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Preventing Government Corruption in Crises
From the Introduction: "Corruption in the public sector has long been understood to undermine the efficiency and efficacy of government. It also drives distrust in democratic institutions, including legislatures, executive agencies and courts. Corruption risks are likely to be magnified during a large-scale crisis that requires an immediate government response to protect health and livelihoods. Corruption by public officials in this context, whether for personal or political gain - has the potential to leave a lasting legacy on the credibility of democratic institutions and governance across the globe, even after the immediate crisis has passed. Hence, while attention must be given to immediate corruption risks during the crisis, the long-term ill effects of certain types of 'political' corruption must not be ignored, given the potential for state capture and the entrenchment of incumbent regimes. This paper examines several corruption vulnerabilities in the public sector that have been introduced or magnified during the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] crisis and provides both short- and long-term recommendations to governments, independent institutions and civil society to mitigate these risks, increase the efficacy of government response to the pandemic and strengthen the accountability of democratic institutions during - and beyond - the crisis."
International Foundation for Electoral Systems
Ellena, Katherine; Brown, Alexandra; Dreher, Chelsea
2020
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Inclusion and Meaningful Political Participation
From the Executive Summary Introduction: "With cases of the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] virus confirmed in at least 200 countries and territories worldwide at the time of this writing, enormous attention is being paid globally to managing the pandemic's impacts on public health and the economy. Less visible are the implications for the individuals and communities living with deeply entrenched and systemic discrimination who have been impacted the hardest. The pandemic has undoubtedly heightened existing inequalities, threatening both health and democratic freedoms and rights; and hastening political exclusion of many people already underrepresented in political life. This paper provides an overview of the potential obstacles that a number of people face while exercising their political rights during a crisis such as COVID-19, as well as recommendations to improve access and inclusion. Specifically, this paper examines the experiences of women; people with disabilities; young people; older people; displaced people; migrant workers; the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community (LGBTQ); Indigenous populations; and ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. The paper also addresses conditions that are exacerbated by the pandemic and impact political participation, including severe economic inequality and poverty, insufficient educational opportunities, lower levels of literacy, lack of trust in government and limited access to technology."
International Foundation for Electoral Systems
Atkinson, Virginia; Applegate, Meredith; Aaberg, Rebecca
2020
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RAND Review: May-June 2020
From the Webpage: "The cover story explores how military and local governments can work together to prepare their communities for climate change. A second feature spotlights the unmet needs of civilians who return from war zones and other hot spots throughout the world. In this issue's Q&A column, policy researcher Yuna Wong talks about wargaming in the age of artificial intelligence. A message from president and CEO Michael Rich announces the Tomorrow Demands Today fundraising campaign and how philanthropy supports RAND's mission to help improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis."
RAND Corporation
2020
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Monde en Désordre: Conseil mondial de suivi de la préparation (2020)
"Jamais auparavant le monde n'a été aussi clairement averti des dangers d'une pandémie dévastatrice, ni n'a disposé des connaissances, des ressources et des technologies pour faire face à une telle menace. Jamais auparavant, cependant, le monde n'a été témoin d'une pandémie aux effets d'une telle ampleur, ni aussi destructeurs sur les plans sociaux et économiques. La pandémie de COVID-19 a révélé l'incapacité collective à considérer la prévention, la préparation et la riposte à une pandémie avec le sérieux voulu et à établir des priorités en conséquence. Elle a démontré la fragilité des économies hautement interconnectées et des systèmes sociaux, et la fragilité de la confiance. Elle s'est immiscée dans les fissures des sociétés et des nations et les a aggravées. Elle s'est nourrie des inégalités, nous rappelant de façon brutale qu'il n'existe pas de sécurité sanitaire sans sécurité sociale. La COVID-19 a profité du désordre du monde."
World Health Organization
2020
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Building Trust Within and Across Communities for Health Emergency Preparedness
From the Overview: "Public trust in institutions in all parts of society is critical for health emergency preparedness. Leaders in government, science, public health, the private sector, international organizations, civil society, and the media are charged with identifying potential health risks and developing measures that will minimize their impact. But often, the threats are theoretical, something that may occur in the future, and difficult for many people to grasp as they address their very real day to day needs. It is only through empathy, accurate communications, community partnership, and effective actions that leaders generate the societal investments in resources and energy required to mitigate the effects of potential health hazards. Understanding the importance of public trust in institutions is especially critical during the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] outbreak, whose containment relies on the cooperative actions of business, NGOs [non-governmental organization], governments, communities and individuals."
