COVID-19 Guidance and Resources

COVID-19 Guidance and Resources: a collection of privacy news, resources, guidance and tools covering the COVID-19 global outbreak.

Comparisons of all-cause mortality between European countries

Comparisons of all-cause mortality between European countries and regions

‘Coronationalism’ vs a geopolitical Europe?

‘Coronationalism’ vs a geopolitical Europe? EU member states have been discussing how to deal with the socio-economic repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, collectively. While lively debates about internal solidarity continue, there is also the pressing issue of how the EU and its member states wish to support third countries, outside the EU, in tackling their health and economic emergencies.

On the one hand, the EU wishes to become a geopolitical power, which demands that the Union and its member states step up their supportive role on the global scene. On the other, there are signs of ‘coronationalism,’ with some national political parties questioning the timing of EU external aid when member states themselves are struggling.

Based on expert contributions from a representative cross-section of 13 member states, this paper delves into the question of whether and how external solidarity features in political and public discourse in Covid-struck Europe. It finds that, for now, neither coronationalist nor geopolitical ambitions dominate the relatively little politicised debates about international cooperation and development aid.

AstraZeneca to be exempt from coronavirus-vaccine liability claims in most countries

AstraZeneca to be exempt from coronavirus-vaccine liability claims in most countries: AstraZeneca has been granted protection from future product liability claims related to its COVID-19 vaccine hopeful by most of the countries with which it has struck supply agreements, a senior executive told Reuters.

With 25 companies testing their vaccine candidates on humans and getting ready to immunise hundred millions of people once the products are shown to work, the question of who pays for any claims for damages in case of side effects has been a tricky point in supply negotiations.

“This is a unique situation where we as a company simply cannot take the risk if in ... four years the vaccine is showing side effects,” Ruud Dobber, a member of Astra’s senior executive team, told Reuters.

“In the contracts we have in place, we are asking for indemnification. For most countries it is acceptable to take that risk on their shoulders because it is in their national interest,” he said, adding that Astra and regulators were making safety and tolerability a top priority.

Dobber would not name the countries.

EU officials told Reuters this week product liability was among contentious points in European efforts to secure supply deals for potential COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Sanofi and Johnson & Johnson.

Compulsory licensing and access to future Covid-19 vaccines

Compulsory licensing and access to future Covid-19 vaccines: This paper examines compulsory licensing and Paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health as policy alternatives to voluntary licensing for access to affordable future Covid-19 vaccines. With regard to manufacturing capacity, the EU and its member states may not be eligible to import since they opted out of the Paragraph 6 system outright (although they may still export under the same system). Fortunately, this does not appear to be a major problem since statistics show that most EU27 imports of all pharmaceuticals are from Europe itself, with China a distant second supplier.

Exploiting isolation: sexual predators increasingly targeting children during COVID pandemic

Exploiting isolation: sexual predators increasingly targeting children during COVID pandemic | Europol: A further increase in sharing of child abuse material online, sexual coercion and extortion of children is expected

How Will a Coronavirus Vaccine Work?

How Will a Coronavirus Vaccine Work? Four different ways researchers use the virus’s own structure to train our immune systems to exterminate it.