Recovery, Renewal, Resilience

The pandemic has disrupted children and young people’s education, physical health, mental well-being, and social development. There is an abundance of evidence that shows how play is crucial for children’s “health, their physical-and emotional growth, and intellectual and educational development”. The social and behavioural skills that children acquire during play can support the development of resilience, increasing children’s ability to manage stress and adversity. Local areas now have an opportunity to increase spaces for play through city infrastructure and land use planning in their Recovery Strategies and Renewal Initiatives. Resilient Cities Network (RCN) explored this topic in a recent webinar. Consider:

• The Reclaiming Play in Cities initiative, which recognises how the “built environment as a critical play and learning resource for children”. Increasing opportunities for play in cities can support communities to build resilience. For example:
  • Barnet, London have taken full advantage of urban regeneration to invest in play infrastructure. Core strategies include “balancing private development with adequate resourcing for the local voluntary and community sector (VCS) to provide play activities for the most vulnerable children in the area”, and the redesign of two local parks
  • Khayelitsha, Cape Town, with the support of the Urban Play Framework (discussed below), began a two-phase intervention to develop a local play culture in the area. With community participation, the first phase upgrades a series of existing courtyards to create a network of designated play spaces. The second phase will link this network to a refurbished nursery which will serve as a central hub to establish a safer, more varied and stimulating environment for play
• The Urban Play Framework which offers guidance on design and ‘placemaking’ in cities:
  • The Urban Play Framework Toolkit which provides methods and tools to support local governments and communities to conduct a play assessment of their area, and identify and co-design play activation initiatives
• The importance of participatory processes and community engagement in the assessment, design, and evaluation of play initiatives so that children are active participants in the process to increase their agency

Alexander Kreh, MSc and Prof. Dr. Barbara Juen, University of Innsbruck, discuss stressors and challenges faced by healthcare workers, and presents results of a survey of healthcare personnel and the stressors they experience. The authors conclude by suggesting how organisations can build and maintain personal resilience among their frontline workers during COVID-19.

To read this briefing in full, follow the source link below to TMB Issue 28 (p.2-9).

COVID-19 vaccination rollout is taking place in many countries, with many more planning to implement mass vaccination strategies for in the near future. The widespread nature of the pandemic has meant that huge numbers of people require vaccination, and a result, demand for vaccines currently far outstrips supply in some countries[1]. Fear surrounding COVID-19 has led to criminals utilising black markets to develop and sell fake vaccinations on the dark web[2]. The demands on government vaccination programmes has also promoted the online sale of other fake medicines such as the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the steroid dexamethasone[3] as these have been associated with COVID-19 treatment. In other cases, some online vendors were claiming to sell vaccinations or medicines that would have never been shipped to buyers[4],

And in the UK, there were incidents of scammers turning up at people’s doorsteps offering a vaccine for payment, following a spate of fake text messages[5].

Vaccines are a financially lucrative commodity, and while the pharmaceutical industry is prepared with regular audits and vetting of supply chains, minimising human contact, stops and handovers during distribution, and real-time digital devices which measure temperature and location, there are other risks. Some of those at risk include:

• Desperate consumers believing they can purchase the vaccine online
• Hospitals and healthcare facilities that have been hit with a barrage of phishing and ransomware attacks which can try to sell fake vaccines
• Vaccination centres which may be points of vulnerability; one supply chain security expert stated “we need to tell people at the vaccine centres that they carry gold”[6].

The rise in fake vaccines and medications requires approaches that protect people, and infrastructure.

Protecting people

• Widespread information campaigns that advise people not to buy any vaccines online, with particular focus on informing people with pre-existing health conditions or those in certain vaccine priority groups as these groups may feel an urgency to be vaccinated
• Remind people that they should consult their registered doctor about vaccination, and only be vaccinated at an official vaccination point[7] and that NHS England will never ask for bank details, Pin numbers or passwords, when contacting you about a vaccination
• Monitor online chatrooms and forums that may be regularly used by vulnerable groups to scan for attempts to sell fake vaccines and medications
• Set up and regulate certification organisations which undertake due diligence on sources of drugs (e.g. pharmacies) and medications e.g. pharmacychecker.com to create a transparent solution for the public to check the sources of their online medications to ensure their legitimacy and safety
• Work with healthcare professionals to build trust in vaccinations. The spread of fake vaccines may deter people from legitimately being vaccinated

Protecting infrastructure

• Regularly assess cyber security and train staff in recognising and reporting any phishing scams or malware attacks
• Train staff and volunteers administering vaccinations in the safe and careful disposal of empty vaccine vials which could be stolen and used to package fake vaccines that look authentic[8]
• If required, consider security at vaccination centre sites, especially those which have been set up in temporary locations or do not have adequate security systems

References:

[1] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-regulator-warns-of-fake-covid-19-vaccines-online/46279734

[2] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/11/27/asia-pacific/covid-19-vaccine-china-black-market/

[3] https://iea.org.uk/will-there-be-a-black-market-in-covid-vaccines/

[4] https://www.ft.com/content/8bfc674e-efe6-4ee0-b860-7fcb5716bed6

[5] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55577426

[6] https://www.ft.com/content/8bfc674e-efe6-4ee0-b860-7fcb5716bed6

[7] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-regulator-warns-of-fake-covid-19-vaccines-online/46279734

[8]https://www.dw.com/en/officials-warn-of-fake-covid-19-vaccines/a-56123830