Saturday, December 6

Tag: coronavirus

Despite Trillions In Coronavirus Aid Americans Still Need A Lifeline
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BUSINESS

Despite Trillions In Coronavirus Aid Americans Still Need A Lifeline

As Congress prepares another injection of COVID-19 aid for businesses and individuals, there’s been debate about whether it’s necessary on top of the US$3.5 trillion spent so far. President Joe Biden had initially hoped to get bipartisan support for his $1.9 trillion proposal, but the only counteroffer from Republicans was a $600 billion bill, with many in the GOP suggesting more money wasn’t needed. And some economists have expressed concern that giving Americans too much right now could overheat the economy. We are public opinion scholars at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In cooperation with our partners at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and National Public Radio, we conducted a survey in July and August of last year to try to understand how the first round of aid h...
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What Our ‘World After Coronavirus’ Might Look Like – I Spoke To 99 Big Thinkers – This Is What I Learned
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IMPACT, IN OTHER NEWS, VIDEO REELS

What Our ‘World After Coronavirus’ Might Look Like – I Spoke To 99 Big Thinkers – This Is What I Learned

Back in March, my colleagues at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future at Boston University thought that it might be useful to begin thinking about “the day after coronavirus. Adil Najam, international relations professor at Boston University, interviewed 99 experts about what the post-pandemic future will bring. Pardee Center/Boston University, CC BY-SA For a research center dedicated to longer-term thinking, it made sense to ask what our post-COVID-19 world might look like. In the months that followed, I learned many things. Most importantly, I learned there is no “going back to normal.” My season of learning The project took on a life of its own. Over 190 days, we released 103 videos. Each was around five minutes long, with one simple question: How mig...
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China Beat The Coronavirus, Not Just With Authoritarianism But With Science And Strong Public Health Measures
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HEALTH & WELLNESS, VIDEO REELS

China Beat The Coronavirus, Not Just With Authoritarianism But With Science And Strong Public Health Measures

I live in a democracy. But as Thanksgiving approaches, I find myself longing for the type of freedom I am seeing in China. One of the Wuhan train stations in fall 2020. The city reopened in April 2020 after a total shutdown. Liu Yan, CC BY-SA People in China are able to move around freely right now. Many Americans may believe that the Chinese are able to enjoy this freedom because of China’s authoritarian regime. As a scholar of public health in China, I think the answers go beyond that. My research suggests that the control of the virus in China is not the result of authoritarian policy, but of a national prioritization of health. China learned a tough lesson with SARS, the first coronavirus pandemic of the 21st century. How China flattened its curve Barely less than a year ago, a nove...
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Buying Storing And Shipping A Coronavirus Vaccine Giving It Safely To Everyone On Earth, Will Be Hard And Expensive
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LIFESTYLE

Buying Storing And Shipping A Coronavirus Vaccine Giving It Safely To Everyone On Earth, Will Be Hard And Expensive

Infectious diseases do not respect borders. An estimated 3 billion people in low-income countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America are likely to lack access to a COVID-19 vaccine for years after it becomes available. In poor nations, many communities lack the health care workers needed to administer vaccines, as well as the capacity to handle vaccines properly by keeping them extremely cold. As a bioethicist studying global access to essential medicines, I’m closely monitoring what wealthy countries, foundations and international organizations are doing about this problem. COVAX The COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX, is a joint effort by 184 countries working with international organizations to make it possible for people everywhere to get affordable access to COVID...
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Likely Key To Ending Pandemic Will Be Hard, Keeping Coronavirus Vaccines At Subzero Temperatures During Distribution
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Likely Key To Ending Pandemic Will Be Hard, Keeping Coronavirus Vaccines At Subzero Temperatures During Distribution

Just like a fresh piece of fish, vaccines are highly perishable products and must be kept at very cold, specific temperatures. The majority of COVID-19 vaccines under development – like the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines – are new RNA-based vaccines. If they get too warm or too cold they spoil. And, just like fish, a spoiled vaccine must be thrown away. So how do companies and public health agencies get vaccines to the people who need them? The answer is something called the vaccine cold chain – a supply chain that can keep vaccines in tightly controlled temperatures from the moment they are made to the moment that they are administered to a person. Ultimately, hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. and billions globally are going to need a coronavirus vaccine – and potentially two dos...
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An Epidemiologist Explains Her Personal Plans To Host A Safe Holiday Meal During Coronavirus
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IN OTHER NEWS

