Covid’s war on women – Politico
Posted: May 1, 2020 at 3:45 am
COVIDS WAR ON WOMEN During this plague year, there is almost never good news, only degrees of bad news. Even so, the pandemic has been different (and worse) for girls and women.
Its true that more men are dying than women from Covid-19 around the world but thats not exactly cause for celebration.
Another ambivalent data point: More workplace risk is falling on women, who are more likely to be considered essential workers. The upside to that is still having a job, but at what price? Swedens Foreign Minister Ann Linde pointed out today in a POLITICO interview that 70 percent of those working in health care and elderly care are women.
More of the daily grind tends to fall, on average, on women: From the increased cleaning and chores that come with more time spent in the home, which falls disproportionately to so many female household members, to the extra education and childcare work created through closures of school and day care, where men have also been known, on average, to skimp.
The real-life examples are heartbreaking: Alice Jorge, a woman living with a disability in Belgium who needs support from her sister and a visiting nurse, was recently asked to choose between keeping her Covid-19 positive caregiver or going without professional care. Three women bound to suffer no matter what choices they took.
Domestic violence is up sharply: A new research report by a consortium that includes Johns Hopkins University confirms this: 31 million additional cases of gender-based violence can be expected globally if lockdowns last for an average of six months.
Travel to shelters may be restricted, and a simple phone call to a helpline can itself trigger new violence. Support services are overwhelmed with requests: from a 47 percent increase in calls to Spains national hotline to a 113 percent spike at U.N.-supported hotlines in Ukraine.
We can expect 7 million unplanned pregnancies in 144 low- and middle-income countries, thanks in part to restricted access to contraception, not to mention the 2 million female genital mutilations and countless child marriages projected to increase by the United Nations population agency. The pandemic is deepening inequality, UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem said, slamming the Swiss cheese of a safety net she sees in most countries.
Kanem speaks of childbirth horror stories: pregnant women unable to access caesarian procedures (many of which are unplanned) or blood pressure medication because of redeployed health care resources, or the woman gets to the clinic (and) the midwife isnt there, because theyre also redeployed or sick. Up to two-thirds of maternal and neonatal deaths globally occur because of the absence of properly trained midwives in better times.
During World War II, women on the U.S. homefront think Rosie the Riveter entered the workforce out of a call to sacrifice for the common good. During this pandemic, women are being called back but this time to the frontlines.
Welcome to POLITICO Nightly: Coronavirus Special Edition. Of course Matthew McConaugheys mask says just keep livin. Reach out with tips: [emailprotected] or on Twitter at @renurayasam.
A message from PhRMA:
In these unprecedented times, Americas biopharmaceutical companies are coming together to achieve one shared goal: beating COVID-19. We are working with governments and insurers to ensure that when new treatments and vaccines are approved, they will be available and affordable for patients. Explore our efforts.
THE COVID DOCTRINE For much of the nations 100 days at war with the coronavirus, Donald Trump has been a commander in chief in search of an exit strategy, Adam Cancryn writes. The president has promised the virus will simply disappear, touted unproven treatments as miracle cures and fantasized about a near future of economic resurgence and rapid return to normalcy. Yet as the White House shifts its focus away from the public health response and toward rebuilding an economy ravaged by the pandemic, there remains little clear sense even within his own administration of how close the U.S. is to victory, and what winning the war even looks like.
PINS AND NEEDLES Our executive health editor Joanne Kenen emails: Theres some good news on the vaccine front including word that the country is getting a new vaccine leader. Peter Marks has emerged as the Trump administrations unofficial vaccine czar (minus the cross and pearls) at the FDA, filling in the gap created by the abrupt ouster of Rick Bright from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Marks will advise BARDA and other agencies on vaccine and gene therapy approval, health care reporter Sarah Owermohle reports.
News of Marks growing involvement comes amid a spate of heartening though still, we cant emphasize enough, very preliminary news about vaccine development, here and abroad. Oxford has a candidate vaccine thats safe in humans; its still testing whether it can create a strong enough immune response to combat the coronavirus. Three other companies have announced accelerations of clinical trials, though widespread availability in the best possible scenario is still months away.
Even if we get a vaccine, Joanne writes, big questions have to be answered.
Who gets it second? First responders will get it first. But how are we going to define a first responder? Anyone who works at a hospital? Only doctors and nurses? Doctors in the community? Police? Firefighters? The military?
But then who gets it second? The elderly and immune compromised because they are vulnerable? The young and healthy because they transmit it? Essential workers because theyre essential? The well-connected? And who decides?
