Revealing human mobility trends during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Nigeria via a data-driven approach

The article focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and travel restrictions in containing the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Topics include the effectiveness of NPIs in delaying and containing the spread of the virus, the usefulness of travel restrictions in the early stages of an outbreak, and the importance of data sources such as surveys and smartphone location data in studying the impact of NPIs on human mobility.

Distance traveled in times of pandemic: an endogenous switching regression approach

This paper studies the change in the distance traveled by domestic tourists considering the pre- and post-pandemic outbreak summer periods of 2019 and 2020. Using representative monthly microdata involving more than 31,000 trips conducted by Spanish residents, we examine the heterogeneity in behavioral adaptation to COVID-19 based on sociodemographic and trip-related characteristics. To account for selection effects and the potential change in the population composition of travelers between the two periods, we estimate an endogenous switching regression that conducts separate regressions for the pre- and post-pandemic periods in a unified econometric framework. Our results point to heterogeneous shifts in the distance traveled by domestic travelers after COVID-19 outbreak per sociodemographic group, with notable differences by travel purpose and lower relevance of traditional determinants like income.

Fit for purpose? The patents regime, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and sustainable development

This article uses data from several publicly available databases to show that the distribution of intellectual property for frontier technologies, including those useful for sustainable development, is very highly skewed in favor of a handful of developed countries. The intellectual property rights (IPR) regime as it exists does not optimize the global flow of technology and know-how for the attainment of the sustainable development goals and is in need of updating. Some features of the Fourth Industrial Revolution imply that the current system of patents is even more in need of reform than before. COVID-19 vaccines and therapies and the vast inequality in access to these has highlighted the costs of inaction. We recommend several policy changes for the international IPR regime. Broadly, these fall into three categories: allowing greater flexibility for developing countries, reassessing the appropriateness of patents for technologies that may be considered public goods, and closing loopholes that allow for unreasonable intellectual property protections.

Response of e-traders to COVID-19 challenges: empirical evidence from north Macedonia

The COVID-19 pandemic caused several short- and mid-term disruptions, to which businesses must adapt. The main goal of this research is to investigate the impact of e-traders response to Covid-19 challenges on online growth. Using existing survey data results linear multiply regression was performed and statistically significant results confirmed that online growth during the Covid-19 emergency was higher in the companies that undertake marketing and delivery adaptation. Further, it was confirmed that e-traders that were selling traditionally and online made higher online growth. Companies with fewer employees were more adaptable to reach higher online growth. Online growth obviously was affected by online sales, and online visits do not statistically significantly influence online growth. The e-traders that believe in the potential for e-commerce in North Macedonia have achieved higher online growth. The timing of the start of the online business does not affect the online growth of e-traders.

Global inequities in access to COVID-19 health products and technologies: A political economy analysis.

This paper presents a political economy analysis of global inequities in access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests. We adapt a conceptual model used for analysing the political economy of global extraction and health to examine the politico-economic factors affecting access to COVID-19 health products and technologies in four interconnected layers: the social, political, and historical context; politics, institutions, and policies; pathways to ill-health; and health consequences. Our analysis finds that battles over access to COVID-19 products occur in a profoundly unequal playing field, and that efforts to improve access that do not shift the fundamental power imbalances are bound to fail. Inequitable access has both direct effects on health (preventable illness and death) and indirect effects through exacerbation of poverty and inequality. We highlight how the case of COVID-19 products reflects broader patterns of structural violence, in which the political economy is structured to improve and lengthen the lives of those in the Global North while neglecting and shortening the lives of those in the Global South. We conclude that achieving equitable access to pandemic response products requires shifting longstanding power imbalances and the institutions and processes that entrench and enable them.

Institutional moral analysis of a global injustice: The case of access to antiretroviral drugs in the global South

The global health challenges highlighted by Covid-19 invigorate the interest in the legal instruments related to public policies on access to medicines, in a way that highlights the dialogue between the local and the global and the ambiguous role of global institutions in reducing inequalities in this access, as they themselves legitimize some of the causes of the problem. To guide this discussion, this study aims to question the institutional dimensions of unequal access to antiretroviral drugs between Global North and South, comparing the dialogue between international and domestic law in the field of health and intellectual property, as well as the challenges in terms of policies imposed on Brazil and India to deal with the impact of global decisions at the local level. It is concluded that, in relation to global health crises, the big question is not about the need to modify laws and institutions to face them, but about what combination of reforms would alleviate the problems arising from them in a more fair and efficient way. The study is operationalized by dialectical reasoning and carried out through documental, jurisprudential and bibliographic analysis. As for its originality, it consists in bringing to the debate this topic that is so pertinent in the global pandemic context from a comparative perspective and under the prism of global justice, an institutional approach that departs from egalitarian liberalism to defend that the mitigation of injustices comes from of an intelligent redesign of norms and institutions. © 2022 Centro Universitario de Brasilia. All rights reserved.