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies; UNICEF
2020
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Mundo Desorganizado: Junta de Vigilancia Mundial de la Preparación
"Nunca antes el mundo había recibido con antelación una advertencia tan clara de los peligros que entraña una pandemia devastadora, ni se habían tenido a disposición los conocimientos, los recursos y las técnicas necesarios para hacer frente a una amenaza de ese tipo. Sin embargo, es la primera vez que una pandemia con repercusiones sociales y económicas tan generalizadas y destructivas ocurre en el mundo. La pandemia de COVID-19 ha evidenciado la incapacidad colectiva para poner en práctica de manera escrupulosa las medidas de prevención, preparación y respuesta ante pandemias, y para darles el carácter prioritario que les corresponde; ha puesto de manifiesto la fragilidad de las economías y los sistemas sociales altamente interconectados, y de la confianza; ha sacado provecho de las grietas que existen en las sociedades y entre las naciones, y las ha acentuado; se ha beneficiado de las desigualdades y ha sido un claro recordatorio de que es imposible contar con seguridad sanitaria si no se dispone de seguridad social. La COVID-19 ha prosperado en un mundo desorganizado."
World Health Organization
2020
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World in Disorder: Global Preparedness Monitoring Board Annual Report (2020)
From the Foreword: "Never before has the world been so clearly forewarned of the dangers of a devastating pandemic, nor previously had the knowledge, resources and technologies to deal with such a threat. Yet, never before has the world witnessed a pandemic of such widespread and destructive social and economic impact. The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic has revealed a collective failure to take pandemic prevention, preparedness and response seriously and prioritize it accordingly. It has demonstrated the fragility of highly interconnected economies and social systems, and the fragility of trust. It has exploited and exacerbated the fissures within societies and among nations. It has exploited inequalities, reminding us in no uncertain terms that there is no health security without social security. COVID-19 has taken advantage of a world in disorder."
World Health Organization
2020
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This Too Shall Pass: Mourning Collective Loss in the Time of COVID-19
From the Summary: "Covid-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] is the first true cataclysm most of us have ever seen. It's a crisis with multiple layers. A pandemic that may ultimately lead to a death toll in the millions. An economic catastrophe, with the 'Great Lockdown' triggering by far the biggest crisis since the Great Depression. And a social and cultural shock with impacts that we are only just beginning to understand. Most of all, though, Covid-19 is a crisis of the mind: one that has been called 'the world's biggest psychological experiment'. The nature of the crisis goes right to the core of how we live as social beings - and also how we die. This essay is intended as a meditation on collective grieving. We argue that in conditions of such widespread loss as the ones we now face, it's essential that we grieve well - and that this means doing so collectively, not just on our own. But we also note that our society often struggles with grief. Instead we often regard death as a taboo and grief as something embarrassing, to be hidden away or processed as quickly as possible."
Collective Psychology Project
Evans, Alex; Kuile, Casper ter; Williams, Ivor
2020?
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Free Expression, Harmful Speech and Censorship in a Digital World
From the Introduction: "The internet has brought with it seemingly unbridled opportunities for personal expression to mass audiences, thanks to social media apps like Facebook and Twitter and blog sites like Medium. However, with freedom of expression come opportunities for people to share false, offensive, harmful and even injurious content on digital platforms. As more aspects of our lives increasingly move online, we must contend with operating in a digital public square owned by private entities -- one where freedom of expression falls not under the purview of the First Amendment, but under emergent standards being shaped by technology companies. Such challenges have taken on an increased urgency during the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic, with Americans turning to social media for interaction and information and finding the platforms awash in false claims and conspiracy theories that threaten health."
Knight Foundation; Gallup, Inc.
2020
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Best States to Work in America During COVID-19
From the Introduction: "Workers in America today are facing historic threats to their ability to work safely and provide for their families. We are witnessing a generational crisis, deeply rooted in inequality and injustice, deepened and exposed by a global pandemic. But your experience of this crisis varies greatly based on where you live and work. For the last two years, Oxfam America has produced a Best States to Work Index (BSWI), which tracks how states treat, protect, and pay workers. Formulated in 2017 and published for the first time in 2018, this index was born out of a vacuum left by inadequate federal agencies, static federal policies on wages, and the continued movement toward privatization. The BSWI focused on how states were forced to address this failure of our national institutions to protect workers. The federal minimum wage, for example, has not been increased in over a decade, while the cost of living continues to rise. States stepped up to provide policies and infrastructure where the federal government did not."
