The Philippines Begins Vaccination Program Amid Public Distrust

On Monday, the Philippines began its inoculation campaign despite a deep public distrust in foreign-made vaccines after a scare in 2017 of severe disease linked to French drug maker Sanofi shots. The country, one of the last in Southeast Asia to receive them, secured 25 million doses the of the Sinovac vaccine, with another expected shipment of 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca being delayed.

In New Zealand, after discovering a single case of COVID-19, the country’s largest city of Auckland began its second lockdown in a month on Sunday. The lockdown is set to last for 7 days, and follows a 3 day stay-at-home order that occurred in mid-February. New Zealand has been largely praised for the way it has handled the ongoing pandemic, as the population of 5 million people has only experienced a little over 2,000 cases and just 26 deaths.

Additionally, on Saturday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the pharmaceutical company Janssen’s COVID-19 vaccine for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). The approval comes a few months after the FDA approved both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for use in the prevention of the disease. The company expects to supply 100 million doses through the first half of 2021.

Data Table per Our World in Data (March 1, 2021, 12 AM EST)

In the United States, the numbers of COVID-19 tests have been plummeting from a high in January. Experts have cited a number of reasons why this may be occurring, including fewer exposures, less travel, bad weather, vaccine rollout and pandemic fatigue.

Data Table per CDC COVID-19 Tracker (Feb 28, 2021, 6 AM EST)

For more information on COVID-19 vaccination research, distribution, and assessment, check out some of these recent Contagion stories:

Canada Authorizes AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccine

FDA VRBPAC Votes in Favor to Recommend EUA of Janssen’s COVID-19 Vaccine

FDA Eases Temperature Requirements for Pfizer, BioNTech's COVID-19 Vaccine