China CDC http://www.chinacdc.cn/en/

National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://en.nhc.gov.cn/
News
Nov 27: Daily briefing on novel coronavirus cases in China
On Nov 26, 31 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps on the Chinese mainland reported 25 new cases of confirmed infections.

China to donate another 1m Sinovac vaccines to Malaysia
2021-11-24

National Medical Products Administration – PRC [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://english.nmpa.gov.cn/
News
Over 2.449 bln COVID-19 vaccine doses administered on Chinese mainland
2021-11-24
More than 2.449 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been administered on the Chinese mainland as of Tuesday, data from the National Health Commission showed on Nov 24.

CCDC Weekly – Weekly Reports: Current Volume (3)
2021-11-26 / No. 48WORLD AIDS DAY ISSUE
PDF of this issue
:: Preplanned Studies: Spatial Analysis of HIV/AIDS Cases Among Out-of-School Youth Aged 15–24 Years — China, 2010–2020
:: Vital Surveillances: Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission of HIV — China, 2011–2020
:: Review: Research Progress in the Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS in China
:: Recollections: HIV Prevention and Health Poverty Alleviation — Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China, 2017–2020

::::::

Organization Announcements
Editor’s Note:
Careful readers will note that the number and range of organizations now monitored in our Announcements section below has grown as the impacts of the pandemic have spread across global economies, supply chains and programmatic activity of multilateral agencies and INGOs.

Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://alleninstitute.org/news-press/
News
No new digest content identified.

BARDA – U.S. Department of HHS [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.phe.gov/about/barda/Pages/default.aspx
News
No new digest content identified.

BMGF – Gates Foundation [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/media-center
Press Releases and Statements
No new digest content identified.

Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.gatesmri.org/
The Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute is a non-profit biotech organization. Our mission is to develop products to fight malaria, tuberculosis, and diarrheal diseases—three major causes of mortality, poverty, and inequality in developing countries. The world has unprecedented scientific tools at its disposal; now is the time to use them to save the lives of the world’s poorest people
No new digest content identified.

CARB-X [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://carb-x.org/
News
No new digest content identified.

Center for Vaccine Ethics and Policy – GE2P2 Global Foundation [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://centerforvaccineethicsandpolicy.net/
News/Analysis/Statements
:: Past weekly editions and posting of all segments of Vaccines and Global Health: The Week in Review are available here.
:: Informed Consent: A Monthly Review – November 2021 is now posted here

CEPI – Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://cepi.net/
Latest News
CEPI Statement: Emergence of a new SARS-CoV-2 variant, B.1.1.529
Statement from CEPI CEO, Dr Richard Hatchett.
26 Nov 2021
“The emergence of a SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.529 underscores the critical need for continued COVID-19 vaccine research and development.
“It’s of course critical that we continue to get people vaccinated globally to reduce the amount of virus in circulation but we must also focus effort and resources on improving the current COVID-19 vaccines to make them more effective against multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2.
“Our strategy must seek to optimize the way we deploy our current vaccines so every dose delivers the maximum benefit; improve upon our existing arsenal of vaccines; and prepare now for the possibility of variants that can evade our vaccines.
“CEPI’s world-leading COVID-19 vaccine programme is seeking to do all three…

CEPI funds Aga Khan University-led consortium to conduct mix-and-match trial of COVID-19 vaccines in Pakistan
New collaboration will assess the safety and immunogenicity of heterologous – or ‘mix-and-match’ – combinations of three COVID-19 vaccines currently being deployed in Pakistan.
COVID-19
23 Nov 2021

World’s largest COVID-19 vaccine testing network to assess vaccines against other epidemic and pandemic threats
Set up and funded by CEPI, the network aims to more rapidly, efficiently, and accurately identify the most promising vaccine candidates with the greatest potential to advance to late-stage clinical trials and regulatory review.
22 Nov 2021

DARPA – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency [to 27 Nov 2021
https://www.darpa.mil/news
News
11/22/2021
Biomanufacturing: Coming Soon to a Galaxy Near You?
The DoD has a role in orbital and lunar missions as defined by the US Space Force (USSF) Space Capstone Publication . In this document, USSF notes the “inherent value of the space domain and the tremendous influence space has on U.S. prosperity and security.” There is a critical DoD need for the continued development and future expansion of orbital manufacturing to enable and ensure supply chain resiliency, sustained technological superiority, and asset security and repair for current and future operations. To meet this unique challenge, DARPA announced today that it was taking an initial step to explore and de-risk manufacturing capabilities that leverage biological processes in resource limited environments with its Biomanufacturing: Survival, Utility, and Reliability beyond Earth (B-SURE) program.

Duke Global Health Innovation Center [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://dukeghic.org/
Our Blog
No new digest content identified.

EDCTP [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.edctp.org/
The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) aims to accelerate the development of new or improved drugs, vaccines, microbicides and diagnostics against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as well as other poverty-related and neglected infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on phase II and III clinical trials
News
No new digest content identified.

Emory Vaccine Center [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.vaccines.emory.edu/
Vaccine Center News
No new digest content identified.

European Vaccine Initiative [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.euvaccine.eu/
Latest News News, Events
EVI
Open call for expert services and trainings by TRANSVAC2

Fondation Merieux [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.fondation-merieux.org/
News, Events
No new digest content identified.

Gavi [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.gavi.org/
News Releases
24 November 2021
Gavi and Switzerland collaborate to prioritise supply to COVAX
Switzerland becomes first country to respond to call to trade places with COVAX in manufacturers’ supply queues
Collaboration will enable COVAX participants to access 1 million doses of the Moderna vaccine earlier, in Q4 2021
Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi: “This collaboration shows that there is a quick and pragmatic way governments can ensure COVAX participants in lower-income countries have access to COVID-19 vaccines now. I encourage other governments to follow this example and work with COVAX and manufacturers to amend delivery schedules, ensuring commitments under COVAX’s purchase agreements can be fulfilled as a priority.”

22 November 2021
Team Europe vaccine sharing: almost 100 million J & J doses to be donated by the end of 2021 – first doses arriving in African countries this week
The first shipments of almost 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from Team Europe are arriving in a number of African countries. This donation is facilitated by a tripartite agreement between Belgium (acting on behalf of Team Europe and supported by the European Commission), Johnson & Johnson and Gavi.

GHIT Fund [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.ghitfund.org/newsroom/press
GHIT was set up in 2012 with the aim of developing new tools to tackle infectious diseases that
No new digest content identified.

Global Fund [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/news/
News & Stories
News
Nienke Mulder Joins the Global Fund as Head of Human Resources
22 November 2021
GENEVA – The Global Fund is pleased to announce that Nienke Mulder will join the Global Fund in the role of Chief Human Resources Officer. Nienke has extensive experience and brings more than two decades of leadership and expertise in human resources, change management and diversity and inclusion.
Nienke has been based at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in Switzerland for the past five years, where she was a Global Change Director, Global Inclusion & Diversity Strategy Lead and the HR Director for Switzerland.
Prior to GSK, she worked as an independent Strategic Transformation Lead and executive coach for several profit and not-for-profit organizations and leaders…

Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness [GloPID-R] [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.glopid-r.org/news/
News
No new digest content identified.

Hilleman Laboratories [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.hillemanlabs.org/
No new digest content identified….No “news” page or tab identified.

HHMI – Howard Hughes Medical Institute [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.hhmi.org/news
Press Room
Research Nov 22 2021
The Surprising SAGA of a 20-Part Molecular Machine
Scientists solved the structure of a large human protein complex and uncovered some unexpected differences between people and yeast. The structure could guide the development of drugs to treat diseases that arise when this complex malfunctions.