An Epidemiologist Explains Her Personal Plans To Host A Safe Holiday Meal During Coronavirus

Like many people in this unusual year, I am adjusting my family’s holiday plans so that we can all be safe during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. I am an epidemiologist and mother of four with a large extended family. Given the serious nationwide resurgence of COVID-19 infections, gatherings of family and friends over the upcoming holidays have the potential to amplify the spread of the virus. Several recent studies have further confirmed that indoor socializing at home carries a significantly higher risk of viral transmission than outdoor activities. Health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have warned that much of transmission this fall is happening across all age groups at small indoor gatherings. For the p...
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Despite The Coronavirus Job Losses Immigrants Are Still Sending Lots Of Money Home – For Now
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BUSINESS, IN OTHER NEWS

Despite The Coronavirus Job Losses Immigrants Are Still Sending Lots Of Money Home – For Now

Banks and aid agencies have been warning of a pandemic-related plunge in the amount of money sent by migrants to family back home who rely on the income. In a typical year, more than 270 million migrants living and working abroad send these cash transfers, known as remittances, to their home countries. Yet so far, despite the lockdowns that have devastated wealthier economies and caused massive unemployment, remittances have generally held up this year. In some cases they’ve even been higher than usual, based on our review of the latest available data and press releases for top remittance recipient countries. Remittances to Mexico, for example, surged 9.4% in the first eight months of the year. Pakistan is also experiencing a record increase, while cash transfers to such countries as Viet...
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Keeping coronavirus vaccines at subzero temperatures during distribution will be hard, but likely key to ending pandemic
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

Keeping coronavirus vaccines at subzero temperatures during distribution will be hard, but likely key to ending pandemic

Just like a fresh piece of fish, vaccines are highly perishable products and must be kept at very cold, specific temperatures. The majority of COVID-19 vaccines under development – like the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines – are new RNA-based vaccines. If they get too warm or too cold they spoil. And, just like fish, a spoiled vaccine must be thrown away. So how do companies and public health agencies get vaccines to the people who need them? The answer is something called the vaccine cold chain – a supply chain that can keep vaccines in tightly controlled temperatures from the moment they are made to the moment that they are administered to a person. Ultimately, hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. and billions globally are going to need a coronavirus vaccine – and potentially two dos...
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Business liability shield is holding up another coronavirus bailout – a legal scholar explains why immunity is unnecessary and even harmful
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BUSINESS

Business liability shield is holding up another coronavirus bailout – a legal scholar explains why immunity is unnecessary and even harmful

Senate Republicans’ push to grant companies sweeping immunity from civil liability for failure to adequately protect workers and customers from infection has been one of the key sticking points in negotiations over another coronavirus relief bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has warned of an “avalanche” of lawsuits that will stymie economic recovery efforts if Congress does not act quickly. McConnell said he won’t let another bailout pass the Senate unless it also shields companies from coronavirus-related liability. The Senate is expected to debate their latest measure as it returns from recess on Sept. 8. My research on the role of civil lawsuits in reducing foodborne illness outbreaks suggests that fears of excessive litigation are unwarranted. What’s more, the modest liabi...
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A man was reinfected with coronavirus after recovery – what does this mean for immunity?
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HEALTH & WELLNESS

A man was reinfected with coronavirus after recovery – what does this mean for immunity?

A 33-year old man was found to have a second SARS-CoV-2 infection some four-and-a-half months after he was diagnosed with his first, from which he recovered. The man, who showed no symptoms, was diagnosed when he returned to Hong Kong after a trip to Spain. I am a virologist with expertise in coronaviruses and enteroviruses, and I’ve been curious about reinfections since the beginning of the pandemic. Because people infected with SARS-CoV-2 can often test positive for the virus for weeks to months, likely due to the sensitivity of the test and leftover RNA fragments, the only way to really answer the question of reinfection is by sequencing the viral genome at the time of each infection and looking for differences in the genetic code. There is no published peer-review report on this man ...
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