YouTube will block all anti-vaccine content, moving beyond its ban on false information about the COVID vaccines to include content that contains misinformation about other approved vaccines, it said in a blog post on Wednesday.

Examples of content that won’t be allowed on YouTube include claims that the flu vaccine causes infertility and that the MMR shot, which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella, can cause autism, according to YouTube’s policies.

The online video company owned by Alphabet is also banning channels associated with several prominent anti-vaccine activists including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Joseph Mercola, a YouTube spokesperson said.

A press email for Mercola’s website said in a statement: “We are united across the world, we will not live in fear, we will stand together and restore our freedoms.”

Kennedy said in a statement: “There is no instance in history when censorship and secrecy has advanced either democracy or public health.”

The moves come as YouTube and other tech giants like Facebook and Twitter have been criticised for not doing enough to stop the spread of false health information on their sites.

But even as YouTube takes a tougher stance on misinformation, it faces backlash around the world. On Tuesday, Russian state-backed broadcaster RT’s German-language channels were deleted from YouTube, as the company said the channels had breached its COVID-19 misinformation policy.

Russia on Wednesday called the move “unprecedented information aggression,” and threatened to block YouTube.

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Most Organizations Still Trying to Determine a Testing Strategy for Unvaccinated Employees

Figure 1. Percent of Executives Anticipating Organizational Vaccine Mandate

Source: Gartner (September 2021)

Geneva, Switzerland, 10 September 2021: A new survey found a majority of fully vaccinated adults would get a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot if offered, but think priority should be given to people who have not had a first dose.

The latest World Economic Forum/Ipsos survey was conducted at the end of August in 13 countries and included 9,521 adults under the age of 75, of whom nearly 6,000 had received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The World Health Organization has called for a pause on COVID-19 vaccine booster to narrow the gap in vaccinations between countries.

Genya Dana, Head, Health & Healthcare at the World Economic Forum said: “It is vital we work to close the gap between those with access to vaccines and those without. COVID-19 highlighted how vaccination is by far the most effective public health intervention to protect populations from disease and it is crucial that robust vaccination infrastructure is deployed in every country on earth.

Dr Dana continued: “At least 60% of world’s population needs to be vaccinated by 2022 to get the current pandemic under control – but the issue of equity and access must be front and centre of this effort. With only 0.4% of current doses administered in low-income countries, this crisis will keep multiplying. We need to redouble our efforts to get vaccines to everyone who hasn’t had one yet.”

Boosters likely needed

The survey shows a widespread belief that COVID-19 vaccine booster shots will be needed at least annually to maintain protection against the disease. The expectation was highest in Mexico, Brazil and the United Kingdom, but lowest in Russia.

The survey also showed that a majority of adults who have had two doses of COVID-19 vaccine would get a booster shot if they were offered. Intent to get a booster shot was highest in Brazil (96%), Mexico (93%) and China (90%) and lowest in Russia (62%) and Italy (66%).

About the survey: The survey was conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online platform, August 26-30, 2021, among adults 18-74 years of age in Canada and the United States, and 16-74 in Australia, Brazil, China (mainland), France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

An analysis of GlobalData’s Company Interim Reports Database reveals that 21 companies out of the list reported a decline in their revenue, 20 could manage slow to moderate growth of up to 10%, and only nine companies experienced above 10% growth rate. The list included 29 companies from China, out of which 24 registered year-on-year growth.

Alisha Bajpai Singh, Company Profiles Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The performance of most of the Chinese companies improved during the period, which mitigated the overall impact of the pandemic, which could have been worse.”

The consolidated revenue of the Chinese enterprises grew 0.4%, followed by Taiwan (5.2%). However, India, South Korea, and Japan reported a decline of (15.2%), (3.8%), and (6.6%), respectively.

Chinese retailing and construction firms drove the growth in the revenue, with 34.7% and 10.1% annual growth, respectively.