Human Vaccines Project [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.humanvaccinesproject.org/
News
Press Release Nov 23, 2021
HVP’s 5th Anniversary: Campaign Launched to Catalyze the First AI Model of the Immune System
In recognition of its five-year anniversary, the Human Vaccines Project is seeking to raise $2 million to fund the next steps towards harnessing the power of the human immune system

IAVI [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.iavi.org/newsroom
Latest News
No new digest content identified.

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

ICRC [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.icrc.org/en/whats-new
Selected News Releases, Statements, Reports
ICRC elects new president
The Assembly, the governing body of the International Committee of the Red Cross, announced today that it has elected Mirjana Spoljaric Egger as the ICRC’s next president. She will succeed President Peter Maurer who has decided to step down in September 2022 after he reaches 10 years of service.
Ms Spoljaric Egger is currently the Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She will begin her renewable four-year term as ICRC president on 1 October 2022…

ICRC alarmed at lack of humanitarian access for 26 million people in Africa
Some 26 million people live in areas in Africa where humanitarian groups have difficulty reaching people most in need, where access to basic services like medical care is extremely limited due to violence and armed conflict, according to a new estimate…
23-11-2021 | News release

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

IFRC [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/news/press-releases/
Selected Press Releases, Announcements
22/11/2021
Drowning just below the surface: New IFRC research reveals magnitude of socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic
Geneva, 22 November 2021 – Women, people in urban areas and those on the move have been disproportionately and uniquely affected by the devastating socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. These are some of the findings of new research published today by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
The COVID-19 pandemic has had major economic impacts on every nation in the world. The IFRC’s new research also shows the extent of the pandemic’s secondary consequences on communities and individuals. This crisis has caused: increased unemployment and poverty; increased food insecurity; a higher vulnerability to violence; and a loss of education and reduced opportunities for children. It has also exacerbated mental health issues.
Francesco Rocca, President of the IFRC, said: “Our research shows what we have long suspected and feared, namely that the destructive secondary impacts of this pandemic have damaged the fabric of our society and will be felt for years, if not decades, to come. People who were already vulnerable, due to conflict, climate-change, and poverty, have been pushed further towards the edge. And many people who were previously able to cope have become vulnerable, needing humanitarian support for the first time in their lives.”
The new research provides a global overview, with a special focus on ten countries: Afghanistan, Colombia, El Salvador, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Philippines, Spain, South Africa and Turkey…

Institut Pasteur [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.pasteur.fr/en/press-area
Press Documents
No new digest content identified.

IOM / International Organization for Migration [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.iom.int/press-room/press-releases
News – Selected
News 26 Nov 2021
COVID-19 Forces Sharp Rise in Vulnerable Migrants Transiting Americas: IOM Report

ISC / International Science Council [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://council.science/current/
ISC is a non-governmental organization with a unique global membership that brings together 40 international scientific Unions and Associations and over 140 national and regional scientific organizations including Academies and Research Councils.
News
No new digest content identified.

IVAC [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/ivac/index.html
Updates; Events
No new digest content identified.

IVI [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.ivi.int/
IVI News & Announcements
No new digest content identified.

Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/news/center-news/
Center News
New Report:  Waypoint on the Path to Health Equity: COVID-19 Vaccination at Month 11
November 23, 2021
Tuesday, November 23, 2021 – The CommuniVax Coalition, led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Department of Anthropology at Texas State University, released a new report that recounts progress made toward greater equity in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign and proposes steps to advance gains further.
“As the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic progresses through its second year, the ongoing need to identify and implement strategies for improving vaccine equity among BIPOC communities – especially amid historic disparities in healthcare access and utilization – remains,” write the authors of the report, Waypoint on the Path to Health Equity: COVID-19 Vaccination at Month 11. “This collective assessment could help to identify successes, failures, and lessons learned for future efforts around vaccine promotion and building health equity in BIPOC communities.”
The report identifies several key “wins” that have helped propel COVID-19 vaccination uptake amongst BIPOC communities, including:
With substantial federal emergency funding available, public health departments have been able to hire community health workers and other high-impact assets to advance equity in vaccination.
When decision makers have used grassroots input and hard data, service delivery has better matched BIPOC community needs in the pandemic.
Delivering accurate, culturally competent, and language-appropriate information—in a nonjudgmental, ongoing conversation— has contributed to a more equitable COVID-9 vaccination campaign.
Making COVID-19 vaccinations available alongside services for other needs such as food insecurity, unemployment, and immigration concerns has advanced equity in the pandemic response.

MSF/Médecins Sans Frontières [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.msf.org/
Latest [Selected Announcements]
No new digest content identified.

National Academy of Medicine – USA [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://nam.edu/programs/
Selected News/Programs/Events
No new digest content identified.

National Academy of Sciences – USA [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/
News
No new digest content identified.

National Vaccine Program Office – U.S. HHS [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.hhs.gov/vaccines/about/index.html
Upcoming Meetings/Latest Updates
No new digest content identified.

NIH [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases
News Releases
No new digest content identified.

OECD [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.oecd.org/newsroom/publicationsdocuments/bydate/
Newsroom
Data show how the COVID-19 pandemic has hit all aspects of people’s well-being
25/11/2021 – The COVID-19 pandemic has not only had devastating effects on physical health and mortality but has touched every aspect of people’s well-being, with far-reaching consequences for how we live and work, according to a new study by the OECD.

COVID-19 and well-being: life in the pandemic says the virus caused a 16% increase in the average number of deaths across 33 OECD countries between March 2020 and early May 2021, compared with same period over the previous four years. Over the same time frame, survey data in the report reveal rising levels of depression or anxiety and a growing sense among many people of loneliness and of feeling disconnected from society.

Government support helped to sustain average household income levels in 2020 and stemmed the tide of job losses, even as average hours worked fell sharply. Although job retention schemes offered workers some protection, 14% of workers in 19 European OECD countries felt it was “likely they would lose their job” within three months, and nearly 1 in 3 people in 25 OECD countries reported financial difficulties.

The report says experiences of the pandemic have varied widely depending on age, gender and ethnicity, as well as on the type of job people do and on their level of pay and skills. The crisis also aggravated existing social, economic and environmental challenges.

In those countries with available data, workers from ethnic minorities have been more likely to lose their jobs during the pandemic. Mental health deteriorated for almost all population groups on average in 2020 but gaps in mental health by race and ethnicity are also visible. COVID-19 mortality rates for some ethnic minority communities have been more than twice those of other groups.

Younger adults experienced some of the largest declines in mental health, social connectedness and life satisfaction in 2020 and 2021, as well as facing job disruption and insecurity…

PATH [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.path.org/media-center/
Press Releases
No new digest content identified.

Sabin Vaccine Institute [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.sabin.org/updates/pressreleases
Statements and Press Releases
No new digest content identified.

UNAIDS [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.unaids.org/en
Selected Press Releases/Reports/Statements
26 November 2021
Learning lessons from current and future pandemics

26 November 2021
Ready to be the change

25 November 2021
Jamaican parliamentarians committed to ending discrimination

25 November 2021
Community outreach fills the gap in Mauritania

22 November 2021
Condoms are a critical part of combination prevention

UNHCR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/media-centre.htmlS
Selected News Releases, Announcements
No new digest content identified.

UNICEF [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.unicef.org/media/press-releases
Press Releases, News Notes, Statements [Selected]
Press release
11/25/2021
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…

Unitaid [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://unitaid.org/
Featured News
No new digest content identified.

Vaccine Equity Cooperative [nee Initiative] [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://vaccineequitycooperative.org/news/
News
No new digest content identified.

Vaccination Acceptance & Demand Initiative [Sabin) [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.vaccineacceptance.org/
Announcements
No new digest content identified.

