Pandemic Watch News Brief: The news you need to know

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AVAC's weekly Pandemic Watch is a curated news digest on the latest pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPPR) news and resources.
"A comprehensive pandemic treaty should offer concrete measures that chip away at the capitalist and colonial power at the centre of global health. It should include legal obligations on governments or pharma companies to prevent corporate profiteering and vaccine apartheid, and redirect resources to protecting the right to health and saving lives."
-- Health rights advocate A. Kayum Ahmed in Open Democracy ([link removed])


** Table of Contents
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* If You Are in a Hurry (#If You Are in a Hurry)
* Race, Class and COVID-19 (#Race, Class and COVID-19)
* Preventing Pandemics (#Preventing Pandemics)
* The Big Catch-Up with Children’s Vaccines (#The Big Catch-Up with Children’s Vaccines)
* Censoring COVID-19 Science (#Censoring COVID-19 Science)
* African Vaccine Manufacturing (#African Vaccine Manufacturing)
* EU Plans to Take Control of Production of Medicines in Crisis (#EU Plans to Take Control of Production of Medicines in Crisis)
* Documenting US Failures in the COVID-19 Response (#Documenting US Failures in the COVID-19 Response)
* Fauci on What Went Wrong (#Fauci on What Went Wrong)
* What’s In a Name? (#What’s In a Name?)
* XB.116, aka Arcturus, Named Variant of Interest (#XB.116, aka Arcturus, Named Variant of Interest)
* Tanzania Move from COVID-19 Denial (#Tanzania Move from COVID-19 Denial)
* Small Stockpile of Vaccines Can Have Big Impact (#Small Stockpile of Vaccines Can Have Big Impact)
* Some Very Good Dogs Sniff Out COVID-19 (#Some Very Good Dogs Sniff Out COVID-19)

As we continue to live through the aftermath of one global pandemic, many are looking forward to ways to stop the next, inevitable pandemic from having the same crushing impact on life and health across the globe. One of the key components of planning ahead is the pandemic prevention, preparedness and response accord ([link removed]) now being negotiated. Global health policy experts Roojin Habibi and Clare Wenham write in The Globe and Mail ([link removed]) (Canada), “New and emerging pathogens pose a common danger to the world. Poorer countries with weaker health systems are less capable of detecting these pathogens or mitigating their spread. These same countries, which often do not have robust health systems, are also more vulnerable to the impact of an epidemic or pandemic, as was evident
during COVID-19. Their disproportionate outbreak vulnerability is, moreover, a product of historical trajectories, such as colonialism, and global neo-liberal policies, such as structural adjustment programs (used, for example, by the International Monetary Fund as requirements for loans to developing countries) which eroded long-term investments in health systems. It seems only fair, then, that the countries that carved out these legacies should bear greater responsibility for their outcomes.”

Health rights advocate A. Kayum Ahmed writes in Open Democracy ([link removed]) (US) that the ongoing negotiations are, “essentially a proxy war between corporate interests aiming to entrench intellectual property protections for profit and the WHO and its Global South allies seeking greater accountability and transparency from wealthy governments that enable pharma profiteering…. A comprehensive pandemic treaty should offer concrete measures that chip away at the capitalist and colonial power at the centre of global health. It should include legal obligations on governments or pharma companies to prevent corporate profiteering and vaccine apartheid, and redirect resources to protecting the right to health and saving lives.”



** If You Are in a Hurry
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* Read a New York Times ([link removed]) investigation on Chinese government censorship of COVID-19 science and scientists.
* Read Time ([link removed]) on a citizen science initiative to give nicknames to prominent COVID-19 subvariants.
* Read CIDRAP ([link removed]) on a successful initiative to use trained dogs to sniff out COVID in schools in California.
* Read W. Ian Lipkin in The New York Times ([link removed]) on stopping the next pandemic.
* Read Seth Berkely in STAT ([link removed]) on the need to stockpile vaccines to respond quickly to outbreaks.
* Read an interview with Dr. Fauci in The New York Times Magazine ([link removed]) on what went wrong in the US response to COVID-19 and what went well.
* Read The Conversation ([link removed]) on how postcolonial social inequalities played out in Twitter conversations about the pandemic in Kenya and South Africa.
* Read The Nation ([link removed]) on the need to focus on the social inequities that made the pandemic worse in the US.




