Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Spanish Court Requires Incapacitated Woman to Get Vaccination
AP: Spain: Judge Orders Incapacitated Woman To Get Virus Vaccine
A judge in northwest Spain has overruled a family’s objections and decided to allow health authorities to administer a coronavirus vaccine to an incapacitated woman in a nursing home. The case appears to be the first known instance of a court in Europe requiring someone to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The Spanish government repeatedly has stressed that shots would be voluntary, as have authorities in other European countries. (Wilson and Cheng, 1/13)
Los Angeles Times: India Uses 2 COVID Vaccines Despite Doubts Over One Of Them
As India launches an ambitious effort to vaccinate 300 million people against the coronavirus within six months, it is employing two vaccines — both manufactured domestically but approved under very different circumstances. One is CoviShield, the vaccine developed by Britain’s AstraZeneca and Oxford University, which clinical trials show is about 70% effective in preventing COVID-19 and is being manufactured in India by the Serum Institute, the country’s largest drugmaker. The other is Covaxin, developed by an Indian company in conjunction with the government but whose performance in late-stage clinical trials has yet to be published. Health authorities nevertheless approved the vaccine for “restricted emergency use.” (Bengali and Parth, 1/14)
In updates from China —
The Washington Post: China Bars Two Members Of WHO Coronavirus Mission As Depleted Team Reaches Wuhan
A World Health Organization mission to discover the origins of the coronavirus got off to an inauspicious start on Thursday when two members of the team were barred from entering China after failing health checks. The group of scientists arrived in Wuhan on Thursday to begin the long-awaited investigation, according to the WHO, but two researchers were blocked from continuing on to Wuhan. The two researchers had tested positive for covid-19 antibodies in their home countries before leaving. All members of the team, tested before leaving and once again in Singapore, tested negative for the virus. (Kuo, 1/14)
The Wall Street Journal: Chinese Covid-19 Tests Were Pushed By Federal Agencies Despite Security Warnings
At least two federal agencies worked to distribute Covid-19 tests from a Chinese genetics company, despite warnings about security risks from U.S. intelligence and security officials, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal. In the early days of the virus, BGI Group or people trying to distribute its products approached at least 11 states in a sometimes aggressive push to get the products into government-run laboratories or set up entire labs, according to people who received the approaches and documents. BGI, China’s leading genetics company, enlisted a foundation tied to a former U.S. president and used a company linked to the United Arab Emirates’ top spy to promote its efforts. (Strobel, Scheck and Hope, 1/13)
Los Angeles Times: Emptied Villages. Locked Campuses. How China Battles A COVID-19 Resurgence
More than 500 new cases have been found since Jan. 2 in Hebei, the industrial province surrounding Beijing, sparking a “wartime mode” response from Chinese authorities fearful of the virus spreading before the upcoming Spring Festival, when hundreds of millions of Chinese crisscross the country to go home each year. The jump in infections comes as a World Health Organization mission investigating the origins of the pandemic is expected to arrive Thursday. An embarrassing glitch occurred last week when Beijing announced on the day several members of the team had already begun their journeys to China that their visas were not approved, prompting a delay — and frustration from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (Su, 1/13)
