Tag Archives: COVID Vaccine

STAT News reports: Pfizer and partner BioNTech said Monday that their vaccine against Covid-19 was strongly effective, exceeding expectations with results that are likely to be met with cautious excitement — and relief — in the face of the global pandemic. The vaccine is the first to be tested in the United States to generate late-stage data. The companies said …

The New York Daily News reports: Gov. Cuomo said he and other governors received a request from the federal Department of Health and Human Services to provide the feds with “ID numbers” for all COVID-19 patients once a vaccine is approved and distribution begins. Such personal data can be retrieved from passports, driver’s licenses or Social Security cards, posing a …

Via press release published by Christian Newswire: CHARAGMA is the Greek term for mark, scratch, or stamp (as a badge of servitude) which comes from CHARAX; that term can mean: TO SHARPEN TO A POINT, A STAKE, A PALISADE OR A RAMPART. The projected way to administer the Mark (scratch or stamp), i.e. the Quantum Dot Tattoo (QDT) to the …

Reuters reports: U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said on Sunday it would be clear whether a COVID-19 vaccine was safe and effective by early December, but that more widespread vaccination would not be likely until later in 2021. “We will know whether a vaccine is safe and effective by the end of November, the beginning of December,” Fauci told …

The Guardian reports: More than £30m of UK government money is to fund the world’s first Covid-19 “challenge trials”, in which healthy young volunteers are intentionally infected with the virus to hasten the development of a vaccine. The trials have the potential to yield results more quickly than conventional vaccine field trials in which researchers must wait for participants to …

NBC News reports: CVS Health said Monday it plans to immediately hire 15,000 employees to prepare for an expected rise in Covid-19 and flu cases this fall and winter. More than 10,000 of those will be full-time and part-time licensed pharmacy technicians who can help dispense medications and administer Covid-19 tests. The larger workforce could also help CVS prepare for …

Reuters reports: Pfizer expects to provide safety data and file for authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with German partner BioNTech in late November, delaying any clarity on the vaccine until after the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election. The regulatory filing for the vaccine could come as soon as safety data is available in the third week of …

Just in from Gallup Polling: Americans’ willingness to be vaccinated against the coronavirus has dropped 11 percentage points, falling to 50% in late September. This sharp decline comes after the percentage dwindled from 66% in July to 61% in August. Meanwhile, according to Gallup Panel data from Aug. 17-30, the percentage of Americans who are inclined to delay returning to …

The Washington Post reports: China said Friday it will join Covax, an international effort to distribute covid-19 vaccines to about two-thirds of the world population by 2022, in a reversal that makes the country the biggest player in the vaccine development race to join the initiative. China, along with the United States and Russia, previously declined to join the World …

CNBC reports: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Thursday the U.S. could have enough Covid-19 vaccine doses for every American as early as March, a more optimistic estimate than President Donald Trump has publicly said. The Trump administration’s coronavirus vaccine program Operation Warp Speed expects to have up to 100 million doses by the end of the year, …

The New York Times reports: Top White House officials are blocking strict new federal guidelines for the emergency release of a coronavirus vaccine, objecting to a provision that would almost certainly guarantee that no vaccine could be authorized before the election on Nov. 3, according to people familiar with the approval process. Facing a White House blockade, the Food and …

Reuters reports: Results from an early safety study of Moderna Inc’s coronavirus vaccine candidate in older adults showed that it produced virus-neutralizing antibodies at levels similar to those seen in younger adults, with side effects roughly on par with high-dose flu shots, researchers said on Tuesday. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offers a more complete …

“What we actually have is new guidance that’s coming out. My question is, why would that new guidance come out after we’ve already spent 30 billion dollars in doing that? And my challenge to the FDA is just make sure it’s based on science. Science and real numbers. “And so as we look at that, we’re making very good progress. …

The New York Times reports: The world still lacks a proven coronavirus vaccine, but that has not stopped Chinese officials from trying to inoculate tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people outside the traditional testing process. Three vaccine candidates are being injected into workers whom the government considers essential, along with many others, including employees of the …

The New York Post reports: Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he will set up his own review board to double check any federally approved COVID-19 vaccine, citing his distrust of President Trump and calling Washington’s efforts to fast-track the drug “politicized” ahead of the November election Raising concerns over the drug’s administration in New York, Cuomo argued Thursday that a second …

The Washington Post reports: A coronavirus vaccine being developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical company SinoVac will be ready for worldwide distribution by early next year, its CEO said Thursday. The vaccine, dubbed CoronaVac, is one of four in China that is still undergoing a third and final round of testing, a global standard necessary before it can be widely distributed. …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the White House may not approve tougher FDA guidelines for authorizing the emergency use of any coronavirus vaccines. “That has to be approved by the White House,” Trump said. “We may or may not approve it.” Trump also suggested that the FDA’s decision to revise the standards, first issued in June, “was …

“Decisions to authorize and approve any such vaccine or therapeutic will be made by the dedicated career staff at FDA through our thorough review processes and science will guide our decisions. “FDA will not permit any pressure from anyone to change that. I will fight for science, Mr. Chairman. I will fight for the integrity of the agency, and I …

Reuters reports: Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday kicked off a final 60,000-person trial of a single-shot COVID-19 vaccine that potentially would simplify distribution of millions of doses compared with leading rivals using two doses. The company expects results of the Phase III trial by year end or early next year, Dr. Paul Stoffels, J&J’s chief scientific officer, said in a …

The Washington Post reports: The Food and Drug Administration is expected to spell out a tough, new standard for an emergency authorization of a coronavirus vaccine as soon as this week that will make it exceedingly difficult for any vaccine to be cleared before Election Day. The agency is issuing the guidance to boost transparency and public trust as it …