Category: Vaccine

Opinion

Donald Trumps military ran a covert campaign to discredit Chinas Sinovac vaccine at the height of the pandemic

Tue 18 Jun 2024 13.26 EDT

In July 2021, Joe Biden rightly inveighed against social media companies failing to tackle vaccine disinformation: Theyre killing people, the US president said. Despite their pledges to take action, lies and sensationalised accounts were still spreading on platforms. Most of those dying in the US were unvaccinated. An additional source of frustration for the US was the fact that Russia and China were encouraging mistrust of western vaccines, questioning their efficacy, exaggerating side-effects and sensationalising the deaths of people who had been inoculated.

How, then, would the US describe the effects of its own disinformation at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic? A shocking new report has revealed that its military ran a secret campaign to discredit Chinas Sinovac vaccine with Filipinos when nothing else was available to the Philippines. The Reuters investigation found that this spread to audiences in central Asia and the Middle East, with fake social media accounts not only questioning Sinovacs efficacy and safety but also claiming it used pork gelatine, to discourage Muslims from receiving it. In the case of the Philippines, the poor take-up of vaccines contributed to one of the highest death rates in the region. Undermining confidence in a specific vaccine can also contribute to broader vaccine hesitancy.

The campaign, conducted via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (now X) and other platforms, was launched under the Trump administration despite the objections of multiple state department officials. The Biden administration ended it after the national security council was alerted to the issue in spring 2021. The drive seems to have been retaliation for Chinese claims without any evidence that Covid had been brought to Wuhan by a US soldier. It was also driven by military concerns that the Philippines was growing closer to Beijing.

It is all the more disturbing because the US has seen what happens when it plays strategic games with vaccination. In 2011, in preparation for the assassination of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the CIA tried to confirm that it had located him by gathering the DNA of relatives through a staged hepatitis B vaccination campaign. The backlash was entirely predictable, especially in an area that had already seen claims that the west was using polio vaccines to sterilise Pakistani Muslim girls. NGOs were vilified and polio vaccinators were murdered. Polio resurged in Pakistan; Islamist militants in Nigeria killed vaccinators subsequently.

The report said that the Pentagon has now rescinded parts of the 2019 order that allowed the military to sidestep the state department when running psychological operations. But while the prospect of a second Trump administration resuming such tactics is alarming, the attitude that bred them goes deeper. Reuters pointed to a strategy document from last year in which generals noted that the US could weaponise information, adding: Disinformation spread across social media, false narratives disguised as news, and similar subversive activities weaken societal trust by undermining the foundations of government.

The US is right to challenge the Kremlins troll farms, Beijings propaganda and the irresponsibility of social media companies. But its hard to take the moral high ground when youve been pumping out lies. The repercussions in this case were particularly predictable, clear and horrifying. It was indefensible to pursue a project with such obvious potential to cause unnecessary deaths. It must not be repeated.

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The Guardian view on the US and vaccine disinformation: a stupid, shocking and deadly game - The Guardian

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Merck's new vaccine designed to protect adults from a bacteria known as pneumococcus that can cause serious illnesses and a lung infection called pneumonia, the drugmaker said.

Merck's shot, called Capvaxive, specifically protects against 21 strains of that bacteria to prevent a severe form of pneumococcal disease that can spread to other parts of the body and lead to pneumonia. It's the first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine designed specifically for adultsand aims to provide broader protection than the available shots on the market, according to the drugmaker.

Healthy adults can suffer from pneumococcal disease. But older patients and those with chronic or immunocompromising health conditions are at increased risk for the illness, especially the more serious or so-called "invasive" form.

Invasive pneumococcal disease can lead to meningitis, an infection that causes inflammation in the area surrounding the brain and spinal cord, and an infection in the bloodstream called bacteremia.

"If you have chronic lung disease, even asthma, you have a higher risk of getting sick with pneumococcal disease, and then being in the hospital, losing out on work," Heather Platt, Merck's product development team lead for the newly cleared vaccine, told CNBC in an interview. "Those are things that have a real impact on adults and children, their quality of life."

Around 150,000 U.S. adults are hospitalized with pneumococcal pneumonia each year, Platt said. Death from the more serious form of the disease is highest among adults 50 and above, Merck said in a release in December.