Oxfam America
2020
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Digital Divide and COVID-19: Teachers' Perceptions of Inequities in Students' Internet Access and Participation in Remote Learning
From the Description: "RAND researchers investigate the relationship between teachers' reports of their students' internet access and their interaction with students and families during school closures related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. These data are drawn from the American Instructional Resources Survey, which was fielded in May and June 2020 and included questions to teachers regarding their instruction during school closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. When teachers deliver remote instruction, their capacity to communicate with students and their families is shaped by home internet access. Researchers found that half of teachers estimated that all or nearly all of their students had access to the internet at home, and teachers in schools located in towns and rural areas, schools serving higher percentages of students of color, and high-poverty schools were significantly less likely to report that all or nearly all of their students had access to the internet at home. Researchers also found that gaps in internet access among students in higher-poverty versus lower-poverty schools--as reported by their teachers--varied greatly by state. These data suggest that existing inequities for students in rural and high-poverty schools might be exacerbated by students' limited access to the internet and communication with teachers as remote instruction continues."
RAND Corporation
Stelitano, Laura; Doan, Sy; Woo, Ashley . . .
2020
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COVID-19 and the Cost of Vaccine Nationalism
From the Executive Summary: "Experience from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and the onset of the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic suggests that in responding to such events, national governments tend to follow their own interests instead of pursuing a more globally coordinated approach. A situation where countries push to get first access to a supply of vaccines and potentially hoard key inputs for vaccine production has been commonly referred to as 'vaccine nationalism'. A lack of global coordination and cooperation could have negative consequences for how well the global pandemic is managed and contained. [...] In this study, we examine some of the negative consequences that vaccine nationalism could have in terms of how well we manage the pandemic in the future once a vaccine has been developed. Another objective is to understand the potential economic implications that could arise if countries follow a nationalistic behaviour with regard to the development, manufacturing and distribution of future COVID-19 vaccines. To this end, we use a macroeconomic model where all countries in the world are interlinked with each other through trade in goods and services as well as investment. The model allows us to put the world economy into a laboratory and run different 'what-if' experiments, in order to examine what would happen to global economic output if no vaccine was developed or if only a few countries or regions managed to immunise their own populations."
RAND Europe
Hafner, Marco; Fays, Clément; Stolk, Christian van . . .
2020
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Aid and Health Worker Safety and Security in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic
From the Document: "Between January to June 2020, Insecurity Insight's monitoring identified over 78 events where aid or health workers were killed, kidnapped, injured, or assaulted (KIK), and 103 events where health facilities were damaged or destroyed. This document provides an overview of developments that have affected the safety and security of aid and health workers in the first half of 2020." This document includes charts, tables, and graphs to illustrate the text.
Insecurity Insight
2020
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National Plan to Enable Comprehensive COVID-19 Case Finding and Contact Tracing in the US
From the Executive Summary: "To manage COVID-19 [coronavirus disease] epidemics going forward, communities in the United States need: (1) ready access to rapid diagnostic tests for all symptomatic cases or those with a reasonable suspicion of COVID-19 exposure; (2) widespread serological testing to understand underlying rates of infection and identify those who have developed immunity and could potentially return to work or school without fear of becoming infected; and (3) the ability to trace all contacts of reported cases. In order to trace all contacts, safely isolate the sick, and quarantine those exposed, we estimate that our public health workforce needs to add approximately 100,000 (paid or volunteer) contact tracers to assist with this large-scale effort. This workforce could be strategically deployed to areas of greatest need and managed through state and local public health agencies that are on the front lines of COVID-19 response. To do this, we also estimate that Congress will need to appropriate approximately $3.6 billion in emergency funding to state and territorial health departments. This plan outlines a vision for how to accomplish this goal, including ways that case identification and contact tracing capabilities can be greatly expanded; actions that the federal, state, and local governments and other organizations must take to stand up these capabilities as quickly as possible; and resources that will be needed to accomplish comprehensive case finding and contact tracing."
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (U.S.)
Watson, Crystal R.; Cicero, Anita; Blumenstock, James S. . . .
2020?
