World Coronavirus Dispatch: Pharma giants not prepared for next pandemic

World cases cross 100 mn, Italian politics and Dutch protests add to Europe's Covid woes, Japan wants domestic trials before vaccine roll-out and other pandemic-related news across the globe

Hong Kong lockdown exposes inequality

One of the most unequal places on the planet with lavish malls on the one side, overcrowded slums on the other, Hong Kong has seen its divide worsening during the first lockdown, brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. The government had locked down some 10,000 residents in the most popular area neighbouring the Jordan district for almost three weeks after infections surged. Officials said the cramped residential areas may have fuelling the outbreak and admitted the pain of residents living in such spaces with poorer ventilations under lockdown. Critics have blamed the government for allowing the conditions for an outbreak to fester and then imposing heavy-handed measures on a group that can least afford to bear them.  Read here

Let's look at the global statistics

Global infections: 100,286,643

Global deaths: 2,157,790

Nations with most cases: US (25,439,575), India (10,689,527), Brazil (8,933,356), Russia (3,716,228), United Kingdom (3,700,268).

Source: John Hopkins Coronavirus Research Center.

World reaches a staggering milestone of more than 100 million cases

Just over a year after the Chinese province Wuhan started reporting cases of mysterious virus, the world has crossed over 100 million confirmed infections and over two million have died. Experts say the official count of 100 million infections is most likely an underestimate and the true number of cases, given the lack of adequate testing and contact tracing in many countries, could be much higher. Despite some of the harshest lockdowns and social distancing measures, the cases had doubled to 50 million in mid-November from 25 million at the end of August. It took less than three months for that number to double again. Read here

Pharmaceutical giants not ready for next pandemic, report warns

Even as they had responded to the coronavirus pandemic at a breakneck speed, including developing vaccines in less than a year since the pandemic began, a pace that was never seen before, global pharma majors are ill-prepared if there is another pandemic, an independent report has warned. It said an outbreak of the Nipah virus in China, with a fatality rate of up to 75 per cent, is potentially the next big pandemic risk. It is one of 10 infectious diseases out of 16 identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the greatest public health risk where there are zero projects in pharmaceutical firms’ pipelines, according to the foundation’s biennial report. Out of the 16 pathogens identified by the WHO as the greatest risk to public health, only six are currently under R&D. Read here

Italian politics and Dutch protests add to Europe's Covid woes

Europe's coronavirus pandemic response is being threatened by the politics of Italy, protests in Netherlands even as the region faces shortages in vaccine rollout. Add to that the highly contagious new coronavirus variants. Italy’s attempts to emerge from the pandemic suffered a setback after the country was plunged into political crisis after the resignation of the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte. Tensions over pandemic restrictions led to a third night of rioting in the Netherlands, where protesters rampaged through towns and cities after the government introduced a night-time curfew. About 150 people were arrested for the incident. Meanwhile, Spain is seeing unrelenting surge in number of deaths and cases. It reported 591 deaths on Tuesday – the highest single-day toll of the current third wave of the virus – and 36,435 new cases. Read here

Japan insists on domestic clinical trials before vaccine rollout

Japan is insisting that trials be conducted in the domestic circuit for inoculation in the country, delaying the vaccine roll-out by until almost February and potentially threatening the Tokyo Games. The main condition for approval of vaccines made by BioNTech-Pfizer and several other companies seeks clinical trials that demonstrate the vaccines generate a similar level of immune response when used in Japan. If the vaccinations start in the end of February — it will be fewer than five months before the delayed Tokyo Olympics are due to start. Read here