A lot of people are paying attention to every utterance from Bill Gates, America’s billionaire-cum-conscience in the coronavirus era, about the United States’s response to the pandemic. But much less attention is paid to what Gates is actually pouring his fortune into: steeling the rest of the world for the coronavirus vaccine they will need next year.

Gates on Friday said that he and his foundation would spend $150 million to distribute vaccines, if they are found, to some of the world’s poorest people. It’s one of the largest financial commitments for coronavirus response to date from Gates, the world’s second-richest person. The Gates Foundation is handing the money to the Serum Institute, the largest manufacturer of vaccines globally by volume, to produce 100 million doses that would cost at most just $3 each.

Gates has been among the foremost leaders on vaccine production over the last two decades, spending $4 billion on the global vaccine development effort known as Gavi. And for months, the billionaire has expressed profound worries that while rich countries may fare okay at surviving the coronavirus, that the pandemic will devastate poor countries that can’t afford to administer the treatment, whenever it arrives.

“We’re trying to make sure we can end it not just in the rich countries,” Gates said in an interview with Bloomberg this week, stressing that he is focusing on the vaccines in development that would be affordable in the developing world, such as those being pursued by the pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Novavax. “Those are the ones most scalable and low-cost.”

What Gates is essentially doing is deploying his bank account to set a “ceiling price” for the vaccines being developed by those two companies. Serum is preparing to manufacture those vaccines for India, where Serum is based, and up to 91 other poor or middle-income countries.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/8/8/21359227/bill-gates-foundation-coronavirus-vaccine-serum-astrazeneca-novavax

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Researchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 140 candidate vaccines now tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Vaccines normally require years of testing and additional time to produce at scale, but scientists are hoping to develop a coronavirus vaccine within 12 to 18 months.

Vaccines mimic the virus – or part of the virus – they protect against, stimulating the immune system to develop antibodies. They must follow higher safety standards than other drugs because they are given to millions of healthy people.

How are vaccines tested?

In the pre-clinical stage of testing, researchers give the vaccine to animals to see if it triggers an immune response.

In phase 1 of clinical testing, the vaccine is given to a small group of people to determine whether it is safe and to learn more about the immune response it provokes.

In phase 2, the vaccine is given to hundreds of people so scientists can learn more about its safety and correct dosage.

In phase 3, the vaccine is given to thousands of people to confirm its safety – including rare side effects – and effectiveness. These trials involve a control group which is given a placebo.

​https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2020/aug/08/covid-vaccine-tracker-when-will-we-have-a-coronavirus-vaccine

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Ontario is reporting a decline in new COVID-19 cases today, marking the sixth day in a row new infections remained under 100.

Provincial health officials say 70 new cases of the virus were confirmed today, down from the 88 reported one day prior.

Officials recorded 95 new cases on Thursday, 86 on Wednesday, and 91 on Tuesday, bringing the rolling five-day average of new cases to 86, down from 107 one week ago.

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott confirmed Saturday that recoveries outpaced new cases once again today.

https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-reports-decline-in-new-covid-19-cases-today-sixth-day-in-a-row-new-infections-remain-under-100-1.5056474

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Sweden reported no new deaths from Covid-19 on Friday, according to the National Health Agency.

Instead, the daily total was revised down by three to 5,763, while the number of new cases increased to 82,323. The reason for the downward revision was a result of “a region adjusting its numbers,” a health agency spokesperson said by telephone.

The architect of Sweden’s light-touch pandemic response, Anders Tegnell, has described recent trends in his country as “very positive” as the rates of fatalities and newly infected increasingly stabilize.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-07/sweden-reports-no-new-deaths-caused-by-coronavirus

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Pakistan’s daily infection rate has stayed under 1,000 for more than three weeks, occasionally dropping to 300 and prompting the government to further ease restrictions with restaurants, parks and even gyms opening next week.

On Friday, Pakistan recorded 782 new cases in the last 24 hours and just 17 deaths. In all, Pakistan has reported 282,642 confirmed cases and 6,052 deaths.

The government credits the consistently low numbers for the last few weeks to a strategy of smart lockdowns, where businesses and residential areas were shut and quarantined after recording spikes in cases.

Prime Minister Imran Khan defied his critics to ease lockdowns early on saying he needed to open sectors like the construction industry to provide jobs to the country’s poorest. Since the pandemic hit, Pakistan’s poverty rate has increased from 30 percent to 40 percent of the country’s 220 million people.

