To better identify and prevent future pandemics, the University of Washington has become a partner in a five-year global, collaborative agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Image Credit: USAID/Flickr
The recent recognition of new COVID-19 variants, first detected in South Africa (B.1.135, 501Y.V2), Brazil (P1) and the UK (B.1.1.7) – and the variants’ potential to disrupt vaccine effectiveness and protection from prior COVID-19 infection – is an urgent concern that UWARN partners around the globe are collaborating on to understand.
This updated in-depth summary (previously released on December 21, 2020) is issued in response to new information that we received about updated definitions of aerosol particles that show that larger respiratory particles (<100 μm) can remain airborne for extended periods, and that in enclosed areas with poor ventilation, these aerosols containing infectious SARS-CoV-2 can spread beyond 6 feet and build up in a room. We apologize for not including this information in the earlier version of this summary.
The University of Washington MetaCenter for Pandemic Preparedness, a collaboration of scientific experts from 11 UW organizations, has announced today that the initiative will change its name and will be known as the UW Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness, effective immediately. The renaming reflects the evolution of the initiative and its vision for the future.