Even after the FDA approval, the company's single-dose vaccine won't reach patients just yet. An advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet on June 27 to discuss who should be eligible for the shot.

Platt said Merck will support the committee's decision and is ready to supply the vaccine by late summer.

Some analysts view Capvaxive as a key growth driver for Merck as it prepares to offset losses from its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda, which will lose exclusivity in the U.S. in 2028.

The market for pneumococcal conjugate vaccines is currently around $7 billion and could grow to be worth more than $10 billion over the next several years, according to a November note from Cantor Fitzgerald analysts.

Merck's newly approved shot could boost its competitive edge in that space, which includes drugmaker Pfizer. Merck currently markets two pneumococcal shots, but neither is specifically designed for adults.For example, the company's existing shot Vaxneuvance is approved in the U.S. for patients 6 weeks of age and older.

Pfizer's single-dose pneumococcal vaccine, Prevnar 20, is the current leader in the market for adults. But Merck expects its new shot to capture the majority of market share among adults, Platt said.

"We do expect there to be rapid uptake of" Capvaxive, she said, adding that the company is confident that data on the shot will "really resonate" with clinicians and policymakers.

Merck's pneumococcal vaccine protects against eight strains of the bacteria that are not included in any other approved shot for the disease. Those eight strains account for roughly 30% of invasive pneumococcal disease cases in patients 65 and above, according to a release from Merck, citing CDC data from 2018 to 2021.

The 21 strains included in Merck's shot account for roughly 85% of invasive pneumococcal disease cases in adults 65 and above, Merck, citing the CDC data. Meanwhile, Pfizer's Prevnar targets strains that only account for roughly 51% of cases in that age group, based on the same CDC data.

The FDA's approval is partly based on Merck's late-stage trial called STRIDE-3 that pitted the vaccine against Pfizer's Prevnar 20 in adults 18 and up who had not previously received a pneumococcal vaccine.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect 150,000 U.S. adults are hospitalized with pneumococcal pneumonia each year.

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FDA approves Merck vaccine designed to protect adults from bacteria that can cause pneumonia, serious infections - CNBC

Amid an influx of efforts to help the African continent claim vaccine sovereignty, a new financing mechanism devised by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the African Union and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has taken flight.

On Thursday, Gavi, the African Union and Africa CDCplus France and other countriesdebuted the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), which will help meet the African Unions goal to produce at least 60% of the continents required vaccines by 2040.

AVMAs aim is to make up to $1 billion available over the next 10 years to boost the expansion of commercially viable vaccine manufacturing in Africa, according to a Gavi release. By using a pull financing mechanism, AVMA aims to provide downstream incentives to manufacturers to help parry the initial costs of development and production of much-needed shots.

As part of the launch, the European Union is pledging more than 750 million (about $802 million) to the project. Some $318 million will come from Germany, in addition to $100 million from France and $60 million from the United Kingdom, France 24 reports. Additional donations are coming from the likes of the United States, Canada, Norway, Japan and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the publication added.

Also on Thursday, the U.S. government said it would work with Congress to earmark at least $1.58 billion to Gavi over the next five years. The U.S. pointed out that its supported AVMA since its conception and looks forward to working together with the African Union to advance the vaccine localization effort.

Gavis board formallyapproved plans for AVMA back in December. At the time, the organization noted that the present demand for vaccines in Africa is valued at more than $1 billion per yeara figure thats projected to grow as the continents population continues to rise over the next few decades.

While Africa accounts for roughly 20% of the worlds population, the continents vaccine industry currently contributes some 0.1% of global supply, Gavi stressed.

AVMA will work by providing manufacturers with two types of incentives at different trigger points, Gavi explained.

Milestone payments will be triggered when a company withan eligible vaccine successfully snags World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification and enters into a milestone payment agreement. Meanwhile, accelerator payments will be made available upon delivery of eligible vaccine doses.

AVMA is prioritizing a number of vaccines to start, including those for oral cholera, malaria, measles-rubella, yellow fever, Ebola and rotavirus. The organization is emphasizing mRNA and viral vector shots as its technology platforms of choice.

The new organization isa piece of a complex jigsaw that will, over time, strengthen the resilience of global and regional vaccine supply chains," the Africa CDCsaidin a release.