Vaccine Confidence Project [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.vaccineconfidence.org/
News, Research and Reports
Coronavirus global impact
Launched April 2, 2020 and recurring every 3 days, Premise Data is utilizing its global network of Contributors to assess economic, social, and health sentiment surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Vaccine Education Center – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center
News
No new digest content identified.

Wellcome Trust [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://wellcome.ac.uk/news
News and reports
News
Fiona Powrie appointed new Deputy Chair of Governors
23 November 2021
Fiona Powrie is Director of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology at the University of Oxford. With a background in immunology and translational research, she has been a member of Wellcome’s Board of Governors since January 2018.

The Wistar Institute [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.wistar.org/news/press-releases
Press Releases
Nov. 23, 2021
The Wistar Institute Receives $4 Million in Funding From the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to Advance COVID-19 Research, Address COVID-19 Risk on Vulnerable Populations, and Assess Pandemic Preparedness
PHILADELPHIA — (Nov. 23, 2021) — The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has granted The Wistar Institute $4 million to fund COVID-19 research focused on understanding the impact of COVID-19 on certain at-risk populations and supporting the commonwealth’s preparation and emergency response planning for future pandemics.

WFPHA: World Federation of Public Health Associations [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.wfpha.org/
Latest News – Blog
Waive Vaccine Intellectual Property Rights Now!
Nov 25, 2021
In the current global pandemic, vaccine equity means a fair distribution of vaccine, so that all countries can immunise their populations regardless of their income, pre-existing infrastructure, political context or economic development. People who live in low-and-middle-income countries are significantly less likely to have access to vaccination than those in high income countries, even if they are in the highest clinical risk groups or are health or care workers. COVID-19 vaccines significantly reduce the burden of serious illness, death, duration of symptoms and risk of transmission. Vaccination is our most important means to control the pandemic. Failure to control the level of virus circulating in communities increases the risk that new vaccine-resistant variants will emerge. This will prolong the pandemic for all countries, leaving us all at risk of new, high consequence variants. It remains the case that we will not be free of this virus, until we are all free of it.
The Global Network for Academic Public Health and WFPHA has released a statement in support of waiving intellectual property rights related to COVID-19 vaccines to increase global vaccine equity.

World Bank [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/all
Selected News, Announcements
Policies Targeting Integration into Global Value Chains Key to Harnessing the Potential of Industrialization in Africa
WASHINGTON, November 23, 2021 — As the world continues to be reshaped by emerging trends in technology, international trade and investment, and the COVID-19 pandemic, Sub-Saharan African countries must…
Date: November 23, 2021 Type: Press Release

World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.oie.int/en/media/news/
Press Releases, Statements
No new digest content identified.

WTO – World Trade Organisation [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news_e.htm
WTO News and Events
General Council decides to postpone MC12 indefinitely
26 November 2021
The General Council agreed late Friday (26 November) to postpone the imminent Ministerial Conference after an outbreak of a particularly transmissible strain of the COVID-19 virus led several governments to impose travel restrictions that would have prevented many ministers from reaching Geneva.

DG Okonjo-Iweala briefs members on work to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines
25 November 2021
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala hosted on 25 November an information session on the work done by the WTO Secretariat to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. A total of 146 representatives from 62 members and observers participated in the briefing session.
[See Milestones above for detail]

::::::

ARM [Alliance for Regenerative Medicine] [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://alliancerm.org/press-releases/
Selected Press Releases
No new digest content identified.

BIO [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.bio.org/press-releases
Press Releases, Letters, Testimony, Comments [Selected]
No new digest content identified.

DCVMN – Developing Country Vaccine Manufacturers Network [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.dcvmn.org/
News; Upcoming events
No new digest content identified.

ICBA – International Council of Biotechnology Associations [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://internationalbiotech.org/news/
News
No new digest content identified.

IFPMA [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.ifpma.org/resources/news-releases/
Selected Press Releases, Statements, Publications
The European Commission and Innovative Biopharmaceutical Industries to Explore Potential Initiatives to Enhance Local Production
26 November 2021
[See Milestones above for detail]

IFPMA Statement – Special Session of World Health Assembly on Pandemic Treaty
24 November 2021
[See Milestones above for detail]

Joint Statement on World Antimicrobial Awareness Week
24 November 2021

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

International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations – IAPO [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.iapo.org.uk/news/topic/6
Press and media [Selected]
IAPO’s Joint Statement on World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021
Wednesday, 24 November 2021
On World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) the International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO), the IAPO Patients for Patient Safety Observatory and its AMR Patient Alliance, International Council of Nurses (ICN), International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), responding to the call to One Health stakeholders to be Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness champions, support the 2021 theme “Spread Awareness. Stop Resistance” and call on all stakeholders to encourage best practices amongst all actors of the health system to preserve existing antimicrobials and call for policy reforms to encourage sustainable investment in new antibiotics.

PhRMA [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.phrma.org/
Latest News [Selected]
No new digest content identified.

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

Artificial Intelligence – An International Journal
Volume 300 November 2021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/artificial-intelligence/vol/300/suppl/C

BMC Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation
http://resource-allocation.biomedcentral.com/
(Accessed 27 Nov 2021)
Vaccination distribution by community pharmacists under the COVID-19 vaccine appointment system in Taiwan
Authors: Ya Wen Lin, Che Huei Lin and Ming Hung Lin
Content type: Commentary
22 November 2021

Artificial Intelligence – An International Journal
Volume 300 November 2021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/artificial-intelligence/vol/300/suppl/C

The impact and cost-effectiveness of 9-valent human papillomavirus vaccine in adolescent females in Hong Kong
Authors: Tak Hong Cheung, Sally Shuk Yee Cheng, Danny C. Hsu, Queenie Wing-Lei Wong, Andrew Pavelyev, Anuj Walia, Kunal Saxena and Vimalanand S. Prabhu
Content type: Research
20 November 2021

BMC Health Services Research
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmchealthservres/content
(Accessed 27 Nov 2021)

Acceptability of mobile-phone reminders for routine childhood vaccination appointments in Nigeria – a systematic review and meta-analysis
Mobile-phone reminders have gained traction among policymakers as a way to improve childhood vaccination coverage and timeliness. However, there is limited evidence on the acceptability of mobile-phone reminde…
Authors: Paul Eze, Sergius Alex Agu, Ujunwa Justina Agu and Yubraj Acharya
Citation: BMC Health Services Research 2021 21:1276
Content type: Research
Published on: 26 November 2021

BMC Infectious Diseases
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdis/content
(Accessed 27 Nov 2021)

The vaccination threshold for SARS-CoV-2 depends on the indoor setting and room ventilation
Effective vaccines are now available for SARS-CoV-2 in the 2nd year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there remains significant uncertainty surrounding the necessary vaccination rate to safely lift occupancy contr…
Authors: A. Mikszewski, L. Stabile, G. Buonanno and L. Morawska
Citation: BMC Infectious Diseases 2021 21:1193
Content type: Research
Published on: 26 November 2021

BMC Infectious Diseases
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdis/content
(Accessed 27 Nov 2021)

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, hesitancy, and determinants among physicians in a university-based teaching hospital in Thailand
The COVID-19 vaccines provide renewed hope in the fight against the recent pandemic. To ensure widespread vaccination, it is crucial to analyze vaccine willingness and its determinants among physicians, key he…
Authors: May Sirikalyanpaiboon, Krittin Ousirimaneechai, Jeerath Phannajit, Panyavee Pitisuttithum, Watsamon Jantarabenjakul, Roongruedee Chaiteerakij and Leilani Paitoonpong
Citation: BMC Infectious Diseases 2021 21:1174
Content type: Research
Published on: 22 November 2021