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Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on Social Services for Vulnerable Populations in Los Angeles: Lessons Learned from Community Providers
From the Preface: "The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly disrupted the social safety net programs on which the most vulnerable Americans depend, including those both experiencing or at risk for homelessness and involved with the criminal justice system. In this report, we aim to understand the ways that social services providers serving these populations in Los Angeles County, California, have responded to COVID-19, and to compile lessons learned and innovative strategies. An understanding of the ways that providers have responded to COVID-19 has the potential to inform planning for future phases of the pandemic, both in Los Angeles and in other areas."
RAND Corporation
Holliday, Stephanie Brooks; Hunter, Sarah B.; Dopp, Alex R. . . .
2020
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What Are the Standards for Ensuring Respect for the Grieving, Funeral Rites, and Memorials of Those Who Died During the COVID-19 Pandemic?
From the Summary of Context: "At the end of September 23, 2020, COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] has taken the lives of 530,000 people in the region of the Americas. The unprecedented global health emergency caused by the pandemic seriously impacts the full realization of human rights at both the collective and individual level. The death of a family member or a close friend during the pandemic is particularly difficult. Due to the risk of infection and the containment measures adopted in the framework of the pandemic, families and their loved ones may be prevented from accompanying their ill member in their last days of life. [...] The IACHR [Inter-American Commission on Human Rights] offers this practical guide along with a list of recommendations and considerations to provide guidance to States in the formulation and adjustment of public policies, as well as in the practices and decisions on the disposal of bodies, respect for the grieving family members of the deceased during the pandemic. The measures presented contribute to honoring and respecting the memory of the deceased."
Organization of American States; Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
2020
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Helping Teens Manage COVID-19 Pandemic Challenges
From the Document: "The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic has resulted in stay-at-home orders, physical distancing, and other attempts to mitigate the spread of disease. While all Americans have been affected by the efforts to contain COVID-19, these effects have varied by age. Teens are at a stage in life in which they are trying to establish greater independence from their families and to strengthen social ties with friends. Though the COVID-19 public health crisis can complicate these developmental processes, it also provides opportunities for teens to learn new skills from adults in their families and communities. This fact sheet describes the effects of ongoing physical distancing on teen health and provides recommendations for adults to help teens during periods of physical isolation and as communities reopen."
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress
2020?
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Pacific Police Department Continuity of Operations Plan for Pandemic Disease
From the Situation: "There have been five influenza pandemics over the last century. The 1918 influenza pandemic is thought to have been the most deadly pandemic in human history, with an estimated 50 to 100 million fatalities. The global and regional impacts of the 1918 pandemic remain unparalleled, causing long-term and widespread social and economic devastation, comparable only to a major world war. In the last twenty years we have seen the 2009 H1N1 (Swine) influenza pandemic, localized outbreaks of H7N9 (Avian) influenza, and several significant non-influenza infectious disease epidemics: SARS [severe acute respiratory syndrome] coronavirus, MERS [Middle East respiratory syndrome] coronavirus, Ebola hemorrhagic fever, the Zika virus, and in 2020 an outbreak of COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019]. All of these outbreaks were produced by either a novel virus or appeared in regions without historical precedent. Research suggests that changes in climate, global transportation, agricultural practices, and continued deforestation may increase the prevalence, severity, and transmission of future infectious disease outbreaks. The outbreak of COVID-19 as this policy is written now represents the greatest pandemic threat and calls for urgent regional and global preparation and mitigation efforts. The true severity of the current and next pandemic remains largely unknown as virus' are in a constant state of mutation. This necessitates planning that is similarly able to adapt to dynamic disease characteristics and response demands. The following plan exemplifies this perspective by providing concise objectives, flexible response actions, and a clear delineation of responsibilities. Lessons from past pandemics were integral to the development of this plan, so that we are better able to respond to the infectious disease challenges of the future."
Pacific Police Department (Wash.)
2020
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COVID-19 and International Trade: Issues and Actions
From the Document: "In an unprecedented global health crisis, trade is essential to save lives and livelihoods; and international co-operation is needed to keep trade flowing. In the midst of significant uncertainty, there are four things we can do: 1) boost confidence in trade and global markets by improving transparency about trade-related policy actions and intentions; 2) keep supply chains flowing, especially for essentials such as health supplies and food; 3) avoid making things worse, through unnecessary export restrictions and other trade barriers; and 4) even in the midst of the crisis, think beyond the immediate. Government support today needs to be delivered in a way that ensures it serves the public interest, not vested interests, and avoids becoming tomorrow's market distortions. OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] is working with other IOs [international organizations] to support governments through timely and objective evidence and analysis to inform policy choices."