Virtual field trips in hydrological field laboratories: The potential of virtual reality for conveying hydrological engineering content.

With the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting contact restrictions, conducting field trips to hydrological research basins became close to impossible. Hydrological field knowledge is an essential part of hydrological education and research. In order to impart this knowledge to students of hydrological engineering subjects in times or situations where on-site exploration is not possible, the VR4Hydro tool was developed. VR4Hydro is a virtual reality platform built from 360° panoramas that allows users to interactively explore the Gersprenz River basin in Germany. The following study seeks to investigate the applicability of performing virtual field trips in the context of hydrological education by evaluating user experience. Sixteen students of the subject engineering hydrology were asked to document their experiences with VR4Hydro using a qualitative approach by answering a series of multiple-choice questions as well as long-answer text questions. The analysis and discussion of the results showed that virtual excursions generally met with great interest among users. The majority rated the virtual tour as a valuable addition to traditional teaching methods. All students found the tool particularly appealing in cases where external circumstances did not allow for a real excursion. The findings of this study show that the application of virtual field trips (VFT) in hydrological engineering can be a valuable supplement to real field trips to improve the interest and learning outcome of students.

Who is More Likely (Not) to Make Home-Based Work Trips During the COVID-19 Pandemic? The Case of Scotland

In this study, we used survey data (n = 6,000) to investigate the work trip patterns of Scottish residents at various points of the COVID-19 pandemic. We focused specifically on the reported patterns of weekly work trips made during the government-enforced lockdown and subsequent phases of restriction easing. This was of particular importance given the widespread changes in work trips prompted by COVID-19, including a significant rise in telecommuting and a reduction in public transport commuting trips. The survey data showed that the vast majority of respondents (;85%) made no work trips during lockdown, dropping to;77% following the easing of some work-related restrictions. Zero-inflated hierarchical ordered probit models were estimated to determine the sociodemographic and behavioral factors affecting the frequency of work trips made during three distinct periods. The model estimation results showed that the socioeconomic characteristics of respondents influenced work trips made throughout the pandemic. In particular, respondents in households whose main income earner was employed in a managerial/professional occupation were significantly more likely to make no work trips at all stages of the pandemic. Those with a health problem or disability were also significantly more likely to make no work trips throughout the pandemic. Other interesting findings concern respondents' gender, as males were more likely to complete frequent work trips than females throughout the pandemic, and differences between densely populated areas and the rest of Scotland, as respondents from a large city (Edinburgh or Glasgow) were significantly more likely to make frequent work trips as restrictions were eased. © National Academy of Sciences: Transportation Research Board 2021.

Modeling the COVID-19 Travel Choices in Colombia and India: A Hybrid Multiple Discrete-Continuous Nested Extreme Value Approach.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many daily activities, primarily as a result of the perceived contagion risk and government restrictions to mitigate the spread of the virus. To this end, drastic changes in the trip choices for commuting to work have been reported and studied, mostly through descriptive analysis. On the other hand, modeling-based research that can simultaneously understand both changes in mode choice and its frequency at an individual level has not been much used in existing studies. As such, this study aims to understand the changes in mode-choice preference and the frequency of trips, comparing pre-COVID with during-COVID scenarios, in two different countries of the Global South: Colombia and India. A hybrid multiple discrete-continuous nested extreme value model was implemented using the data obtained from online surveys in Colombia and India during the early COVID-19 period of March and April 2020. This study found that, in both countries, utility related to active modes (more used) and public transportation (less used) changed during the pandemic. In addition, this study highlights potential risks in likely unsustainable futures where there may be increased use of private vehicles such as cars and motorcycles, in both countries. It was also identified that perceptions toward government responses had a significant impact on the choices in Colombia, though this was not the case in India. These results may help decision makers focus on public policies to encourage sustainable transportation by avoiding the detrimental long-term behavioral changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) using Ocean Plastic Microbes as a Framework that Is Impactful for Both In-Person and Online Course Modalities

