Sources and updates, January 29
Sources and updates for the week of January 29 include wastewater surveillance in New York State, bivalent boosters vs. XBB.1.5, the potential end of the global health emergency, and more.
Read MoreTag: global public health
China’s not the only country with unreliable COVID-19 data
China is currently facing a massive COVID-19 surge, after ending many of its stringent “zero COVID” policies in December. But it’s not the only country that has problems with data accuracy right now.
Read MoreSources and updates, July 10
Sources and updates for the week of July 10 include Long COVID data from the CDC, air quality guidance, COVID-19 disparities in Louisiana, and more.
Read MoreRussia’s invasion of Ukraine has COVID-19 impacts
When Russian troops began attacking Ukraine, the country was just recovering from its worst COVID-19 surge of the pandemic. To state the terrifying obvious: war makes it much harder to control a pandemic.
Read MoreWe failed to vaccinate the world in 2021; will 2022 be more successful?
In January, COVAX set a goal that many global health advocates considered modest: delivering 2.3 billion vaccine doses to low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2021. is saying it’ll deliver just 800 million vaccine doses by the end of 2021, according to the Washington Post, and only about 600 million had been delivered by early December.
Read MoreFirst COVID-19 antiviral pill gains authorization
This week, an antiviral pill for COVID-19 was authorized in the U.K. The drug, made by American pharmaceutical company Merck, is the first COVID-19 treatment in pill form to gain approval by any regulatory agency.
Read MoreBooster shots exacerbate global vaccine inequity
At the end of last week’s post on booster shots, I wrote that these additional doses take up airtime in expert discussions and in the media, distracting from discussions of what it will take to vaccinate the world. But these shots do more harm than just taking over the media cycle. When the U.S. and other wealthy nations decide to give many residents third doses, they jump the vaccine supply line again—leaving low-income nations to wait even longer for first doses.
Read MoreThe case for a moratorium on booster shots
This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) called for wealthy nations to stop giving out booster shots in a push towards global vaccine equity. These nations should stall any booster shots until at least September, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a press conference on Wednesday.
Read MoreThe Delta variant is taking over the world
The Delta variant is now dominant in the U.S., but our high vaccination rates still put us in a much better position than the rest of the world—which is facing the super-contagious variant largely unprotected.
Read More25 million doses is a drop in the global vaccination bucket
On Thursday, the Biden administration made a big (and long-awaited) announcement: the federal government is sending 25 million vaccine doses from America’s stockpile to other countries.25 million doses—or even the 80 million doses that the administration has promised by the end of this month—is a drop in the bucket compared to actual international needs. For example: COVAX needs 1.8 billion doses to vaccinate about half the adult population in low-income countries. COVAX has specifically prioritized 92 low-income nations, representing a total population of 3.8 billion.
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