A new malaria vaccine has shown promising results in trials, preventing the disease in 77% of cases. The vaccine was already under development before the pandemic struck, and researchers at the Jenner Institute in Oxford quickly built on this work to develop what would go on to become the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab. Now, writes institute director Adrian Hill, the work they’ve done on COVID could in turn help bring us one step closer to preventing malaria.

In India, a dramatic spike in COVID-19 infections has left the country reeling. Hospitals can’t accommodate the number of patients needing care, oxygen supplies are being flown in from donor countries. Yet, until a few months ago it looked as though the country had brought the pandemic under control. What went wrong? Michael Head sets out the factors that have contributed to the tragic turn of events.

By the mid-1990s, it was clear to the world that Somalia had become Africa’s first failed post-colonial state. Yet this vast country of just 10 million people had had a glorious history before this calamity as the first to enjoy a democratic transfer of power in the 1960s. Is there any chance that the country can recreate its early successes? Abdi Ismail Samatar explains why the omens are bad unless two of the key drivers of the Somali disaster are understood – and acted on.