Fazze offered money to YouTubers and bloggers to falsely claim jab was responsible for hundreds of deaths

Influencers say Russia-linked PR agency asked them to disparage Pfizer vaccine

Innova tests’ performance not proven and they should be returned to manufacturer or thrown in bin, says FDA

Rapid Covid tests used in mass UK programme get scathing US report

The self-interest of G7 countries is the biggest obstacle to ending the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of campaigning organizations said today. Ahead of the G7 Leaders’ Summit, the People’s Vaccine Alliance warned that G7 promises to vaccinate the world by 2022 will be impossible to fulfill, if governments continue blocking proposals to waive patents and share life-saving technology.

G7 support for pharma monopolies is putting millions of lives at risk

Attempt to hold a worker criminally liable for the spread of Covid resulted in Josefina Brito-Fernandez losing her license to work, fearing deportation

‘Outrageous’: why was a US health worker charged with spreading Covid?

10.31234/osf.io/48zqn

Psychological research has offered valuable insights into how to combat misinformation. The studies conducted to date, however, have three limitations. First, pre-emptive (“prebunking”) and retroactive (“debunking”) interventions have mostly been examined in parallel, and thus it is unclear which of these two predominant approaches is more effective. Second, there has been a focus on misinformation that is explicitly false, but misinformation that uses literally true information to mislead is common in the real world. Finally, studies have relied mainly on questionnaire measures of reasoning, neglecting behavioural impacts of misinformation and interventions. To offer incremental progress towards addressing these three issues, we conducted an experiment (N = 735) involving misinformation on fair trade. We contrasted the effectiveness of prebunking versus debunking and the impacts of implied versus explicit misinformation, and incorporated novel measures assessing consumer behaviours (i.e., willingness-to-pay; information seeking; online misinformation promotion) in addition to standard questionnaire measures. In general, we found debunking to be more effective than prebunking, although both were able to reduce misinformation reliance. We also found that individuals tended to rely more on explicit than implied misinformation both with and without interventions.

A Comparison of Prebunking and Debunking Interventions for Implied versus Explicit Misinformation

10.31234/osf.io/ys4jn

Watch party lectures combine asynchronous and synchronous teaching approaches: lecturers record short videos of the directly instructed content, for one-hour lectures, lecturers aim to record 2-3 short videos for a maximum of 40-45 minutes. These pre-recorded videos are uploaded on the virtual learning environment (VLE). However, the crucial element of watch party lectures is the scheduled, synchronous time during which these pre-recordings are watched together via screen sharing. Watch party lectures allow for meaningful interactions between lecturer and students while watching the videos. Students use the chat box to ask questions and the lecturer addresses them immediately, e.g., by providing links to additional resources. Watch party lectures were welcomed by students and lecturers alike and we strongly recommend integrating both asynchronous and synchronous elements in the future, regardless of the modality or format of teaching delivery.

Watch Party Lectures: Synchronous Delivery of Asynchronous Material

#COVID19 surge in Uganda looks ominous Vaccine coverage = 1.5% with 1 dose

The defining image of our time

10.31234/osf.io/mcnvk

The COVID-19 pandemic led to numerous governments deciding to close schools for several weeks in spring 2020. Empirical evidence on the impact of COVID-19-related school closures on academic achievement is only just emerging in the literature. The present work aimed to provide a first systematic overview of evidence-based studies on general and differential effects of COVID-19-related school closures in spring 2020 on student achievement in K–12. The findings indicate a considerably negative effect of school closures on student achievement specifically in younger students and students from families with low socioeconomic status. At the same time, certain measures can be identified that might mitigate these negative effects. The findings are discussed in the context of their possible consequences for future national educational policies when facing future school closures.

Effects of COVID-19-Related School Closures on Student Achievement—A Systematic Review

10.1038/scientificamerican0621-8

We need a public health culture change informed by lessons from COVID

Some Pandemic Health Habits Deserve to Stay

Home Office figures show that between 6 January and the end of April, 521,700 UK nationals and 1,070,200 non-UK nationals arrived.

COVID-19: 1.5m people flew to UK in first four months of 2021 - when borders were meant to be heavily restricted

10.1073/pnas.2100411118

Because of the outbreak of COVID-19, most countries have implemented measures aimed at reducing the number of infected people. However, these measures only work if they are generally accepted by the public. We conducted a two-wave longitudinal survey in Switzerland (n = 1,223) to study the factors that would influence perceived risks and the acceptance of the measures. Our findings showed that people with individualistic worldviews, high general interpersonal trust, low social trust, a low level of perceived risks, and the conviction that risks other than health risks were neglected had less acceptance of the implemented measures compared with people who held the opposite views on the mentioned variables. The number of infected people declined between survey waves 1 and 2. This desired effect not only reduced people’s perceived risks but also decreased their social trust and increased the conviction that other risks were neglected. Finally, the acceptance of the measures declined. Our data also support the idea that reduced risk perceptions and a decline in social trust are important drivers for the reduction in the acceptance of the measures in survey wave 2. Our results suggest that as soon as the measures attain success or the public is tired of the implemented restrictions, public acceptance declines, and it seems difficult to prolong the measures as may be desirable from an epidemiological standpoint. The importance of worldviews and trust for public acceptance of the measures further suggests the necessity of a political discussion about the implemented measures.

