Updates
COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Paused Due To Illness In One Volunteer-NPR
Drug maker AstraZeneca has announced that it is pausing its COVID-19 vaccine trial due to a "potentially unexplained illness" in one of the trial volunteers. The vaccine was developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with Astra Zeneca. It's being studied in thousands of patients in the United States and the United Kingdom. The illness apparently occurred in a U.K. volunteer. NPR, … Continue Reading
September 08, 2020
Senate To Vote On COVID-19 Aid As Soon As This Week: McConnell-Reuters
The Republican leaders of the U.S. Senate will introduce a proposal for additional coronavirus relief on Tuesday and could schedule a vote as soon as this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. He said the proposal - expected to have a far smaller scope than a bill passed in the Democratic-led House of Representatives - would focus on "some of the very most urgent healthcare, education and economic issues." Reuters, … Continue Reading
September 08, 2020
‘Children Are Going Hungry’: Why Schools Are Struggling To Feed Students-NPR
Six months into schools' pandemic-driven experiment in distance learning, much has been said (and debated) about whether children are learning. But the more urgent question, for the more than 30 million kids who depend on U.S. schools for free or reduced-price meals, is this: Are they eating? The answer, based on recent data and interviews with school nutrition leaders and anti-hunger advocates across the country, is alarming. NPR, … Continue Reading
September 08, 2020
What Should I Look For In A Hand Sanitizer?-The Associated Press
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hand sanitizers should be at least 60% ethyl alcohol or 70% isopropyl alcohol. Other approved ingredients may include sterile distilled water, hydrogen peroxide and glycerin, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Associated Press, … Continue Reading
September 08, 2020
The Coronavirus Is Mutating — Does It Matter?-Nature
When COVID-19 spread around the globe this year, David Montefiori wondered how the deadly virus behind the pandemic might be changing as it passed from person to person. Montefiori is a virologist who has spent much of his career studying how chance mutations in HIV help it to evade the immune system. The same thing might happen with SARS-CoV-2, he thought. Nature, … Continue Reading
September 08, 2020
‘An Unchartered Situation For All Of Us’: From Shipping Containers To Security Concerns, A Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Chain Takes Shape-STAT
For the past few months, Joachim Kuhn has scrambled to rework his factories and rapidly ramp up production of temperature-controlled containers - a critical but often overlooked part of the global supply chain that will be needed to deliver Covid-19 vaccines around the world. STAT, … Continue Reading
September 04, 2020
‘Carnage’ In A Lab Dish Shows How The Coronavirus May Damage The Heart-STAT
Maybe we should think of Covid-19 as a heart disease. When SARS-CoV-2 virus was added to human heart cells grown in lab dishes, the long muscle fibers that keep hearts beating were diced into short bits, alarming scientists at the San Francisco-based Gladstone Institutes, especially after they saw a similar phenomenon in heart tissue from Covid-19 patients' autopsies. STAT, … Continue Reading
September 04, 2020
President Trump’s New COVID-19 Adviser Is Making Public Health Experts Nervous-NPR
Dr. Scott Atlas has literally written the book on magnetic resonance imaging. He has also co-authored numerous scientific studies on the economics of medical imaging technology. "He's an MRI guy," says Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. "If I was confused about some brain lesion and what the MRI findings were, I'd be happy to call him up." But President Trump has tapped Atlas for a very different role - as an adviser on the coronavirus pandemic. NPR, … Continue Reading
September 04, 2020
DeVos To Enforce School Testing Mandates Amid Pandemic-Politico
The Trump administration plans to enforce federal standardized testing requirements for K-12 schools despite the pandemic, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced to state leaders on Thursday. DeVos told state school chiefs in a letter that they should not expect the Education Department to again waive federal testing requirements as it did this spring amid sudden school closures. Politico, … Continue Reading
September 04, 2020
Cautious Optimism In South Africa That COVID-19 Surge Is Over-Devex
