. This would permit them to finalize or bless an outcome even if they have to do so remotely.
“Let us aim to finish pandemic response and fisheries by end February. And let us agree that ministers should be able to finalise them without physical presence. Seven billion people are waiting for us on TRIPS and pandemic response. And 260 million people are waiting for us on fisheries subsidies,” she said.
She urged delegations to advance where possible in the days remaining before the WTO’s winter break and to return early in January with “guidance and instructions for getting us to the finish line”.
Joint Statement on Dose Donations of COVID-19 Vaccines to African Countries
A joint statement from the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and COVAX
29 November 2021| Addis Ababa| Geneva.
Building on lessons learned from our collective experience with dose donations over the past several months, the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and COVAX wish to draw the attention of the international community to the situation of donations of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa, and other COVAX participating economies, particularly those supported by the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC).
AVAT and COVAX complement each other’s efforts to support African countries to meet their immunisation targets, recognising the global goal of immunising 70% of the African population. Dose donations have been an important source of supply while other sources are stepping up, but the quality of donations needs to improve.
AVAT and COVAX are focused on accelerating access to and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in Africa. Together we are rapidly expanding supply to the continent, and providing countries with the support to be able to utilise the doses they receive. To date, over 90 million donated doses have been delivered to the continent via COVAX and AVAT and millions more via bilateral arrangements.
However, the majority of the donations to-date have been ad hoc, provided with little notice and short shelf lives. This has made it extremely challenging for countries to plan vaccination campaigns and increase absorptive capacity. To achieve higher coverage rates across the continent, and for donations to be a sustainable source of supply that can complement supply from AVAT and COVAX purchase agreements, this trend must change.
Countries need predictable and reliable supply. Having to plan at short notice and ensure uptake of doses with short shelf lives exponentially magnifies the logistical burden on health systems that are already stretched. Furthermore, ad hoc supply of this kind utilizes capacity – human resources, infrastructure, cold chain – that could be directed towards long-term successful and sustainable rollout. It also dramatically increases the risks of expiry once doses with already short shelf-lives arrive in country, which may have long-term repercussions for vaccine confidence.
Donations to COVAX, AVAT, and African countries must be made in a way that allows countries to effectively mobilise domestic resources in support of rollout and enables long-term planning to increase coverage rates.
We call on the international community, particularly donors and manufacturers, to commit to this effort by adhering to the following standards, beginning from 1 January 2022:
Quantity and predictability: Donor countries should endeavour to release donated doses in large volumes and in a predictable manner, to reduce transaction costs. We acknowledge and welcome the progress being made in this area, but note that the frequency of exceptions to this approach places increased burden on countries, AVAT and COVAX.
Earmarking: These doses should be unearmarked for greatest effectiveness and to support long-term planning. Earmarking makes it far more difficult to allocate supply based on equity, and to account for specific countries’ absorptive capacity. It also increases the risk that short shelf-life donations utilise countries’ cold chain capacity – capacity that is then unavailable when AVAT or COVAX are allocating doses with longer shelf lives under their own purchase agreements.
Shelf life: As a default, donated doses should have a minimum of 10 weeks shelf life when they arrive in-country, with limited exceptions only where recipient countries indicate willingness and ability to absorb doses with shorter shelf lives.
Early notice: Recipient countries need to be made aware of the availability of donated doses not less than 4 weeks before their tentative arrival in-country.
Response times: All stakeholders should seek to provide rapid response on essential information. This includes essential supply information from manufacturers (total volumes available for donation, shelf life, manufacturing site), confirmation of donation offer from donors, and acceptance/refusal of allocations from countries. Last minute information can further complicate processes, increasing transaction costs, reducing available shelf life and increasing risk of expiry.
Ancillaries: The majority of donations to-date do not include the necessary vaccination supplies such as syringes and diluent, nor do they cover freight costs – meaning these have to be sourced separately – leading to additional costs, complexity and delay. Donated doses should be accompanied with all essential ancillaries to ensure rapid allocation and absorption…
Coronavirus [COVID-19] – WHO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
Weekly Epidemiological and Operational updates
Last update: 3 Dec 2021
Confirmed cases :: 263 563 622 [259 502 031 week ago]
Confirmed deaths :: 5 232 562 [5 183 003 week ago]
Vaccine doses administered: 7 864 123 038 [7 702 859 718 week ago]
::::::
Weekly epidemiological update on COVID-19 – 30 November 2021
WHO
Overview
Globally, weekly COVID-19 case incidence plateaued this week, with nearly 3.8 million confirmed new cases reported during the week of 22-28 November 2021, similar to the previous week’s figures. However, new weekly cases increased in three of the six WHO regions. While global weekly deaths decreased by 10% in the past seven days as compared to the previous week, with over 47 500 new deaths reported, an increase in weekly deaths was reported in two of the six regions. As of 28 November, over 260 million confirmed cases and nearly 5.2 million deaths have been reported globally.