A course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) is described, both in its original, field-based and in-person design, as well as its adaptation to online delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CURE experience was centered around the topic of microbes attaching to ocean plastic debris, and included connecting nontraditional undergraduate students attending a primarily teaching institution to personnel of a research-intensive institution. The CURE was implemented in nonmajors and majors' general biology laboratory courses, as well as in an introductory microbiology lab course for health majors. Student perception of the CURE was assessed quantitatively through self-administered retrospective surveys, and qualitatively using open-ended survey questions and focus group interviews. Survey questions were grouped into four themes: (1) research at the research institution, (2) research at the teaching institution, (3) laboratory skills, and (4) interest in science. To assess impact of the CURE by modality, major and course level, theme scores were analyzed using ANOVAs (α = 0.05). Changes in student perception of learning were measured by comparing the "before” and "after” survey scores in each theme. The main source of variation in the model was time, followed by theme and major, while modality had a negligible effect. Overall, there were increases in student perception of learning across all themes across modality, major, and course level;however, not all were statistically significant. Highest gains were observed among nonmajors, while those of the majors' upper division courses were the lowest. On the other hand, majors' overall scores were the highest. Health majors' survey gains were mostly between those of nonmajors and majors. Qualitative data contextualized the quantitative results. The online adaptation was a valuable alternative, especially for nonmajors, as it expanded the range of students reached, with results similar to the in-person alternative. Preliminary data show a positive effect of the CURE in student success majoring in biology.

Why patent waiver for Covid-19 vaccines and pharmaceuticals?

Patent protection emerged as one of the most challenging barriers to the access to medicines, medical equipment, and vaccines as well for the treatment and containment of Covid-19 when it became a pandemic. The severe scarcity of vaccines and pharmaceutical products were weakening the fight against Covid-19, and endeavor to contain the recurrence of pandemic waves while mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 was also on the full swing. Therefore, India and South Africa jointly proposed for patent waiver at WTO in October 2020 to effectively deal with the short-supply of medicines, medical equipment, vaccines and high price concern related to these products. After 20 months of consultation and negotiations with major stakeholders, the WTO came up with decision on patent waiver in 12th Ministerial Conference (12th MC). The time taken to reach to the decision in the pandemic situation and the narrow scope of the decision is a serious concern for the entire world to deal effectively with Covid-19 and its variants. This paper attempts to analyse the patent waiver in the context of the agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). It discusses patent barriers, alternative measures and needs for equitable access to vaccines and pharmaceuticals amidst the pandemic. Paper applies the qualitative methodology of research mainly content analysis method in the framework of contextualisation, decontextualisation, and recontextualisation. Results show that suspending certain provisions of the TRIPS required for the production of vaccines and medicines would prove a crucial tool for economies to return to its pre-Covid-19 era. Paper concludes that, patent waiver can be one of the most important tool to fight the Covid-19 (as WHO has not yet declared the end of pandemic) and will pave the way to deal with any such unknown future pandemic effectively. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Patent suspension on the COVID-19 vaccine in Indonesian patent law perspective

Vaccination patent is associated with exclusive rights that restrict the production, use, and sale of inventions by third parties for a specific period. This factor contributes to the high cost of vaccines, making it challenging to access vaccines in many underdeveloped nations such as Indonesia. The urgency for faster vaccine distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic further highlights this issue. However, the patent provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs Agreement) may exacerbate the unequal distribution of vaccines worldwide. This study analyzes the implementation of the flexibility feature of the TRIPs Agreement, and Doha Declaration contained in Law Number 13 of 2016 respecting Patent to achieve a pandemic-free era. It is also necessary to examine the Indonesian patent rules and regulations, the TRIPs Agreement, the Doha Declaration, and other legal documents to examine these issues. The results showed that the patent rules and regulations have adopted flexibility under the TRIPs Agreement and the Doha Declaration. However, the effect on the country's sluggish pharmaceutical supply chain has not been improved. A patent suspension system on a global scale is required to hasten the transition to a pandemic-free period since the feature of flexibility cannot handle the slow pace of vaccine procurement. The patent suspension system can be implemented through international agreements, such as the Patent Suspension Proposal filed by South Africa and India in October 2020. The suspension is crucial to accelerate the equitable distribution of vaccines and reduce their price. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Compulsory licensing: an effective tool for securing access to Covid-19 vaccines for developing states?

