KFF Provides Resources On Global, Domestic Aspects Of Pandemic December 8, 2020 News Summary KFF: COVID-19 Coronavirus Tracker — Updated as of December 8, 2020 Data on country government actions in response to COVID-19 are included in the tracker (12/8). A KFF-curated recap of pandemic-related news from last week is available here. Additional KFF COVID-19 resources on the global situation, as well as those focused…
2021 Could Be Humanitarian ‘Catastrophe,’ U.N. Officials Warn December 7, 2020 News Summary Reuters: U.N. warns 2021 shaping up to be a humanitarian catastrophe “Next year is shaping up to be a humanitarian catastrophe and rich countries must not trample poor countries in a ‘stampede for vaccines’ to combat the coronavirus pandemic, top U.N. officials told the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Friday.…
Experts Hope Coronavirus R&D Response Can Spur More Malaria Vaccine Research; Oxford To Start Final Stage Of Human Malaria Vaccine Trials December 7, 2020 News Summary Devex: Just over $600M a year goes to malaria R&D. Can COVID-19 change that? “The accelerated phase of vaccine development for the novel coronavirus has experts hopeful that it could have knock-on effects for other diseases, such as malaria. On average, malaria research and development have seen just over $600…
Conflict In Ethiopia’s Tigray Region Impacting Country’s Coronavirus Efforts; U.N. Preparing To Access Region With Humanitarian Aid December 7, 2020 News Summary AP: Ethiopia’s conflict stokes humanitarian and virus crisis “Ethiopia’s month-long war in its northern Tigray region has severely hampered efforts to fight one of Africa’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, as the fighting has displaced almost 1 million people and strained local humanitarian services to the breaking point. Tens of thousands of…
U.N. Officials, Scientists Express Optimism Over Coronavirus Vaccines, Call For More Preparedness, Solidarity At U.N. General Assembly Session December 7, 2020 News Summary U.N. News: Scientists optimistic about COVID-19 vaccines for all “Scientists developing COVID-19 vaccines are optimistic that by the end of next year, all people everywhere will have access to safe and effective treatments against a disease which has disrupted the entire planet. Principals from BioNTech and Oxford University — both…
More COVID-19 & Global Health News December 7, 2020 News Summary AP: Hundreds ill, 1 dead due to unidentified disease in India (12/7). Financial Times: What HIV taught Matshidiso Moeti about Covid-19 (Gross, 12/5). Health Policy Watch: Economic Benefits Of ACT Accelerator Outweigh Costs, Says Eurasia Group (Santos, 12/4). New York Times: Why Melinda Gates Spends Time ‘Letting My Heart Break’…
Opinion Piece Discusses COVID-19 Vaccine Accessibility, Argues For Suspension Of Intellectual Property Rights December 7, 2020 News Summary New York Times: Want Vaccines Fast? Suspend Intellectual Property Rights Achal Prabhala, coordinator of the AccessIBSA project and fellow of the Shuttleworth Foundation; Arjun Jayadev, professor of economics at Azim Premji University and senior economist at the Institute for New Economic Thinking; and Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center…
U.K., Russia Begin Coronavirus Vaccination Efforts With Different Vaccines December 7, 2020 News Summary AP: U.K. gears up for huge vaccination plan watched by the world “Shipments of the coronavirus vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech were delivered Sunday in the U.K. in super-cold containers, two days before it goes public in an immunization program that is being closely watched around…
China Prepares Domestic, International Distribution Of Coronavirus Vaccines; Media Outlets Examine Funding Issues December 7, 2020 News Summary AP: China prepares large-scale rollout of coronavirus vaccines “Provincial governments across China are placing orders for experimental, domestically made coronavirus vaccines, though health officials have yet to say how well they work or how they may reach the country’s 1.4 billion people. Developers are speeding up final testing, the Chinese…
Chinese Authorities Push False Stories On Coronavirus Origins, NYT Reports December 7, 2020 News Summary New York Times: China Peddles Falsehoods to Obscure Origin of Covid Pandemic “…Facing global anger over their initial mishandling of the outbreak, the Chinese authorities are now trying to rewrite the narrative of the pandemic by pushing theories that the virus originated outside China. In recent days, Chinese officials have…