A vaccine miracle — if Democrats and the media don’t screw things up https://nypost.com/2020/11/22/a-vaccine-miracle-if-democrats-the-media-dont-screw-things-up/
Moderna says vaccine is 100 percent effective at preventing severe Covid-19 cases Moderna to apply today for FDA authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/30/health/moderna-vaccine-fda-eua-application/index.html Pharmaceutical company Moderna intends to apply Monday to the US Food and Drug Administration for authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine. The company will ask the FDA to review an expanded data set showing the vaccine is 94.1% effective at preventing Covid-19 and 100% effective at preventing severe cases of the disease. "This is striking," said Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the FDA's vaccine advisory committee. "These are amazing data." Moderna's chief medical officer said he became emotional when he saw the data Saturday night. "It was the first time I allowed myself to cry," Dr. Tal Zaks said. "We have a full expectation to change the course of this pandemic." Moderna will become the second company to apply to the FDA for emergency use authorization for a coronavirus vaccine. Pfizer applied on November 20 with data showing similarly high efficacy. The FDA will meet with its advisory committee in December to review Pfizer's and Moderna's applications. The first vaccinations in the United States are expected to take place "towards the latter part of December," according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Moderna said it also plans to apply for authorization from the European Medicines Agency on Monday. Moderna's new data On Monday, Moderna released updated efficacy data for its Phase 3 clinical trial. Starting in July, Moderna gave either its vaccine or a placebo -- a shot of saline that does nothing -- to some 30,000 people in the United States. With high rates of coronavirus throughout the country over the next following months, many of those study subjects developed Covid-19. But there was a big difference between the group that got the vaccine and the group that got the placebo. Among the approximately 15,000 people who received the vaccine, 11 developed Covid-19. Among the approximately 15,000 people who received the placebo, 185 developed Covid-19. That amounts to a 94.1% efficacy for Moderna's vaccine. None of the 11 people who received the vaccine became severely ill, but 30 of the 185 who received the placebo became severely ill, and one of them died. The vaccine had similar efficacy rates for elderly people and for people in racial minority groups, Zaks said. In Pfizer's Phase 3 clinical trial, the vaccine proved to be 95% effective, and one study participant who received the vaccine developed a severe case of Covid-19. While the two vaccines are not identical, both Pfizer and Moderna use messenger RNA to illicit an immune response in the human body. The vaccines are given in two doses a few weeks apart, and can cause side effects, such as a fever or body aches for a few days. Next steps The FDA is scheduled to meet with its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on December 10 to review Pfizer's application and on December 17 to review Moderna's application. Offit, who is a member of that panel, said it will be important to look and see why some people still got Covid-19 even after being vaccinated. "Were they more likely to be older? Were they more likely to be African-American or obese or have underlying medical problems like diabetes?" said Offit, a vaccine expert at the University of Pennsylvania. If the FDA grants the vaccine emergency use authorization -- and it's expected that it will -- within a day or two, an advisory committee to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make a recommendation about who should get the shots first. That group will likely include health care workers and nursing home residents. After the CDC issues those recommendations, shots can go into arms. Zaks said as the pandemic rages on, he looks forward to seeing the vaccines in action. By the end of 2020, Moderna expects to have approximately 20 million doses of its vaccine available in the United States, and it's on track to manufacture 500 million to 1 billion doses globally next year, according to the company's press release Monday. "The magnitude of this achievement and the implications of what it means to what's ahead of us in the context of what's going on around us is -- it's just overwhelming emotionally," Zaks said.
This is the factor that- to me- continually gets lost in the discussions that repeatedly conclude that the flu vaccine is only 40% effective or whatever because it mutates and may or may not be a good match for the current year's strain. So, the argument, goes ...if 60% of the people are still getting the flu......it is not worth shiite. Nope......as is often the case here...that is wayyyy too binary. A vaccine is not worthless if it still allows cases to develop, if it nevertheless- in a large number of cases- is able to convert otherwise fatal cases into moderately serious cases which result in recovery. We can be pissed at the world because it falls short of the ideal, but nevertheless lowering the death count while working on the case count is a good thing to do. Moderna alleges- through its alleged data- that the small number who still got covid, nevertheless, got a less severe case.