In this edition, we provide:
-Details on the newly designated SARS-CoV-2 Variant of Concern (VOC) Omicron (B.1.1.529)
-Updates on the geographic distribution of VOCs
-A summary of phenotypic characteristics (transmissibility, disease severity, risk of reinfection, and impacts on diagnostics and vaccine performance) of VOCs based on available studies.
WHO Director General Speeches [selected]
https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches
Selected
1 December 2021
Speech
WHO Director-General’s closing remarks at the Special Session of the World Health Assembly – 01 December 2021
[See WHASS above for detail]
1 December 2021
Speech
WHO Director-General’s opening remarks for World AIDS Day 2021 – 1 December 2021
1 December 2021
Speech
WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 – 1 December 2021
Today, WHO’s Member States decided to embark on the process of drafting and negotiating a new convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
The emergence of the Omicron variant has understandably captured global attention. At least 23 countries from five of six WHO regions have now reported cases of Omicron, and we expect that number to grow.
We call on all countries to take rational, proportional risk-reduction measures, in keeping with the International Health Regulations.
We must not forget that we are already dealing with a highly transmissible, dangerous variant – the Delta variant, which currently accounts for almost all cases globally. Globally, we have a toxic mix of low vaccine coverage, and very low testing – a recipe for breeding and amplifying variants.
As we mark World AIDS Day, we are reminded that more than 40 years into the global AIDS epidemic, we still have no vaccine and no cure for this disease. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, we have not one but many vaccines, and many other effective tools.
30 November 2021
Speech
WHO Director-General’s panel remarks – Trends for a Changing World: COVID-19 – the Importance of universal health coverage and primary health care
30 November 2021
Remarks
WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the Member State Information Session on the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2
29 November 2021
Speech
WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the Special Session of the World Health Assembly – 29 November 2021
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::::::
Status of COVID-19 Vaccines within WHO EUL/PQ evaluation process 11 November 2021
For 24 vaccine candidates, presents Manufacturer, Name of Vaccine, NRA of Record, Platform, EOI Accepted Status, Pre-submission Meeting Held Status, Dossier Accepted for Review, Status of Assessment; Anticipated/Completed Decision Date
[Full scale view available at title link above]
COVID Vaccine Developer/Manufacturer Announcements
[relevant press releases/announcement from organizations from WHO EUL/PQ listing above]
AstraZeneca
Press Releases – No new digest announcements identified
Bharat Biotech
Press Releases – No new digest announcements identified
BioCubaFarma – Cuba
Últimas Noticias – [Website not responding at inquiry; receiving 403-Forbidden]
CanSinoBIO
News – [Website not responding at inquiry]
Clover Biopharmaceuticals – China
News – No new digest announcements identified
Curevac [Bayer Ag – Germany]
News – No new digest announcements identified
Gamaleya National Center
Latest News and Events – No new digest announcements identified [See Russia/RFID below]
IMBCAMS, China
Home – No new digest announcements identified
Janssen/JNJ
Press Releases
Dec 03, 2021
United States
Janssen to Showcase Progress on Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccine Candidate at ESWI 2021
Nov 29, 2021
United States
Johnson & Johnson to Evaluate Its COVID-19 Vaccine Against New Omicron COVID-19 Variant
Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson & Johnson (the Company) has been closely monitoring newly emerging COVID-19 variants. In collaboration with academic groups in South Africa and around the world, the Company has been evaluating the effectiveness of its COVID-19 vaccine across variants, including now the new and rapidly spreading Omicron variant. The Company is testing blood serum from participants in completed and ongoing booster studies to look for neutralizing activity against the Omicron variant. In addition, the Company is pursuing an Omicron-specific variant vaccine and will progress it as needed…
Moderna
Press Releases
December 1, 2021
Moderna Announces Supply Agreement with the UK for Additional 60 Million Doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine in 2022 and 2023
Agreement includes 29 million doses for delivery in 2022 and 31 million doses for delivery in 2023
Novavax
Press Releases
Novavax Statement on Omicron Variant Response
Dec 2, 2021
Novavax is rapidly responding to the emergence of the latest potential threat of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of concern (VoC). The company is executing a two-pronged variant strategy.