Its possible several vaccines will come on the market at around the same time in different countries, so there could be multiple answers to this question. But this is going to be a huge bioethical knot, colliding with geopolitics. Theres no guarantee that a U.S. company will get to market first and if the World Health Organization has a role in vaccine allocation, we can anticipate some obvious conflicts.
How effective is it? If we get a good but not great vaccine like the seasonal flu shots it will still reduce transmission, but it wont wipe out the virus completely. Well still have to deal with Covid-19, though on a more manageable scale.
Who pays for it? Even if insurers, governments or, in countries other than our own, national health systems pay for immunization, the costs can be passed on indirectly through higher taxes or higher premiums.
How much does it cost? Some of the companies say they dont plan to make a profit, but vaccines are expensive. In the U.S., Trump has largely shunned national approaches, leaving states to fend for themselves as they try to acquire lab testing supplies, protective gear, ventilators and other essential pandemic-fighting goods. A similarly fragmented approach could make vaccine acquisition more expensive and complicated.
How do we make enough of it? One of BARDAs roles is to help ramp up production, and theyve started addressing this. But to make 7 billion vaccines, enough for everyone around the globe, will require commitment, creativity and cooperation that the world hasnt been very good at of late.
How fast will poor countries get access? Good question.
Will the anti-vaxxers take it? Well see. Best guess is that some will, and some wont, because not everybody who opposes vaccines does so for the same reasons or with the same intensity. Some people who dont want their child to get a measles shot may weigh the costs and the benefits differently for a coronavirus vaccine. Amid rising fears of bioterrorism after 9/11, a poll found deep but not overwhelming support for a smallpox vaccination campaign. But that was a hypothetical threat. This one is all too real.
A SMALL BREAKTHROUGH More than three decades ago, researchers made their first big breakthrough against HIV, when they showed that the drug AZT could slow the progression of the virus. Its a moment that Anthony Fauci compared to todays results about the drug remdesivir, which a clinical trial showed could help Covid patients recover more quickly.
Faucis reference to AZT was a bit like a secret code, Sarah Owermohle tells us. He was suggesting that the remdesivir results were a breakthrough, but a modest one. AZT is the shorthand for azidothymidine, a drug that won FDA approval in March 1987, when HIV patients were desperate for any treatment even one with rough side effects that was dogged by questions about whether it actually extended life. It took another decade before the development of drugs that turned HIV from a death sentence into a chronic condition.
HIV and Covid-19 are complex, but distinctly different, viruses, and drug development times are a lot faster now than they were in the 1980s and 90s. But Faucis implication was clear: Remdesivir could be a good first step in fighting Covid, but probably isnt a miracle drug.
A SICK ECONOMY The U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8 percent annual rate last quarter as the pandemic shut down much of the country. A huge percentage of the decline came from the health care industry, with a halt in elective procedures harming profits.
CLAIMS DENIED As businesses in Georgia, Texas and other states throw open their doors, many employees are scared that their employers arent taking proper health precautions. Yet if they refuse offers to return to their jobs theyll be ineligible for unemployment, reporter Megan Cassella tells us.
Trump has declared meatpacking plants essential businesses even as they spawn outbreaks across the country. Frontline health workers are having trouble getting masks, gloves, gowns and other protection equipment, so what hope do nail salons and restaurants have of getting the gear they need?
But for now, Covid fears arent a valid reason not to go back to work.
Some states are trying to take steps so that workers who feel unsafe arent forced to choose a paycheck over their health. Colorado and New York are looking at how to give workers more flexibility. In Georgia, the state labor agency is encouraging employers to negotiate back-to-work plans with employees so that if a business partially reopens, workers who feel unsafe can continue to collect unemployment. In Texas, advocates are asking the workforce commission to add voluntarily leaving work due to COVID-19 as a valid reason to claim assistance.
But other states, like South Carolina and Tennessee, are telling workers they will lose unemployment aid the same week they turn down an offer.
Even in boom times, states reject a high share of unemployment claims. Well probably learn Thursday that another 3.5 million people filed for unemployment assistance last week. Thats on top of the 26 million whove already lost their jobs in the past five weeks.
Our question for readers this week: Seeing any interesting, fun or meaningful signs related to the coronavirus? Snap a photo sometime this week and send it to Renu at [emailprotected], and well share the best ones on Friday.
GRAND OLD PACHYDERM Matt Wuerker dives into an old question on partisan symbols in the latest edition of Punchlines: Why is the elephant the symbol of the Republican Party?