AVMAs launch comes as other efforts to establish vaccine manufacturing in Africa have yielded mixed results.

In April, after Moderna said it was rethinking its decision to build a $500 million vaccine plant in Kenya thanks to a lack of demand, the Africa CDC was quick to step in, arguing that Modernas second-guessing of its plan helped perpetuate the inadequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic on the continent.

However, mRNA rival BioNTech, which opened an immunization plant in Kigali, Rwanda, in December, recently received $145 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to help establish vaccine R&D, plus clinical and commercial manufacturing at the Kigali site.

The goal is to establish an end-to-end vaccine ecosystem on the continent, which would help Africa better prepare for potential future epidemics and pandemics, BioNTech and CEPIsaidin a joint release in May.

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African vaccine manufacturing initiative aims to provide $1B to local firms over next decade - FiercePharma

Photo taken on Feb. 19, 2020 shows the Pentagon seen from an airplane over Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

"We weren't looking at this from a public health perspective...We were looking at how we could drag China through the mud," an officer involved in the Pentagon's misinformation campaign against Sinovac was cited by Reuters as saying.

BEIJING, June 20 (Xinhua) -- A recent Reuters investigation has found that the U.S. military launched a secret disinformation campaign to discredit Chinese vaccines in the Philippines, a nation severely impacted by COVID-19.

The disclosure has sparked widespread condemnation of the U.S. scheme from public health experts. Even former U.S. intelligence officials have decried the disinformation campaign.

China's Sinovac vaccine, the only type available in the Philippines during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, was smeared repeatedly under the Pentagon program.

Reuters reported that it identified at least 300 accounts on X, formerly Twitter, that matched descriptions shared by former U.S. military officials familiar with the Philippines operation.

Almost all were created in the summer of 2020 and centered on the slogan #Chinaangvirus, meaning China is the virus in Tagalog, a major language of the Philippines.

"We weren't looking at this from a public health perspective," a senior military officer involved in the program was cited by Reuters as saying. "We were looking at how we could drag China through the mud."

Due to the disinformation campaign, vaccination rates in the Philippines remained dismally low. In June 2021, then-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte appealed on television to the public to get vaccinated.

At that time, only about 2.1 million out of the country's 114 million people were fully vaccinated, far below the target of 70 million for that year.

"Over 60,000 Filipinos died, and many of them would have survived if not for the disinformation campaign against the Sinovac vaccine," former Philippine presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on his social media.

Cho-Chiong Tan, a doctor and associate professor at the Institute of Medicine, Far Eastern University, said Reuters' report "shocked the whole Philippines."

"The malign action of the United States has seriously harmed the health of the Filipino people and hampered the Philippine efforts to fight against COVID-19," Tan said, adding that distrust and panic about vaccine safety caused some people to give up vaccination, increasing the risk of contracting the virus.

"The practices of the United States not only harmed the interests of the Filipino people, but also endangered global public health and the well-being of all mankind," he added.

"I don't think it's defensible. I'm extremely dismayed, disappointed and disillusioned to hear that the U.S. government would do that," said Daniel Lucey, an infectious disease specialist at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine.

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U.S. military's misinformation campaign against Sinovac in Philippines sparks condemnation - Xinhua

TOPEKA Attorney General Kris Kobach filed a civil lawsuit June 17 against pharmaceutical company Pfizer, alleging that Pfizer misled the public that it had a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, violating the states Consumer Protection Act.

The state seeks civil monetary penalties, damages and injunctive relief from misleading and deceptive statements made in marketing its COVID-19 vaccine, Kobach said.

In the complaint, Kobach alleges that Pfizer willfully concealed, suppressed and omitted material facts relating to the COVID-19 vaccine, the most egregious ones regarding safety of the vaccine for pregnant people, in regard to heart conditions, its effectiveness against variants and its ability to stop transmission.

Pfizer marketed its vaccine as safe for pregnant women, Kobach said. However, in February of 2021 (they) possessed reports of 458 pregnant women who received Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy. More than half of the pregnant women reported an adverse event, and more than 10% reported a miscarriage.

The percentage of adverse events which is a term that means any negative reaction was higher in pregnant women than the general population by roughly 17%, according to a study published in the journal Medicine in February 2022.