First, Novavax is evaluating its vaccine against the Omicron variant, as the company has done for previous variants including Alpha, Beta and Delta. Second, Novavax has initiated development of an Omicron-specific vaccine construct…
Pfizer
Recent Press Releases – No new digest announcements identified
Sanofi Pasteur
Press Releases
Vaccines Investor Event: Sanofi reiterates confidence in strong growth outlook and showcases pipeline of innovative vaccine candidates
December 01 2021
Broad pipeline of innovative vaccines, with a total of 10 candidates planned to advance into the clinic by 2025, six of which will leverage the recently established mRNA Center of Excellence
Serum Institute of India
NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS – No new digest announcements identified
Sinopharm/WIBPBIBP
News – No new digest announcements identified
Sinovac
Press Releases
Instituto Butantan and SINOVAC will hold ‘CoronaVac® Symposium’ international event about efficacy and security of CoronaVac®
2021/11/2
Vector State Research Centre of Viralogy and Biotechnology
Home – No new digest announcements identified
Zhifei Longcom, China
[Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biologic Pharmacy Co., Ltd.]
[No website identified]
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GSK
Press releases for media
02 December 2021
GSK welcomes Gavi decision to fund the roll out of malaria vaccines for children
Gavi to provide funding for procurement and introduction of malaria vaccines into child immunisation programmes in Gavi eligible countries.
02 December 2021
GSK and the University of Oxford launch new Oxford-GSK Institute to harness advanced technology and unravel mechanisms of disease
:: Major new collaboration aims to deepen understanding of complex diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and increase drug discovery and development success rates
:: New Institute to be based at Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Medicine
02 December 2021
Preclinical data demonstrate sotrovimab retains activity against key Omicron mutations, new SARS-CoV-2 variant
:: Data to be confirmed by further in vitro pseudo-virus testing
30 November 2021
GSK appoints Phil Dormitzer M.D., Ph.D., as Global Head of Vaccines R&D
Phil Dormitzer M.D., Ph.D., will join the company as Global Head of Vaccines R&D on 3 December 2021
Merck
News releases
U.S. FDA Accepts for Priority Review the Supplemental Biologics License Application for Merck’s VAXNEUVANCE™ (Pneumococcal 15-valent Conjugate Vaccine) for Use in Infants and Children
December 3, 2021
Novartis
News – No new digest announcements identified
SK Biosciences
Press releases – No new digest announcements identified
Valneva
Press Releases
December 3, 2021
Valneva Comments on COV-Boost Clinical Trial Data
December 2, 2021
Valneva Confirms Initiation of Rolling Review with EMA and Provides Updates on its COVID-19 Vaccine Program VLA2001
November 29, 2021
Valneva and IDT Biologika Announce Collaboration for Production of Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine VLA2001
UNICEF COVID-19 Vaccine Market Dashboard :: Agreements Table Accessed 4 Dec 2021
An overview of information collected from publicly announced bilateral and multilateral supply agreements [no new agreements since 10/22/2021 reported]
IMF-WHO Vaccine Supply Forecast Dashboard
Updated on 22 November 2021
Many countries are not on track to meet the 40% vaccine coverage target. To make progress towards this target, we must identify: (1) Where and in which countries are the gaps?, and (2) How can gaps the be addressed?
The IMF-WHO COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Forecast Dashboard estimates expected month vaccine supply until the end of 2021 by country, product and channel. The tracker builds on the work of the IMF Staff Discussion Note – A Proposal to End the COVID-19 Pandemic (Agarwal and Gopinath, 2021).
Duke – Launch and Scale Speedometer
The Race for Global COVID-19 Vaccine Equity
A flurry of nearly 200 COVID-19 vaccine candidates are moving forward through the development and clinical trials processes at unprecedented speed; more than ten candidates are already in Phase 3 large-scale trials and several have received emergency or limited authorization. Our team has aggregated and analyzed publicly available data to track the flow of procurement and manufacturing and better understand global equity challenges. We developed a data framework of relevant variables and conducted desk research of publicly available information to identify COVID vaccine candidates and status, deals and ongoing negotiations for procurement and manufacturing, COVID burden by country, and allocation and distribution plans. We have also conducted interviews with public officials in key countries to better understand the context and challenges facing vaccine allocation and distribution
[accessed 24 July 2021]
See our COVID Vaccine Purchases research
See our COVID Vaccine Manufacturing research
See our COVID Vaccine Donations & Exports research
Global Dashboard on COVID-19 Vaccine Equity
The Dashboard is a joint initiative of UNDP, WHO and the University of Oxford with cooperation across the UN system, anchored in the SDG 3 Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-being for All.
Dashboard on Vaccine Equity [accessed 4 Dec 2021]: https://data.undp.org/vaccine-equity/
See also visualization on Vaccine Access and Vaccine Affordability
COVID Vaccines – OCHA:: HDX
COVID-19 Data Explorer: Global Humanitarian Operations
COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-out
4 Dec 2021 | COVAX (WHO,GAVI,CEPI), UNDESA, Press Reports | DATA
Global COVID-19 Figures: 263M total confirmed cases; 5.2M total confirmed deaths
Global vaccines administered: 8.078B
Number of Countries: 30 [30 week ago]
COVAX Allocations Round 4-9 (Number of Doses): 220M [220M week ago]
COVAX Delivered (Number of Doses): 180M [170M week ago]
Other Delivered (Number of Doses): 300M [280M week ago]
Total Delivered (Number of Doses): 480M [450M week ago]
Multilateral Leaders Task Force on COVID-19 [IMF, World Bank Group, WHO, WTO]
https://data.covid19taskforce.com/data
A global effort to help developing countries access and deliver COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and therapeutics, as they work to end the pandemic and boost economic recovery.