At the end of July, South Africa hit a peak when it reported 13,944 new cases of COVID-19 in one day. Yesterday, it reported 2,420 new cases. With this decrease in daily cases, responders to the pandemic are hopeful that the surge has quelled, but they also warn against complacency. Devex, … Continue Reading
September 04, 2020
Russia’s COVID-19 Vaccine Showed Antibody Response In Initial Trials-Reuters
Russia's "Sputnik-V" COVID-19 vaccine produced an antibody response in all participants in early-stage trials, according to results published on Friday by The Lancet medical journal that were hailed by Moscow as an answer to its critics. Reuters, … Continue Reading
September 03, 2020
Sanitation Workers Left Exposed To COVID-19-Devex
Many sanitation and waste management workers are toiling during the COVID-19 pandemic as essential workers but do not have access to hand-washing facilities and personal protective equipment, aid organizations say. Devex, … Continue Reading
September 03, 2020
U.S. To Redirect WHO Funding To Other U.N. Programs: State Department-Reuters
The United States plans to redirect its funding for the World Health Organization to other United Nations programs after it withdraws from WHO next July, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday. As part of its withdrawal, effective July 6, 2021, the United States will begin recalling officials from WHO offices and seek other partners to take over activities previously run by WHO, the department said in a statement. Reuters, … Continue Reading
September 03, 2020
Sanofi And GSK Move Covid-19 Vaccine Into Human Trials-STAT
Vaccine giants Sanofi and GSK are joining the ranks of Covid-19 vaccine makers testing their candidates in people, launching a large Phase 1/2 clinical trial Thursday that will take place at 11 sites across the United States. STAT, … Continue Reading
September 03, 2020
India Will Supply Coronavirus Vaccines To The World — Will Its People Benefit?-Nature
As scientists edge closer to creating a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, Indian pharmaceutical companies are front and centre in the race to supply the world with an effective product. But researchers worry that, even with India's experience as a vaccine manufacturer, its companies will struggle to produce enough doses sufficiently fast to bring its own huge outbreak under control. On top of that, it will be an immense logistical challenge to distribute the doses to people in rural … Continue Reading
September 02, 2020
In Peru, Virus Erodes Centuries-Old Burial Traditions-The Associated Press
Burial was a tradition for both Peru's indigenous Inca culture and the Spanish who colonized the country. And millions of Peruvians would visit their loved ones' graves at least once a year, many more frequently, to eat and drink and pay tribute to the deceased on the Day of the Dead every November. With the arrival of the pandemic, that tradition has taken a blow. To prevent infection and save space in the capital's overstretched cemeteries, people have begun to cremate the dead, … Continue Reading
September 02, 2020
Steroids Cut Death Rates Among Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients, Major Study Finds-Reuters
Treating critically ill COVID-19 patients with corticosteroid drugs reduces the risk of death by 20%, an analysis of seven international trials found on Wednesday, prompting the World Health Organisation to update its advice on treatment. Reuters, … Continue Reading
September 02, 2020
Experts See A Chance For A Covid-19 Vaccine Approval This Fall — If It’s Done Right-STAT
There is growing concern that the Food and Drug Administration, under political pressure, could approve a Covid-19 vaccine before it has robust safety and efficacy data. The consequences of such a decision could be significant, particularly if the vaccine is ultimately shown to be less effective than early data suggest. But an approval before the completion of large, Phase 3 trials does not have to be problematic. Experts aren't ruling out the possibility that a vaccine could be cleared this … Continue Reading
September 02, 2020
CDC Asks States To Plan For Potential Vaccine Distribution Starting In Late October-NPR
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked states to prepare to distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine as soon as late October, according to a series of planning documents sent to public health officials last week. NPR, … Continue Reading
September 02, 2020
U.S. Won’t Join WHO-Led Coronavirus Vaccine Effort, White House Says-NPR
The Trump administration says the U.S. will not participate in a global push to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, in part because the effort is led by the World Health Organization, which the White House describes as "corrupt" and has accused of initially aiding China in covering up the scope of the pandemic. NPR, … Continue Reading