An earlier study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in April 2021 offered preliminary findings that did not show any significant safety concerns among pregnant individuals who received the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, indicating that observed miscarriages were not unusual and likely not a direct result of the vaccine.

Kobach says that Pfizer marketed the vaccine as safe in terms of heart conditions such as myocarditis and pericarditis. He referenced a question Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO, was asked in January 2023 of if the vaccine caused severe myocarditis, to which Bourla responded, We have not seen a single signal, although we have distributed billions of doses.

However, as Pfizer knew, the United States government, the United States military, foreign governments and others have found that Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine caused myocarditis and pericarditis, Kobach said.

According to the CDC, cases of myocarditis and pericarditis caused by the COVID-19 vaccine are rare, and most patients experienced resolution of symptoms by hospital discharge.

Kobach says Pfizer marketed its vaccine as effective against COVID-19 variants, even though data available at the time showed Pfizers vaccine was effective less than half the time.

His final allegation in the complaint was that the company falsely marketed the vaccine as preventing transmission.

Pfizer urged Americans to get vaccinated in order to protect their loved ones, clearly indicating a claim that Pfizers COVID-19 vaccination stopped transmission, Kobach said. Pfizer later admitted that theyve never even studied transmission after the recipients receive the vaccine.

In a statement, Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine saved countless lives and that the companys claims about the vaccine were accurate and based on science.

The company believes that the states case has no merit and will respond to the suit in due course, the statement said. Pfizer is deeply committed to the well-being of the patients it serves and has no higher priority than ensuring the safety and effectiveness of its treatments and vaccines.

Kansas is the first state to file such a lawsuit, though Kobach says five other states will be joining. They will make announcements independently. The only other confirmed state is Idaho.

More suits may follow, depending on Pfizers reaction, Kobach said.

In 2023, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Pfizer for unlawfully misrepresenting the effectiveness of the companys COVID-19 vaccine and attempting to censor public discussion of the product. That suit was also based on the states Consumer Protection Act.

The case is filed in Thomas County. Kobach says this is because they wanted to go to a place with a lighter workload, to make sure they had the time to deal with it.

When asked if hed received the Pfizer vaccine, Kobach declined to answer. I think whether Ive received the vaccination is irrelevant to the lawsuit, its not about me, he said. Its about the statements that were made to the people of Kansas.

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Kansas AG accuses Pfizer of misleading marketing in lawsuit - The Derby Informer

Sanofi - Aventis Groupe

Sanofi and Biovac spearhead polio vaccine manufacturing capabilities in Africa

Paris, June 20, 2024. Sanofi and Biovac, a Cape Town, South Africa-based biopharmaceutical company, announce today their local manufacturing partnership to produce inactivated polio vaccines (IPV) in Africa. This agreement is designed to enable regional manufacturing of polio vaccines to serve the potential needs of over 40 African countries. This partnership with Sanofi makes Biovac the first African producer of IPV on and for the African continent and supports the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Preventions ambition to have 60 percent of local vaccines produced in Africa by 2040.

Thomas Triomphe Executive Vice President, Vaccines, Sanofi For 40 years, Sanofi has supplied billions of polio vaccine doses globally, supporting the world getting close to polio eradication. But with the COVID-19 pandemic, many routine pediatric vaccination programs were halted or disrupted. Catching up will be key to preventing a rise in cases in many countries worldwide and this Sanofi partnership with Biovac is a step in that direction. Establishing this manufacturing partnership now, ahead of time, is key to enabling Biovacs manufacturing capabilities for future international tenders.

Dr Morena Makhoana Chief Executive Officer, Biovac We are very proud of this partnership with Sanofi, which will empower Biovac as an African manufacturer to champion polio eradication on and for the continent by bringing manufacturing of IPV doses closer to people needs.

Sanofi has been a critical partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative since 1988 and has supplied the world and UNICEF with more than 1.5 billion doses of IPV through GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, which aims to vaccinate the populations of more than 70 of the poorest countries on the planet with the aim to eradicate polio.

Sanofi will continue to produce the bulk of IPV and Biovac, who will hold the marketing authorization, will be responsible for late-stage formulation, filling, packaging, and delivery of millions of IPV doses to UNICEF for GAVI countries in Africa.