The International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization have joined forces to accelerate access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics by leveraging multilateral finance and trade solutions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
Website accessed 4 Dec 2021: https://data.covid19taskforce.com/data The global view below is complemented by country-specific dashboards here.
Our World in Data
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccinations [Accessed 4 Dec 2021]
:: 54.9% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
:: 8.14 billion doses have been administered globally, and 34.41 million are now administered each day.
:: Only 6.2% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose.
U.S.: COVID-19 Vaccines – Announcements/Regulatory Actions/Deployment
FDA
Press Announcements
December 3, 2021 – FDA Expands Authorization of Two Monoclonal Antibodies for Treatment and Post-Exposure Prevention of COVID-19 to Younger Pediatric Patients, Including Newborns
November 30, 2021 – Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: November 30, 2021
Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee– FDA
https://www.fda.gov/advisory-committees/blood-vaccines-and-other-biologics/vaccines-and-related-biological-products-advisory-committee
No meetings on calendar
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White House [U.S.]
Briefing Room – Selected Major COVID Announcements
Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials
December 03, 2021 Press Briefings
Remarks by President Biden on the COVID-19 Winter Plan
December 02, 2021 Speeches and Remarks
Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on New Actions to Protect Americans Against the Delta and Omicron Variants This Winter
December 02, 2021 Press Briefings
President Biden Announces New Actions to Protect Americans Against the Delta and Omicron Variants as We Battle COVID-19 this Winter
December 02, 2021 Statements and Releases
Statement from White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients on First Case of the Omicron COVID-19 Variant in the United States
December 01, 2021• Statements and Releases
Press Briefing by White House COVID-19 Response Team and Public Health Officials
November 30, 2021 • Press Briefings
Readout of President Biden’s Meeting with COVID-19 Response Team on the Omicron Variant
November 28, 2021 Statements and Releases
U.S. Department of State
https://www.state.gov/coronavirus/releases/
Media Notes
Press Statement
Gayle Smith’s Service as the Coordinator for Global COVID-19 Response and Health Security
Antony J. Blinken November 30, 2021
Europe: COVID-19 Vaccines – Announcements/Regulatory Actions/Deployment
European Medicines Agency
News & Press Releases
News: ICMRA and WHO map out flexibilities used by regulators to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic (new)
Last updated: 03/12/2021
[See Milestones above for detail]
News: Meeting highlights from the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) 29 November – 2 December 2021 (new)
PRAC, Last updated: 03/12/2021
PRAC update on risk of myocarditis and pericarditis with mRNA vaccines
News: EMA starts rolling review of Valneva’s COVID-19 vaccine (VLA2001) (new)
CHMP, Last updated: 02/12/2021
News: Increase in manufacturing capacity for COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca (new)
CHMP, Last updated: 01/12/2021
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European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en
Latest Updates
Publication & Data
Epidemiological update: Omicron variant of concern (VOC) – data as of 4 December 2021 (12.00)
Epidemiological update
4 Dec 2021
As of 4 December and since 3 December 2021, 58 additional SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant of concern (VOC) cases have been confirmed in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA), contributing to an overall total of 167 confirmed cases so far.
Cases have been reported by 17 countries: Austria (10), Belgium (6), Czechia (1), Denmark (18), Finland (1), France (12, including 2 in Reunion), Germany (15), Greece (1), Iceland (7), Ireland (1), Italy (9), Luxembourg (1), the Netherlands (18), Norway (19), Portugal (34), Spain (7) and Sweden (7) according to information from public sources. One new EU/EEA country (Luxembourg) has reported the Omicron variant and a number of probable cases are currently under investigation in several countries.
The majority of confirmed cases have a history of travel to countries in Africa, with some having taken connecting flights at other locations between Africa and Europe. Several EU/EEA countries (Belgium, Germany, Spain) detected cases without an epidemiological link to areas where community transmission of the Omicron variant is documented or presumed. This indicates that undetected community transmission could be ongoing in these countries. Finland reported cases with travel history within the EU/EEA (Sweden, Denmark).
All cases for which there is available information on severity were either asymptomatic or mild. No deaths have been reported among these cases so far. These figures should be assessed with caution as the number of confirmed cases is too low to understand if the disease clinical spectrum of Omicron differs from that of previously detected variants.
