Medicine

The Washington Post reports: The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine continues to be 90 percent effective in protecting against hospitalization and death from covid-19 up to six months after the second dose, even in the face of the widespread delta variant, a major study has found. The study was based on research from Pfizer and the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health system …

Reuters reports: The first trial of four large pharmacy chains over the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic was set to begin on Monday, as two Ohio counties seek to convince jurors the companies are responsible for flooding their communities with addictive pain pills. The Ohio counties of Lake and Trumbull allege that oversight failures at pharmacies run by Walgreens Boots Alliance …

From the Nobel Prize Committee: Our ability to sense heat, cold and touch is essential for survival and underpins our interaction with the world around us. In our daily lives we take these sensations for granted, but how are nerve impulses initiated so that temperature and pressure can be perceived? This question has been solved by this year’s Nobel Prize …

CNBC reports: Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics plan to seek emergency authorization for their oral antiviral treatment for Covid-19, after the medicine showed “compelling results” in clinical trials. The drug, molnupiravir, reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by around 50% for patients with mild or moderate cases of Covid-19, the companies announced on Friday. Molnupiravir is administered orally and works …

Bloomberg News reports: People who got Covid-19 vaccine boosters after the shots were cleared for people with weakened immune systems had mostly mild to moderate reactions, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 22,191 booster recipients registered with a federal monitoring system starting Aug. 12, when the doses were first authorized on an emergency basis by …

NBC News reports: Pfizer-BioNTech requested Tuesday that the Food and Drug Administration clear its Covid-19 vaccine for use in children ages 5 to 11. The FDA is expected to take at least several weeks to analyze data collected in a trial that included more than 2,000 children before it would grant emergency use authorization. While the Pfizer vaccine has been …

Reuters reports: Pfizer Inc said on Monday it has started a mid-to-late-stage study testing its investigational oral antiviral drug for the prevention of COVID-19 infection among those who have been exposed to the virus.  The company and its rivals, including Merck & Co Inc and Roche Holding AG, have been racing to develop the first antiviral pill for COVID-19. Pfizer …

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports: A federal judge in Covington on Friday said St. Elizabeth Healthcare can require its more than 10,000 employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. In a 20-page decision, U.S. District Judge David Bunning said he would abide by a 1905 U.S. Supreme Court decision, which upheld a Massachusetts smallpox vaccination law. “Actual liberty for all of us …

The Associated Press reports: Johnson & Johnson released data showing that a booster dose to its one-shot coronavirus vaccine provides a strong immune response months after people receive a first dose. J&J said in statement Tuesday that it ran two early studies in people previously given its vaccine and found that a second dose produced an increased antibody response in …

USA Today reports: Pfizer is voluntarily recalling all lots of its popular anti-smoking drug Chantix for high levels of nitrosamine, which can increase the risk of cancer. According to the notice posted on the Food and Drug Administration website, the recall is for all lots of 0.5 mg and 1 mg varenicline tablets. The recall notice says that long-term ingestion …

The New York Times reports: The Pfizer-BioNtech coronavirus vaccine has been shown to be safe and highly effective in young children aged 5 to 11 years, the companies announced early Monday morning. The news should help ease months of anxiety among parents and teachers about when children, and their close contacts, might be shielded from the coronavirus. The need is …

The Washington Post reports: A highly-anticipated Food and Drug Administration review of evidence on whether a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is widely necessary struck a noncommittal tone Wednesday, setting the stage for a potentially fractious debate among expert advisers to the agency this week. Pfizer and government officials have relied heavily on data from Israel in making …

The Guardian reports: The German company BioNTech, which developed the Pfizer vaccine, expects to seek approval from regulators for Covid jabs suited for younger children as early as mid-October, its founders have said. “Already over the next few weeks we will file the results of our trial in five- to 11-year-olds with regulators across the world and will request approval …

Reuters reports: As the United States gears up for a COVID-19 vaccine booster campaign, most vaccinated Americans want the additional dose, a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll found, largely driven by concern over the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus. The national survey, conducted Aug. 27-30, found that among those adults who received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, …

NBC News reports: Pharmacies and state governments in the United States have thrown away at least 15.1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines since March 1, according to government data obtained by NBC News. Four national pharmacy chains reported more than 1 million wasted doses each, according to data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in response …

Via press release from Johnson & Johnson: In anticipation of the potential need for boosters, the Company conducted two Phase 1/2a studies in individuals previously vaccinated with its single-shot vaccine. New interim data from these studies demonstrate that a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generated a rapid and robust increase in spike-binding antibodies, nine-fold higher than …

West Palm Beach’s ABC News affiliate reports: Dozens of South Florida doctors staged a walkout on Monday to protest the number of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients flooding their hospital in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Just before sunrise, about 75 doctors stepped outside their hospitals and offices to stand together and encourage the community to get vaccinated. “The vaccine still remains the …

The Hill reports: Jason Martin, an intensive care unit doctor, is set to announce his candidacy for Tennessee governor on Monday, saying he hopes to take his experience on the frontlines of the pandemic to the governor’s mansion in a state still grappling with the spread of COVID-19. Martin, a Democrat who works at community hospitals across Tennessee, says the …

The Washington Post reports: Fresh data out of Israel is providing encouraging news about the effectiveness of coronavirus boosters in seniors. A study by the Israeli Health Ministry found that a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine provided four times as much protection against infection as two doses in people 60 and older. The level of protection was five to …

NBC News reports: Federal health officials and medical experts are expected to recommend that most people in the U.S. who are eligible for Covid-19 vaccinations should get booster shots eight months after their second doses, according to two sources familiar with the discussions. The guidance, which would apply only to the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna regimens, could go into effect …