The Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine Is Headed Into Its Final Laps
In the U.S., a vaccine made by Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech firm Moderna (in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) entered phase 3 trials today, typically the last major hurdle before approval. 30,000 volunteers across the country will receive two doses of either Moderna’s vaccine or a dummy shot; researchers are looking to see if the vaccine prevents infection and continues to be safe. In earlier tests, the vaccine triggered the desired immune response, and recipients reported relatively mild side effects, if any. If all goes well, results from the study could come as early as November.
Meanwhile on the other side of the planet, researchers at Chinese biotech firm SinoVac are also making steady progress on a vaccine of their own, TIME’s Charlie Campbell reports . The company’s vaccine, dubbed “CoronaVac,” also recently began phase 3 trials involving 9,000 volunteers in hard-hit Brazil (Moderna’s vaccine needs to be stored below freezing, but CoronaVac has a three-year shelf life, making it better suited for use in hotter climates). While new vaccines typically take years to develop, CoronaVac could be up for regulatory approval next year. “Do you really think this is fast? Compared with the spread of the virus, it’s not fast enough,” SinoVac CEO Yin Weidong told Campbell.
The speed at which these and other vaccine candidates are being developed and tested is, by most measures, good news. But in a world where some people are already skeptical of existing, proven vaccines, the breakneck scientific pace will give ammunition to those seeking to sow fear and doubt about the results—"how could we trust anything made so quickly?” the thinking might go. Public health experts are already on the information offensive, assuring people that the vaccines are undergoing rigorous testing. “Yes, we’re going fast, but no, we are not going to compromise safety or efficacy,” U.S. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said on a media call today.
That multiple companies and teams in multiple countries are working on multiple vaccines is good news for humanity writ large. There’s nothing wrong with a little scientific competition— the U.S. would surely not have landed on the moon as early as it did were the Soviets not breathing down the Americans’ proverbial neck. There’s an element of national pride on the line—if American researchers beat their Chinese counterparts at creating a vaccine for a virus that originated in China, particularly nationalist politicians might frame it up as the U.S. fixing a mess China started.
For the rest of us, having multiple promising candidates increases the odds that at least one, and hopefully more, will be safe and effective. That different vaccines may have different advantages and disadvantages, as the Moderna and SinoVac vaccines do, is a benefit, too, giving us strategic options for global deployment. But that brings up another big question: once a vaccine is ready, how do we best produce and distribute it across the world? Therein lies another winner’s advantage, and another very good reason to (safely) hustle to the finish line.
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
The Global Situation
More than 16.2 million people around the world had been sickened by COVID-19 as of 1 AM eastern time today, and more than 648,000 people have died.
Here is every country with over 250,000 confirmed cases:
Hong Kong officials announced today the area’s strictest measures yet to turn the tide on what’s become a troubling resurgence of cases. Public gatherings will be limited to two people, everyone will be required to wear a mask in public (even while working out) and dine-in service at restaurants will be forbidden. The restrictions come as Hong Kong reported 145 new cases today, marking six straight days of new daily records.
The Australian state of Victoria had its worst day of the pandemic so far today, reporting 532 new cases and six deaths, most of which were tied to elder care facilities. In a news conference announcing the latest figures, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews urged residents to stay home from work if they’re feeling ill. “If people are going to work sick, people will become infected,” he said, Australian broadcaster SBS News reports. “And therefore, people will die.”
Travelers entering the United Kingdom from Spain are venting their frustrations with the U.K. government, which over the weekend unexpectedly mandated a 14-day self-quarantine upon arrival—for visitors and returning residents both. The rule, which went into effect just hours after it was announced, comes as Spain is facing a second wave of cases. “We got a message saying that it was happening. I looked for flights, but we only had four hours to get back. So, it was too late,” one vacationer told The Guardian.
Officials in Vietnam are evacuating about 80,000 people, mainly travelers, from the coastal city of Da Nang after three residents tested positive, CNN reports, citing local media. Vietnam is among several Southeast Asian countries that have so far been spared the worst of the pandemic, with only 420 reported cases and zero deaths as of today. The country’s successes so far may be in part due to the rapid and decisive action it took earlier this year; Vietnam cut itself off to almost all international travel in March.
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. recorded 4.2 million coronavirus cases as of 1 AM eastern time today. Nearly 147,000 people have died.
