Which Vaccines and Why: The Evidence and the Deals

In December 2019, SARS-CoV2 announced itself to the world as an entirely brand-new pathogen. We had no data to work with (except experience with other coronaviruses), no immunity in any human population, no therapeutics and of course no vaccines. The global scientific community has made extraordinary progress in learning about this deadly virus and creating tools to combat it. As of 4th February 2021, there are 208 vaccine trials, 79 candidates and 11 vaccines that have been approved by at least one country.1

Operation Vaccination: An Analysis of Global COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Strategies is a weekly post which will explore the policy, logistics, obstacles and controversies involved in procuring and distributing vaccines against COVID-19.

These articles are a means for the WFPHA to keep readers up to date with how the vaccine race is developing across the world.

The theme of this week is “Which Vaccines and Why: The Evidence and the Deals”.

The table in the link below outlines which vaccines have been approved and/or how many doses have been secured by 9 countries (Brazil, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Nigeria, Taiwan, U.K. and U.S.) and COVAX. Every effort has been made to ensure this information is as accurate as possible at the time of writing.

There is also an article about each of the vaccines being rolled out by these nations (Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Covishield & Covaxin). The posts discuss their origins, evidence supporting safety and efficacy, and other key points relating to their potential use as a weapon in the fight against COVID-19.

If you have any feedback or specific questions you would like answered, please feel free to contact us.

Sinovac

Oxford / AstraZeneca

WFPHA Requests Reconsideration of the Plan to Close the Andalusian School of Public Health

Once again, WFPHA wrote a letter to ask for reconsideration regarding the bill proposing the dissolution of the Andalusian School of Public Health (ASPH). The WFPHA initially put forward this request to the Parliament of Andalusia exactly one year ago.

On an international scale, the ASPH has immense prestige, with particular influence in Latin America. As a collaborating centre of the World Health Organization, the ASPH is clearly valued by the broader public health community.

WFPHA believes that this highly distinguished institution must remain autonomous to help promote the health of the Andalusian people and to advance the practice of public health.

Operation Vaccination: An Analysis of Global COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Strategies

The COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest public health crisis of our lifetimes. Mass immunization is the best chance we have of conquering the disease, but it presents a fiercely complex challenge for governments, healthcare systems and populations.

This weekly post will explore the policy, logistics, obstacles and controversies involved in procuring and distributing vaccines against COVID-19. Under investigation are 9 countries across 5 continents (Brazil, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Nigeria, Taiwan, the UK and the US), as well as COVAX, the global vaccine sharing initiative.

These articles are a means for the WFPHA to keep readers up to date with how the COVID-19 vaccine race is developing across the world. Each week will cover a different theme as it applies to each of the countries being covered.

The theme of this week is “How to Immunize a Nation: The Stories so far”. By clicking on the links below, you can read the story of each country.

If you have any feedback or specific questions you would like answered, please feel free to contact us.

Indonesia

Taiwan

COVID-19 Pandemic in the Amazon – An Urgent Need for International Solidarity

Amazon, a region with so much natural wealth, is the homeland of amongst the poorest people in the Americas, including a high proportion of Indigenous Peoples. The poor and neglected population of the Amazon were the first facing the terrible effects of the pandemic in early 2020. This tragedy is now repeating itself in even greater proportions. The mortality rate of 32 deaths per million inhabitants, is higher than all countries in the world.

Prof De Souza, WFPHA Vice President, said “The entire apparatus to keep the health system functioning – professionals, beds, medicines, supplies and oxygen – is collapsing. Currently, the oxygen supply is insufficient and discontinued. Many people are dying in their homes, without medical attention. This accounts for about 20% of deaths. International solidarity is urgently needed!”.

A more serious concern is the push from business groups for an easing of social isolation measures. Actually, it is the opposite that must be enacted. Such measures protect peoples’ health.

The health crisis in Manaus is a humanitarian crisis that is spreading throughout the entire Amazon region and is shared by nine countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela).

The WFPHA urges:

• Governments to reinforce the health care structure of the entire region and ensure solidarity between these countries, through the exchange of information, resources and technologies.
• The United Nations to deploy independent international observers, including its Commission on Human Rights, to the state capital of the state of Amazonas as well as to the surrounding regions.

Public Health Answers: How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Health Literacy?

COVID-19 has led to rapid changes in behavior, reaffirming the need to understand and apply accurate health information. As we spend more time engaging with the world virtually, we are constantly confronted with false information, making health literacy a growing challenge to public health. The World Health Organization defines health literacy as the skill to improve personal and community health, by changing personal lifestyles and living conditions.

In this episode of Public Health Answers, we talk to Prof. Ilona Kickbusch, Founding Director of the Global Health Centre and Chair of the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies Geneva, Switzerland, to know how COVID-19 has affected health literacy.

Click on the link below to watch the video on our YouTube. Let us know what you think and what questions you would like to ask public health experts. Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below the video.

Amazonas Needs Oxygen!

The state of Amazonas, in Brazil, has 4.2 million inhabitants, of which 2.2 million live in its capital, Manaus. In January 2021, it is registered on a daily basis about 5,000 cases and 50 deaths by COVID-19, reaching a mortality rate of 160 deaths/100,000 inhabitants. Amazonas is the land of 120,000 indigenous people, of whom 15,000 were affected and 221 died of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

In the last weeks, the populations of Manaus and other cities in the Amazon have been suffering from the lack of medicinal oxygen in hospitals. Seriously unwell COVID-19 patients are preferring to stay at home rather than go to health services where they will not have proper medical assistance.

This dire situation, unfortunately, is not due to any unpredictable event, but to the ineptitude, disdain and neglect of the federal, state and municipal governments. Even though aware of the scarcity of oxygen in hospitals, they have done nothing to prevent the collapse.

As the humanitarian crisis persists, WFPHA draws the attention of the international community, governments and non-governmental organizations to this crisis.

In this context, an intervention by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, especially in the area of the right to health, seems to be very important. In this sense, WFPHA has sent a letter to Ms Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right to health, asking for collaboration in whatever way is necessary to mitigate people’s suffering and establish the right to health in the Amazon.