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Accessed 4 Dec 2021
https://vaccinetracker.ecdc.europa.eu/public/extensions/COVID-19/vaccine-tracker.html#uptake-tab
European Commission
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/home/en
Statement 1 December 2021
Statement by President von der Leyen on facing current and new COVID-19 challenges
Press release 1 December 2021
Commission reiterates calls to step up vaccination, rapid deployment of boosters, vigilance and rapid reaction to Omicron variant
The Commission is today putting forward a common and coordinated EU approach to address effectively the challenges from the resurgence of COVID-19 in many Member States this autumn.
There are rapidly rising case numbers and a renewed pressure on hospitals, which calls for urgent and determined action. The new potential threat from the Omicron variant is adding to these concerns, and underlines the importance of tackling the pandemic to progress towards long-term health security, both in the EU and globally…
Press release 30 November 2021
European Health Union: Commission welcomes agreement on a stronger European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Last night, the European Parliament and the Council reached an agreement on a reinforced role for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The revised ECDC mandate will allow the agency to take a stronger role in supporting the EU and its Member States in the prevention and control of communicable disease threats and improve European preparedness for future health challenges…
Statement 26 November 2021
Press statement by President von der Leyen on the new COVID variant
Commission President von der Leyen has given a press statement on the new COVID variant.
Africa: COVID-19 – Announcements/Regulatory Actions/Deployment
Accessed 4 Dec 2021. Full scale, interactive dashboard available at:
https://africacdc.org/covid-19-vaccination/
Russia: COVID-19 Vaccines – Announcements/Regulatory Actions/Deployment
Russia: Sputnik V – “the first registered COVID-19 vaccine”
https://sputnikvaccine.com/newsroom/pressreleases/
Press Releases
RDIF signs agreements with partners in Vietnam to expand production of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine
Press release, 01.12.2021
The one-shot Sputnik Light vaccine authorized in UAE as a universal booster shot
Press release, 30.11.2021
Statement of RDIF and the Gamaleya Institute on Omicron variant of COVID
Press release, 29.11.2021
“…The Gamaleya Institute believes both Sputnik V and Sputnik Light will neutralize the latest Omicron variant and has started the necessary studies.
Nonetheless the Gamaleya Institute, based on existing protocols of immediately developing vaccine versions for variants of concern, has already begun developing the new version of Sputnik vaccine adapted to Omicron. In an unlikely case such modification is needed, the new Sputnik Omicron version can be ready for mass-scale production in 45 days. Several hundred million Sputnik Omicron boosters can be provided to international markets already by Feb 20, 2022 with over 3 billion doses available in 2022.”
India: COVID-19 Vaccines – Announcements/Regulatory Actions/Deployment
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
https://www.mohfw.gov.in/
03.12.2021 FAQs on SARS-CoV-2 Variant-Omicron
Government of India – Press Information Bureau
Latest Press Releases
COVID-19 Vaccination Update – Day 323
:: India’s cumulative vaccination coverage crosses 127 crore landmark milestone
:: More than 93 lakh Vaccine doses administered today till 7 pm
Posted On: 04 DEC 2021 8:09PM by PIB Delhi
Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR)
https://www.icmr.gov.in/media.html
Press Releases
No new digest content identified.
China: COVID-19 Vaccines – Announcements/Regulatory Actions/Deployment
National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China [to 4 Dec 2021]
http://en.nhc.gov.cn/
News
Dec 4: Daily briefing on novel coronavirus cases in China
On Dec 3, 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on the Chinese mainland reported 90 new cases of confirmed infections.
China has provided over 1.8b COVID-19 vaccine doses to international community
2021-12-03
BEIJING – To date, China has provided over 1.8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations.
China has delivered on its promise to make vaccines global public goods, and made continued efforts to improve vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries.
China has pledged to strive to provide a total of 2 billion vaccine doses to the world by the end of this year, and said that in addition to donating $100 million to COVAX, it would donate 100 million vaccine doses to other developing countries in the course of this year.
As of Nov 12, China has supplied more than 70 million vaccine doses to COVAX and is conducting joint vaccine production with 19 developing countries…
China pushing development of vaccine against Omicron
2021-12-03
China is rapidly advancing development of COVID-19 vaccines targeting the Omicron variant, a health official said during an interview with China Central Television on Thursday.
Zheng Zhongwei, a National Health Commission official who heads China’s COVID-19 vaccine development task force, said preliminary analysis suggests that the new strain is more transmissible than the Delta variant, but it is too early to determine if the Omicron variant would diminish the efficacy of existing vaccines.