** Race, Class and COVID-19
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South African researchers Job Mwaura and Ufuoma Akpojivi write in The Conversation ([link removed]) (Australia) about the conversation on social media in the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic: “During the first weeks of COVID-19 cases reported in Kenya and South Africa, there were hundreds of thousands of tweets posted by distressed citizens. Our study of these tweets was undertaken in order to see what kind of conversations were happening – and if they reinforced postcolonial social inequalities in the countries…. Our study revealed several issues raised. These were divided into four themes: racialised politics, classism, privilege and panic buying, and ethnicity and ‘othering’ (or prejudice against certain groups). These themes…. Echoed issues of discrimination that have characterised postcolonial states. The authors argue, “In building a post-COVID society, government policies must
systematically address these postcolonial issues and legacies of power and racial and ethnic identity in order to shape a society that is responsive to the needs of all its citizens.” Read the study ([link removed]) .

Martha Lincoln and Anne N. Sosin write in The Nation ([link removed]) (US) that “our preparation for future pandemics remains largely focused on the spark—infectious pathogens—and not on the combustible social conditions that have made COVID-19 so devastating in the United States…. Our preparations for the next pandemic should begin in the places and communities that COVID-19 hit hardest and first. Upgrades to the infrastructure of our nursing homes, factory floors, and crowded public spaces must be a first order of business. A safety net that includes paid leave should be part and parcel of our public health infrastructure, so frontline workers don’t have to choose between community health and making ends meet. Meaningful plans for protecting the highest-risk members of our society in public and private spaces should be our top priority.”

A press release form KFF ([link removed]) (US) reports, “During the COVID-19 pandemic, people of color on average died at younger ages than White adults, resulting in substantial racial disparities in premature death and years of life lost, a new analysis ([link removed]) finds…. Collectively, the analysis estimates that people in the United States lost 14.8 million years of life due to
excess deaths from March 2020 when the pandemic began through December 2022, with a disproportionately large share of those lost years affecting people of color. A separate analysis ([link removed]) compares the rates of premature deaths in the United States with other large and wealthy peer countries through 2021 (the most recent year for which international data are available). The US had the highest rate of premature death among the group of 12 nations during the two-year period. The US on average had more than two times the average years
of life lost per 100,000 people as the United Kingdom, the country with the next highest rate.”



** Preventing Pandemics
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Columbia University researcher W. Ian Lipkin writes in The New York Times ([link removed]) (US) that understanding a pandemic origins may be difficult but preventing one shouldn’t be. He argues, “We must not get stuck endlessly rehashing the origins of COVID-19 without action; we must move to implement necessary programs and policies to stop the wildlife trade‌‌, as well as international regulations and oversight over research that may carry risks, and build a truly global surveillance system with data sharing between scientists and public health officials to stop the next pandemic in its tracks.”



** The Big Catch-Up with Children’s Vaccines
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The COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation strategies like lockdowns devastated childhood vaccine iniatives in many communities around the world and Africa was hard hit. This week WHO released a new analysis that found 33 million children in Africa need to be vaccinated in the next two years. In a press release ([link removed]) WHO notes, “The unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on routine immunization services has driven up the number of zero-dose and under-immunized children, rising by 16 percent between 2019 and 2021 and pushing the cumulative total [in Africa] (2019–2021) to around 33 million, which represents nearly half the global figure, according to estimates by WHO and UNICEF.”

AP (US) reports on a UNICEF report on missed vaccinations: “UNICEF said the ‘intense demands on health systems, the diversions of immunization resources to COVID-19 vaccination, health worker shortages and stay-at-home measures’ all contributed to missed vaccinations across the world. So did conflicts, climate change and vaccine hesitancy. But in Africa, the pandemic exposed and exacerbated the ‘lack of resilience and persistent weaknesses in health systems and primary health care,’ UNICEF said.” Read the UNICEF report ([link removed]) .

Reuters ([link removed]) (UK) reports, “People all over the world lost confidence in the importance of routine childhood vaccines against killer diseases like measles and polio during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from UNICEF. In 52 of the 55 countries surveyed, the public perception of vaccines for children declined between 2019 and 2021, the UN agency said.



