Covid-19 roundup: WHO looks to boost production of antibody tests in lower-income countries; US government fights to uphold workplace vaccine mandate
In an effort to combat rising Covid-19 cases worldwide, the World Health Organization has struck a deal to license serological technology for antibody testing and provide it royalty-free to low- and middle-income countries in the hopes of boosting production.
The WHO’s Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) finalized the deal with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), a public research institute, on Tuesday. It’s the first test license signed by the MPP, a United Nations-backed public health organization, and included in the WHO pool, according to the organizations. It covers all related patents and biological material necessary for manufacturing the tests, and CSIC has agreed to provide know-how and training.
So far, CSIC’s technology has resulted in four antibody tests, including one that can distinguish the immune response of Covid-infected individuals from vaccinated individuals.
“This is the kind of open and transparent license we need to move the needle on access during and after the pandemic,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “I urge developers of COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and diagnostics to follow this example and turn the tide on the pandemic and on the devastating global inequity this pandemic has spotlighted.”
The move marks the latest in a string of efforts to contain the pandemic in lower income countries, where vaccines are sorely needed. Back in September, the US government said it would buy 500 million more doses of Pfizer’s vaccine to donate to countries in need. It also dumped more $200 million over the summer into a South African manufacturing plant to boost access to J&J’s vaccine. However, the New York Times reported in August that many of those doses had been exported back to Europe.
CSIC president Rosa Menéndez emphasized that technology related to Covid-19 should reach all countries, adding: “In this sense, we would like this action by CSIC, of taking part in the international initiatives of MPP and WHO, to become an example and a reference for other research organizations in the world.”
US government fights to uphold workplace vaccine mandate
The US government is fighting to keep an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule in place that requires workers to be vaccinated for Covid-19 or tested weekly, according to court documents.
The OSHA rule, which was issued Nov. 5 and requires businesses with at least 100 employees to comply by early next year, was initially shot down in the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. OSHA estimated that the rule would save a minimum of 6,500 lives and prevent over 250,000 hospitalizations over the next six months. But challengers called the standard “staggeringly overboard,” Reuters reported.
Now, the US government is asking a Sixth Circuit federal appeals court to “immediately” lift the 5th Circuit’s stay, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
“A court order blocking the Standard is a far greater affront to sovereign prerogatives. Such an order would also threaten deaths and hospitalizations that employers wish to prevent. Those interests, and the government’s interests in protecting employees and employers while this case proceeds, vastly outweigh petitioners’ asserted harm,” the motion states.
The news comes as Covid-19 cases rise in the US, despite more than 82% of adults having gotten at least one dose of a vaccine. Last Friday, the FDA announced that all adults who received two doses of an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine are now eligible for a booster shot.
For a look at all Endpoints News coronavirus stories, check out our special news channel.