Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Coronavirus Most Likely Didn't Leak From Chinese Lab, Investigators Say
AP: WHO Team: Coronavirus Unlikely To Have Leaked From China Lab
The coronavirus is unlikely to have leaked from a Chinese lab and is more likely to have jumped to humans from an animal, a World Health Organization team has concluded, an expert said Tuesday as the group wrapped up a visit to explore the origins of the virus. The Wuhan Institute of Virology in central China has collected extensive virus samples, leading to allegations that it may have caused the original outbreak by leaking the virus into the surrounding community. China has strongly rejected that possibility and has promoted other theories for the virus’s origins. The WHO team that visited Wuhan, where the first cases of COVID-19 were discovered in December 2019, is considering several theories for how the disease first ended up in humans, leading to a pandemic that has now killed more than 2.3 million people worldwide. (Fujiyama, 2/9)
The Hill: China's CanSino Single Shot Vaccine Shows 65.7 Percent Efficacy
A COVID-19 vaccine produced by CanSino Biologics Inc., a Chinese biotech company, is 65.7 percent effective at preventing symptomatic coronavirus cases, according to a multi-nation study. Faisal Sultan, a special assistant to Pakistan's prime minister, posted about the results of the study on Twitter Monday, adding that the vaccine had been found to be 90.98 percent effective at preventing "severe" cases of the disease. (Bowden, 2/8)
In other global developments —
BBC News: Covid-19: NHS App Has Told 1.7 Million To Self-Isolate
The NHS Covid-19 app has told 1.7 million people in England and Wales to self-isolate to date. Health ministers have also revealed they believe it has prevented about 600,000 cases of the disease. In a further disclosure, internal data indicates that about 16.5 million people are currently actively using its contact-tracing tool. (Kelion, 2/9)
AP: Iran Starts Limited COVID Vaccinations With Russian Shots
Iran on Tuesday launched a coronavirus inoculation campaign among healthcare professionals with recently delivered Russian Sputnik V vaccines as the country struggles to stem the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East with its death toll nearing 59,000. At a ceremony marking the start of the campaign, Parsa Namaki, son of Health Minister Saeed Namaki, received his first dose. The minister said the vaccination would be simultaneously carried out in more than 600 medical centers across the country. (2/9)
The Washington Post: Pope Francis Says The World Is ‘Seriously Ill’ From The Consequences Of The Pandemic
Pope Francis on Monday offered a grim assessment of humanity's response to the pandemic in a lengthy speech that highlighted aspects big and small from a year of isolation and "despair." He talked about domestic violence in homes under pandemic lockdown. He emphasized the job losses predominantly among off-the-books workers, with no safety net on which to rely. He described a generation of children, alone and in front of their computers, enduring the “educational catastrophe” of school shutdowns or distance learning. The world, Francis said, “is seriously ill.” (Harlan, 2/8)