** Censoring COVID-19 Science
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New York Times ([link removed]) (US) reports, “That the Chinese government muzzled scientists, hindered international investigations and censored online discussion of the pandemic is well documented. But Beijing’s stranglehold on information goes far deeper than even many pandemic researchers are aware of. Its censorship campaign has targeted international journals and scientific databases, shaking the foundations of shared scientific knowledge…. The crackdown continues to breed misinformation today and has hindered efforts to determine the origins of the virus.

Politico ([link removed]) (US) reports, “Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo personally altered a state-driven study about COVID-19 vaccines last year to suggest that some doses pose a significantly higher health risk for young men than had been established by the broader medical community, according to a newly obtained document. Ladapo’s changes, released as part of a public records request, presented the risks of cardiac death to be more severe than previous versions of the study. He later used the final document in October to bolster disputed claims that Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were dangerous to young men.”



** African Vaccine Manufacturing
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Stephanie Nolen reports in The New York Times ([link removed]) (US), “The African Union has set a goal of having 60 percent of all vaccines used on the continent produced in African nations by 2040 — up from 1 percent now — an plan that looks wildly ambitious given the current production landscape. The big issue, as always, is money. The many-step process of making vaccines needs high biosecurity and intense quality control. The expense of putting it all in place means that vaccines made in Africa are going to cost significantly more than those from the Indian pharmaceutical industry, which is the major supplier of routine vaccines used in Africa. Some think GAVI can help overcome this market failure and “provide that cushion, these are the projects that experts say are most likely to help the continent reach the goal of producing a majority of vaccines for Africans in Africa. Most will need at least three years before they have
even a bottling-and-packaging line running.”

Reuters ([link removed]) (UK) reports, “The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday officially launched its mRNA vaccine technology hub in Cape Town, a facility established during the COVID-19 pandemic to help poorer countries struggling to gain access to life-saving medication. The Medicines Patent Pools director Charles Gore is quoted: "It feels like we are really creating something, an ecosystem.... That could revolutionize how we approach not just health security but also industrial development around pharmaceuticals.”

Africa Times ([link removed]) reports, “South African officials say their plans to produce COVID-19 vaccines are just the beginning. Blade Nzimande, the minister for Higher Education and Science, said new treatments and prevention for malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS might develop from the same technologies that evolve from the partnerships with [biotech firm] Afrigen.

Health Policy Watch ([link removed]) (Switzerland) reports, “There are high hopes that the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine recently approved by Ghana and Nigeria will be manufactured in Africa in the not-to-distant future – a brighter-than-usual prospect for this World Malaria Day (25 April).” The vaccine has been approved by Ghana and Nigeria and in both countries, there are plans to eventually manufacture the vaccine locally.


** EU Plans to Take Control of Production of Medicines in Crisis
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FT ([link removed]) (UK) reports that the EU is planning a sweeping reform of regulations around pharmaceuticals. This “compulsory licensing system” would allow the EU to control “manufacture of drugs and vaccines during a public health emergency.” Pharmaceutical companies are, not surprisingly, alarmed by the proposed regulations.



** Documenting US Failures in the COVID-19 Response
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In STAT ([link removed]) (US) Helen Branswell interviews two members of the “COVID Crisis Group” about a forthcoming book documenting the US COVID-19 response. “The group lauds the performance of Operation Warp Speed, the US program that hastened the creation and production of COVID-19 vaccines, and of COVAX, the international effort to procure vaccines for low-income countries. But it questions why Warp Speed-like efforts weren’t conducted to develop COVID-19 drugs, or mass-produce COVID-19 tests and masks.” Carter Mecher is quoted: “I think one of the biggest mistakes early on was the time it took to recognize the threat that we faced, and the amount of time it took for us to get on a war footing. And so we spent January and February, when it was clear that this was moving pretty quickly, and this was a significant event, to really get on a war footing and to get moving.”



** Fauci on What Went Wrong
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In a long interview with Dr. Fauci in The New York Times Magazine ([link removed]) (US), he says, “I mean, only 68 percent of the country is vaccinated. If you rank us among both developed and developing countries, we do really poorly. We’re not even in the top 10. We’re way down there. And then: Why do you have red states that are unvaccinated and blue states that are vaccinated? Why do you have death rates among Republicans that are higher than death rates among Democrats and independents? It should never ever be that way when you’re dealing with a public-health crisis the likes of which we haven’t seen in over a hundred years. That’s part of it. The other part of it has nothing to do with that divisiveness. It has to do with the fracturing of our health care delivery system in this country. We have let the local public-health and health care delivery system really suffer attrition. And the health disparities — racial and
ethnic health disparities. Every country has a little bit of that, but we really have a lot of it.”