“We think the majority of vaccines remain effective,” he said. “Despite the possibility of some degree of immunity escape, our initial finding is that they still have marked effects on preventing severe diseases and deaths.”…
China sticks to its strategy in COVID-19 response: official
2021-12-02
BEIJING — A health official has emphasized the importance of committing to the current strategy in China to clear COVID-19 infections in a timely manner as highly contagious variants of the virus continue to rage around the world.
Since mid-October, the latest COVID-19 resurgence in China has spread to more than 20 provincial-level regions. Most regions managed to contain the outbreak within an incubation period of about 14 days, said Ma Xiaowei, head of the National Health Commission, in a recent interview with Xinhua.
“We have been thinking, especially during the process of coping with the spread of the Delta variant, how to control the epidemic with more effective measures, lower costs and at faster speeds to minimize its impact on economic and social development and people’s lives,” Ma said.
He added that the government has also noticed that the epidemic response in some countries, which have not implemented strict epidemic control measures, has not been satisfactory. There have been relapses that severely impacted people’s lives, health and the economy and society overall.
As a result, China has been focusing on improving epidemic prevention and early detection, he noted…
Emergencies
POLIO
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)
https://polioeradication.org/polio-today/polio-now/this-week/
Polio this week as of 01 December 2021
Summary of new WPV and cVDPV viruses this week (AFP cases and ES positives):
Pakistan: one WPV1 positive environmental sample
Central African Republic: one cVDPV2 positive environmental sample
Nigeria: seven cVDPV2 positive environmental samples
Uganda: one cVDPV2 positive environmental sample
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WHO/OCHA Emergencies
Health emergencies list – WHO
“The health emergencies list details the disease outbreaks, disasters and humanitarian crises where WHO plays an essential role in supporting countries to respond to and recover from emergencies with public health consequences.”
Afghanistan crisis [Last apparent update: 18 Oct 2021]
Crisis in Northern Ethiopia [Last apparent update: 1 June 2021]
Ebola outbreak, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2021 [Last apparent update: 17 Aug 2021]
Ebola outbreak outbreak, N’Zerekore, Guinea, 2021 [Last apparent update: 17 Aug 2021]
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic [See COVID above]
Ebola outbreak, Equateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2020
[Last apparent update: 17 Aug 2021]
Ebola outbreak, North Kivu, Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2018 – 2020
[Last apparent update: 17 Aug 2021]
Ebola outbreak, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2018 [Last apparent update: 24 July 2018]
Yemen crisis [Last apparent update: 12 February 2021]
Syria crisis [Last apparent update: 18 June 2021]
Somalia crisis [Last apparent update: 24 March 2018]
Nigeria crisis [Last apparent update: 1 Oct 2021]
Ebola outbreak, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2017 [Last apparent update: 17 Aug 2021]
Zika virus disease outbreak, 2015-2016 [Last apparent update: 24 Jan 2020]
Ebola outbreak: West Africa, 2014-2016 [Last apparent update: 17 Aug 2021]
Iraq crisis [Last apparent update: 9 Jan 2008]
South Sudan crisis [Last apparent update: 23 Sep 2020]
Avian influenza A (H7N9) virus outbreak [Last apparent update: 13 September 2021]
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV) outbreak [Last apparent update: 8 July 2019]
Influenza A (H1N1) virus, 2009-2010 pandemic [Last apparent update: 10 Aug 2010]
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UN OCHA – Current Emergencies
Current Corporate Emergencies
Afghanistan
[No new digest content identified]
Northern Ethiopia
Ethiopia – Northern Ethiopia Humanitarian Update Situation Report, 2 Dec 2021
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WHO & Regional Offices [to 4 Dec 2021]
https://www.who.int/
Selected News, Statements
3 December 2021
Procurement
Request for proposal: Technical support to SAGE executive secretariat
3 December 2021
Departmental news
South-East Asia: Influenza virus sharing in a time of COVID-19
3 December 2021
Departmental news
Global and regional support for the 2021–2022 influenza season
3 December 2021
Departmental news
Critical evidence to strengthen seasonal vaccination in the Americas
2 December 2021
Departmental news
Botswana is first country with severe HIV epidemic to reach key milestone in the elimination of mother-to-child HIV transmission
1 December 2021
Joint News Release
World AIDS Day 2021 – Step up, be bold, end AIDS, end inequalities and end pandemics
1 December 2021
Joint News Release
Tripartite and UNEP support OHHLEP’s definition of “One Health”
1 December 2021
News release
World Health Assembly agrees to launch process to develop historic global accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response
1 December 2021
Departmental news
It’s time for action on inequality to end TB and AIDS
30 November 2021
Departmental news
WHO Pandemic Ethics & Policy Summit
29 November 2021
Joint News Release
Joint Statement on Dose Donations of COVID-19 Vaccines to African Countries
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Weekly Epidemiological Record, Vol. 96, No. 48, pp. 585–596 3 December 2021
:: Schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiases: progress report, 2020
::::::
WHO Regional Offices