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
2020
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Coronavirus Special Edition: Back to School
From the Document: "The COVID 19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic has disrupted education around the world. As the first shock passes, planning is taking place on two timescales: the short-term challenges in the return to school, and the challenges over the next 18-24 months as systems work to build resilience and adaptability for the future."
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
2020
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Technical Brief on Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Wastewater Management to Prevent Infections and Reduce the Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance
From the Introduction: "This technical brief provides information to inform water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and wastewater elements within multi-sectoral antimicrobial resistance (AMR) national action plans (NAPs). It includes a summary of evidence and the co-benefits rationale for action in each sector and presents a menu of actions for consideration and refinement in each country context. The technical brief also identifies sector specific policy options and additional information, including knowledge gaps and research needs, as well as additional technical resources to support planning and implementation. Where evidence is weak or lacking, actions proposed are cost-effective measures with wider co-benefits for health that plausibly contribute to combatting AMR."
World Health Organization; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; World Organisation for Animal Health
2020
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Tax Administration Responses to COVID-19: Business Continuity Considerations
From the Document: "The COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] emergency will affect the lives of many people around the globe. It will bring unique challenges to tax administrations in managing the many different elements involved in ensuring continuity of critical activities and the safety of staff and customers during the duration of the pandemic. This reference document provides an overview of business continuity measures that tax administrations may wish to consider in the context of the current pandemic. [...] The purpose of this document is to assist tax administrations in their own consideration of possible domestic measures. Although most administrations will already have well-developed business continuity plans these may need some adjustments given the nature of the current pandemic and wider government responses."
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations; Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations
2020
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More Than One-Third of West Africans Have No Handwashing Facility at Home
From the Document: "Handwashing is one of the top preventive measures recommended to reduce the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). However, current levels of handwashing with soap are generally low across the region. Monitoring handwashing behaviour is difficult but the presence of soap and water at a designated place is generally used as a proxy indicator. According to UNICEF [United Nations Children's Fund] data from 2017, the majority of Sahelian and West African people did not have basic handwashing facilities available at home."
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
2020
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Debunking Handbook 2020
From the Document: "Misinformation damages society in a number of ways. If parents withhold vaccinations from their children based on mistaken beliefs, public health suffers. If people fall for conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019], they are less likely to comply with government guidelines to manage the pandemic, thereby imperiling all of us. It's easy to be misled. Our feelings of familiarity and truth are often linked. We are more likely to believe things that we have heard many times than new information. [...] This phenomenon is called the 'illusory truth effect'. Thus, the more people encounter a piece of misinformation they do not challenge, the more the misinformation seems true, and the more it sticks. Even if a source is identified as unreliable or is blatantly false and inconsistent with people's ideology, repeated exposure to information still tilts people towards believing its claims. Misinformation is also often steeped in emotional language and designed to be attention-grabbing and have persuasive appeal. This facilitates its spread and can boost its impact, especially in the current online economy in which user attention has become a commodity."
George Mason University. Center for Climate Change Communication
Lewandowsky, Stephan; Cook, John; Ecker, Ullrich . . .
2020
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Hidden Impact of COVID-19 on Child Poverty
From the Executive Summary: "COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] has spread rapidly within and between countries across the globe. Governments worldwide have implemented measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 including school closures, home isolation/quarantine and community lockdown, all of which have had secondary impacts on children and their households. Save the Children launched a global research study to generate rigorous evidence on how the COVID-19 pandemic and measures implemented to mitigate it are impacting children's health, nutrition, learning, wellbeing, protection, family finances and poverty, and to identify children's and their families' needs during these times. [...] The results presented in this report focus on implications for child poverty, drawing on data from our representative sample of 17,565 parents/caregivers and 8,069 children in our programme participants group."
Save the Children (U.S.)
Loperfido, Lavinia; Burgess, Melissa; Dulieu, Nicole . . .
2020
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Protect a Generation: The Impact of COVID-19 on Children's Lives
From the Executive Summary: "An estimated 99% of children worldwide - or more than 2.3 billion children - live in one of the 186 countries that have implemented some form of restrictions due to COVID-19 . Although children are not at a high risk of direct harm from the virus, they are disproportionately affected by its hidden impacts."
Save the Children (U.S.)