A significant issue in combatting the Covid-19 pandemic is the need to enhance developing states' access to Covid-19 vaccines. The present paper considers the request for a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights in relation to Covid-19 technologies and treatments submitted to the World Trade Organization and analyses a key argument against the proposed waiver: that the compulsory licensing provisions set out in the TRIPS Agreement are sufficiently flexible to help states get access to vaccines. The compulsory licensing flexibilities set out in TRIPS, including the amendment to TRIPS in Article 31bis, are evaluated, to explore whether compulsory licensing could be an effective tool in helping developing states to access Covid-19 vaccines. Key issues are explored from a human rights perspective to examine whether a rights-based approach to the compulsory licensing provisions could offer further insights as to how the provisions could be more workable, to enhance access to medicines and vaccines for developing states.

The TRIPS Waiver Decision at the World Trade Organization: Too Little Too Late!

The recently adopted Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver decision at the World Trade Organization is a grossly inadequate and insincere response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper criticizes the TRIPS waiver for being faulty on several fronts such as: excluding COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics from its fold and focusing only on COVID-19 vaccines;restricting its coverage to only patents and leaving out other intellectual property rights;excluding developed countries that possess manufacturing and technological capability from being eligible exporters of COVID-19 vaccines;and its perplexing silence on the transfer of technology. It will have negligible impact on fighting the pandemic, sets an enfeebled example for the future, and is a classic case of too little too late. Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Asian Society of International Law.

The WTO and the Covid‐19 "Vaccine Apartheid”: Big Pharma and the Minefield of Patents

Unequal access to vaccines for the Covid‐19 pandemic, also referred to as "vaccine apartheid,” has marginalized low‐income countries again. In October 2020, India and South Africa proposed a temporary waiver from certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement for the prevention of Covid‐19 at the World Trade Organization (WTO). An agreement was later reached in Geneva on June 17, 2022. The objective of this article is to analyze the negotiation and agreement reached at the WTO. This article explores the difficulties of creating international public good in the field of public health within the milieu of powerful actors, namely big pharmaceutical companies with vested interests. The central argument of this article is that this agreement alone will not solve the vaccine access problem for low‐income countries. It is too restrictive, does not cover trade secrets and know‐how, production capacity, availability of raw materials, and even adds new limitations that did not exist before. The best option to promote the production of quality vaccines in low‐income countries is to share technology and know‐how on a voluntary basis through production agreements. One way to facilitate the cooperation of large pharmaceutical corporation is to make it easier for low‐income countries to use compulsory licenses. Simplifying the use of this mechanism could help encourage pharmaceutical companies to enter into voluntary licensing agreements. © 2023 by the author(s);licensee Cogitatio Press (Lisbon, Portugal).

Equal Access to Vaccines: Exposing the Limits of International Human Rights Law?

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused millions of deaths since 2020. The virus' capacity to produce variants that evade immunity has meant that the best way to prevent further deaths is through ensuring that as many people as possible worldwide are vaccinated. Production of vaccines is reaching the point where it could meet global demand, if vaccines were equitably distributed. So far, however, vaccination rates have been highest in the developed world, and people in developing countries, especially Africa, remain woefully under-vaccinated. This article considers whether international human rights law can contribute to ensuring equal access to vaccines. It concludes that although the provisions of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would support equal access to vaccines, there are various reasons why international human rights law may not be effective in securing equal access to vaccines. These include not only the state-centric approach of international human rights law and its weak enforcement mechanisms, but also the strong international law protection for patents under the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). Nevertheless, important steps have been taken by new institutions of global health governance, such as the Global Agency for Access to Vaccines (GAVI) and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), to ensure equal access to vaccines but much work still needs to be done. The chapter concludes that the Covid-19 pandemic has illustrated how inequality between countries, as well as within them, can be exacerbated by a global health crisis. © The several contributors 2022. All rights reserved.