Selected Press Releases, Announcements
WHO African Region AFRO
:: Africa steps up Omicron variant detection as COVID-19 cases rise in southern Africa 02 December 2021
:: Botswana is first country with severe HIV epidemic to reach key milestone in the elimination of mother-to-child HIV transmission 02 December 2021
:: WHO stands with African nations and calls for borders to remain open 28 November 2021
WHO Region of the Americas PAHO
No new digest content identified
WHO South-East Asia Region SEARO
:: 1 December 2021 Statement- World AIDS Day
:: 27 November 2021 News release
WHO asks countries in South-East Asia Region to be vigilant as cases surge globally and new Variant of Concern is detected
WHO European Region EURO
:: What you need to know about the new Omicron COVID-19 variant 03-12-2021
:: Greece: civil society reduces barriers to health and education for young people with disabilities during the pandemic 03-12-2021
:: WHO/Europe high-level experts complete mission in Turkmenistan to strengthen health system preparedness 01-12-2021
:: Urgent need to take preventive measures in the fight against COVID-19 the focus of WHO/Europe advocacy campaign 30-11-2021
:: Building trust helps United Kingdom chart a path towards eliminating AIDS by 2030 30-11-2021
WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region EMRO
:: World AIDS Day: Reaching more people with HIV services and reducing inequalities 1 December 2021
WHO Western Pacific Region
:: 3 December 2021 Regional Director’s remarks at the virtual press conference on 3 December 2021
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WHO Events
https://www.who.int/news-room/events/2
[Selected]
Extraordinary meeting of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) – 7 December 2021
7 December 2021
This extraordinary virtual meeting for the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) will take place on Tuesday 7 December 2021 to propose recommendations to WHO on the use of COVID-19 vaccine(s).
Agenda: https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/immunization/sage/2021/december/sage-agenda-7dect2021-virtual-draft-rev26nov.pdf?sfvrsn=f2b71e9f_10
Building stronger, sustainable, equitable societies for pandemic prevention and for navigating the response to the COVID-19 crisis
7 December 2021 12:00 – 13:00 CET
Join us to launch the new WHO evidence brief, “COVID-19 and the social determinants of health and health equity”, and to discuss the implications of the impacts of the social determinants of health equity for pandemic prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.
* Tuesday 7 December 2021 * 12:00-13:00 Central European Time *
* Join via Zoom * https://who.zoom.us/j/96260096854
Password: Yt@W21bZ
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New WHO Publications
https://www.who.int/publications/i
Selected Titles
1 December 2021
Global vaccine safety blueprint 2.0 (GVSB2.0) 2021-2023
Overview
This Global Vaccines Safety Blueprint 2.0 (GVSB2.0) was developed through a step-wise consensus process to define the strategic priorities and objectives in the area of vaccines safety for 2021 to 2023 and beyond. The overall vision, goals and operating principles for a vaccine safety monitoring system described in the GVSB2.0 are equally relevant for medicines and for building product-agnostic pharmacovigilance systems in countries. Where possible, we need to build common systems and approaches that are smart, product-agnostic, address common needs and advance the principles of work-sharing and reliance to take into consideration competing priorities in resource-limited settings. For example, how we collect and manage data (databases) may not be very different between vaccines and medicines; on the other hand, the principles of benefit risk assessment and how risks are communicated requires specialized and perceptive handling for vaccines.
PDF: https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1392676/retrieve
1 December 2021
Global vaccine safety blueprint 2.0 background research
30 November 2021
Global progress report on WASH in health care facilities: Fundamentals first
30 November 2021
Framework for countries to achieve an integrated continuum of long-term care
30 November 2021
Approaches to enhance and accelerate study of new drugs for HIV and associated infections in pregnant…
29 November 2021
COVID-19 vaccine trial designs in the context of authorized COVID-19 vaccines and expanding global access: ethical considerations
Overview
Executive Summary
In June 2020, global regulators convened under the auspices of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities (ICMRA) and co-chaired jointly by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reached consensus on the study design requirements for Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. The ICMRA noted that phase 3 clinical trials should be randomized, double-blinded and controlled with a placebo or active comparators. In September 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO ) advised: “Phase IIB/III efficacy trials should be randomized, double-blinded and placebo controlled.” Since then, multiple COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized worldwide based on interim results of pivotal placebo-controlled efficacy trials, and billions of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered under emergency use/conditional marketing authorization or full approval regulatory mechanisms.
In December 2020, a WHO expert group advised that the placebo control arms of COVID-19 vaccine trials should be progressively unblinded as authorized vaccines become available in the community hosting the trial, starting with prioritized groups.
