Updates
U.K. Regulators Tell People With Severe Allergies Not To Get Vaccine-NPR
Regulators in the United Kingdom are warning people with a history of severe allergies not to get the new coronavirus vaccine. The advisory comes after two National Health Services employees, both with a history of severe allergies, had bad reactions after receiving the new Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine Tuesday, the first day of the U.K.'s nationwide immunization campaign. NPR, … Continue Reading
December 08, 2020
‘Route Out’ Of Pandemic: UK Gives 1st COVID-19 Vaccine Doses-The Associated Press
A retired British shop clerk received the first shot in the country’s COVID-19 vaccination program Tuesday, the start of an unprecedented global immunization effort intended to offer a route out of a pandemic that has killed 1.5 million. Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, got the shot at 6:31 a.m. on what public health officials have dubbed “V-Day.” She was first in line at University Hospital Coventry, one of several hospitals around the country that are handling the initial phase of … Continue Reading
December 08, 2020
Scientists Spray Saliva-Like Droplets In Stadium To Study How Fans Spread Aerosols-Reuters
Scientists are using the Netherlands’ largest football stadium to model how a cheering football crowd might spread aerosols through the air by spraying fine droplets, made to resemble saliva, over the empty stands. Their hope is that by finding out more about the behaviour of aerosols or airborne particles, which could spread the coronavirus within a crowd, they will be able to remove them from the air and get fans back into stadiums and concert halls. Reuters, … Continue Reading
December 08, 2020
Cambodia In A Race To Curb Latest COVID-19 Outbreak-Devex
The Cambodian government has taken additional measures to curb the country’s latest outbreak of COVID-19, including giving power to provincial and municipal authorities to close shops not adhering to public health protocols, imposing a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers entering the country, and controversial moves such as publishing the names of people infected with the coronavirus. Devex, … Continue Reading
December 08, 2020
Biden’s Health Picks Signal A Bottom-Up Approach To The Covid-19 Pandemic-STAT
President-elect Biden’s pandemic-response strategy took clearer shape this week with the rollout of several surprising appointments — a list that underscores that his Covid-19 response will be led far more by career government scientists and lower-level health agency deputies than has been the case during the Trump administration. STAT, … Continue Reading
December 08, 2020
FDA Analysis Of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Finds It Effective And Safe-NPR
The Food and Drug Administration released a detailed analysis Tuesday morning of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech ahead of a Thursday meeting of a group of independent experts that will advise the agency on whether to grant the vaccine an emergency use authorization. The agency's analysis finds "no specific safety concerns identified that would preclude issuance of an EUA." Serious reactions were rare. Side effects are common, however, with a majority of study … Continue Reading
December 07, 2020
WHO Tries To Bolster Fragile Funding With New Foundation CEO-ABC News
Hoping to strengthen its funding, the World Health Organization is appointing a CEO to a foundation intended to bring in more private donations, which should leave the global health body less vulnerable if a country withdraws or cuts funding as the United States did. Anil Soni will join the new WHO Foundation in January after eight years with the multinational pharmaceutical Viatris. ABC News, … Continue Reading
December 07, 2020
‘They’re Not Ready’: Students Are About To Flood College Campuses. The Virus Could, Too.-Politico
Hundreds of the nation’s colleges and universities plan to bring thousands of students back to campus next semester even though most of the schools are unprepared or unequipped for the volume of testing needed to keep Covid-19 infections in check. The lack of robust campus testing plans comes despite growing scientific consensus that colleges should include frequent Covid-19 scans to help stop and prevent outbreaks. And a vaccine will not eliminate the need to test students, an expert panel … Continue Reading
December 07, 2020
U.S. Congress Confronts COVID-19 Aid Hurdles As Funding Deadline Looms-Reuters
A bipartisan effort in Congress to deliver a long-awaited infusion of COVID-19 relief to U.S. families and businesses remained hung up on Monday due to differences over aid to state and local governments and business liability protections. A group of lawmakers from the Democratic-led House of Representatives and Republican-run Senate had been expected as early as Monday to roll out the formal text of a $908 billion bill to blunt the health and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic into … Continue Reading
December 07, 2020
On The Ground, The Pledge To Vaccinate 20 Million Against Covid-19 In December Seems Unrealistic-STAT
Hospitals across the United States are preparing for a Covid-19 vaccine distribution timeline that’s well behind official government targets as they face ongoing confusion about the process for inoculating frontline employees. Leaders of Operation Warp Speed have repeatedly said they are on track to vaccinate 20 million people in December, enough for nearly all the health care workers and long-term care residents who are first in line to get a vaccine. But those involved in vaccine planning at … Continue Reading
December 07, 2020
Biden Names Health Secretary, COVID Czar, Other Key Members To Health Team-NPR