BMC Infectious Diseases
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcinfectdis/content
(Accessed 27 Nov 2021)

Association between convalescent plasma treatment and mortality in COVID-19: a collaborative systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials
Convalescent plasma has been widely used to treat COVID-19 and is under investigation in numerous randomized clinical trials, but results are publicly available only for a small number of trials. The objective…
Authors: Cathrine Axfors, Perrine Janiaud, Andreas M. Schmitt, Janneke van’t Hooft, Emily R. Smith, Noah A. Haber, Akin Abayomi, Manal Abduljalil, Abdulkarim Abdulrahman, Yeny Acosta-Ampudia, Manuela Aguilar-Guisado, Farah Al-Beidh, Marissa M. Alejandria, Rachelle N. Alfonso, Mohammad Ali, Manaf AlQahtani…
Citation: BMC Infectious Diseases 2021 21:1170
Content type: Research article
Published on: 20 November 2021

BMC Medicine
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmed/content
(Accessed 27 Nov 2021)

Safety, infectivity and immunogenicity of a genetically attenuated blood-stage malaria vaccine
There is a clear need for novel approaches to malaria vaccine development. We aimed to develop a genetically attenuated blood-stage vaccine and test its safety, infectivity, and immunogenicity in healthy volun…
Authors: Rebecca Webster, Silvana Sekuloski, Anand Odedra, Stephen Woolley, Helen Jennings, Fiona Amante, Katharine R. Trenholme, Julie Healer, Alan F. Cowman, Emily M. Eriksson, Priyanka Sathe, Jocelyn Penington, Adam J. Blanch, Matthew W. A. Dixon, Leann Tilley, Michael F. Duffy…
Citation: BMC Medicine 2021 19:293
Content type: Research article
Published on: 22 November 2021

BMC Public Health
http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles
(Accessed 27 Nov 2021)

Safety, infectivity and immunogenicity of a genetically attenuated blood-stage malaria vaccine
There is a clear need for novel approaches to malaria vaccine development. We aimed to develop a genetically attenuated blood-stage vaccine and test its safety, infectivity, and immunogenicity in healthy volun…
Authors: Rebecca Webster, Silvana Sekuloski, Anand Odedra, Stephen Woolley, Helen Jennings, Fiona Amante, Katharine R. Trenholme, Julie Healer, Alan F. Cowman, Emily M. Eriksson, Priyanka Sathe, Jocelyn Penington, Adam J. Blanch, Matthew W. A. Dixon, Leann Tilley, Michael F. Duffy…
Citation: BMC Medicine 2021 19:293
Content type: Research article
Published on: 22 November 2021

BMC Research Notes
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcresnotes/content
(Accessed 27 Nov 2021)

COVID-19 vaccine preferences among university students in Hong Kong: a discrete choice experiment
To promote public health and resume university activities, COVID-19 vaccination has been mandated from an increasing number of universities worldwide. The objective of the study is to understand the factors th…
Authors: Xue Li, Man Yui Chong, Ching Yui Chan, Vindy Wing Sun Chan and Xinning Tong
Citation: BMC Research Notes 2021 14:421
Content type: Research note
Published on: 22 November 2021

BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine
December 2021 – Volume 26 – 6
https://ebm.bmj.com/content/26/6

Editorial
Should COVID-19 vaccination be mandatory? (28 October, 2021) Free
Juan Victor Ariel Franco

Ethics, Medicine and Public Health
Volume 19 December 2021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/ethics-medicine-and-public-health/vol/19/suppl/C

Review article Abstract only
Challenges of the informed consent in some countries of the MENA region: A Literature Review
T. Habib, K. Richa, F. Abou-Mrad
Article 100706

Ethics, Medicine and Public Health
Volume 19 December 2021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/ethics-medicine-and-public-health/vol/19/suppl/C

Research article Abstract only
Rethinking informed consent in the age of behavioural sciences and relational autonomy
P. Sylvestre, N.Orr Gaucher, T. Perez, O. Drouin
Article 100708

Genome Medicine
https://genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles
[Accessed 27 Nov 2021]

Genomic medicine in the Middle East
We discuss the current state of genomic medicine in Arab countries of the Middle East, a region with outsized contribution to Mendelian genetics due to inbreeding yet has poor representation in global variome …
Authors: Ahmad N. Abou Tayoun, Khalid A. Fakhro, Alawi Alsheikh-Ali and Fowzan S. Alkuraya
Citation: Genome Medicine 2021 13:184
Content type: Comment
Published on: 23 November 2021

Global Legal Monitor – Library of Congress/USA
https://www.loc.gov/collections/global-legal-monitor/
[Accessed 27 Nov 2021]

Article
Austria: Government Adopts Immediate Nationwide Lockdown; General COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate to Start February 1, 2022
On November 21, 2021, the Austrian government adopted the 5th COVID-19 Emergency Measures Regulation (5. COVID-19-Notmaßnahmenverordnung, 5. COVID-19-NotMV) to prevent the collapse of the health care system in Austria due to the unprecedented rapid increase in COVID-19 cases and the worsening availability of beds in hospital and intensive care units. (5. COVID-19-NotMV § 1; Legal … Continue reading “Austria: Government Adopts Immediate Nationwide Lockdown;…
Contributor: Gesley, Jenny
Date: 2021-11-23

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

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

JAMA
November 23/30, 2021, Vol 326, No. 20, Pages 1995-2087
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/currentissue

Original Investigation
Association Between mRNA Vaccination and COVID-19 Hospitalization and Disease Severity
Mark W. Tenforde, MD, PhD; Wesley H. Self, MD, MPH; Katherine Adams, MPH; et al.
free access has active quiz
JAMA. 2021;326(20):2043-2054. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.19499
This case-control study explores the association between vaccination with mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and hospitalization for COVID-19, and, among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, the association with progression to critical disease in adults from 18 US states.

JAMA
November 23/30, 2021, Vol 326, No. 20, Pages 1995-2087
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/currentissue

Editorial
Understanding Breakthrough Infections Following mRNA SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination
Michael Klompas, MD, MPH

JAMA Network
COVID-19 Update November 27, 2021

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

The Lancet
Nov 27, 2021 Volume 398 Number 10315 p1939-2050, e17
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/current

The Lancet Commissions
The Lancet Commission on diagnostics: transforming access to diagnostics
Kenneth A Fleming, et al
Key messages
47% of the global population has little to no access to diagnostics.
Diagnostics are central and fundamental to quality health care. This notion is under-recognised, leading to underfunding and inadequate resources at all levels.
The level of primary health care is the diagnostic so-called last mile and particularly affects poor, rural, and marginalised communities globally; appropriate access is essential for equity and social justice.
The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasised the crucial role of diagnostics in health care and that without access to diagnostics, delivery of universal health coverage, antimicrobial resistance mitigation, and pandemic preparedness cannot be achieved.
Innovations within the past 15 years in many areas (eg, in financing, technology, and workforce) can reduce the diagnostic gap, improve access, and democratise diagnostics to empower patients.
As an example of the potential impact, 1·1 million premature deaths in low-income and middle-income countries could be avoided annually by reducing the diagnostic gap for six priority conditions: diabetes, hypertension, HIV, and tuberculosis in the overall population, and hepatitis B virus infection and syphilis for pregnant women.
The economic case for such investment is strong. The median benefit–cost exceeds one for five of the six priority conditions in middle-income countries, and exceeds one for four of the six priority conditions in low-income countries, with a range of 1·4:1 to 24:1.
Given the depth and breadth of the problems, sustained access to quality, affordable diagnostics will require multi-decade prioritisation, commitment, and investment. Incorporating diagnostics into universal health coverage packages will begin this process.