** What’s In a Name?
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Time ([link removed]) (US) reports on “a small group of scientists fighting for clearer (and catchier) pandemic nomenclature.” This group is the one who named the Omicron subvariant officially know as XBB.1.5 “Kraken.” While the team had been naming variants on Twitter for a while, the media attention to Kraken and the concerns that naming variants after monsters could spark fear, led to a change in their naming. “So, on Feb. 13, the team debuted an updated system with an extensive user guide ([link removed]) , which utilizes the names of constellations and other celestial objects rather than mythological creatures…. It’s the citizen scientists’ second act, and how it goes could teach science communicators important lessons about what people want as they learn to live alongside COVID-19.” The latest name they have given is Arcturus, formally known as XBB.1.16. WHO has not adopted this naming format.
“Indeed, on Apr. 21, Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist and the agency’s COVID-19 technical lead, tweeted at the end of a thread about XBB.1.16 ([link removed]) , “We are not using nicknames for these subvariants, and I would kindly encourage you not to. Please.” Gregory shared the tweet alongside an image ([link removed]) showing “Arcturus” trending on Twitter.”



** XB.116, aka Arcturus, Named Variant of Interest
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CIDRAP ([link removed]) (US) reports, “The World Health Organization (WHO) this week boosted the XBB.1.16 Omicron subvariant to a variant of interest (VOI) from a variant under monitoring (VUM), based on the latest assessments from its technical advisory group on virus evolution. The subvariant is fueling India's biggest surge in about 7 months, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported ([link removed]) another jump in the proportion of XBB.1.16 viruses…. Its growth advantage and immune escape properties suggest that XBB.1.16 may spread globally and trigger increases and cases, but so far, there is no evidence that it causes more severe disease. The WHO said an initial risk assessment is under way and will be published in the coming days.”



** Tanzania Move from COVID-19 Denial
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The Citizen ([link removed]) (Tanzania) reports, “Until early 2021, Tanzania was a COVID-19 denier, but two years later, the World Health Organisation (WHO) now ranks the country as the best performer in Africa in increasing COVID-19 vaccination coverage…. Tanzania officially started vaccinating its population on July 28, 2021, being behind many African countries that started to roll out vaccination much earlier. This followed the government's dramatic U-turn from rejecting vaccines as a “sinister plot against Tanzania” to embracing vaccination, thanks to President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s initiative. The President led the way by being vaccinated in public in the most decisive signal yet of a break from the policies of her late predecessor, who had repeatedly dismissed the threat of the pandemic.”



** Small Stockpile of Vaccines Can Have Big Impact
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GAVI’s Seth Berkley writes in a opinion piece in STAT ([link removed]) (US) about the need to have investigational vaccines for diseases like Marburg or the Sufan strain of Ebola filled, finished and ready to go when an outbreak starts. “That means that if another outbreak doesn’t occur within the normal expiration timeline, these vialed vaccines will need to be destroyed and new ones created. This is clearly one of the challenges of carrying out vaccine trials for disease that are prone to sporadic outbreaks, but the real reason for not having them available is arguably one of our biggest global health security blind spots: There is simply no perceived market for these kinds of vaccines.” Noting that there are increasing chances of new pandemics, he argues, “The good news is that pandemics are not inevitable. In theory, if you have good disease surveillance and emergency stockpiles of vaccines on hand, contact tracing
and ring vaccination — if the vaccine is efficacious — should make it possible to prevent escalation. The faster the response, the quicker an outbreak can be contained. Vaccinating even just a few dozen people for each case identified could benefit everyone.”



** Some Very Good Dogs Sniff Out COVID-19
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CIDRAP ([link removed]) (US) reports, “Scent-trained dogs detected COVID-19 infection with 83 percent sensitivity and 90 percent specificity in nearly 3,900 screenings at California K-12 schools in spring 2022, according to a research letter ([link removed]) published today in JAMA Pediatrics…. The study authors noted that California's antigen testing program is effective but that it requires personnel, testing supplies, and sample collection and produces medical waste, while dog-based detection takes only seconds and is generally free of medical waste. "Scent-trained dogs are a strategy for rapid, noninvasive, low-cost, and environmentally responsible COVID-19 screening," they wrote.”
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