COVID-19 May 2021

WITS COVID-19 Update May 2021

May 2021

• The EMA now says Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine can be stored at standard fridge temperatures for up to a month after removal from freezers - previous advice was five days only.
• Essays on Equality – Covid-19: the road to a gender equal recovery. How can we achieve a feminist recovery to the pandemic?. An interesting essay collection from the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King's College London.
• How COVID-19 impacts women and girls. From UN Women.
• Women make up 70 per cent of health and social care workers. This puts them at the heart of the #COVID19 response, even though they are often underrepresented in decision-making and leadership. From UN Women.

April 2021

• Researchers Looking Into Link Between COVID Vaccine and Menstruation. From NBC Chicago via Prof Ita Richardson on Twitter.
• Impact of Covid-19 on Women in STEM. From Mothers in Science.
• Do we still need to wear masks outside? Use the 2-out-of-3 Rule: outdoors, distanced and masked. From the The New York Times via Orla Hegarty on Twitter.

• Covid-19 derails gender equality gains from European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).
• Vaccines alone will not stop COVID-19 spreading. From BBC News.
• Spain:‘frequent ventilation & disinfection of spaces’ From Orla Hegarty via Twitter.

March 2021

• New video animation of the message that about AEROSOLS as well as handwashing and the usual. From Professor Trish Greenhalg via Twitter. Do watch!
• Vaccines bring 6 benefits - disease control (less cases, less severe disease, herd immunity) and societal (safe return to work, travel and for healthcare systems). From Luke O'Neill via Twitter.
• When will the COVID-19 pandemic end? Interesting 26 March article from McKinsey & Company.
• How to wear a mask! From HSE Live via Twitter.

• COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker. This new Global Gender Tracker from the UNDP, UN Women & the Gender Inequality Research Lab (GIRL) at the University of Pittsburgh shows that women make up only 24% of the 225 national #COVID19 task forces created to oversee the pandemic response in 137 countries. Looks well worth exploring.
• COVID-19 and ventilation. Orla Hegarty shared this BMJ poster on Twitter.

• Alison O'Connor: Covid has reduced women to a 1950s gender stereotype. From the Irish Examiner.
• Echoing EIGE the latest Women in Work from PwC claims that the pandemic is reversing the steps made towards gender equality over the last decade. From Silicon Republic.
• Covid-19 derails gender equality gains. Latest newsletter details how the effects of the pandemic have hit women the hardest from European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).
• If you’ve been vaccinated, could you still spread the virus? Here’s what an expert says. From the WEF.

• Professor Sam McConkey: Ten steps we should take to rid Ireland of Covid for good. From The Journal.

February 2021

• What's actually in the COVID-19 vaccine? Analysis: here's a guide to the full list of ingredients in the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and what each one does. From RTE Brainstorm.
• To end the COVID-19 we need to use a range of vaccines, to suit different people and situations around the world.. But what are the different types and how do they work? From Wellcome.

• Image: Dr Ronan Glynn on Twitter. Please avoid meeting people outside your household. Our social bubble consists of everybody our entire bubble is in contact with. If you have 1 person in your bubble, but that person has 10 people in theirs, you've now got 11 people in your bubble
• Women bearing the brunt of COVID pain and drastic action is needed. From the Irish Examiner.
• Unequal burden: how the COVID-19 pandemic is adding to women’s workloads. From the World Economic Forum.
• A characteristically clear breakdown on what SARS-CoV-2 variants could mean for vaccines. From Stat.
• To get things done, reward cooperation instead of competition: Pfizer exec explains how it produced #COVIDー19 vaccine in record time. "When you get everybody pulling in the same direction with the same goal, it's like magic. Stuff really can happen fast." From Amy Diehl PhD via Twitter.
• Joggers and cyclists should wear masks if they can't maintain a physical distance from pedestrians. From Professor Trish Greenhalg in The Conversation.
• The risks and challenges of the global COVID-19 vaccine rollout. From McKinsey & Company.
• Vaccine Questions Ep2 - Crunching the numbers with Professor Philip Nolan. From the Royal Irish Academy.
• Benefits of clean air. Can we put a price on clean air? Yes, we can, From The World Economic Forum.
• The COVID-19 pandemic sharpens existing inequalities, including in access to healthcare. From UN Women.
• Everyday COVID mistakes we are all still making, especially failing to appreciate what ‘airborne’ really means. From The Guardian.