Nature
Volume 599 Issue 7886, 25 November 2021
https://www.nature.com/nature/volumes/599/issues/7886

World View | 24 November 2021
Want research integrity? Stop the blame game
Helping every scientist to improve is more effective than ferreting out a few frauds.
Malcolm Macleod

Nature
Volume 599 Issue 7886, 25 November 2021
https://www.nature.com/nature/volumes/599/issues/7886

Article | 18 October 2021 | Open Access
Exome sequencing and analysis of 454,787 UK Biobank participants
Whole-exome sequencing analysis of 454,787 individuals in the UK Biobank is used to examine the association of protein-coding variants with nearly 4,000 health-related traits, identifying 564 distinct genes with significant trait associations.
Joshua D. Backman, Alexander H. Li, Manuel A. R. Ferreira

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 27 Nov 2021]

Research Article
A snapshot of the practicality and barriers to COVID-19 interventions: Public health and healthcare workers’ perceptions in high and low- and middle-income countries
Rosanna Glazik, Hannah Moore, David Kennedy, Hilary Bower, Hana Rohan, Ashley Sharp, Anna C. Seale
Research Article | published 24 Nov 2021 PLOS ONE
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260041

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 27 Nov 2021]

Rapid relaxation of pandemic restrictions after vaccine rollout favors growth of SARS-CoV-2 variants: A model-based analysis
Debra Van Egeren, Madison Stoddard, Alexander Novokhodko, Michael S. Rogers, Diane Joseph-McCarthy, Bruce Zetter, Arijit Chakravarty
Research Article | published 24 Nov 2021 PLOS ONE
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258997

PLoS One
http://www.plosone.org/
[Accessed 27 Nov 2021]

Effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical public health interventions against COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Shabnam Iezadi, Kamal Gholipour, Saber Azami-Aghdash, Akbar Ghiasi, Aziz Rezapour, Hamid Pourasghari, Fariba Pashazadeh
Research Article | published 23 Nov 2021 PLOS ONE
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260371

PNAS – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States
November 16, 2021; vol. 118 no. 46
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/46

Perspective
Lessons learned from urgent computing in Europe: Tackling the COVID-19 pandemic
Núria López, Luigi Del Debbio, Marc Baaden, Matej Praprotnik, Laura Grigori, Catarina Simões, Serge Bogaerts, Florian Berberich, Thomas Lippert, Janne Ignatius, Philippe Lavocat, Oriol Pineda, Maria Grazia Giuffreda, Sergi Girona, Dieter Kranzlmüller, Michael M. Resch, Gabriella Scipione, and Thomas Schulthess
PNAS November 16, 2021 118 (46) e2024891118; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2024891118
Abstract
PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), an international not-for-profit association that brings together the five largest European supercomputing centers and involves 26 European countries, has allocated more than half a billion core hours to computer simulations to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside experiments, these simulations are a pillar of research to assess the risks of different scenarios and investigate mitigation strategies. While the world deals with the subsequent waves of the pandemic, we present a reflection on the use of urgent supercomputing for global societal challenges and crisis management.

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

23 Nov 2021
Toward a holistic definition for Information Systems for Health in the age of digital interdependence
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
23 Nov 2021
Risk factors for adverse outcomes in women with high-risk pregnancy and their neonates, Haiti
Original research | English |

Risk Management and Healthcare Policy
https://www.dovepress.com/risk-management-and-healthcare-policy-archive56
[Accessed 27 Nov 2021]

Original Research
Economic, Health and Physical Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic in Sub-Saharan African Regions: A Cross Sectional Survey
Mashige KP, Osuagwu UL, Ulagnathan S, Ekpenyong BN, Abu EK, Goson PC, Langsi R, Nwaeze O, Timothy CG, Charwe DD, Oloruntoba R, Miner CA, Ishaya T, Ovenseri-Ogbomo GO, Agho KE
Risk Management and Healthcare Policy ²⁰²¹, 14:4799-4807
Published Date: 27 November 2021

Science
Volume 374| Issue 6571| 26 Nov 2021
https://www.science.org/toc/science/current

Introduction to Special Issue
Inflammation
BY Gemma Alderton, Seth Thomas Scanlon
25 Nov 2021: 1068-10

Science
Volume 374| Issue 6571| 26 Nov 2021
https://www.science.org/toc/science/current

Editorial
Vax the world
BY Madhukar Pai, Ayoade Olatunbosun-Alakija
25 Nov 20
Earlier this month, while the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference convened in Glasgow, countries also gathered at the Global Conference on Health and Climate Change to recognize the climate crisis as a global health crisis—a consequence of increased poverty, food and water insecurity, and infectious disease transmission, among other dangers. Unsurprisingly, both crises are worse in lower-income countries. These countries are also experiencing the greatest number of deaths and collateral damage from COVID-19.

Both climate change and pandemics require countries and people to act as global citizens and go beyond nationalism. If countries cannot share resources to end COVID-19 everywhere, it does not bode well for the world’s ability to deal with the broad impacts of climate change. However, if nations can show global solidarity and vaccinate the world against COVID-19, it will give everyone much needed optimism to tackle climate change together.

Over 5 million people have died from COVID-19 so far, but the true death toll is probably threefold higher. As severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to rapidly spread, vaccine inequity is the biggest threat to conquering the pandemic. Whereas 66% of the people in high-income countries are fully vaccinated, only 2.5% of the population in low-income countries are fully protected. Moreover, COVID-19 has rolled back most of the global gains in tackling poverty and disease. If the world does not tackle this inequity, all countries will face collateral damage of unimaginable proportions. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will remain unrealized.

Consider the social and economic consequences of vaccine inequity. In 2020, the pandemic led to nearly 100 million more people in poverty, and the UN estimates that developing countries will suffer economic losses of $12 trillion through 2025. This will only get worse, as SARS-CoV-2 (Delta variant) is now primarily affecting countries with low vaccine coverage.

Moreover, the pandemic has disrupted essential health services, especially in the Global South, where fragile health systems are falling apart. For example, routine immunization is suffering not just because of pandemic measures such as lockdowns, but also because personnel and supplies required for childhood immunization are now being utilized for COVID-19 vaccinations. Data suggest that global routine immunization rates in 2020 dropped to levels last seen in 2005. This could well derail global efforts to eliminate polio and result in a resurgence of measles.

Health services for the continuing threats of tuberculosis (TB), malaria, and HIV have been severely disrupted by the pandemic as well. According to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) TB report, 1.3 million fewer people with TB were treated in 2020 than in 2019. According to the Global Fund, HIV testing declined by 22% in 2020. Progress against malaria has stalled as there was no year-on-year growth in provision of malaria services. People with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are more likely to have poor outcomes after COVID-19 infection. Disruption of health services has also adversely affected the treatment of many common NCDs, including cancer and mental health conditions.

Despite the devastating direct and collateral damage from COVID-19, world leaders have failed to ensure rapid and equitable distribution of diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics (e.g., monoclonal antibodies). Even as rich nations are administering booster shots, more than 3.5 billion people are waiting for their first dose. Last month, the G20 Rome Leader’s Declaration endorsed the WHO plan to vaccinate at least 70% of the world’s population by mid-2022. However, to end this pandemic, we need to be more ambitious and vaccinate the entire world. Otherwise, it will be impossible to protect any country from the Delta variant and prevent emergence of new variants.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest test of humanity’s ability to think and act as humankind. To pass the test, rich nations must stop vaccine hoarding, immediately redistribute surplus vaccines, meet their pledges to the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) program, support the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver, and mandate pharmaceutical companies to transfer know-how for diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics.