Edwards, Jess
2020
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Hidden Impact of COVID-19 on Children: Research Design and Methods
From the Abstract: "COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] has spread rapidly within and between countries across the globe. Governments worldwide have implemented measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 including school closures, home isolation/quarantine and community lockdown, all of which have had secondary impacts on children and their households. Save the Children launched a global research study to generate rigorous evidence on how the COVID-19 pandemic and measures implemented to mitigate it are impacting children's health, nutrition, learning, wellbeing, protection, family finances and poverty and to identify children's and their families' needs during these times. [...] This report presents the global COVID-19 research series design and methods."
Save the Children (U.S.)
Burgess, Melissa; Sulaiman, Munshi; Arlini, Silvia Mila . . .
2020
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Death, Bereavement and Grief and the Impact of COVID-19
From the Foreword: "Businesses have an increasing duty of care to protect the physical and mental health and safety of their people. The experience of bereavement is unique to each person but being in a supportive environment which allows someone to express their feelings is often helpful. The impact of not handling deaths well during COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] may risk mental health issues and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and there can be serious implications if trauma remains untreated. Now is the time for employers to meet the challenge, talk about death in a meaningful way and to consider the impact that tens of thousands of deaths linked to COVID-19 will have on the workplace. As we all face this crisis together, the need for compassionate leadership has become ever more apparent, fuelled by collective empathy and humanity. We're calling on all employers to use the principles of dignity, decency and respect to respond. The support and compassion that companies offer to their employees, communities and the most vulnerable during the pandemic matters. Employers who act responsibly now will be best prepared to handle what emerges on the other side of this crisis. How issues are prioritised now will shape the new world."
Business in the Community Cymru/Wales (Organization)
Aston, Louise; Purchas, Anna; Davidson, Rachael
2020
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Economics of Vaccine Development and Supply: Responding to COVID-19 and Preparing for the Next Threat
From the Summary: "Once the depth and breadth of the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic was belatedly recognized, researchers across the world have moved at an unprecedented pace to advance more than 100 vaccine candidates. However, much of the infrastructure and funding needed to develop, produce, and distribute successful vaccine candidates has been pieced together reactively rather than through established emergency preparedness frameworks both nationally and globally. Delays in recognizing and responding to the threat of COVID-19, particularly in the United States, have resulted in lost lives and a battered economy. The International Monetary Fund estimates the world economy will face a $12 trillion loss in 2020-2021 because of the pandemic, implying a potential $500 billion gain by accelerating vaccine development by a single month. In the near-term, policymakers have focused on ensuring adequate incentives to develop and equitably distribute a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, but, as the threat of COVID-19 eventually recedes, policymakers need to consider strategies to ensure sufficient investment and interest in vaccine development, as well as surveillance and diagnostics, to respond to future infectious disease threats. This brief summarizes key points from a meeting convened by AcademyHealth in August 2020. Research and policy experts reviewed existing research on vaccine development, manufacturing, and distribution, including financing mechanisms to help ensure access to vaccines in developing countries."
AcademyHealth
Cassil, Alwyn
2020?
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Anti-Vaxx Playbook
From the Introduction: "This report, 'The Anti-Vaxx Playbook', is based on in-depth analysis of speeches and presentations by leading digital anti-vaccine advocates at a meeting they recently held in private over three days; investigation of private anti-vaccine digital spaces; and other intelligence gathered by our researchers. It reveals how anti-vaccine networks are systematically planning to suppress uptake of the Coronavirus vaccine by exploiting digital platforms. These malignant actors have developed their strategic understanding over years of advocacy and practice. Their strategy is simple. Exploit social media algorithms' predilection for controversial and engaging content to hammer home three key messages - Covid [coronavirus disease] isn't dangerous; vaccines are dangerous; and mistrust of doctors, scientists and public health authorities. Despite the variety of styles, tones and themes employed by the anti-vaccine movement, every meme they share is in service to one of these three messages. Our response must be equally simple: to inoculate against misinformation by ignoring the individual memes generated by the anti-vaxx industry and instead focus on communicating our core message - one that has the benefit of being true: 1. Covid is deadly; 2. Vaccines are among the safest, most effective, most consequential human inventions in the past two centuries, saving countless lives from disease, disability and even death; and 3. Doctors, scientists and public health professionals chose those professions because they want to help people and better understand the world."
Center for Countering Digital Hate
2020
