Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden Not Planning On Helping Mexico With Vaccines
The Wall Street Journal: Biden Isn’t Considering Sharing Covid-19 Vaccines With Mexico, White House Says
The Biden administration isn’t considering sharing its Covid-19 vaccine supply with Mexico, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said ahead of President Biden’s first bilateral meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “The president has made clear that he is focused on ensuring that vaccines are accessible to every American,” Ms. Psaki said Monday. (Parti and Montes, 3/1)
Dallas Morning News: Why A Lack Of Vaccine Cooperation With Mexico Could Put People On Both Side Of The Border At Risk
A White House aide on Monday acknowledged that the U.S. will need its top trading partners, Canada and Mexico, “to get back on their feet so we can build back better. The president looks forward to how best to address this for North American cooperation, and supply chain resilience.” But before the meeting, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden would not consider an expected request from López Obrador to share its coronavirus vaccine supply with its southern neighbor. The White House has not ruled out future vaccination cooperation between the two nations, but U.S. officials plan to focus on U.S. citizens first. (Corchado and Chavez, 3/1)
In other global developments —
Bloomberg: Pfizer Or AstraZeneca Single Dose Cuts Hospitalizations By 80%
A single shot of either Pfizer Inc. or AstraZeneca Plc’s coronavirus vaccines can cut hospitalizations among older people by around 80%, according to a study, in a further boost for the U.K.’s immunization program. The report from Public Health England, published Monday, also found that one vaccine shot reduces the chance of people aged over-70 becoming ill by some 60%. (Ashton, 3/1)
Reuters: Iraq Receives First Batch Of COVID-19 Vaccines From China
Iraq received its first 50,000 doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine donated by China as the country is struggling to cope with a new surge of the disease. An Iraqi military transport plane carrying the first batch of the vaccines from China landed at Baghdad International Airport late on Monday. (3/2)
AP: Slovakia Signs Deal To Acquire 2 Million Doses Of Sputnik V
Slovakia signed a deal to acquire 2 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, Prime Minister Igor Matovic said Monday. Matovic said his country will get 1 million shots in the next two months while another million will arrive in May and June. (Janicek, 3/1)
Axios: China And Russia Vaccinate The World — For Now
While the U.S. and Europe focus on vaccinating their own populations, China and Russia are sending millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to countries around the world. (Allen-Ebrahimian, 3/2)
AP: Ivory Coast Begins Its Vaccination Campaign With COVAX Doses
Ivory Coast has begun giving shots to inoculate against COVID-19 with vaccines delivered last week by the global COVAX initiative, which was created to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have fair access to doses. The West African country’s mass vaccination campaign started Monday with jabs being given to health workers, teachers, and members of the armed forces at the Treichville Sports Palace in the commercial capital, Abidjan, where 95% of the country’s cases have been recorded, according to the health ministry. (N'Gotta, 3/1)
In other news —
CIDRAP: Study Shows High Rate Of Superbugs Acquired—And Lost—During Travel
A new study by an international team of scientists suggests that exposure to multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria during travel to certain parts of the world may be far greater, and more dynamic, than previously imagined. In the study, published last week in The Lancet Microbe, the scientists collected daily stool samples from 20 European visitors to Laos over a 3-week period in 2015 and analyzed the samples for acquisition of MDR strains. Samples were initially evaluated in Laos, then sent to Switzerland, Finland, and England for further analysis. The participants were also asked to fill out daily reports on what they ate, any gastrointestinal symptoms they were having, and medication use. (Dall, 3/1)