Vaccinating the world is the best hope for ending this global crisis and for making sure the world is back on track for meeting the 2030 SDGs. And ending the pandemic will restore our faith in humanity and prepare us to face the ultimate test—climate crisis.

Science
Volume 374| Issue 6571| 26 Nov 2021
https://www.science.org/toc/science/current

Policy Forum
Capitalizing on the G7 Research Compact
BY Harry G. Broadman, Bruce R. Guile, David T. Delpy, Albert P. Pisano
25 Nov 2021: 1056-1058
Rules for S&T collaboration should be integrated with trade and investment agreements

Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 47 Pages 6813-6968 (16 November 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/474

Research article Full text access
Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy, conspiracist beliefs, paranoid ideation and perceived ethnic discrimination in a sample of University students in Venezuela
Gabriel Andrade
Pages 6837-6842

Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 47 Pages 6813-6968 (16 November 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/474

Research article Full text access
Resource allocation for different types of vaccines against COVID-19: Tradeoffs and synergies between efficacy and reach
Daniel Kim, Pelin Pekgün, İnci Yildirim, Pınar Keskinocak
Pages 6876-6882

Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 47 Pages 6813-6968 (16 November 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/474

Research article Abstract only
Acceptance of pneumococcal vaccination in older adults: A general population-based survey
Junjie Huang, Yijun Bai, Hanyue Ding, Boyuan Wang, … Eng-Kiong Yeoh
Pages 6883-6893

Vaccine
Volume 39, Issue 47 Pages 6813-6968 (16 November 2021)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/vaccine/vol/39/issue/474

Research article Open access
Scalable production and immunogenicity of a cholera conjugate vaccine
Suhi Jeon, Meagan Kelly, Jeesun Yun, Byungman Lee, … Edward T. Ryan
Pages 6936-6946

Vaccines
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/vaccines
[Accessed 27 Nov 2021]

Research article Open access
Scalable production and immunogenicity of a cholera conjugate vaccine
Suhi Jeon, Meagan Kelly, Jeesun Yun, Byungman Lee, … Edward T. Ryan
Pages 6936-6946

Vaccines
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/vaccines
[Accessed 27 Nov 2021]

Open Access Article
Determinants of COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance among the Adult Population of Bangladesh Using the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior Model
by Muhammad Mainuddin Patwary et al.
Vaccines 2021, 9(12), 1393; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9121393 (registering DOI) – 25 Nov 2021
Abstract
Vaccination is undoubtedly one of the most effective strategies to halt the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study aimed to investigate the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination and its associated factors using two health behavior change frameworks: the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the Theory

Vaccines
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/vaccines
[Accessed 27 Nov 2021]

Open Access Article
Investigating the Influence of Vaccine Literacy, Vaccine Perception and Vaccine Hesitancy on Israeli Parents’ Acceptance of the COVID-19 Vaccine for Their Children: A Cross-Sectional Study
by Yulia Gendler and Lani Ofri
Vaccines 2021, 9(12), 1391; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9121391 (registering DOI) – 24 Nov 2021
Abstract
Vaccination is currently the most effective strategy for combating COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccines were introduced to the adult population in Israel in early December 2020 and have been available for children aged 12–15 since June 2021. Our study aimed at assessing the influence of […

Vaccines
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/vaccines
[Accessed 27 Nov 2021]

Open Access Article
Differences in COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance, Hesitancy, and Confidence between Healthcare Workers and the General Population in Japan
by Megumi Hara et al.
Vaccines 2021, 9(12), 1389; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9121389 (registering DOI) – 24 Nov 2021
Abstract
Little is known about the differences in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine acceptance and hesitancy between the general population and healthcare workers in Japan. To compare these differences, a nationwide web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted on 19 January 2021, shortly before the initiation of

Pre-Print Servers

Gates Open Research
https://gatesopenresearch.org/browse/articles
[Accessed 27 Nov 2021]

Research Article metrics AWAITING PEER REVIEW
Setting up child health and mortality prevention surveillance in Ethiopia [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Anna C. Seale, Nega Assefa, Lola Madrid, Stefanie Wittmann, Hanan Abdurahman, Nardos Teferi, Letta Gedefa, Alexander Mohamed, Natnael Debela, Tseyon Tesfaye, Tigistu Samuel, Mehret Dubale, Hiwot Yigzaw, Eyoel Taye, Workalemahu Bekele, Caroline Ackley, Gutema Imana Keno, Yosef Zegeye, Zerihun Girma, Ketema Degefa, Berhanu Damisse, Adugna Tadesse, Mohammed Aliyi, Gurmu Feyissa, Yenenesh Tilahun, Getahun Wakwaya, Bizunesh Sintayehu, Getamesay Abayneh, Addisu Alemu, Emmanuel Azore, Joe Oundo, Zelalem T Mariam, Dadi Marami, Mulu Berihun, Mussie Berhanu, Mahlet Mekonnen, Andualem Alemayehu, Nana Sarkodie-Mensah, Shirine Voller, Boniface Jibendi, Abraham Aseffa, Taye Balcha, Robert F. Breiman, Scott Dowell, Asnake Worku, Tsigereda Kifle, Ebba Abate, Yadeta Dessie, J. Anthony G. Scott
Peer Reviewers Invited
Funders – Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Wellcome
PUBLISHED 24 Nov 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 27 Nov 2021]
Selected Content
Appropriate relaxation of non-pharmaceutical interventions minimizes the risk of a resurgence in SARS-CoV-2 infections in spite of the Delta variant
Wadim Koslow, Martin J. Kühn, Sebastian Binder, Margrit Klitz, Daniel Abele, Achim Basermann, Michael Meyer-Hermann
medRxiv 2021.07.09.21260257; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.09.21260257

Rapid evaluation of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against VOC/VOIs by genetic mismatch
Lirong Cao, Jingzhi Lou, Hong Zheng, Shi Zhao, Chris Ka Pun Mok, Renee WY Chan, Ka Chun Chong, Zigui Chen, Lai Yi Wong, Paul KS Chan, Benny Chung-Ying Zee, Eng Kiong Yeoh, Maggie H Wang
medRxiv 2021.04.22.21254079; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.22.21254079

Pandemic inequity in a megacity: a multilevel analysis of individual, community, and health care vulnerability risks for COVID-19 mortality in Jakarta, Indonesia
Henry Surendra, Ngabila Salama, Karina D Lestari, Verry Adrian, Widyastuti Widyastuti, Dwi Oktavia, Rosa N Lina, Bimandra A Djaafara, Ihsan Fadilah, Rahmat Sagara, Lenny L Ekawati, Ahmad Nurhasim, Riris Andono A Ahmad, Aria Kekalih, Ari F Syam, Anuraj H Shankar, Guy Thwaites, J Kevin Baird, Raph L Hamers, Iqbal RF Elyazar
medRxiv 2021.11.24.21266809; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.24.21266809

Covid-19 vaccination coverage and break through infections in urban slums of Bengaluru, India: A cross sectional study.
Sunil Kumar D.R., Srividya J, Apoorva E Patel, Vidya R
medRxiv 2021.11.21.21262716; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.21.21262716

