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A wall in London commemorates people who died of COVID-19.Credit: Toby Melville/Alamy/Reuters
Lessons from the UK’s COVID strategy
England ended the legal requirements for social distancing and mask use on 19 July; the other nations in the United Kingdom followed over the next few months. As one of the first countries to trust high vaccine coverage and public responsibility alone to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the United Kingdom has become a control experiment that scientists across the world are studying.
Meanwhile, infectious-disease researcher Jeremy Farrar, the director of the major biomedical funder Wellcome, has quit the UK government's pandemic advisory body. He had previously said that he had “seriously considered resigning” over the government’s light-touch pandemic strategy in 2020. “The COVID-19 crisis is a long way from over,” he warned.
Nature | 6 min read & Sky News | 3 min read
Novavax vaccine authorized in Indonesia
Indonesia has given the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine its first emergency use authorization. The vaccine has been highly anticipated, in part because the shot relies on tried-and-tested protein-based technology and doesn’t need to be stored at extremely cold temperatures. It’s another success for the US Operation Warp Speed vaccine-development programme, which put US$1.75 billion into the development of the jab. The US biotechnology company says that it has already filed for similar authorization in the United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, Australia, India and the Philippines.
Associated Press | 3 min read & The New York Times | 3 min read
CDC approves COVID vaccine for young kids
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine can be given to children aged 5 to 11. The risk from COVID-19 “is too high and too devastating to our children and far higher than for many other diseases for which we vaccinate children”, says CDC director Rochelle Walensky. “Pediatric vaccination has the power to help us change all of that.”
Read more: What COVID vaccines for young kids could mean for the pandemic (Nature | 7 min read, from October)
COP26: A scientists’ guide
Around 500 passengers, among them activists and climate scientists, joined the Youth for Sustainable Travel journey to Glasgow.Credit: Rail to the COP
FEATURE
On board the COP train
On 30 October, a specially chartered train set off from Amsterdam to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Nature journalist Tosin Thompson was on board, and her journey offers a glimpse into the hopes and fears of researchers travelling to the meeting.
NEWS
Banks chime in to help hit net zero
Financial companies have pledged to dedicate US$130 trillion of assets to the transition to a net-zero carbon economy by 2050. The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) includes 450 banks, pension funds, insurers and asset managers from 45 countries. “We now have the essential plumbing in place to move climate change from the fringes to the forefront of finance,” says Mark Carney, the chair of GFANZ and the former governor of the Bank of England. However, some critics called the commitments “a mile wide and an inch deep”. GRANZ members still have large interests in fossil-fuel expansion, and the pledge doesn’t stop them from funding coal companies in the future.
The Financial Times | 5 min read
NEWS
Key news from COP today
More than 100 countries have joined a pledge to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels. The Global Methane Pledge was first proposed by the United States and the EU in September. The commitment includes countries that emit nearly half of all methane, but not the top three emitters: China, Russia and India. Although methane is a fraction of total greenhouse-gas emissions, dealing with it will pack an outsize punch: it is frighteningly good at trapping heat in Earth’s atmosphere, but it breaks down quickly. (BBC | 5 min read) Read more: Control methane to slow global warming — fast (Nature | 5 min read)
Forty countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, India, China and the EU, will band together to deliver clean and affordable technology across the globe by 2030. The plan will focus on five high-carbon sectors: power, steel, road transport, hydrogen and agriculture. The initiative, known as the Glasgow Breakthroughs, aims to solidify global markets for green tech by imposing worldwide standards and policies. (BBC | 4 min read)
The United States has rejoined the ‘High Ambition Coalition’ — a group of countries pushing for the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. “The High Ambition Coalition was instrumental in Paris in making sure that high ambition was written into the Paris agreement and will be instrumental in Glasgow in making sure it’s delivered,” said a US official. (The Guardian | 4 min read)
We are gathering our coverage of COP26 in this collection, featuring a scientists’ guide to what success looks like and what’s on the line (12 min read).
INFOGRAPHIC
Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy, 2021
The price of energy from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, has plummeted over the past decade. In many places, these sources are now cheaper than fossil fuels. In a report published on 13 October, the International Energy Agency projected that, under current policies, coal consumption will peak and begin to decline as early as 2025; a peak in oil consumption will follow around a decade later. (Nature | 12 min read)
See more of the week’s key infographics, selected by Nature’s news and art teams. (Source: BP Statistical Review of World Energy, 2021)
EVENT
Briefing reader get-together at COP26
I am hosting an informal in-person event for Briefing readers at COP in Glasgow. Please join me and fellow Nature journalists at the University of Glasgow on the evening of Wednesday, 10 November. This event is free, but please register in advance because places are limited.
Features & opinion
African scientists strive to test COVID drugs
With widespread vaccine coverage a distant dream in most African countries, scientists on the continent are keen to study whether affordable, readily available drugs can be repurposed to stave off a looming health disaster. But drug trials face numerous hurdles. Approvals can be slow to achieve because of strict regulatory regimes and authorities that are unskilled at navigating ethical and regulatory review. In some places, logistics and inadequate electrical supplies can stall progress once a trial starts. And recruiting trial participants can be difficult where people can’t afford to come to hospital or commit to a long-term trial.
Moving to industry — without your PI’s help
The career path from academia to industry can be a rocky one for junior researchers who meet resistance from principal investigators (PIs). “A lot of academicians tend to have this sort of stereotype of industry scientists being corporate sell-outs,” says cancer researcher Anders Ohman. Career advisers recommend that PhD-holders with their eye on an industry career approach discussions with a confident mindset. “The conversation has to be about what they want out of their career as opposed to PI expectations,” says career coach Tracy Costello. “You are the one in control of your career trajectory. Owning that is terrifying but necessary.”
