Early pandemic science crosses borders

Clinical research and public health response informed the vaccine’s path to prequalification.

The 12 November decision facilitated access but did not mean Ebola risk was gone.

The released genetic information enabled laboratories in many countries to begin developing diagnostic tests.

The newly available sequence let international teams compare the virus with other coronaviruses.

Public sequence data supplied a basis for molecular assays; validation and distribution followed later.

WHO and Africa CDC launched a 25-member committee to advise on testing proposed traditional therapies for COVID-19.

The newly launched panel emphasized clinical trials that assess efficacy, safety and quality; it did not certify a COVID-19 remedy.

Members came from research institutions, regulators, traditional medicine programmes and civil society across the region.

Regional director Matshidiso Moeti said that research into potential traditional COVID-19 therapies needed a scientific foundation.

An independent commission certified interruption of indigenous wild poliovirus transmission in the region.