Childhood mortality during and after acute illness in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia – The CHAIN cohort study
Abdoulaye Hama Diallo, Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayeem Bin Shahid, Ali Fazal Khan, Ali Faisal Saleem, Benson O. Singa, Blaise Siezanga Gnoumou, Caroline Tigoi, Catherine Achieng Otieno, Celine Bourdon, Chris Odhiambo Oduol, Christina L. Lancioni, Christine Manyasi, Christine J. McGrath, Christopher Maronga, Christopher Lwanga, Daniella Brals, Dilruba Ahmed, Dinesh Mondal, Donna M. Denno, Dorothy I. Mangale, Emmanuel Chimezi, Emmie Mbale, Ezekiel Mupere, Gazi Md. Salauddin Mamun, Issaka Ouedraogo, James A. Berkley, Jenala Njirammadzi, John Mukisa, Johnstone Thitiri, Joseph D. Carreon, Judd L. Walson, Julie Jemutai, Kirkby D. Tickell, Lubaba Shahrin, MacPherson Mallewa, Md. Iqbal Hossain, Mohammod Jobayer Chisti, Molly Timbwa, Moses Mburu, Moses M Ngari, Narshion Ngao, Peace Aber, Philliness Prisca Harawa, Priya Sukhtankar, Robert H. J. Bandsma, Roseline Maimouna Bamouni, Sassy Molyneux, Shalton Mwaringa, Shamsun Nahar Shaima, Syed Asad Ali, Syeda Momena Afsana, Syera Banu, Tahmeed Ahmed, Wieger P. Voskuijl, Zaubina Kazi
medRxiv 2021.11.24.21266806; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.24.21266806

An interactive dashboard to track themes, development maturity, and global equity in clinical artificial intelligence research
J Zhang, S Whebell, J Gallifant, S Budhdeo, H Mattie, P Lertvittayakumjorn, M P Arias Lopez, B J Tiangco, J W Gichoya, H Ashrafian, L A Celi, J T Teo
medRxiv 2021.11.23.21266758; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.23.21266758

Projecting the transition of COVID-19 burden towards the young population while vaccines are rolled out: a modelling study
Jun Cai, Juan Yang, Xiaowei Deng, Cheng Peng, Xinhua Chen, Qianhui Wu, Hengcong Liu, Juanjuan Zhang, Wen Zheng, Junyi Zou, Zeyao Zhao, Marco Ajelli, Hongjie Yu
medRxiv 2021.10.14.21265032; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.10.14.21265032

Wellcome Open Research [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/browse/articles
[Accessed 27 Nov 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 AWAITING PEER REVIEW
An agency mapping of marginalized communities and aid providers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
Melati Nungsari, Chuah Hui Yin, Nicole Fong, Veena Pillai
Peer Reviewers Invited
Funder – World Health Organization
PUBLISHED 25 Nov 2021

Open Letter metrics
The Index of Evidence: speculative methodologies in response to the post-truth era [version 1; peer review: 1 not approved]
Gill Partington, Laura Salisbury, Steve Hinchliffe, Mike Michael, Lara Choksey
Peer Reviewer Stephen Gorard
Funder – Wellcome Trust
PUBLISHED 23 Nov 2021
Abstract
The past year has shown that even the fundamental idea of ‘evidence’ – in health contexts, but also more broadly – is coming under increasing strain. This open letter argues that the current crises of evidence and knowledge in which we find ourselves demands new speculative methodologies. It introduces the Index of Evidence – a Beacon Project funded by Exeter University’s Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health – as one example of such a methodology, outlining its theoretical foundations and process. The key innovation of this project is to rethink the form and presentation that research can take. Using the conceptual and material affordances of the index, it merges the creative and critical in ways that aim to make an important contribution to more inter-connected, theoretically sophisticated thinking around evidence.

Think Tanks

 
 
Brookings [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.brookings.edu/
Accessed 27 Nov 2021
[No new digest content identified]

 
 
Center for Global Development [to 27 Nov 2021]
http://www.cgdev.org/page/press-center
Accessed 27 Nov 2021
Priorities for the Care of Critically ill Patients with COVID-19: Lessons From Tanzania and Kenya
Event
12/7/21
The COVID-19 pandemic is a critical care crisis. Many lives have been lost during the pandemic while countries tried to scale up ventilators and other high-cost critical care services, at times overlooking effective yet low-cost essential emergency and critical care (EECC) practices.

Humanitarian Challenges in 2022
November 23, 2021
Next week the UN will publish its global humanitarian overview (GHO) for 2022: the world’s most comprehensive, authoritative, and evidence-based assessment of need. The GHO has sustained a good track record in recent years in predicting what is ahead, albeit that every year unexpected new challenges also arise. (This year’s catalogue of unwelcome surprises included the impact of the coup in Myanmar, the famine in northern Ethiopia, and the escalation in humanitarian problems in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover. Last year, of course, saw the start of the COVID-19 pandemic).
Mark Lowcock

 
 
Chatham House [to 27 Nov 2021]
https://www.chathamhouse.org/
Accessed 27 Nov 2021
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CSIS
https://www.csis.org/
Accessed 27 Nov 2021
[No new digest content identified]

Kaiser Family Foundation
https://www.kff.org/search/?post_type=press-release
Accessed 27 Nov 2021
[No new digest content identified]

 
 
ODI [Overseas Development Institute] [to 27 Nov 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

Washington Post
Nov 19, 2021The Health 202
Analysis
NIH director: ‘Conspiracies are winning here’
Francis Collins wants online misinformation spreaders “brought to justice”

NIH Director Francis Collins has a stern message for the American public: The country has, what he called, an epidemic of misinformation and disinformation. And it’s fueling a dangerous distrust in science.

“Conspiracies are winning here. Truth is losing. That’s a really serious indictment of the way in which our society seems to be traveling,” said Collins, who will soon step down as the National Institutes of Health director after serving in both Republican and Democratic administrations.

Collins made his most forceful comments yet against the pervasive spread of falsehoods online… He was defending his own colleague, Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, against the biggest onslaught of angry messages and threats he’s received throughout the entire pandemic.

Those attacks stemmed in part from a viral and false claim that Fauci, who leads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had funded a medical experiment that involved trapping beagles’ heads in mesh cages filled with diseased sand flies. Fauci received so many messages — 3,600 phone calls in 36 hours — that his assistant quit answering the phone, Yasmeen and Beth Reinhard report in a story out this morning...

…The rapid-fire spread of misinformation has altered public opinion of the pandemic and coronavirus vaccines. Some 6 in 10 Americans say they either believe the government is exaggerating the number of deaths from the virus or aren’t sure. Nearly 1 in 4 Americans believe covid-19 shots contain microchips or don’t know if the claim is true, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey.

“Truth is supposed to be truth,” Collins said, “and the fact that your truth would be so heavily modified by your social circle or where you get your news tells you we’re in real trouble.” He said he worries about a society where “somebody’s Facebook post carries as much weight as a statement from the director of the CDC about what is the truth of a public health crisis.”

He sees two ways of attempting to curb the spread of misinformation, though admits he’s unsure how successful either has been.
:: The first: Identify those who are purposefully spreading false information online and bring them to justice.
:: The second: Find a better way to counter false claims with real information. He didn’t specify what exactly either one would entail…

WHASS2: Special session of the World Health Assembly referred to in decision WHA74(16)
29 November – 1 December 2021
Geneva, Switzerland | Virtual event
Draft provisional agenda [dated 12 Oct 2021]: SSA2/1 (draft)

The World Health Assembly (WHA) will gather for a special session 29 November to 1 December to consider developing a WHO convention, agreement, or other international instrument on pandemic preparedness and response.

The WHA normally meets each May. This special session (the second in the history of the WHO) was called for in a decision adopted by the Member States at the Seventy-fourth World Health Assembly: Decision WHA74(16).

During the session, the Member States will consider the following single substantive agenda item:
Consideration of the benefits of developing a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic preparedness and response with a view towards the establishment of an intergovernmental process to draft and negotiate such a convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic preparedness and response, taking into account the report of the Working Group on Strengthening WHO Preparedness and Response to Health Emergencies.

The Working Group on Strengthening WHO Preparedness and Response to Health Emergencies, established after the WHA74, has met on four occasions and considered findings from several bodies in preparing its report. The sessions will be public and webcast on this page and other WHO channels.

