The latest coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic from Research Professional News
Europe
Science Foundation Ireland has used the disruption of the Covid-19 crisis to reform how it delivers money to researchers.
The concentration of academic and financial resources on Covid-19 research is negatively affecting scientific progress in other fields, a group of 19 science and medicine societies has written in an open letter.
Women lag behind men in both applications and grants, according to a gender analysis of funding published by France’s National Research Agency, the ANR.
The head of the EU’s medicines regulator has waded into a row over the safety of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, and warned that European governments that have paused its rollout risk undermining public trust in vaccination.
Several European governments that suspended use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine due to fears it could cause blood clots have announced that they will resume administering it, following recommendations by the European Medicines Agency.
UK
The global race to develop new and better vaccines against Covid-19 continues even as several jabs have already been approved and given to tens of millions of people around the world.
The government failed to provide sufficient explanation of the data underpinning key decisions during the Covid-19 pandemic, placing needless strain on public confidence, MPs have warned.
Australia and New Zealand
New Zealand’s Tertiary Education Union has said that its appeals to the government for help have been ignored.