28Oct 2022 by Melissa Slogan
PRESIDENT BIDEN GOT HIS BIVALENT COVID-19 BOOSTER. WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD?

PRESIDENT BIDEN GOT HIS BIVALENT COVID-19 BOOSTER. WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD?

News
The Launch and Scale Speedometer blog series. October 28, 2022 By Katharine Olson and Wenhui Mao Vaccines have played a large role in the global COVID-19 response and saved numerous lives. However, when highly transmissible variants such as Omicron (BA.1) appeared and quickly dominated the reported cases, the effectiveness of vaccinations was noticeably waning. The first U.S. case of BA.1 was reported December 1st, 2021, and by January 8th, 2022 it comprised 95% of new cases. In the last week of January 2022, confirmed new cases worldwide hit 23 million which is in stark contrast to previous highs of 5 million new cases a week. At the start of the BA.1 wave in late 2021, the primary vaccination series was only 44% effective at preventing infection and hospitalization. This prompted the push globally to administer booster…
Read More
27Oct 2022 by Melissa Slogan
ACT-A Assessments Point the Way to More Effective Pandemic Response

ACT-A Assessments Point the Way to More Effective Pandemic Response

News
The Global Accountability Platform (COVID GAP) blog series. October 27, 2022 By Nellie Bristol While global health experts have long urged heightened attention and funding toward pandemic preparedness, COVID-19 showed the world remained woefully ill equipped. Lacking an established system to ensure medical countermeasures reached everyone everywhere, urgent ad hoc efforts were undertaken, leading to the establishment of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A). Led by the World Health Organization, Gavi, Wellcome Trust, the Gates Foundation, and other UN and global health organizations, ACT-A has raised $23.7 billion and aided distribution of more than 1.7 billion vaccine doses. Nonetheless, it has struggled to meet expectations centered around the ambitious goals of globally equitable distribution of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, as well as enhancing health systems in low resources settings. According to an independent assessment, ensuring…
Read More
13Oct 2022 by Melissa Slogan
Africa CDC Models Data to Aid Oral Antiviral Roll Out Decisions in Africa

Africa CDC Models Data to Aid Oral Antiviral Roll Out Decisions in Africa

News
The Global Accountability Platform (COVID GAP) blog series. October 13, 2022 By Nellie Bristol The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Health Economics Programme (HEP) is fast tracking research on the cost effectiveness of oral therapeutics to ensure data are available for decision makers as more of the drugs become available across the continent, HEP Acting Head Justice Nonvignon said in an October 7 interview with COVID GAP. While purchases of oral therapeutics remain low or nonexistent in low- and middle-income countries, including those in Africa, several efforts are under way to increase availability. Among those are a memorandum of understanding between Africa CDC and Pfizer to make Paxlovid available on the continent at cost and test-and-treat programs, including the Duke-associated COVID Treatment Quick Start Consortium and a USAID supported…
Read More