Before a COVID-19 vaccine trial commences enrolment, if one or more authorized/approved COVID-19 vaccine is locally available and the participant meets programmatic eligibility criteria, the study team should advise the participant that they are eligible to receive the authorized vaccine(s). Participants may elect to receive the authorized vaccine at any point in the trial.
The appropriateness of conducting a placebo control trial may depend on whether the candidate vaccine is a prototype vaccine, modified vaccine or next generation vaccine
PDF: https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1396234/retrieve
26 November 2021
Global guidance on criteria and processes for validation: elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B virus
CDC/ACIP [U.S.] [to 4 Dec 2021]
http://www.cdc.gov/media/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/index.html
Latest News Releases, Announcements [Selected]
CDC Tightens Testing Requirement for International Travel to the US to One Day
Friday, December 3, 2021
Public Health Authorities Investigating Additional Confirmed Case of COVID-19 Caused by the Omicron Variant
Thursday, December 2, 2021
First Confirmed Case of Omicron Variant Detected in the United States
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
New CDC Vital Signs Report Reveals a Decade of Continuing HIV Inequities on Eve of World AIDS Day Tuesday, November 30, 2021
CDC Expands COVID-19 Booster Recommendations
Monday, November 29, 2021
ACIP Meetings
No new meetings listed.
MMWR News Synopsis Friday, December 3, 2021
Selected Content
:: Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Suicidal Ideation Among State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Public Health Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, March–April 2021
:: Vital Signs: HIV Infection, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention Among Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men — United States, 2010–2019
:: Correction and Republication: Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Suicidal Ideation Among State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Public Health Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, March–April 2021
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)– CDC
Approximately 25 announcements/reports/data summaries.
:: 3 Dec CDC Tightens Testing Requirement for International Travel to the US to One Day
:: 3 Dec Overall US COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution and Administration Update as of Fri, 03 Dec 2021 06:00:00 EST
Africa CDC [to 4 Dec 2021]
http://www.africacdc.org/
News
Press Releases
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s Statement regarding the new SARS-COV-2 virus variant B.1.1.529
26 November 2021
Press Releases
Mastercard Foundation and Africa CDC’s Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative delivers first tranche of over 15 million vaccines
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, 25 November 2021 — The Mastercard Foundation and Africa CDC jointly announced that 15.2 million vaccines purchased under the Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative are currently being distributed across Africa. Through Saving Lives and Livelihoods, the Mastercard Foundation is purchasing vaccines for more than 65 million people. This is the first tranche of vaccines to be delivered under the initiative. The vaccines will be distributed within countries by UNICEF.
Launched in June 2021, Saving Lives and Livelihoods is now a $1.5 billion partnership that aims to enable vaccination for millions of people, develop a workforce for vaccine manufacturing, and strengthen the Africa CDC’s capacity to oversee a historic vaccination campaign and effectively respond to future outbreaks.
“Timely delivery of these vaccines underscores the effectiveness of the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust. Working with the Africa CDC and multiple organizations, the Mastercard Foundation will support the roll out of vaccinations to millions across the continent. More remains to be done to urgently increase vaccination rates. We call on governments, funders, civil society and others to step forward to save lives and livelihoods in Africa,” said Reeta Roy, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation…
China CDC http://www.chinacdc.cn/en/
National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China [to 4 Dec 2021]
http://en.nhc.gov.cn/
News
Dec 4: Daily briefing on novel coronavirus cases in China
On Dec 3, 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on the Chinese mainland reported 90 new cases of confirmed infections.
China has provided over 1.8b COVID-19 vaccine doses to international community
2021-12-03
China pushing development of vaccine against Omicron
2021-12-03
China sticks to its strategy in COVID-19 response: official
2021-12-02
National Medical Products Administration – PRC [to 4 Dec 2021]
http://english.nmpa.gov.cn/
News
Over 2.5b COVID-19 vaccine doses administered on Chinese mainland
2021-12-02
Over 2.5 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered on the Chinese mainland as of Nov 30, data from the National Health Commission showed on Dec 1.
Xi says China will supply Africa with additional 1 bln COVID-19 vaccine doses
2021-11-30
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday said China will provide an additional 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa.
CCDC Weekly – Weekly Reports: Current Volume (3)
2021-12-03 / No. 49 INFLUENZA ISSUE
View PDF of this issue
Editorial: China CDC Weekly’s Second Meeting of the Editorial Board, Advisory Committee, and Editorial Office to Celebrate the Second Anniversary of the Inaugural Issue
Methods and Applications: The Incoming Influenza Season — China, the United Kingdom, and the United States, 2021–2022
Perspectives: Quo Vadis Influenza?
Perspectives: GISAID’s Role in Pandemic Response
Perspectives: A Tale of Two Cities: From Influenza HxNy to SARS-CoV-z
vaccines and global health :: ethics and policy 