This week’s coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic from Research Professional News
Africa
A “minute fraction” of Covid-19 research funding being spent globally seven months into the pandemic reached Africa—and the research that was done overlooked the continent’s priorities, a study has found.
Artificial intelligence is being harnessed to combat Covid-19 and other future pandemics in Africa and elsewhere in the Global South.
Australia and New Zealand
Victoria’s chief health officer Brett Sutton has said he is confident there is no community transmission of Covid-19 anywhere in the state.
New Zealand’s universities have told education minister Chris Hipkins that they urgently need extra funds to help weather the changes flowing from Covid-19.
Europe
Sweden’s research minister, Matilda Ernkrans, has outlined government plans to intensify research into Covid-19, including a boost to funding and new programmes at the Swedish Research Council.
The European Commission has been accused of abandoning researchers by not providing paid extensions to EU-funded R&D projects affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which it has said it is legally unable to do.
Covid-19 may not spark the revolution in data sharing that advocates of increased openness have predicted, researchers surveying preprint papers have suggested.
The EU has made a pitch for cooperation with Joe Biden’s incoming US administration, describing it as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” for closer working on research-heavy topics including Covid-19 and climate change.
The European Medicines Agency, the EU’s drug regulator, has defended its approach to evaluating potential Covid-19 vaccines, after the UK became the first country to approve the use of a vaccine based on large clinical trials.
A “great majority” of EU health ministers have called for the bloc’s drug regulator and public health agency to be given more staff and money to help countries handle health crises like the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the ministerial Council of the EU.
UK
The UK government has secured an additional two million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine being developed by US biotech company Moderna, as a survey revealed that two-thirds of people would accept a coronavirus vaccine.
The data needed to understand the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in the UK is still lacking, a public health official has warned.
Scientists have welcomed news of the UK becoming the first country to authorise use of a Covid-19 vaccine, but have warned about challenges around logistics and public confidence.
UK officials have been on a charm offensive to assure the British public that the first Covid-19 vaccine to be approved for emergency use in the country is safe, despite its unusually speedy approval by the medicines regulator.
A doctor has warned that the Covid-19 mass testing programme for students before they travel home for Christmas needs “independent oversight”, given the risk of students receiving a false negative result.
The Economic and Social Research Council has awarded funding to two observatories with the aim of mitigating the impacts of Covid-19.
Groupthink and British exceptionalism have harmed the UK’s ability to prepare for the Covid-19 pandemic, according to England’s former chief medical officer.
A US researcher at Swansea University says she was incorrectly told she would be unable to volunteer at the institution’s Covid-19 testing centre because it would violate the terms of her visa.
The sustainability of the R&D sector must be a central consideration in the economic recovery from Covid-19, key players in the sector have warned.
The UK’s technology trade association has warned of the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on R&D activity.
The pandemic has shown that research, policy and power are inseparable, says James Georgalakis.