Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
US, Wealthy Nations Start Vaccine Inequality Talks With WTO
USA Today: US To Begin Talks On Worldwide Vaccine Distribution
The U.S. top trade negotiator will begin talks Wednesday with the World Trade Organization on ways to overcome intellectual property issues that are keeping critically needed COVID-19 vaccines from being more widely distributed worldwide. President Joe Biden has faced calls from fellow WTO members, activists, and U.S. lawmakers to temporarily waive the restrictions as some states are turning down planned shipments from the federal government given a decrease in demand. 82% of shots have been given in high- and middle-income countries and just 0.3% in low-income countries, according to the World Health Organization. (Aspegren, 5/5)
The Washington Post: Club Of Rich Countries To Address Unequal Global Vaccine Rollout
The foreign ministers of some of the world’s richest and most powerful countries are meeting in London Wednesday where they are expected to address the unequal global rollout of vaccines. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed on Tuesday that “the global roll out of vaccines will be key in defeating the pandemic” and they highlighted the role the Group of Seven nations “to increase international manufacturing capability” for vaccines. (Schemm, 5/5)
In other global developments —
The Wall Street Journal: Europe’s Troubled Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Turns The Corner
A spring surge in Covid-19 cases is beginning to recede in Europe as the continent’s vaccine rollout is finally gathering pace, boosting hopes of a broad reopening of the region’s economy before the summer. Unlike the U.S., the U.K. or Israel, which brought the coronavirus somewhat under control earlier this year thanks in part to an early and rapid vaccine rollout, continental Europe faced a late-winter rebound in infections as governments there struggled to get shots to people. (Benoit, Legorano and Kostov, 5/4)
Bloomberg: U.K. Builds New Labs To Bolster Vaccines Against Covid Variants
The U.K. is setting up a Covid-19 testing center aimed at speeding up the deployment of vaccines tailored to tackle new coronavirus variants. The government will invest 29.3 million pounds ($40.6 million) in “state of the art” laboratories at the Porton Down military research facility to assess the effectiveness of existing and new vaccines against variants of concern, the Health Department said in an emailed statement. The extra funding means scientists will be able to test 3,000 blood samples a week, up from 700 now, in order to measure the level of antibodies to Covid-19 generated by the vaccines. (Ashton, 5/5)
NPR: COVID-19 Death Rates Are Impressively Low In Haiti
Haiti has one of the lowest death rates from COVID-19 in the world. As of the end of April, only 254 deaths were attributed to COVID-19 in Haiti over the course of the entire pandemic. The Caribbean nation, which often struggles with infectious diseases, has a COVID-19 death rate of just 22 per million. In the U.S. the COVID-19 death rate is 1,800 per million, and in parts of Europe. the fatality rate is approaching 3,000 deaths per million. Haiti's success is not due to some innovative intervention against the virus. Most people have given up wearing masks in public. Buses and markets are crowded. And Haiti hasn't yet administered a single COVID-19 vaccine. (Beaubien, 5/4)
AP: Iraq Pushes Vaccine Rollout Amid Widespread Apathy, Distrust
Iraq’s vaccine roll-out had been faltering for weeks. Apathy, fear and rumors kept many from getting vaccinated despite a serious surge in coronavirus infections and calls by the government for people to register for shots. It took a populist Shiite cleric’s public endorsement of vaccinations — and images of him getting the shot last week — to turn things around. Hundreds of followers of Muqtada al-Sadr are now heading to clinics to follow his example, underscoring the power of sectarian loyalties in Iraq and deep mistrust of the state. (Zeyad, 5/5)
Reuters: Canada's Alberta Confirms First Death Linked To AstraZeneca Vaccine
The Canadian province of Alberta reported its first death of a patient from a rare blood clot condition after receiving the AstraZeneca (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine, its chief medical officer said. Canada has reported at least five cases of blood clots following immunization with the vaccine, but public health officials maintain the benefits of the AstraZeneca shot outweigh the potential risks. (5/5)
The Washington Post: What American Travelers Need To Know About Getting A Covid-19 Test In Mexico
Throughout the pandemic, Mexico has been one of the most popular travel destinations for American tourists seeking an international vacation in a mostly-closed world. As vaccine-era travel continues to pick up, airports in Mexico have reported record numbers of visitors this year, rivaling even pre-covid statistics. Traveling to and from Mexico became more complicated last year, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order requiring Americans to get a coronavirus test before returning home from trips abroad. (Compton, 5/4)
Also —
Reuters: Nearly 20 Million More People Hit By Food Crises In 2020
Nearly 20 million more people faced food crises last year amid armed conflict, the COVID-19 pandemic and weather extremes, and the outlook for this year is again grim, according to a report by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC). The humanitarian agency, set up in 2016 by the European Union and United Nations, also warned that acute food insecurity has continued to worsen since 2017, the first year of its annual report into food crises. (Angel, 5/5)