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1715896/world

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In the United States, testing for Covid-19 has become a persistent problem. For some without insurance, it is too costly. For others living in remote or underserved areas, too inaccessible. For us all, far too slow.

While some tests take only a few minutes to complete, most tests take much longer to deliver results. If the person awaiting results isn’t cautious, the time needed to process samples in a lab—anywhere from a few days to a few weeks—becomes time enough for the virus to spread far and wide.

The two-step method is not only a better way to test, but could potentially reduce transmission by 50 percent or more—and do so quickly.

The two-step testing method combines antigen tests together with PCR tests such that the strengths of both are exploited. The first step? Conduct widespread antigen tests using existing testing facilities. Those who test positive are assumed to be infected and instructed to self-isolate at home, where they can be monitored by local health authorities. Within 24 hours a contact tracing team interviews them about recent contacts who may have been infected, all of whom are brought in for testing as well. 

Those who test negative proceed to the second step—the PCR test with a slower turnaround, but more accurate result. Until the PCR test results confirm or disprove their negative status, those who test negative the first time around must quarantine. Either way, the virus is stopped in its tracks.

In India, this two-step takedown is already underway. In Egypt, it was successfully used to screen 68 million Egyptians for hepatitis C, though with antibody tests instead of antigen tests as a first step. It could be implemented just as easily here, where the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has already approved a rapid antigen test with a higher detection rate than the Pathocatch.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2020/08/07/two-step-testing-could-slow-covid-19-transmission-dramatically/#635b4b4a5b06

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Amid the rising novel coronavirus cases and deaths across the world, Russia has been pushing extensively for a Covid-19 vaccine for quite some time now.

Following that, the country will register its first vaccine against the coronavirus on 12 August, Deputy Health Minister Oleg Gridnev said on Friday, according to a report.

The vaccine has been developed jointly by the Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry.

"At the moment, the last, third, stage is underway. The trials are extremely important. We have to understand that the vaccine must be safe. Medical professionals and senior citizens will be the first to get vaccinated," Gridnev told reporters at the opening of a cancer centre building in the city of Ufa, according to Sputnik News.

https://www.livemint.com/news/world/world-s-first-covid-19-vaccine-to-be-registered-next-week-by-russia-report-11596802242325.html

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The Serum Institute of India said it will partner with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and international vaccine alliance GAVI to manufacture and deliver 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for India and other low- and middle-income nations as early as 2021.

The institute said on Friday it will get funding to support manufacturing for candidate vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax.

https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-india-vaccine/indias-serum-institute-to-partner-with-gates-foundation-to-make-covid-19-vaccine-idUSL4N2F92W5

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Hong Kong will offer free voluntary coronavirus testing for residents, leader Carrie Lam said on Friday, as the global financial hub races to contain a resurgence of the virus over the past month.

The plan, which will enable citywide testing for the first time, is likely to be implemented in two weeks at the earliest, Chief Executive Lam said.

The announcement comes less than a week after China sent a team of health officials to Hong Kong to carry out widespread testing for COVID-19. It is the first time mainland health officials have assisted Hong Kong in its battle to control the coronavirus.

“The situation in Hong Kong is still critical, with the number of cases remaining high,” Lam told reporters as she sat in front of a largescreen digital backdrop which read ‘Fight the virus with the central government’s full support’.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-hongkong/hong-kong-to-offer-free-coronavirus-testing-for-all-residents-idUSKCN2530WM

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Drugmakers will likely have tens of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines in the early part of next year, Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases official, said in a Reuters interview on Wednesday, offering a more conservative view of the ramp up than some Trump administration officials.

Fauci said there could be a billion vaccine doses available by the end of 2021, and that he is hopeful the world could get past the pandemic that has claimed more than 700,000 lives worldwide by then, with the help of a vaccine.

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said last month the U.S. would have hundreds of millions of vaccine doses by early in 2021.

Those goals are only possible because drugmakers have agreed to manufacture large supplies of their vaccines even before they know whether they work in order to save time.

“The federal government has put more than one egg in the basket,” Fauci said. “We have a pretty comprehensive portfolio that’s going to subsequently be going into clinical trials.”

He said there might be an indication that at least one vaccine works and is safe by year end.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-fauci-vaccine-inte/fauci-expects-tens-of-millions-of-coronavirus-vaccine-doses-at-start-of-2021-idUSKCN2512Z4

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