MASS HYSTERIA Italian politicians clash with the Catholic clergy at their own peril, and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has risked doing just that by keeping churches closed because of coronavirus. The prime minister's decision to extend the ban on all religious ceremonies until further notice, except for funerals, has infuriated religious officials. When the lockdown started, most priests quietly accepted the need to suspend services and found alternative ways to connect with their flocks, such as holding ceremonies by video or taking confession by the roadside. But now that other places are gradually reopening, the clergy don't see why they should be last on the list.
82,000
The number of job losses forecast in the bus industry, according to a report released last week by the American Bus Association. The industry could see losses of up to $14 billion. Many of the 3,000 private bus companies in the U.S. are small, serving a range of uses from taking kids to school, sporting events and field trips, ferrying seniors on weekend getaways and connecting small towns with major destinations. (h/t transportation reporter Tanya Snyder)
Portuguese army chief of staff Gen. Jos Nunes da Fonseca attends a briefing of school workers on disinfection procedures. | Armando Franca/AP Photo
DEEP FRIED STATE Belgium, the North Sea homeland of moules frites and mayonnaise, is the world's biggest exporter of frozen fries, but it has been hammered by the pandemics trade slowdown. The Belgian potato industry has warned that more than 750,000 tons of potatoes could be thrown away more than 40 percent of the harvest. And though Belgium's potato industry has urged patriots to take a high-calorie hit for the team by heading down to their local friteries twice a week to help reduce the spud surplus, it's increasingly clear that 11 million Belgians won't be able to handle the deep-fried mission alone. With restaurants and bars closed, and large summer events canceled, fries wont be as ubiquitous as they often are this summer. "Our entire sector is facing a big crisis. We don't just invite all Belgians to eat more fries, but the entire world," said Ward Claerbout from Agristo, a potato processing company in the west of Belgium.
Correction: Tuesdays edition of POLITICO Nightly incorrectly stated which tracks Iowa will open without spectators. The state will reopen certain race tracks without spectators but not horse and dog tracks. We regret the error.
A message from PhRMA:
In these unprecedented times, Americas biopharmaceutical companies are coming together to achieve one shared goal: beating COVID-19. The investments weve made have prepared us to act swiftly: Working with governments and insurers to ensure that when new treatments and vaccines are approved, they will be available and affordable for patients Coordinating with governments and diagnostic partners to increase COVID-19 testing capability and capacity Protecting the integrity of the pharmaceutical supply chain and keeping our plants open to maintain a steady supply of medicines for patientsExplore our efforts.
Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.
Read the original here:
Covid's war on women - Politico
- Gene Therapy Could Prevent Blindness [Last Updated On: June 10th, 2010] [Originally Added On: June 10th, 2010]
- Gene Brodland Sits with Cambridge Who's Who in a Revealing Interview [Last Updated On: June 16th, 2010] [Originally Added On: June 16th, 2010]
- Researchers Make Colon Cancer Breakthrough [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2010] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2010]
- Pro abortion- Antiabortion myth8 - Fly to India for safe abortion! [Last Updated On: October 16th, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 16th, 2010]
- New Fertility Test / Whooping Cough Alert / Gene Therapy for Depression [Last Updated On: October 21st, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 21st, 2010]
- Alzheimer's Breakthrough? [Last Updated On: October 23rd, 2010] [Originally Added On: October 23rd, 2010]
- Audio Genetics Lab - Native Flute - MP3Tera Forums [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2010] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2010]
- Gene Therapy - Cortical Studios [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2011]
- There Shall Be Physicians for the Spirit: USC Institute for Genetic Medicine Art Gallery [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2011]
- IRRI: Rice genetic diversity and discovery [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2011]
- Research Symposium: Mork Depart - 2006 - Video 1 [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2011]
- Mendelian Genetics [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2011]
- Ayurveda [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2011]
- Drs. Kaspar and MacKenzie discuss the promise and path forward for SMA Gene Therapy [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2011]
- 3. Genetic Engineering [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2011]
- Prof. Martinez Cruzado Lecture Part 3 "Amerindian Gene Study In Puerto Rico" [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2011]
- Gene Therapy Research Makes Nationwide Children's Worthy of Wellstone Center [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2011]
- Gene Therapy Example [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2011]
- Sweet Tooth Gene [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2011]
- OHSU's video of new gene therapy method developed at the Oregon National Primate Research Center [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2011]
- Gregor Mendel's Punnett Squares [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2011]
- Ethical Concerns With Genetic Engineering [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2011]
- Dr. Laura Niklason on the importance of her AFAR grants for telomerase gene therapy research [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2011]
- What is the future of genetic medicine? [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2011]
- Prof. Martinez Cruzado Lecture Part 2 "Amerindian Gene Study In Puerto Rico" [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2011]
