Covid-19-induced Shocks, Access to Basic Needs and Coping Strategies.

We examine the association between the Covid-19 pandemic and and access to basic needs, and how households respond using various coping strategies in the context of Nigeria. We use data from the Covid-19 National Longitudinal Phone Surveys (Covid-19 NLPS-2020) conducted during the Covid-19 lockdown. Our findings reveal that the Covid-19 pandemic is associated with households' exposure to shocks such as illness or injury, disruption of farming, job losses, non-farm business closure, and increase in price of food items and farming inputs. These negative shocks have severe consequences on access to basic needs of households, and the outcomes are heterogeneous across gender of household head and rural-urban residence. Households adopt a number of coping strategies, both formal and informal to mitigate the effects of the shocks on access to basic needs. The findings of this paper lend credence to the growing evidence on need to support households exposed to negative shocks and the role of formal coping mechanisms for households in developing countries.

Nous examinons le lien entre les chocs provoqués par la Covid-19 et l'accès aux services répondant aux besoins fondamentaux, et la façon dont les ménages ont réagi en utilisant diverses stratégies d'adaptation au Nigeria. Nous utilisons les données d'enquêtes téléphoniques longitudinales nationales Covid-19 (Covid-19 NLPS-2020) menées pendant le confinement lié à la Covid-19. Nos résultats révèlent que la pandémie de Covid-19 est associée à l'exposition des ménages à des chocs tels que la maladie ou les blessures, la perturbation de l'agriculture, les pertes d'emplois, la fermeture d'entreprises non agricoles et l'augmentation des prix des denrées alimentaires et des intrants agricoles. Ces chocs négatifs affectent gravement l'accès aux besoins fondamentaux des ménages, et les résultats sont hétérogènes selon le sexe des chefs de famille et selon le lieu de résidence rural ou urbain des ménages. Les ménages adoptent diverses stratégies d'adaptation formelles et informelles pour atténuer les effets des chocs sur l'accès aux besoins fondamentaux. Les conclusions de ce document donnent du crédit aux preuves de plus en plus nombreuses de la nécessité de soutenir les ménages exposés aux chocs négatifs et du rôle des mécanismes d'adaptation formels pour les ménages dans les pays en développement.

"You Shall Not Pass" without a Jab: An Institutional Theory Perspective to COVID-19 Vaccine Passport Policies.

The recent health crises (e.g., COVID-19, Ebola and Monkeypox) have pointed out huge disparities in vaccine accessibility across the world. Nonetheless, certain governments have instituted vaccine passport policies (VPPs) to manage public health, raising mixed concerns from the public. Focusing on COVID-19 outbreak as an example, this review and commentary article utilises an institutional theory perspective to uncover the factors contributing to the global vaccine divide. We also explore the wider impact of VPPs to determine whether such tools promote freedom or social exclusion. Our insights shed light on a controversial and increasingly divisive policy with an international dimension and institutional implications. For instance, while some argue that VPPs may be relatively better than the blunt instrument of lockdowns, VPPs also implicate access and discrimination concerns. Given the various reasons for global vaccine disparities, a hybrid policy that combines vaccine passports with other public health practices (e.g., rapid lateral flow/affordable polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and good hygiene) may be more viable. Furthermore, while VPPs may not be desirable and acceptable domestically, they may be inevitable for international travel.

Can you be Mindful? The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Driven Interventions in Enhancing the Digital Resilience to Fake News on COVID-19.

This study explores the factors that influence the dissemination process of and public susceptibility to fake news amidst COVID-19. By adopting a qualitative approach that draws on 21 interviews with social media users from the standpoint of source credibility and construal level theories, our findings highlight motives of news sharers, platform features, and source credibility/relatedness as major factors influencing the dissemination of and public susceptibility to fake news. The paper further argues that public susceptibility to fake news can be mitigated by building an integrated approach that combines a tripartite strategy from an individual, institutional and platform level. For example, educating the public on digital resilience and enhancing awareness around source credibility can help individuals and institutions reflect on news authenticity and report fake news where possible. This study contributes to fake news literature by integrating concepts from information management, consumer behaviour, influencer marketing and mindfulness to propose a model to help authorities identify and understand the key factors that influence susceptibility to fake news during a public crisis such as COVID-19.