Ms Singh explains: “China’s economic recovery has been quicker than that of other countries, supported by its stringent and swift measures in controlling the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to the better performance of Chinese enterprises compared to others.”

Among the top 50, Alibaba posted the maximum growth of 40.7%, facilitated by strong performance from China commerce retail and cloud computing business segments.

Ms Singh continues: “Increase in average unit price per click and volumes of paid clicks, and substantial growth in gross merchandise value of online physical goods in China retail marketplace helped Alibaba achieve such an exceptional y-o-y revenue growth.”

Among the Japanese firms, only Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc reported a growth of above 10%, due to higher investment income and reinsurance income; while Sony Corp could manage a moderate growth of 9%, supported by improvement in its financial services business.

In South Korea, Hyundai Motor and SK Inc were affected by the pandemic with a decline of 2.8% and 17.4% in revenue. However, Samsung Electronics was able to enhance its revenue because of accelerated sales of consumer electronics and semiconductor offerings.

On the sectoral basis, financial services topped the list with 15 companies, followed by technology and communication (8), oil and gas (7), construction, (7), automotive (5), retailing (4), and consumer (1), and others (3).

Ms Singh concludes: “The COVID-19 pandemic has forced companies across the APAC region to re-evaluate business strategies to capture new marketplace opportunities. As firms redefine success in the post-pandemic era, GlobalData foresees them developing a rapid response to support business continuity through the crisis and beyond.”

“Mix-and-match of vaccines will definitely not cause a safety issue”

“Wearing mask properly and actively encouraging everyone to get vaccinated are the two biggest weapons to control further waves”

Priya Abraham, National Institute of Virology Director speaks on scientific developments on COVID-19

ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune has been working on a war-footing for the whole of last one year.  “2021 was a difficult but rewarding year for us”, said Ms. Priya Abraham, Director of ICMR-NIV, which has been at the forefront of scientific research on SARS-CoV-2 in the country. in an interview with India Science, the OTT channel of the Department of Science & Technology.

Giving a quick overview of vaccine development process carried out at the institute which has been at the forefront of scientific research on SARS-CoV-2 in the country, she explained: “We quickly isolated and gave a strain to Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) by the end of April (2020), after which they developed a whole virion-inactivated vaccine in the month of May and gave us back for review.  We checked it for its complete inactivation, did its complete characterisation and started pre-clinical trials on hamsters and non-human primates, that is, monkeys. Those are very difficult experiments to do. These were conducted in our highest Bio-Safety Level-4 level containment facilities.  In the next phase, we assisted them in the Phase I, II and III clinical trials in areas such as diagnostic aspect and laboratory support”.

Here are some excerpts from the interview on the scientific developments related to COVID-19, an analysis on the future of the pandemic and some common queries related to the virus.

In which stage is the trial of Covaxin on children running and by when can we expect to have vaccine for children? 

Presently, Phase II and III trials of COVAXIN are going on for children in the age group of 2-18 years. Hopefully, the results are going to be available very soon. The results will be presented to the regulators. So, by September or just after it, we may have COVID-19 vaccines for children. This apart, Zydus Cadila’s vaccine trial is also going on. This can also be applied for children and will be made available.

Apart from these, what other vaccines can be made available for our citizens?

Zydus Cadila’s vaccine will be the first DNA vaccine which will be available for use. Besides, there is Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd.’s m-RNA vaccine, Biological-E vaccine, Serum Institute of India’s Novovax and, another interesting one – an intra-nasal vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech International Limited. This vaccine does not require a jab and can be delivered through nostrils.

Will any of the presently available vaccines be effective on Delta-Plus variant?