Biovac is a leading biotechnology company and a Centre of Excellence, rooted in Africa, specializing in the development and manufacture of vaccines and other biologicals for Africa and beyond. In collaboration with the South African government, Biovac was established in 2003 to revive local human vaccine development and manufacturing capability in Southern Africa.

Polio is a highly contagious disease which mainly affects children under five years of age, who suffer the highest burden of temporary or permanent paralysis and death. Polio is an incurable infection that can only be prevented through immunization. Infected individuals shed the polio virus in the environment through fecal matter, or through the droplets from a sneeze or cough of an infected person, for several weeks. Almost 90 percent of infected people have no symptoms or very mild symptoms that usually remain undetected. In others, initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, aching muscles, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis.

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Over the last 30 years, under the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), 2.5 billion children have been immunized against polio resulting in a 99 percent reduction in the number of cases worldwide. At the end of 2023, polio was endemic in only two countries (Afghanistan and Pakistan). As a result of the global effort to eradicate the disease, almost 20 million people have been saved from paralysis.

About Sanofi We are an innovative global healthcare company, driven by one purpose: we chase the miracles of science to improve peoples lives. Our team, across the world, is dedicated to transforming the practice of medicine by working to turn the impossible into the possible. We provide potentially life-changing treatment options and life-saving vaccine protection to millions of people globally, while putting sustainability and social responsibility at the center of our ambitions. Sanofi is listed on EURONEXT: SAN and NASDAQ: SNY

Media Relations Sandrine Guendoul | + 33 6 25 09 14 25 | sandrine.guendoul@sanofi.com Evan Berland | +1 215 432 0234 | evan.berland@sanofi.com Nicolas Obrist | + 33 6 77 21 27 55 | nicolas.obrist@sanofi.com Victor Rouault | + 33 6 70 93 71 40 | victor.rouault@sanofi.com Timothy Gilbert | + 1 516 521 2929 | timothy.gilbert@sanofi.com

Investor Relations Thomas Kudsk Larsen |+ 44 7545 513 693 | thomas.larsen@sanofi.com Aliz Kaisserian | + 33 6 47 04 12 11 | alize.kaisserian@sanofi.com Arnaud Delpine | + 33 6 73 69 36 93 | arnaud.delepine@sanofi.com Felix Lauscher | + 1 908 612 7239 | felix.lauscher@sanofi.com Keita Browne | + 1 781 249 1766 | keita.browne@sanofi.com Nathalie Pham | + 33 7 85 93 30 17 | nathalie.pham@sanofi.com Tarik Elgoutni | + 1 617 710 3587 | tarik.elgoutni@sanofi.com Thibaud Chtelet | + 33 6 80 80 89 90 | thibaud.chatelet@sanofi.com

Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions, and expectations with respect to future financial results, events, operations, services, product development and potential, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words expects, anticipates, believes, intends, estimates, plans and similar expressions. Although Sanofis management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Sanofi, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analysis, including post marketing, decisions by regulatory authorities, such as the FDA or the EMA, regarding whether and when to approve any drug, device or biological application that may be filed for any such product candidates as well as their decisions regarding labelling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of such product candidates, the fact that product candidates if approved may not be commercially successful, the future approval and commercial success of therapeutic alternatives, Sanofis ability to benefit from external growth opportunities, to complete related transactions and/or obtain regulatory clearances, risks associated with intellectual property and any related pending or future litigation and the ultimate outcome of such litigation, trends in exchange rates and prevailing interest rates, volatile economic and market conditions, cost containment initiatives and subsequent changes thereto, and the impact that pandemics or other global crises may have on us, our customers, suppliers, vendors, and other business partners, and the financial condition of any one of them, as well as on our employees and on the global economy as a whole. The risks and uncertainties also include the uncertainties discussed or identified in the public filings with the SEC and the AMF made by Sanofi, including those listed under Risk Factors and Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements in Sanofis annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023. Other than as required by applicable law, Sanofi does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.

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Press Release: Sanofi and Biovac spearhead polio vaccine manufacturing capabilities in Africa - Yahoo Finance

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. has been notified of an Important Drug Warning notice by Pfizer, the manufacturer for Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, relating to a shipping error that affected certain COVID-19 vaccine products sent to the CNMI, Guam, Palau, Micronesia, and Alaskan cities.

