Evolution Of Sars Cov 2 Impact Of Variants On Hosts Covid 19 Vaccines And Countermeasures

The ‘novel coronavirus disease’ (COVID-19) has caused significant global morbidity, mortality and economic damage on a scale similar to the influenza pandemic of 1918. The causative ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome virus 2’ (SARS-CoV-2) is a RNA virus which is evolving rapidly, accumulating mutations, and existing as a cloud of variants with quasispecies diversity. We have tens of thousands of variants, of which currently two are ‘variants of interest’ (Lambda, Mu) and another four ‘variants of concern’ (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Omicron) to the World Health Organization (WHO). Variants of interest often emerge as variants under investigation in one or more countries, as seen with the Omicron (initially denoted as Nu in South Africa). They become variants of concern when there is evidence of increased transmissibility, greater case severity, loss of neutralization by antibodies, and reduced effectiveness of countermeasures. Some SARS-CoV-2 variants can infect new hosts (for instance, the Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants of concern can infect wild type mice which is a species that cannot be vaccinated or controlled easily), and/or reduce the effectiveness of vaccines and therapies (especially Beta and Delta); diagnostic tests have also been reported to be affected. Currently, we do not yet have any ‘variant of high consequence’ with confirmed attributes such as widespread diagnostic test failures, significant reduction in the effectiveness of vaccines and/or therapies, with greater disease severity and deaths. It remains to be seen if Omicron would be the first to be declared by the WHO as a variant of high consequence; more variants of concern are also likely to be declared by the WHO over the next couple of years. Therefore, our ability to control and conquer this pandemic over the long run is dependent on predicting and keeping up with the evolution of this virus, its new hosts, as well as understanding and mitigating its impact on diagnostics, vaccines and therapies.

In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the societal disruption it has brought, national governments and the international community have invested billions of dollars and immense amounts of human resources to develop a safe and effective vaccine in an unprecedented time frame. Vaccination against this novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), offers the possibility of significantly reducing severe morbidity and mortality and transmission when deployed alongside other public health strategies and improved therapies. Health equity is intertwined with the impact of COVID-19 and there are certain populations that are at increased risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19. In the United States and worldwide, the pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on people who are already disadvantaged by virtue of their race and ethnicity, age, health status, residence, occupation, socioeconomic condition, or other contributing factors. Framework for Equitable Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccine offers an overarching framework for vaccine allocation to assist policy makers in the domestic and global health communities. Built on widely accepted foundational principles and recognizing the distinctive characteristics of COVID-19, this report's recommendations address the commitments needed to implement equitable allocation policies for COVID-19 vaccine.

Prompting the first WHO global health alert for over a decade, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was first recognised in South-East Asia in February 2003. With the causative agent now identified as a new strain of coronavirus, the medical world has gained important knowledge on the aetiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, pathogenesis, epidemiology, disease treatment and infection control with amazing speed. Despite this, major gaps remain in our understanding - the race is on to develop new cures and effective vaccines, and the long-term impact on health, society and economics are starting to unravel. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome: A Clinical Guide meets the urgent need for a comprehensive, authoritative reference guide for everyone in the medical and scientific community engaged in the fight against SARS: Definitive book on SARS, clearly and accurately documenting the extraordinary medical and scientific events around this new epidemic International experts in the field, with many contributors from the WHO and CDC Will help reader to understand and prevent future outbreaks with a repeat of the same consequences

One Health is an emerging concept that aims to bring together human, animal, and environmental health. Achieving harmonized approaches for disease detection and prevention is difficult because traditional boundaries of medical and veterinary practice must be crossed. In the 19th and early 20th centuries this was not the case—then researchers like Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch and physicians like William Osler and Rudolph Virchow crossed the boundaries between animal and human health. More recently Calvin Schwabe revised the concept of One Medicine. This was critical for the advancement of the field of epidemiology, especially as applied to zoonotic diseases. The future of One Health is at a crossroads with a need to more clearly define its boundaries and demonstrate its benefits. Interestingly the greatest acceptance of One Health is seen in the developing world where it is having significant impacts on control of infectious diseases.

Influenza viruses, both seasonal and pandemic, have the potential to disrupt the health and well-being of populations around the world. The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and prior public health emergencies of international concern illustrate the importance of global preparedness and coordination among governments, academia, scientists, policy makers, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and the public to address the threat of pandemic influenza. These health emergencies have revealed opportunities to enhance global vaccine infrastructure, manufacturing, distribution, and administration. Globally Resilient Supply Chains for Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza Vaccines outlines key findings and recommendations to bolster vaccine distribution, manufacturing, and supply chains for future seasonal and pandemic influenza events. This report addresses the challenges of manufacturing and distributing vaccines for both seasonal and pandemic influenza, highlighting the critical components of vaccine manufacturing and distribution and offering recommendations that would address gaps in the current global vaccine infrastructure.

The ultimate guide for anyone wondering how President Joe Biden will respond to the COVID-19 pandemic—all his plans, goals, and executive orders in response to the coronavirus crisis. Shortly after being inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden and his administration released this 200 page guide detailing his plans to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness breaks down seven crucial goals of President Joe Biden's administration with regards to the coronavirus pandemic: 1. Restore trust with the American people. 2. Mount a safe, effective, and comprehensive vaccination campaign. 3. Mitigate spread through expanding masking, testing, data, treatments, health care workforce, and clear public health standards. 4. Immediately expand emergency relief and exercise the Defense Production Act. 5. Safely reopen schools, businesses, and travel while protecting workers. 6. Protect those most at risk and advance equity, including across racial, ethnic and rural/urban lines. 7. Restore U.S. leadership globally and build better preparedness for future threats. Each of these goals are explained and detailed in the book, with evidence about the current circumstances and how we got here, as well as plans and concrete steps to achieve each goal. Also included is the full text of the many Executive Orders that will be issued by President Biden to achieve each of these goals. The National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness is required reading for anyone interested in or concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on American society.

As the culminating volume in the DCP3 series, volume 9 will provide an overview of DCP3 findings and methods, a summary of messages and substantive lessons to be taken from DCP3, and a further discussion of cross-cutting and synthesizing topics across the first eight volumes. The introductory chapters (1-3) in this volume take as their starting point the elements of the Essential Packages presented in the overview chapters of each volume. First, the chapter on intersectoral policy priorities for health includes fiscal and intersectoral policies and assembles a subset of the population policies and applies strict criteria for a low-income setting in order to propose a "highest-priority" essential package. Second, the chapter on packages of care and delivery platforms for universal health coverage (UHC) includes health sector interventions, primarily clinical and public health services, and uses the same approach to propose a highest priority package of interventions and policies that meet similar criteria, provides cost estimates, and describes a pathway to UHC.