Want to travel on a plane. You better get the COVID vaccine. 'COVID Passport' to prove vaccination now in final stages of development https://justthenews.com/politics-po...rove-vaccination-now-final-stages-development
Welcome to Canada. Land of the vaccine hoarders. Canada Has Secured 'More Than 10' COVID-19 Vaccine Doses For Every Person In The Country https://www.narcity.com/en-ca/news/...tting-more-than-10-vaccine-doses-for-everyone On Monday, November 30, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivered the national economic statement for Fall 2020. She began her address by touching on the national spend on COVID-19 vaccines in Canada. According to Freeland, "Canada has secured the most diverse and extensive vaccine portfolio of any country in the world." She said that the country has invested over $1 billion in various vaccine agreements to the extent that there will be 10 doses for every Canadian to receive, free of charge. "Every Canadian can rest assured that a safe and effective vaccine will be available to them, free of charge," said the minister. "This has been a team Canada effort," she said, explaining that country has spent $322 billion in "direct measures to fight the virus and help people. There have also been $85 billion in tax and duty deferrals, she said. According to Justin Trudeau, the large-scale vaccine rollouts being planned by the government will be the country's biggest immunization in history. The prime minister predicted that most Canadians will be vaccinated by September 2021. Judging by the economic statement, the federal government is throwing a whole bunch of resources into getting vaccines to everyone as quickly as possible.
A lot of Covididiots here at ET didn't believe me back early in the Pandemic that something like this will occur. The question now about the sharing of info between countries is will it reveal other personal information about the traveler beyond info about someone's Covid status. Also, what's the cost going to be to the traveler ??? In addition, how valuable will the Covid Passport be if the vaccine only lasted for example one year...will the consumer then carry the next two step vaccine ??? wrbtrader
China has promised millions of coronavirus vaccines to countries globally. And it is ready to deliver them https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/01/asia/china-coronavirus-vaccine-diplomacy-intl-hnk/index.html Inside a gray warehouse at the Shenzhen International Airport in southern China, a row of white chambers sits in a cordoned-off corner, each fitted with a display screen showing the customized temperature inside. A security worker in face mask, surgical gown and rubber gloves stands guard. Anyone entering this part of the warehouse has to either complete two weeks of quarantine or wear a head-to-toe hazmat suit. These climate-controlled rooms, totaling an area of 350 square meters (3,767 square feet), are soon to be filled by rows and rows of Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines -- after they receive approval from the country's drug regulators. From there, they'll be loaded onto temperature-controlled compartments of cargo jets and flown to continents around the world. In the coming months, China will be sending hundreds of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines to countries that have conducted last-stage trials for its leading candidates. Chinese leaders have also promised a growing list of developing countries priority access to its successful vaccines. This global campaign presents China an opportunity to repair its image, which was damaged for its initial mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak -- rather than being blamed for the primary spread of the virus it can potentially be esteemed for helping to bring an end to the pandemic. The vaccines can also be used by Beijing as "an instrument for foreign policy to promote soft power and project international influence," said Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations. Earlier in the pandemic, China's efforts to curry favor by donating masks and other supplies to countries hit hard by the virus were tarnished by reports of poor quality supplies, and accusations that Beijing was launching a disinformation campaign to change the coronavirus narrative. Beijing's vaccine diplomacy, Huangsaid, could give it another chance. (More at above url)
This is the headline from one of China's lead commie papers: China makes vaccines global, US does it selfishly https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1208725.shtml One should not expect the CNN apple to fall far from the tree. The virus is working out great for China- especially giving it an edge over the rest of the world that is shut down. Don't be surprised if we see another virus at some point. "Look, Folks, they are not bad folks, Folks. They are not competition for us." -Joe Biden's official position on the Chinese.
Moderna plans to begin testing COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 12-17 https://www.wcvb.com/article/modern...id-19-vaccine-in-children-ages-12-17/34850939 Cambridge-based Moderna will soon begin looking for 3,000 children to take part in a trial of its COVID-19 vaccine. Participants between the ages of 12 and 17 will be split into two groups, with half receiving two shots of the vaccine 28 days apart and half receiving shots of saline. Details about the study, which is not yet recruiting participants, were posted Wednesday on ClinicalTrials.gov. A child’s immune system is very different than adults and it’s constantly evolving over time – and this is why it’s so important to do clinical trials specifically on kids," Boston Children's Hospital's Dr. John Brownstein recently told NewsCenter 5. Moderna announced Monday that it was seeking emergency use authorization from U.S. and European regulators to distribute the vaccine, based on the data gathered so far during its Phase 3 study involving 30,000 adult volunteers. Among those participants, Moderna said that 185 cases of COVID-19 were observed in the placebo group versus 11 cases observed in the group that received the vaccine. The original study plans to continue following the volunteers for two years. Moderna also said the shots’ effectiveness and a good safety record so far — with only temporary, flu-like side effects — mean they meet requirements set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use before the final-stage testing is complete. The European Medicines Agency, Europe’s version of FDA, has signaled it also is open to faster, emergency clearance. Pfizer is also seeking emergency use authorizations for its coronavirus vaccine, which has been tested in kids as young as 12. "Pfizer has started to add kids into the mix, but it’s going to be months before we have that data and can interpret it and understand safety and efficacy in our kids," said Dr. Brownstein. "That’s going to place more burden on the older population to get immunized if we’re ever going to get to herd immunity because kids are not going to be immunized in this first wave unfortunately."