• Africa reports having surpassed one million cases of COVID-19, although experts suspect that lack of testing has obscured far more cases. Source
• The BMGF, in partnership with Gavi, gives India’s Serum Institute $150 million to help it scale up production of two coronavirus vaccine candidates. Under the agreement, the Serum Institute will produce 100 million doses for India and the 91 other LMIC which are part of Gavi’s COVAX AMC; the vaccines will be priced at a maximum of $3 per dose. Source
•A paper from South Korean researchers reports asymptomatic (and pre-symptomatic) people with COVID-19 have viral loads in their noses, throats and lungs as high as those in symptomatic people; the authors suggest it may be necessary to isolate asymptomatic people to prevent COVID-19 transmission. Until this paper, which detailed data from 303 people (89 never developed symptoms, 21 eventually did, and 193 were symptomatic at diagnosis) with COVID-19 who were tested repeatedly during isolation in a community treatment center, the evidence for asymptomatic transmission came from observation or elimination. Sources 1,2
• WHO releases a publication about the COVAX facility. Source
• Canada announces that it has purchased millions of doses of experimental coronavirus vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer. Source