- Jewish DNA - Genetic Research and The Origins of the Jewish People [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2011]
- Future of genetic engineering - by Futurist Dr Patrick Dixon. Genetic mutations and genetic disorders. Gene science by conference keynote speaker [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2011]
- annstewart82's Genetic Medicine and God [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2011]
- Genetic research could unlock breeding seasons in sheep [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2011]
- Genetics 101 Part 1: What are genes? [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2011]
- Molecular and Cellular Foundations of Medicine, 1 of 2 [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2011]
- Dan Arking of Johns Hopkins Medicine [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2011]
- Genetics : How Is Gene Therapy Done? [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- Gene Therapy Shows Promise for Blindness [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- Tomato suicide gene therapy [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- Cancer Alternative Treatment - Gene Therapy for Cancer a Report from Channel 4 News [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- Muscular Dystrophy Gene Therapy: ScienCentral News Video [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- Sickle Cell Anemia -- Hope from Gene Therapy [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- Challenges of gene therapy [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- Pain Gene Therapy [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- Gene therapy success 'reverses' blindness [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- DNA Gene Therapy [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- The Neural Circuitry of Perception [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- Resetting Metabolism- Nuclear Receptors and AMPK: A Lecture by Ronald Evans, PhD [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- Islands at Risk (Part 2) - Genetic Engineering in Hawai'i [Last Updated On: May 19th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 19th, 2011]
- Gene Therapy journal videocast from ASGCT 2011 Xiao Xiao on gene therapy for muscular dystrophy [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2011]
- HYBRID HUMANS-Hair Follicle Gene Therapy [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2011]
- Genetics 101 Part 4: What is phenotype? [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2011]
- Lloyd Pye - Ancient Genetic Engineering [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2011]
- Study Designs: Genetic Association Studies [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2011]
- Gene Therapy for Genetic Disease: The Long and Winding Road [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2011]
- Introduction to Population Genetics [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2011]
- Islands at Risk (Part 1) - Genetic Engineering in Hawai'i [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2011]
- Genetics Based Research on Treatment-Resistant Epilepsy [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2011]
- Science in Action: Gene Therapy for Color Blindness [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2011]
- Gregg Semenza of Johns Hopkins Medicine on HIF 1 [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2011]
- The Sleepiness Gene [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2011]
- Blind Gene Therapy [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2011]
- Richard Dawkins and Dr Yan on genetic ancestry (extended version) - Bang Goes the Theory - BBC One [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2011]
- Joshua Mendell of Johns Hopkins Medicine [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2011]
- Genetic/Genomic Faculty Champion Initiative (PM session) [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2011]
- euronews science - Epigenetics [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2011]
- The Genetic Age, Panel 1 [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2011]
- Biobanking and Bioethics: When Genetics Research Hits the Courts [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2011]
- Gene Therapy journal videocast from ASGCT 2011 Darren Wolfe on gene therapy for pain.m4v [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- Genetics 101 Part 3: Where do your genes come from? [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- ASHG 2010 Mtg.: "Complex Disease Genetics Research in Populations" (Dr. Carlos Bustamente) [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- Public Talk - Prof Leonard Seymour, Oxford [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- A New Era in Medicine: Genetics [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- Genetic Engineering Animation [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- Linda Brzustowicz - Genetic Causes of Schizophrenia [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- Hadassah Gene Therapy Center [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- Gene Therapy journal videocast from ASGCT 2011 Robin Ali on gene therapy for retinal disease [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- UF cardiologists study gene-modified stem cells to help Dobermans with common heart condition [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- Akhilesh Pandey of Johns Hopkins Medicine [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- China's Cancer Drug - China [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2011]
- Genetic Therapy Restored Boy's Sight [Last Updated On: May 24th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 24th, 2011]
- Molecular and Cellular Foundations of Medicine Class, 2 of 2 [Last Updated On: May 24th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 24th, 2011]
- Talking Research - Professor George Ebers - Vitamin D and genetics in MS [Last Updated On: May 24th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 24th, 2011]
- Designing Humanity - Genetic Engineering [Last Updated On: May 30th, 2011] [Originally Added On: May 30th, 2011]