First of all, the Delta-plus variant is less likely to spread than the Delta variant itself. Mainly Delta variant is present in over 130 countries. It has spread all over the world and it is this variant which is highly transmissible. In NIV we have done studies on this variant. We have studied the antibodies produced in the bodies of vaccinated people and checked it against this variant. It has been found that efficacy of antibodies against this variant has been reduced two to three folds.  Yet, the vaccines are still protective against the variants. They may show a little less efficacy, but vaccines are very important to prevent serious forms of disease due to which patients may get hospitalized and even die. So, whatever the variant, vaccine is till now protective against all, including the Delta variant. So, there should not be any hesitancy at all.

Are we going to require a booster dose in the coming times? Is any study being conducted on this matter?

Studies on booster dose have been going on overseas and at least seven different vaccines have been tried out for booster dose. Now, WHO has put a stop to it till more countries catch up with vaccination. This is because there is an alarming vaccine gap between high-income and low-income countries. But, in future, recommendations for boosters will definitely come.

Are studies also on for mix and match of vaccines? Will it be beneficial for us?

There was a situation where inadvertently two different vaccines were given in two doses. We have tested those samples at NIV and found that the patients who received different vaccines in two doses were safe. No adverse effect was noted and immunogenicity was a little better. So, it is definitely not something which will cause a safety issue. We are studying this phenomenon and will be able to give more details in a few days’ time.

Has any new COVID-19 testing method emerged that gives better results and can be trusted more?

Hospitals and laboratories were overwhelmed by the huge number of cases during the second wave. Many of their staff members were infected. So, efficiency of testing had reduced during that time. There was a shortage of reagents also. All these affected the efficacy of testing. RT-PCR testing method is by itself only about 70% sensitive. But it is still recommended by WHO. But, in the future we may see easier and quicker ‘point-of-care’ tests where we need not send samples to labs.

Please tell us about ICMR developed RT-LAMP Test

RT-LAMP assay produced by ICMR is a cost-effective assay. It does not require expensive equipment or extensive training and can also be done at Primary Health Centres in districts. These kinds of quick and fast tests which can be done in technologically not so advanced places will become more popular in the future.

Self-testing kits have also come in markets now. Will it further pace up testing?

Self-testing kits are antigen testing kits and so, their sensitivity is inferior to RT-PCR method. The sensitivity is likely to be more in symptomatic patients.  But, for asymptomatic patients, the sensitivity will be less.

Can people infected by Bird-Flu or Zika Virus become susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection?

Bird Flu and Zika Virus are unrelated to Coronavirus. But one commonality between HINI Bird Flu or Swine Flu Virus and SARS-CoV-2 is that their spread is prevented by good use of masks, physical distancing, hand hygiene and cough etiquette. All these viruses spread through the respiratory route. Thus, by following COVID Appropriate Behaviour we can limit the spread of all these viruses. However, Zika Virus spreads through mosquito bites.

Do chances of COVID-19 infection increase during monsoon?

Yes, viral infections like Dengue, Chikangunya and Zika Virus infections that spread through mosquito bites are going to increase during monsoon. Accumulated water should not be kept in the surroundings as mosquitoes breed in it. It will be worse to have corona infection on top of these infections which spread through mosquito bites.

Many images of crowded places are circulating in media. How much harm can this irresponsible behaviour cause?

Definitely, this will be a problem and we will be ‘inviting’ the next wave. Dr. Tedros A. Ghebreyusus, DG of WHO says, “The pandemic will end when we choose to end it. It is in our hands.” It means that we have to be careful. Especially in the upcoming festival season, we should not indulge in crowding because that is how the virus will spread.

Is it possible that no other wave will come?

New variants will keep on coming. We have two weapons which are the biggest protection. These are: wearing mask properly and actively encouraging everyone to get vaccinated. Then even if a wave comes, it will not be a big one.

We all know that one person who means well and has good intentions but doesn’t have the best communication skills. Perhaps, it’s a politician or a world leader that you know. They’ll tell you to do something because it’s for your own good and that if you don’t do it voluntarily, there’s an imminent danger that bad things will happen.