January 2021

• Excellent account of the issue of allergy to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine- risk is extremely low. From National Geographic via Luke O'Neill on Twitter.
• Enjoy this vaccine sea shanty! From Tim @acapellascience on Twitter.
• Meet Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett who developed the Moderna #COVID19 vaccine. A great role model for women in STEM.
• Why new COVID-19 variants are on the rise and spreading around the world. From The Conversation.
• Is the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine effective against COVID-19 mutations. Read what the scientists say. From The World Economic Forum.
• How do vaccines work? From the EU Commission.
• We can leave no one behind when tackling a pandemic. Find out why sex matters in immune responses & how the gender perspective improves #EpidemicPreparedness. From EU Science and Innovation.
• Dr Anna Wessesl Williams, a fascinating woman in STEM from the influenza pandemic of 1918. From Dr Michelle Oyen via Twitter.
• Great image about vaccines from Steve Silberman via Twitter.

December 2020

This month it's mostly about vaccines!

• Great thread on how vaccines work by WheatNOil. From Abeba Birhane via Twitter.
• COVID-19 vaccine development, great example of gender equality at work in science. From BBC.
• Remarkable efficacy with the Moderna vaccine- red line. 2 highly efficacious vaccines should be in Ireland soon. Tweet from Luke O’Neill.
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• How vaccines work from Dr Ronan Glynn – great video on Twitter from the Department of Health.
• How vaccines work, an interesting video from Rob Swanda an RNA biologist via Twitter.
• Great thread on vaccines from Cornelius Trass on Twitter.

Other COVID-19 news.

• Teen Turn continues to support girls across Ireland gaining experience in STEM despite COVID-19. From Tech Central.
• COVID-19 and gender-based violence from European Institute for Gender Equality. Grim reading.
• Working and managing COVID-19 images for use.

November 2020

Here's WITS current survey of COVID-19 articles and images.

• Megan O'Driscoll is a @UCC graduate in her 20s who has just published a first author paper in Nature. The paper is: Age-specific mortality and immunity patterns of SARS-CoV-2. Congratulations Megan. From Anthony O'Connor via Twitter.
• NWCI supports for women & COVID-19, this is a very useful list. Link.
• How is COVID-19 affecting our day-to-day behaviour? From The World Economic Forum.
• Aerosol transmission of Covid-19: A room, a bar and a classroom: how the coronavirus is spread through the air. Scroll down to see the changes over time. From El Pais English.
• Pfizer and Moderna are out front in the vaccine race. Both have RNA vaccines. This excellent video explains how RNA vaccines work. From Luke O'Neill via Twitter.
• Covid-19 and carbs: How coronavirus hides and attaches to cells. via The Irish Times.

Two great images: the relative size of particles from Luke O'Neill via Twitter and the difference of speaking with and without a mask the SFI Research Image of the Year 2020 from Dr Niall Smith of CIT.

September 2020

Research

• Keep up to date with COVID-19 research and policy with Brief19 a daily review of your daily roundup of SARS-CoV-2. It’s on Twitter @Brief_19.
• Understanding fluid mechanics is crucial to stopping the spread of the virus. From World Economic Forum.
• Fantastic work being done by scientists globally in so many areas to understand this virus. Great piece with a focus too on how technology is significantly speeding up the process and enabling capability. From Susan Treacy via Twitter.
• #ThinkBeforeSharing - Stop the spread of conspiracy theories. This is a new campaign from UNESCO to help us learn how to identify, debunk, react to and report on conspiracy theories to prevent their spread. Great set of infographics.

COVID-19 and Women in STEM

• Unequal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on scientists. A survey of >4500 scientists/PIs revealed that females, especially those with young children, experienced a substantial decline in time devoted to research during #COVID19. From Patricia Maguire via Twitter.
• What does COVID-19 mean for women across the world? From loss of reproductive & maternal health services, an increase in unpaid care work, fewer jobs, & a steep rise in domestic violence, the pandemic is rolling women’s rights back decades. From UN Development Programme.
• Dr Mary Murphy of @MU_Sociology explores gendered inequalities surrounding #COVID19 and how we can best "gender and equality-proof policy" in a post-pandemic Ireland. From TASC.

Staying safe

• Hand washing, social distancing and masks can stop most all of the Covid-19 pandemic, even without a vaccine or additional treatments. Essential we keep doing these. From Luke O’Neill via Twitter.
• How to protect yourself from coronavirus lingering in the air. From Luke O’Neill via Twitter.

• COVID risk chart with practical advice. From Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) via Twitter.
• What's the risk of COVID19 in classroom, office and bus ride? Ventilation is very important. Measure the risk of airborne COVID-19 in your office, classroom, or bus ride. From Luke O’Neill via Twitter.
• Key messages from @ACTually_Alyson's paper every public health official should know. From @Fi_Contextual.

Thanks to Laura K Finnegan for this coronavirus poster. Laura is a WITS member and won the 2019 Mary Mulvihill Award for her illustrated children's book of Irish scientists.