Banks are bracing for possible Russian cyberattacks: The European Central Bank (ECB) has become the latest regulator warning banks of a possible cyber-attack from Russia as tensions continue to mount between Moscow and the west, Reuters reports, citing people it says have knowledge of the matter. The ECB, which oversees Europe’s biggest lenders, is questioning banks about their defenses in case of a cyberattack, mirroring a warning from the New York Department of Financial Services last month. European business leaders fear that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would have a ripple effect on financial markets across the region. Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron shuttled between Moscow and Kiev in an effort to defuse tensions.

Can a universal vaccine protect against all covid strains? New research says it might, reports the Financial Times. Scientists are racing to develop a vaccine that could prove effective against all coronavirus strains, including SARS, MERS and covid, which, if the past 20 years are any indication, are likely here to stay. Some universal vaccines are targeting pieces of protein called epitopes in all coronaviruses or other structures on the sars group that don’t mutate to prompt an immune response, rather than targeting the spike protein, like current covid vaccines do. Scientists are also using computational predictive modeling to understand and predict how the structure of these viruses will respond.

Who is developing these vaccines? Variations of a universal vaccine are being developed by US military’s Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Massachusetts’ VBI Vaccines and the Human Vaccine Institute at Duke University’s School of Medicine in the US and Cambridge University’s biotech spinout DIOSynVax in the UK. Although some research facilities have begun initial testing, it is unlikely that they will be rolled out anytime before 2023-2025, and they will likely require a booster every five to ten years.

Meanwhile, the EU is pushing for a global pandemic treaty that would ban wildlife markets and reward countries for reporting new viruses, an EU official tells Reuters. The talks, which will include international negotiators from six regions, among them Egypt representing the Middle East, will begin meetings this week with the aim of reaching a preliminary agreement by August of this year and signing a treaty in May 2024. Many major countries, including the US and Brazil, have requested that the treaty be non-binding. The EU has called for measures that include the gradual closure of wildlife markets and incentives for countries that report new viruses to avoid coverups. South Africa, among other southern African countries, was hit with severe travel restrictions after flagging the omicron variant last year. Incentives may include ensured access to medicines and vaccines as well as immediate support in the form of medical equipment for countries that detect and report new viruses.