Worldviews, trust, and risk perceptions shape public acceptance of COVID-19 public health measures

Medics concerned about the effects on public health of environmental degradation marched on the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva on Saturday, demanding health authorities make climate change and biodiversity loss their top priorities.

Medics march to WHO headquarters in climate campaign

https://reuters.com/business/environment/medics-march-who-headquarters-climate-campaign-2021-05-29/… @richardhorton1 speaking to @DrTedros today on video link at #WHA74 about the similarities of #COVID19 and #climatecrisis and the cost of inaction. This before Tedros addressed Doctors + Nurses protesting at the WHO. #WHO #RedAlertWHO

What was claimed All Japanese citizens who have received their Covid-19 vaccine are not permitted to give blood. Our verdict This is not true. Japanese Red Cross guidelines state anyone who has received a vaccine must only wait 48 hours before they can give blood.

Ian Brown wrong to claim Japan refuses blood from anyone who’s been vaccinated

10.1126/science.abh2939

In-person schooling has proved contentious and difficult to study throughout the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Data from a massive online survey in the United States indicate an increased risk of COVID-19–related outcomes among respondents living with a child attending school in person. School-based mitigation measures are associated with significant reductions in risk, particularly daily symptoms screens, teacher masking, and closure of extracurricular activities. A positive association between in-person schooling and COVID-19 outcomes persists at low levels of mitigation, but when seven or more mitigation measures are reported, a significant relationship is no longer observed. Among teachers, working outside the home was associated with an increase in COVID-19–related outcomes, but this association is similar to that observed in other occupations (e.g., health care or office work). Although in-person schooling is associated with household COVID-19 risk, this risk can likely be controlled with properly implemented school-based mitigation measures.

Household COVID-19 risk and in-person schooling

Even before COVID-19 vaccines were available, different interest levels in vaccination across the US were noted.1 Populations with less interest in vaccination were quickly considered vaccine hesitant, and public health campaigns have primarily, and understandably, focused on reaching persons anxious about vaccine safety, vaccine-related adverse effects, or both. But while vaccine anxiety is an important hurdle to overcome, the assumption that all segments of the population with low interest in vaccination are hesitant is a misconception. The COVID-19 vaccine is arguably the most important new product of 2021, but until recently, vaccine promotion efforts have not addressed the full implications of marketing a single product to a large, heterogeneous population.2 From a marketing perspective, disinterest in vaccination from some segments of the population is unsurprising and reflects typical innovation-adoption patterns in which half of the market is usually slow to make a choice. This appears to be a description of the sizeable segment of the population that has not participated in public vaccination campaigns. News reports now recognize the challenges of vaccinating an entire population, but the sophistication of the current collective vaccine-promotion strategies have evolved more slowly and focus on alleviating vaccine anxieties related to efficacy and safety.2 However, for much of the estimated 39% of the US population currently not vaccinated or reportedly not planning to receive the vaccine as soon as possible,3 vaccine apathy rather than true hesitancy may be an important major concern, and addressing apathy necessitates an entirely different communication approach than addressing hesitancy.

10.1001/jama.2021.7707

When Vaccine Apathy, Not Hesitancy, Drives Vaccine Disinterest

New reports on transmissibility and immune evasiveness for delta (B.1.617.2) lead to an update of this Table of the variants and key properties

10.1136/bmj.n1439

The UK population has the highest confidence in covid-19 vaccines and its health authorities, while Japan and South Korea have the lowest, a survey of 15 countries shows.

Covid-19: UK has highest vaccine confidence and Japan and South Korea the lowest, survey finds

Despite opposition from some regions, the ‘traffic light’ measures – including early closing hours and capacity limits for bars and restaurants – will be obligatory across the country

Spain details new system of coronavirus restrictions to be applied until 70% of population is vaccinated

PHE data indicates dominant variant ‘more likely to cause serious illness’ as Grant Shapps warns of threat to reopening on 21 June

UK tightens borders and travel rules as variants spark new alarm

Cummings’ evidence portrays a system that is not fit for purpose and goes some way to explaining why the UK’s performance on covid-19 was so poor

Martin McKee: What did we learn from Dominic Cummings’ evidence to MPs on the covid crisis?

Black people make up more than 80 percent of coronavirus cases reported in the District in recent days, compared with 46 percent late last year, a disparity that D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) highlighted in a call with Ward 8 community leaders Tuesday.

Black residents now account for more than 8 in 10 D.C. coronavirus cases

Three-quarters of people between 18-29 say vaccination should be required to return to campus or work, according to new Generation Lab/Axios polling, and 37% would refuse to come back unless those conditions are in place.

