• UNAIDS releases a report, The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the HIV response, with findings including that people living with HIV are at higher risk for severe COVID-19 and should be prioritized for vaccines; that living with HIV and the pandemic has had a huge impact on mental health among people living with HIV; that HIV community responses have been key in maintaining programming and fighting COVID-19; that lockdowns have slowed access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment, and that violence against vulnerable people, stigma and discrimination have increased. Source
• Bulgariais home to the EU’s lowest vaccination rate (20 percent), and Europe’s third-highest death COVID-19 death rate; vaccine hesitancy is common. Public health law specialist Mariya Sharkova, who believes that vaccination should become mandatory, says the government “ …didn’t build any strategy on how to fight vaccine hesitancy. We didn’t have any real information campaign for the vaccines. The ministry of health relies mainly on announcements on the ministry’s website, and I don’t think anyone actually goes on and reads it.” Source
• Nature publishes a letter from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness warns of contracts restricting the use of approved coronavirus vaccines, which are needed as comparators in clinical trials of new candidates, noting “governments, developers and manufacturers must find a solution to unlock supplies.”
Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization, warns that COVID-19 could “…wipe away 20 years of hard-fought gains” against maternal mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean, where over 2,600 pregnant women have died from COVID-19. She urged countries in the region to prioritize vaccines for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Source
• COVAX reduces its 2021 forecast for available coronavirus vaccines from 1.9 billion doses to 1.4 billion doses, citing supply problems. Source
• Parents in Mexico, which is undergoing a surge of the Delta variant, are using legal measures to impel the government to provide coronavirus vaccines for children ages 12 to 18. Source
• Authorities are investigating fake vaccine certificates in Vermont (where state troopers have been accused of producing them) and in Greece, where 10 vaccination centers have been suspected of issuing them. Source
• Spain joins other nations,including the Czech Republic, France, Germany and Israel, in authorizing coronavirus vaccine boosters for immunocompromised people. Source
• The Washington Post reports that President Biden is expected to call for a global vaccine summit during September’s UN General Assembly meetings, with the aim to foster worldwide coordination in addressing vaccine inequity. Source
• Novavax issues a press release announcing a phase I/II trial of a combination vaccine for seasonal influenza and COVID-19. Source
• Viet Nam’s Health Ministry announced that people who received a first dose of the Moderna vaccine will be offered a second dose of thePfizerBioNTechvaccine, due to shortages. Source