President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced the team he would like to lead his response to the nation's greatest public health crisis in a century once he takes office in January. Biden said in a statement that he will nominate Xavier Becerra to lead the sprawling Health and Human Services Department. Becerra is California's attorney general and has led prominent legal fights against President Trump's efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Becerra would be the first Latino to lead … Continue Reading
November 30, 2020
Congress Returns With Virus Aid, Federal Funding Unresolved-The Associated Press
After months of shadowboxing amid a tense and toxic campaign, Capitol Hill’s main players are returning for one final, perhaps futile, attempt at deal-making on a challenging menu of year-end business. COVID-19 relief, a $1.4 trillion catchall spending package, and defense policy — and a final burst of judicial nominees — dominate a truncated two- or three-week session occurring as the coronavirus pandemic rockets out of control in President Donald Trump’s final weeks in office. The Associated … Continue Reading
November 30, 2020
U.S. Housing, Manufacturing Data Suggest Economic Recovery Slowing-Reuters
Contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes fell for a second straight month in October as an acute shortage of properties pushed up prices, though the housing market remains supported by record low mortgage rates. Other data on Monday showed activity at factories in the Midwest and Texas slowing this month, likely as a nationwide resurgence in new COVID-19 infections curbed new orders and disrupted production. The reports support expectations of a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the … Continue Reading
November 30, 2020
Federal System For Tracking Hospital Beds And COVID-19 Patients Provides Questionable Data-Science Magazine
In mid-November, as the United States set records for newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases day after day, the hospital situation in one hard-hit state, Wisconsin, looked concerning but not yet urgent by one crucial measure. The main pandemic data tracking system run by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), dubbed HHS Protect, reported that on 16 November, 71% of the state’s hospital beds were filled. Wisconsin officials who rely on the data to support and advise their increasingly … Continue Reading
November 30, 2020
Divisions Emerge Among U.S. Officials Over When First Covid-19 Vaccine Doses Will Be Available — And For Whom-STAT
Divisions are emerging among top U.S. officials over when the country’s first Covid-19 vaccine will be authorized — and who should be at the front of the line to get vaccinated. Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, and others have suggested vaccination of Americans could begin by the end of next week. In their scenario, the Food and Drug Administration will authorize emergency use of a vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech almost immediately after … Continue Reading
November 30, 2020
More Good News For Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate-NPR
The biotech company Moderna released new data Monday morning that strengthens the case for its COVID-19 vaccine. It concludes the vaccine is 94 percent effective - and strongly protects against serious illness. Based on these latest findings, the company plans to submit an application for emergency use authorization to the Food and Drug Administration today. NPR, … Continue Reading
November 24, 2020
Sputnik V Coronavirus Vax Has 95 Percent Efficacy, Says Russia-Politico
Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is more than 95 percent effective and will be free for all Russian citizens, the government announced Tuesday. Moscow's Gamaleya Research Institute, which serves under the Russian health ministry, said in a release that international markets will be able to purchase the serum for $10 per dose, with patients requiring two. This would mean Sputnik V is “cheaper than mRNA vaccines with similar efficacy levels,” the institute said, referring to the Pfizer/BioNTech and … Continue Reading
November 24, 2020
India Seeks More Cold Storage For Vaccine Push-The Associated Press
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged states that are witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases to establish cold storage facilities for COVID-19 vaccines. Modi’s Tuesday meeting with state leaders came as India’s total infections soared past 9.18 million. More than 134,000 Indians have died due to COVID-19. Modi said his government is keeping track of vaccine development in the country and is in touch with vaccine developers across the world. He says “our priority is to make the vaccine … Continue Reading
November 24, 2020
EU Secures 160 Million Doses Of Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine-Reuters
The European Union has struck a deal for up to 160 million doses of U.S. firm Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, the head of the European Commission said on Tuesday, taking the EU’s potential stock of COVID-19 shots to nearly 2 billion. Last week, Moderna said its experimental vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing COVID-19, based on interim data from a late-stage clinical trial. Reuters, … Continue Reading
November 24, 2020
‘Essential Workers’ Likely To Get Earlier Access To Covid-19 Vaccine-STAT
Essential workers are likely to move ahead of adults 65 and older and people with high-risk medical conditions when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off on Covid-19 vaccine priority lists, coming after health care workers and people living in long-term care facilities, a meeting of an expert advisory panel made clear Monday. The intention is to bring many people of color closer to the front of the vaccine priority line — should they want to be vaccinated — in recognition of … Continue Reading