The error is due to a vaccine temperature excursion meaning vaccines reached temperatures outside of the recommended range during shipment. Temperature excursions can affect the potency and effectiveness of vaccines.

Out of abundance of caution, the vaccine manufacturer, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. Food & Drug Administration is recommending revaccination for individuals who received vaccinations from the affected inventory.

Approximately 260 doses of the impacted vaccines were administered in the CNMI this year. The CHCC will be contacting identified community members who may need revaccination to inform them about the situation and schedule them should they choose to do so. Patients can expect to be vaccinated at the CHCC Immunization Clinic, Rota Health Center, and Tinian Health Center at no cost.

The CHCC wants to assure community members that their health and safety continues to be their priority. Vaccines continue to be one of public healths critical preventative measures against diseases and outbreaks. Ensuring proper storage, handling, and timely delivery of vaccines is a constant challenge, however, steps are in place for our team to monitor and manage vaccine shipments.

For more information about CHCC programs, follow @cnmichcc on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; visit https://www.chcc.health; or call the CHCC Immunization Program at (670) 236-8745. (PR)

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CHCC issues warning on Pfizer COVID vaccine - Saipan Tribune

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New $1.2 bn plan to boost African vaccine production launched - The Elkhart Truth

Pakistan's polio eradication campaign is in disarray afterthe South Asian country of 240 million peoplereported the year'sfifth case of the highly infectious virus.It isanother blowto the country's efforts to eradicate the debilitating disease.

Four polio cases were reported inthe southwestern Balochistan province bordering Afghanistan, while a fifth case is the latest to bereported from the southern Sindh province, raising concerns about the feasibility of eradicating polio in the near future.

"The cases this year are a striking reminder that no child anywhere would be totally safe from the crippling disease until Pakistan succeeded in eradicating polio completely," said Malik Mukhtar Bharath, the Prime MinisterShehbaz Sharif's coordinator on national health services.

According to the World Health Organization, polio, which isfound typically in children under the age of 5 and canlead to paralysis or even death, remains endemic in two countries Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Last year six casesof the virus were detected in Pakistan. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), Pakistan was tantalizingly close to the elimination of polio after just onecase was reported in 2021.

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Experts believe that the cases emerging in Pakistan are due to various factors.

"Pakistan and Afghanistan continue to operate in a highly complex and challenging environment,"Dr Hamid Jafari, director of polio eradication at the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, told DW.

"Primary drivers of risks include large population movements, insecurity compromising access and quality of vaccination in key infected areas,combined with communities with significant vaccine hesitancy and persistently low routine immunization coverage in polio-critical geographies."

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"All five cases reported this year in Pakistan are linked to the two YB3A related genetic clusters following extensive cross-border transmission from Afghanistan.These cases have been reported from Chaman, Dera Bugti, Kila Abdullah, Shikarpur and Quetta,"added Jafari.

The polio workforceisfrequently targeted in Pakistan where Islamist militants and hardliner clerics blamedgovernment vaccination drives as a foreign agenda to sterilize Muslim children and a cover for Western spies.

"The current widespread detections are especially concerning as we have just now entered the high transmission season.The virus has been reestablished in our historic reservoirs. From there it is spreading. We can expect more spread over this high transmission season,"Natalia Molodecky, who worked with GPEI in Pakistan's polio emergency operations center in Islamabad, told DW.

"The main factorattributed to large unpredictable movements of populations resulting in virus detection in areas that had been polio-free for years.The large unusual population movements were in part related to the repatriation of Afghan migrants,"underlined Jafari.

However the five cases reported are not clustered and are reported from five different districts of two provinces.

"Natural disasters including torrential rains, heat waves, and flooding create a snowball effect where internal displacement results in low vaccine uptake while poor sewage allows entry of polio virus in the water reservoirs. Lack of clean drinking water forces people to drink unhygienic water, increasing the risks,"Dr Fareeha Irfan, a public health physician and expert in policy working with the Punjab healthcare commission, told DW.

Experts warned that there could be a spike in polio cases ahead and the risks of the virus resurging in high-risk areas is real.

"The persistent detection of poliovirus in environmental samples and sporadic cases will delay the interruption of transmission beyond the timeline of end 2024, and will likely get pushed to the next low season in the first half of 2025,"asserted Jafari.