The impact of the COVID-19 on the tourist industry of Bolivia and strategies to exit the crisis

Covid-19 has not only affected the health of the population but has also deteriorated the economies and industries of the countries;one of them, which is the most affected, is undoubtedly tourism. The impact of the Covid-19 on the Bolivian tourism industry warned that about 3,020 million BOB$ would be lost in 2020. The main receptive inbound markets in Bolivia drastically decreased their trips and the impact derived from the absence of tourism caused more than 140 thousand people to lose their job source. Undoubtedly, the tourism micro entrepreneur was the one who received the greatest impact, since nearly 50% of the productive units closed operations in the months following the start of the pandemic. However, Bolivian entrepreneurs saw in this interruption an opportunity to think and reinvent themselves by migrating to the computer world.

COVID-19, vaccines and international knowledge governance on trial

The production, distribution and availability of vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic are all impacted by the international rules of knowledge governance. These rules include patents, trade secrets and health and efficacy regulatory approval processes. This article discusses how these intellectual property related mechanisms all interfered with vaccine availability. It analyses the international rules, related exceptions (including compulsory licensing and national security) and the possible waiver of the relevant rules found in the World Trade Organization TRIPS Agreement. Throughout the first two years of the pandemic, vaccines were not available widely enough. Although most of the developed world had enough vaccine doses by late 2021, that was not the position in much of the developing world, where the problem became the distribution of vaccines. Distribution may have always been difficult, but the failures in timely local supply exacerbated the problem of vaccine inequality between the developed and developing world. The inequality had several likely causes including intellectual property rules. The problem was not neces-sarily the existence of patents (or other rules) but the insufficiency of checks and balances that are necessary to address global public health needs. This resulted in private interests, whose primary goal is not public health, wielding too much power. The article concludes that collectively the effect of the international rules enacted in domestic laws supports a regime that was not fit for purpose to address the COVID-19 pandemic and is not fit to address future pandemics. © 2022 The Author.

Using Mobile Device Data to Understand the Effect of Stay-at-Home Orders on Residents' Mobility

Problem definition: This study addresses three important questions concerning the effectiveness of stay-at-home orders and sociodemographic disparities. (1) What is the average effect of the orders on the percentage of residents staying at home? (2) Is the effect heterogeneous across counties with different percentages of vulnerable populations (defined as those without health insurance or who did not attend high school)? (3) If so, why are the orders less effective for some counties than for others? Academic/practical relevance: To combat the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a number of states in the United States implemented stay-at-home orders that prevent residents from leaving their homes except for essential trips. These orders have drawn heavy criticism from the public because whether they are necessary and effective in increasing the number of residents staying at home is unclear. Methodology: We estimate the average effect of the orders using a difference-in-differences model, where the control group is the counties that did not implement the orders and the treatment group is the counties that did implement the orders during our study period. We estimate the heterogeneous effects of the orders by interacting county features with treatment dummies in a triple-difference model. Results: Using a unique set of mobile device data that track residents' mobility, we find that, although some residents already voluntarily stayed at home before the implementation of any order, the stay-at-home orders increased the number of residents staying at home by 2.832 percentage points (or 11.25%). We also find that these orders are less effective for counties with higher percentages of uninsured or less educated (i.e., did not attend high school) residents. To explore the mechanisms behind these results, we analyze the effect of the orders on the average number of work and nonwork trips per person. We find that the orders reduce the number of work trips by 0.053 (or 7.87%) and nonwork trips by 0.183 (or 6.50%). The percentage of uninsured or less educated residents in a county negatively correlates with the reduction in the number of work trips but does not correlate with the reduction in the number of nonwork trips. Managerial implications: Our results suggest that uninsured and less educated residents are less likely to follow the orders because their jobs prevent them from working from home. Policy makers must take into account the differences in residents' socioeconomic status when developing new policies or allocating limited healthcare resources. © 2021 INFORMS.

Exploring COVID-19 pandemic potential impacts on students' school travel behavior

This study aims to identify the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on school trips using a survey of 1120 students and their households in Cairo, Egypt. We found that students' age, distance to school, and school type (public or private) influence the mode used to school, the majority of parents would prefer to wait for one month or more after the lockdown before sending their children to school, and the pandemic has a significant impact on parents' evaluation of the various schooling options. Based on the responses and using different scenarios, we predicted that the original vehicle-kilometers-traveled would increase by 17% to 34%, with most of the expected modal shift occurring from large occupancy vehicles to smaller vehicles. This shift was attributed to;the distance to school, the father's occupation and education level, parents waiting more time to send children to school, and parents expecting reduced class capacity. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.