And at the very least, even if you don’t become ill, even if you are asymptomatic, you can become an active spreader of something that can potentially harm many other people, possibly those who are close to you.

Getting your COVID-19 vaccine is called being proactive. Wearing your mask is acting responsibly.

We don’t always like listening to people of authority, especially when we are asked to do something that doesn’t have immediately visible, tangible benefits. Doing things proactively, such as getting a COVID-19 vaccine and wearing a mask, requires having faith in someone being supplied with superior knowledge and expertise, such as a world leader or public health expert.

However, as we know, not everyone in a position of authority and possessing subject matter expertise is so polished they can package a message like this and make it palatable to every end-user.

With its Windows 11 rollout, Microsoft is not entirely different from that unpolished world leader or politician. Its communication skills have left room for improvement related to this significant and critical Windows upgrade. That’s something I think everyone covering this industry can agree on.

We know it means well, we know it has the expertise, but people will still challenge it and get all huffy when they are being told that Windows 11 is an essential upgrade related to securing the PC platform from advanced malware threats.

But to take advantage of the new security capabilities that shield you from these threats, your PC hardware needs to be able to support it. And that is not a message people want to hear.

Unfortunately, many legacy PCs, regardless of what antivirus solutions they may run and regardless of how functional and how fast they still run their application workloads, are highly vulnerable to these threats. And as they are not eligible for the Windows 11 upgrade, they are effectively immunocompromised.

Just like getting a COVID-19 vaccine and wearing a mask is proactive, so are the architectural changes required to upgrade to Windows 11. And in some cases, implementing those is going to need investment in new PC hardware. It will also require investing in further training and, potentially, some new deployment tools. It’s going to cost some money.

But as we know, implementing security changes in your large organization, small business, and consumer space is also not easy to sell. Anything that helps ensure business continuity and strengthen security resiliency from a threat that isn’t immediately visible will fall on deaf ears to all but the most cautious and conservative IT organizations, let alone end-users.

How many companies or individuals have we encountered as professionals that run their environments with no or untested backups, haven’t run a complete continuity and DR test in years, and then get burned for it? I mean, how many people did we know that ran with no antivirus or firewall for years before it was built into the foundational IT infrastructure because they didn’t want to pay for it or just felt it was a nuisance? I have dozens of stories as a former IT architect and consultant over my 30-year career to tell for this.

It’s tough to sell hardened security or any form of protection as the defining feature to the entire user population. So Windows 11 is also being released with an exciting new user interface to entice them to upgrade, whether by opting-in on hardware that can already accommodate the new OS or upgrading to new PCs.

Is this going to cost money to most organizations? Yes. Are a lot of end-user PCs going to need upgrades, costing people money? Yes. Spending money is painful, especially if we are talking about an upgrade to something strictly preventative in nature.

But do you know what is even more painful? A compromise — one which results in reputation loss, such as a publicly visible one that gets your organization on the news, such as a ransomware attack that holds all your IT assets hostage and stops your business cold for days.

Such an attack makes you and your company look stupid for not remediating it when it could have been prevented.

Best case scenario in this situation? Your customers think you’re a bunch of incompetent idiots. Worst case? Business-ending event.

The good news is that, like the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, you can get the first “shot” now. If your hardware supports the new secure boot, virtualization-based security (VBS), and Hypervisor-protected Code Integrity (Memory Integrity/Core Isolation) you can turn it on in Windows 10 today.

And when Windows 11 arrives in October or November, get that second shot. And if any of your systems aren’t eligible, replace them. Immediately. Because that’s the proactive and responsible thing to do.

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Organizations forming or revising in-person workplace policies face difficulties accounting for disparate attitudes to vaccination requirements, according to a recent survey by Gartner, Inc. In a June 2021 survey of 346 U.S. consumers, Gartner found that public attitudes to vaccine checks for entry vary depending on the setting.

Figure 1. Attitudes to Vaccine Requirements for Activities