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Molodecky agrees."As poliocontinues to move out of the core reservoirs during this high transmission season, we may see an increased case burden outside of these historic reservoir areas," the health expert said.

Despite a remarkable progress in the global effort to eradicate the cripplingvirus, both Pakistan and Afghanistan continueto combatsporadic outbreaks, particularly in remote regions with disrupted access to healthcare services.

"The programin Pakistan hasreached a high level of sophistication and possesses the resilience, capabilities, resourcesand support needed to finish the job," affirmedJafari.

Diversion of resources, human and infrastructural, to matters deemed more important have been responsible in the past for an uptick in polio cases.

"Vaccine hesitancy always underscores a suboptimal uptake of vaccines in Pakistan, and while the trend was limited to a less educated strata of the society, now even educated families are reluctant to get their children vaccinated, especially with oral vaccines,"said Dr Irfan.

Experts suggest that urgent and diligent work to end polio must continue throughout this yearto carefully identify and remap migrants and all unvaccinated children.

"We must ensure these missed children are vaccinated to stem outbreaks and ensure historic reservoirs,the major population hubs that were free of polio for more than two years, stop the virus as soon as possible,"suggested Jafari.

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The pattern of virusdetections strongly suggests that populations living in bordering districts are contributing to the persistence and spread of the virus.

"When we are talking about sources versus sinks of virusthe source of virus is typically our historic reservoirsso tackling things at the source is critical for sustained success. We know how to clear poliofrom these areas and have done it before,"underlined Molodecky.

"Greater coordination and collaboration of efforts along border areasof Afghanistan and Pakistan,known as 'virus corridors,' is essential in the coming months,"stressed Jafari.

Edited by: John Silk

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As polio cases rise in Pakistan, is there a way out? - DW (English)

Staff members unload the 2nd batch of the Sinovac vaccine donated by China at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 in Manila, the Philippines on March 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Some commentators in the Philippines pointed out that if the United States launched such a secret disinformation campaign to discredit Chinese vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, it could well be running another round to portray China as a "bully" in the South China Sea.

MANILA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- People around the world are "indignant" about the reported U.S. military's secret psychological warfare of discrediting Chinese vaccines, a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has said in a statement.

The U.S. military's actions lay bare the hypocrisy, malign intention and double standards of the United States, according to the statement released on Tuesday.

China, as a responsible major country, provided global public goods such as vaccines to other countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, the statement said.

China was the first to provide COVID-19 response supplies and vaccines to the Philippines, it said, adding that China and the Philippines have been mutually supportive and cooperative against the onslaught of the disease, making important contributions to the world's final victory over the pandemic.

However, the cooperation was not as smooth as it was supposed to be due to obstruction and sabotage by a third country and certain forces, the statement said.

"Of course, such a plot doomed to failure as it went against the interests of the Chinese and Filipino peoples," it said.

While talking about respecting human rights frequently, the United States does just the opposite regarding the fundamental human rights of life and health of the Filipino people, the statement said.

While reaffirming its so-called ironclad commitment to its allies all the time, when it comes to the critical moment of fighting the pandemic together, the United States always pursued the policy of America First, exploiting the vulnerability of the Filipino people for its ulterior geopolitical motives, it said.

"By denying access to Chinese assistance, and in defiance of the global public opinion, the United States dares to spread rumors and spin stories on major global public health issues including the vaccine," it said.

"We hope that the United States will behave the way it claims to be, and stop fabricating and spreading disinformation against other countries. It is expected to shoulder responsibility of a major country, truly respect the effort of other countries in safeguarding people's health, well-being and peace and stability of the region," the statement said.

Some commentators in the Philippines pointed out that if the United States launched such a secret disinformation campaign to discredit Chinese vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, it could well be running another round to portray China as a "bully" in the South China Sea.

In response to such remarks, the Chinese embassy in the Philippines said that the Chinese and Filipino people "should remain highly vigilant and clear-eyed, resist being taken in by disinformation and inflammatory rhetoric, define their own fate and protect China-Philippines relations as well as peace and stability in the South China Sea."

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People worldwide "indignant" at U.S. psychological warfare of discrediting Chinese vaccines: embassy - Xinhua