On July 26, there were 54,953 new cases and 470 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Florida has overtaken New York for the second-highest number of reported COVID-19 cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, with 423,855 cases to New York’s 411,736. Only California has reported more cases, with 452,288. While New York was the center of the pandemic earlier this year, the situation there has largely stabilized, with fewer than 1,000 new cases every day. Florida, meanwhile, has seen more than 10,000 new cases nearly every day since July 10. Despite the worsening situation, Florida governor Ron DeSantis has resisted calls to issue a statewide mask mandate, though many local officials have done so anyway.
As Congressional Democrats and Republicans remain at odds over the next major coronavirus relief package, White House officials are floating the idea of extending (but possibly modifying) some existing provisions to give lawmakers more time to hash out their differences over a larger bill, the New York Times reports. But Democrats are opposed to patchwork solutions, preferring instead to agree to a substantial bill before August recess. The parties’ most significant disagreement: how to handle the $600/week in extra unemployment payments, which expire this Friday. Many Republicans say that provision has disincentivized people from finding jobs and are promoting a scheme that would cap unemployment payments at about 70% of a person’s previous salary. Democrats counter that, in the middle of a global pandemic, there are few jobs to be found, and the payments have helped propped up consumer spending and thus bolstered the economy overall.
Texas, already battered by the pandemic, weathered a different kind of storm over the weekend, as Hurricane Hanna made landfall on the Gulf Coast Saturday before falling to tropical storm strength. Hanna, which brought heavy rains and flooding, underscored the added challenge of responding to a major storm during an infectious disease outbreak. Texas has reported nearly 400,000 cases and just over 5,000 deaths. Meanwhile, Hurricane Douglas narrowly missed most of the Hawaiian islands, sparing the state from a potential disaster of its own.
Walmart has banned a man and woman from shopping at its stores for one year after they were recorded on video wearing swastika face masks at the retailer’s Marshall, Minnesota location, USA Todayreports. The masks appeared to be a form of protest against Walmart’s new requirement that all shoppers wear facial coverings at the company’s stores.
What looks like a COVID-19 outbreak among players and staff of the Miami Marlins has thrown Major League Baseball’s shortened season into jeopardy just four days after the first pitch was thrown. The Marlins’ home opener, which had them set to face off against the Baltimore Orioles tonight, has been cancelled, as has the Philadelphia Phillies’ home opener against the New York Yankees (the Marlins played a three-game series against the Phils over the weekend despite multiple players testing positive ). While some other pro sports leagues, including the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League, are following a “bubble strategy” where each team moves to 1-2 cities for the duration of play, the MLB opted to have teams travel to one another’s usual ballparks, though with a modified schedule to reduce movement.
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of July 27, 1 AM eastern time. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Parents in ICE Detention Have to Decide Whether to Keep Their Children or Release Them to Sponsors
Taken together, a pair of court orders involving immigration lawsuits are forcing parents in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention to make a gut-wrenching choice: keep their children with them in custody during a global pandemic that’s ravaging prisons and other detention centers in particular, or release them into the custody of sponsors. Read more here.
What's The Point of a Test That Takes 19 Days for Results?
As testing delays mount up amid a crush of new cases across the country, BuzzFeed News goes deep on the frustrations felt by those who get a test only to wait weeks for a result. Read more here.
Hoping to Understand the Virus, Everyone Is Parsing a Mountain of Data
Cases. Deaths. Percent positives. Transmission rates. There’s no shortage of coronavirus data out there, which is in many respects a good thing: the more information researchers have about this outbreak, the better they can understand and mitigate it. But the freely available data has also given rise to a world of “armchair epidemiology,” the New York Times reports, as amateurs misinterpret information and spread potentially misleading conclusions. Read more here.
We Thought It Was Just a Respiratory Virus
If you want to take a step back from the day-to-day news and develop a better understanding of the science behind SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, it’s hard to do better than this all-encompassing story in USCF Magazine.Read more here.
The Declining Power of the American Passport
Over at The Atlantic, senior editor Prashant Rao points out how, during the pandemic, many Americans are for the first time being confronted with massive restrictions on freedom to move about the globe. “Before the pandemic, more than 100 countries were willing to admit Americans; now, by one count, fewer than three dozen countries want you,” Rao writes. “What you have done matters little; instead, your movements are limited by factors outside of your control, and your passport locks doors rather than opening them.” Read more here.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Alex Fitzpatrick and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
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