31Jan 2022 by Melissa Slogan
Testing: A Neglected, Critical Component of the COVID-19 Response

Testing: A Neglected, Critical Component of the COVID-19 Response

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The Global Accountability Platform (COVID GAP) blog series. January 31, 2022 By Valerie J. Parker and Beth Boyer   Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, accurate and timely testing has been critical for diagnosis, disease surveillance, and containment strategies. Diagnostic capacity, however, has been a challenge for countries at all income levels, and has been further stressed by surges driven by new variants. Now, with promising oral therapeutics entering the market, diagnostics are even more crucial as they are integral to the roll-out and effective use of the new antivirals. Not all tests are created equal There are two different types of diagnostic tests that are most commonly used, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. PCR tests are the gold standard in testing. They have higher sensitivity and can often detect infection prior…
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28Jan 2022 by Melissa Slogan
The US Has Donated 400 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Globally, As 10 Billion Doses Are Administered Worldwide – Doing More But Not Enough

The US Has Donated 400 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Globally, As 10 Billion Doses Are Administered Worldwide – Doing More But Not Enough

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The Launch and Scale Speedometer blog series. January 28, 2022 By Stephanie Stan On January 26, 2022, the White House announced that the United States has shipped over 400 million COVID-19 vaccine doses. This milestone has established America as the global leader in COVID vaccine donations, shipping more donated doses than any other country. This achievement comes as the world hits its own milestone: administering 10 billion doses globally as of January 28, 2022. But as we’ve seen throughout the pandemic response, doing more is not the same as doing enough.  While the US is out front in its commitments and actions, no country, and no multilateral organization, is doing enough to end the pandemic. Global vaccine inequity, exacerbated by a lack of timely actual donations rather than pledges, places strains on the limited supply of COVID vaccines in low-…
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14Jan 2022 by Melissa Slogan
2021 COVID-19 Vaccines Wrap Up: The Good, the Bad, and Omicron

2021 COVID-19 Vaccines Wrap Up: The Good, the Bad, and Omicron

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The Global Accountability Platform (COVID GAP) blog series. January 14, 2022 By Beth Boyer and Andrea Taylor Another year of the pandemic has come and gone. 2021 kicked off with a glimmer of hope as the first few COVID-19 vaccines reached the market. However, the tremendous undertaking of vaccinating the world got off to a rocky start and much of the world remained unvaccinated throughout the year. More than 9 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered worldwide, with 50% of the world’s population considered fully vaccinated by the end of 2021. But global vaccination coverage was uneven and inequitable. As the virus circulated through largely unvaccinated areas, new and more dangerous variants emerged. These variants, including delta and omicron, led to surges in cases. At the end of 2021, the…
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11Jan 2022 by Melissa Slogan
A Qualitative Analysis of the Introduction & Uptake Pathways, Enablers, & Barriers of Health Interventions In India & Ethiopia

A Qualitative Analysis of the Introduction & Uptake Pathways, Enablers, & Barriers of Health Interventions In India & Ethiopia

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The Launch and Scale Speedometer blog series. January 11, 2022 Every day, women and children around the world die from conditions and diseases for which proven and effective health interventions exist, but are inaccessible or reach them too slowly. Lifesaving interventions addressing the MNCH continuum are imperative at all levels of the health system. Barriers in the pathways to the introduction and scaling of these interventions are part and parcel to the failure to get them to the end-user. Conversely, mechanisms that support the uptake of interventions should be encouraged and explored further to foster their use and speed their delivery to the end user. The latest research by the Launch and Scale Speedometer team, A Qualitative Analysis of the Introduction and Uptake Pathways, Enablers, and Barriers of Health Interventions in India and…
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