Young people demand vaccination requirements for reopening

10.1126/science.abj6981

On 5 May, Fox News host Tucker Carlson delivered a 10-minute monologue casting doubt on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines on his show, Tucker Carlson Tonight. He announced that almost 4000 people had died after getting COVID-19 vaccines, and added that those data “comes from VAERS,”—the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a U.S. government program that collects reports of side effects possibly caused by vaccines. It was a misleading statement. The reporting of a death to VAERS indicates nothing about what caused it, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) subsequent investigations have found no indication that deaths were caused by COVID-19 vaccines, save in a small subset with an extremely rare clotting disorder linked to one vaccine. But the TV segment pulled VAERS, a 31-year-old early warning system widely relied on by scientists, even deeper into the culture wars over vaccination. After the broadcast, a new phalanx of antivaccine activists began plumbing VAERS for data to scare the public about vaccination, says Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters for America, a left-leaning nonprofit that is monitoring anti–COVID-19 vaccine activity on social media. “We have been tracking these attacks since February and this one resonated in a different way after Tucker hit it,” Carusone says.

Antivaccine activists use a government database on side effects to scare the public

10.1038/d41586-021-01386-0

Rivalry between China and other countries could diminish global scientific collaboration — just when it is most needed.

Protect precious scientific collaboration from geopolitics

So Hancock confirms that B.1.617.2 ("India" variant) is now dominant in England. Harries says we must remain "vigilant". What does vigilant even mean? That we watch very carefully as a new, more dangerous, variant takes over cos it was so fun last time? Yeah, I'm pissed off

Join us to discuss how the latest statistics and data science methods can help address issues ranging from pandemics to human trafficking.

Data Collection and Integration to Enhance Public Health

Summary The median age of patients with MIS-C was 9 years. Half of children with MIS-C were between the ages of 5 and 13 years. 63% of the reported patients with race/ethnicity information available occurred in children who are Hispanic or Latino (1,166 cases) or Black, Non-Hispanic (1,042 cases). 99% of patients had a positive test result for SARS CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The remaining 1% of patients had contact with someone with COVID-19. 60% of reported patients were male.

Health Department-Reported Cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) in the United States ​

It’s bizarre that this needs saying, but *of course* the UK had a Herd Immunity plan

What it was, where it came from, and how it was abandoned

As new coronavirus variants pop up around the world, public health experts are looking at one key group of people who might be particularly vulnerable to future outbreaks: School children.

Here's why schools are on alert over new coronavirus variants

The government’s current emphasis on personal responsibility and showing “common sense” once again displaces blame for their ineffective response to covid-19, says Simon Williams

The UK’s coronavirus policy still places too much responsibility—and blame—on the public

Feel nauseous watching this testimony. It's what we all could piece together was happening in No.10 & in SAGE, but to hear it directly and to re-live those weeks is just astonishing. How many lives could have been saved? How much of the harsh domestic restrictions were avoidable?

10.1136/bmj.n1346

The UK government has been urged to speed up giving two doses of the covid-19 vaccine after data showed a single dose was only 33% effective against the B.1.617.2 variant first detected in India, which continues to see a rapid growth in cases in the UK.

Covid-19: Single vaccine dose is 33% effective against variant from India, data show

Here we go. He’s not messing about: “The truth is, senior ministers, senior officials, senior advisors like me fell disastrously short of the standards that the public has the right to expect in a crisis like this. When the public needed us most the government failed.”

AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson jabs have caused rare blood clots but scientists say they can be redesigned to avoid problem

German scientists say they can help improve vaccines to prevent blood clots

A "cringe-inducing" public service announcement with doctors and nurses

Op-Ed: How Not to Message the Public on COVID Vaccines

What was claimed The Moderna vaccine contains SM-102 which could cause health complaints such as cancer, fertility damage and damage to the nervous system, kidneys or respiratory system. Our verdict These claims about SM-102 are from a product safety leaflet when it is in a mixed solution with a toxic substance called chloroform. The Moderna vaccine does contain SM-102, but not chloroform.

The Moderna vaccine contains SM-102 not chloroform

10.1038/s41467-021-23404-5

Social distancing remains an important strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. However, the impacts of specific state-level policies on mobility and subsequent COVID-19 case trajectories have not been completely quantified. Using anonymized and aggregated mobility data from opted-in Google users, we found that state-level emergency declarations resulted in a 9.9% reduction in time spent away from places of residence. Implementation of one or more social distancing policies resulted in an additional 24.5% reduction in mobility the following week, and subsequent shelter-in-place mandates yielded an additional 29.0% reduction. Decreases in mobility were associated with substantial reductions in case growth two to four weeks later. For example, a 10% reduction in mobility was associated with a 17.5% reduction in case growth two weeks later. Given the continued reliance on social distancing policies to limit the spread of COVID-19, these results may be helpful to public health officials trying to balance infection control with the economic and social consequences of these policies.

Impacts of social distancing policies on mobility and COVID-19 case growth in the US

10.1038/d41586-021-01372-6

Data from seven vaccination trials help to identify a blood marker for protection against the disease.