ZERO DRAFT Report of the Member States Working Group on Strengthening WHO Preparedness for and Response to Health Emergencies to the special session of the World Health Assembly
FOURTH MEETING OF THE WORKING GROUP ON STRENGTHENING WHO PREPAREDNESS AND
RESPONSE TO HEALTH EMERGENCIES A/WGPR/4/3
Provisional agenda item 2
28 October 2021 :: 15 pages

World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) [to 20 Nov 2021]
https://www.oie.int/en/media/news/
Press Releases, Statements
The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) calls for increased surveillance of avian influenza as outbreaks in poultry and wild birds intensify
Press Release 19 November 2021
Various subtypes of high pathogenicity avian influenza have been reported by more than 40 countries over the last six months. 
During the high-risk period of this disease October to April, countries need to scale up surveillance efforts, implement strict biosecurity measures and ensure a timely reporting of outbreaks to curb its spread.

Paris, 19 November 2021 – Since 1 May 2021, outbreaks of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) have been confirmed in 41 countries from different regions in poultry and wild birds. Currently present in Africa, Asia and Europe, the disease is a threat to economic stability, food security and livelihoods. Commonly known as bird flu, avian influenza is a very contagious disease which affects several species of poultry, as well as pet birds and wild birds, and occasionally, humans. This complex disease is caused by viruses divided in multiple subtypes whose genetic characteristics rapidly evolve. Over recent years, numerous subtypes of the HPAI viruses have been circulating in diverse bird populations on a large geographical scale. In particular in 2021, an unprecedented genetic variability of subtypes has been reported in birds, thus creating an epidemiologically challenging landscape. H5N1, H5N3, H5N4, H5N5, H5N6 or H5N8 are the subtypes currently circulating in poultry and wild bird populations across the world…

Because of the disease impacts on the livelihoods of poultry farmers and on international trade, as well as the risks of transmission to humans, the animal health sector must implement strict biosecurity measures in farms, in commerce and in live bird markets to prevent it from spreading. For instance, isolating infected birds from healthy ones and cleaning and disinfecting poultry premises is highly recommended. Proper planning and the implementation of surveillance programmes in wild birds, as well as, avoiding direct or indirect contact between domestic and wild birds is equally critical in mitigating outbreaks in domestic poultry and preventing the introduction of the virus into flocks. Thus, the OIE urges countries to maintain their surveillance efforts and to continue timely reporting of avian influenza outbreaks in both poultry and non-poultry species including wild birds.

A supply gap of more than 1 billion autodisable syringes could impact COVID-19 immunization efforts in 100 countries
Global convening of syringe manufacturers and multilateral organizations held to help bolster supply.

Seattle, Washington, November 17, 2021—New PATH modeling estimates a global market supply gap of 1.2 billion autodisable (AD) syringe safe-injection devices for COVID-19 vaccine delivery. This supply gap risks becoming a bottleneck that could threaten the timely delivery of vaccines in half of the countries on Earth.

On November 11, PATH and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) held a Global COVID-19 Vaccine Syringe Industry Convening bringing together more than two dozen of the world’s leading syringe manufacturers and multilateral organizations to facilitate increased transparency around the AD syringe market to help bolster supply for COVID-19 vaccines as well as routine immunization. Manufacturers confirmed critical global AD syringe supply challenges from the end of 2021 through mid-2022, despite tripling their production and efforts by multilateral organizations to secure additional AD syringes for low- and middle-income countries that need them.

The projected spike in demand for syringes for COVID-19 vaccines, estimated to total more than 4 billion from the end of 2021 to mid-2022, is due to the anticipated surge in COVID-19 vaccine dose deliveries to countries coming through COVAX, large donations from governments, and bilateral deals. Based on the global supply and demand data, the PATH modeling estimates a global gap of 1.2 billion AD syringes.

Risks to syringe supply such as country export restrictions, shipping delays, new manufacturing lines failing to receive World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification, or delays in completing planned manufacturing expansions could widen the cumulative gap to more than 2 billion during this period. Booster doses could create additional demand pressures on the market.

“Our gap analysis is designed to demystify the market and spur efforts in both public and private sectors to prioritize equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and syringes in every country as well as to safeguard syringe supplies for essential vaccines for children,” said Tara Herrick, Senior Market Analytics Officer, PATH. “While these future projections are not set in stone, collectively our actions could help curtail the size of future gaps to help reach the global COVID-19 vaccination target of 70 percent by 2022.”

Immunization is done exclusively with AD syringes in nearly 70 countries, and 30 countries use them for some immunizations. Since 1999, the WHO, UNICEF, and the United Nations Population Fund have recommended exclusive use of AD syringes globally for immunization as they “present the lowest risk of person-to-person transmission of blood-borne pathogens such as hepatitis B or HIV” because AD syringe needles cannot be removed or reused…

Pfizer and The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) Sign Licensing Agreement for COVID-19 Oral Antiviral Treatment Candidate to Expand Access in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
:: Agreement builds on Pfizer’s comprehensive strategy to work toward equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments for all people, particularly those living in the poorest parts of the world
:: Agreement will enable qualified sub-licensees to supply countries comprising approximately 53% of the world’s population
:: Interim data from the Phase 2/3 EPIC-HR study demonstrated an 89% reduction in risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization or death compared to placebo in non-hospitalized high-risk adults with COVID-19 within three days of symptom onset with similar results seen within five days of symptom onset

NEW YORK & GENEVA–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), a United Nations-backed public health organization working to increase access to life-saving medicines for low- and middle-income countries, today announced the signing of a voluntary license agreement for Pfizer’s COVID-19 oral antiviral treatment candidate PF-07321332, which is administered in combination with low dose ritonavir (PF-07321332; ritonavir). The agreement will enable MPP to facilitate additional production and distribution of the investigational antiviral, pending regulatory authorization or approval, by granting sub-licenses to qualified generic medicine manufacturers, with the goal of facilitating greater access to the global population.

Under the terms of the head license agreement between Pfizer and MPP, qualified generic medicine manufacturers worldwide that are granted sub-licenses will be able to supply PF-07321332 in combination with ritonavir to 95 countries, covering up to approximately 53% of the world’s population. This includes all low- and lower-middle-income countries and some upper-middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as countries that have transitioned from lower-middle to upper-middle-income status in the past five years. Pfizer will not receive royalties on sales in low-income countries and will further waive royalties on sales in all countries covered by the agreement while COVID-19 remains classified as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization.

“Pfizer remains committed to bringing forth scientific breakthroughs to help end this pandemic for all people. We believe oral antiviral treatments can play a vital role in reducing the severity of COVID-19 infections, decreasing the strain on our healthcare systems and saving lives,” said Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer. “We must work to ensure that all people – regardless of where they live or their circumstances – have access to these breakthroughs, and we are pleased to be able to work with MPP to further our commitment to equity.”

“This license is so important because, if authorized or approved, this oral drug is particularly well-suited for low- and middle-income countries and could play a critical role in saving lives, contributing to global efforts to fight the current pandemic,” said Charles Gore, Executive Director of MPP. “PF-07321332 is to be taken together with ritonavir, an HIV medicine we know well, as we have had a license on it for many years, and we will be working with generic companies to ensure there is enough supply for both COVID-19 and HIV.”

“Unitaid, a global health agency, created MPP ten years ago for this exact purpose – to secure licenses that enable and accelerate access to affordable quality treatments for people in resource-limited settings,” said Dr Philippe Duneton, Executive Director, Unitaid. “During a pandemic, saving time means saving lives. This agreement could help us to reach more people more quickly as soon as the medicine is approved and, when coupled with increased access to testing, bring benefits to millions.”