Another COVID-19 Vaccine Is Headed for Authorization
The U.S. is now very close to having two vaccines available to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Moderna's vaccine could be authorized for emergency use in adults any minute, following a nearly unanimous vote of support by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory committee yesterday. If it’s authorized today, it would follow the Pfizer-BioNTech shot by exactly a week.
Having two vaccines available would be a big deal no matter what. More shots means, obviously, that more people can get vaccinated, and sooner. Moderna says it's ready to ship 6 million doses right away, adding to the roughly 3 million Pfizer doses circulated in the first week of availability.
But Moderna's vaccine looks uniquely promising in a couple ways.
Like Pfizer's shot, it is almost 95% effective at preventing COVID-19 after two doses. But unlike Pfizer's shot, which must be stored at a frigid -70℃ that only specialized freezers can achieve, Moderna's vaccine can be shipped at standard freezer temperatures and kept in a regular refrigerator. That makes it far easier to distribute to nursing homes, small clinics, pharmacies, rural hospitals and other providers that can't easily store Pfizer's shot. And that means many more people at high risk of severe COVID-19 will soon be able to get vaccinated, assuming the FDA approves the drug as expected.
Another promising aspect of the Moderna vaccine: It may prevent infection itself, as well as COVID-19 disease. That's been a key caveat in discussions about the Pfizer vaccine's efficacy. While Pfizer's shot is very good at preventing people from getting sick with COVID-19, studies haven't conclusively proven whether it also stops people from actually getting infected with the virus. If it doesn't, people who receive the Pfizer vaccine could still potentially become infected, never have symptoms, and then unknowingly pass the virus on to others who are not yet protected.
But data Moderna provided to the FDA this week suggest its shot may prevent both illness and infection. After a single dose of the shot, the company said there were about two-thirds fewer positive tests among those who had been vaccinated compared to those who received the placebo. More research is needed, but it's a promising sign—one of several over the last few weeks.
Numerous U.S. state leaders have complained that they'll receive fewer doses than expected of Pfizer's vaccine next week—but that may speak more to communication issues than with changes in manufacturing capacity, sources tell TIME. Some states have apparently been doing their planning based on projected numbers that were never finalized. "There was some confusion between planning and training numbers provided in mid-November and actual official weekly allocations, which are only available the week prior to distribution shipping because they are based on the number of releasable vaccine doses available," according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) statement. States lock in their numbers with the federal government through a computer program once a week. The finalized number has never changed, so complaints that vaccine "allocations are being reduced are incorrect," an HHS spokesperson says. Pfizer, meanwhile, has said that it has "millions more doses sitting in our warehouse," awaiting shipping instructions from the federal government. But U.S. officials say that was the plan all along. In this week's push of vaccine, 2.9 million doses were delivered to the states while another 3 million were held back for patients to receive their second dose, as required, 21 days later. The government has said it won't send out first doses without having the second dose in reserve.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, along with his wife, Karen Pence, and Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, received their COVID-19 vaccinations during a live television broadcast this morning. The public event may help boost public confidence in the safety of the vaccine, which Pence called "a medical miracle." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were also vaccinated today, and other high-ranking public officials—including President-elect Joe Biden—are expected to get vaccinated in the coming days. It's unclear when President Donald Trump will get vaccinated; while Trump already had COVID-19, a vaccination may help bolster his immune system against the possibility of re-infection.
More countries around the world are planning to begin their own vaccination campaigns in the coming days and weeks. The European Union is expected to start distributing Pfizer's vaccine shortly after Christmas, after regulators meet to decide whether to approve it. Indian officials also told the BBC "a few" vaccines will likely win approval over the next few weeks, hopefully allowing rollout to begin there in January.
—With reporting from W.J. Hennigan
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
The Global Situation
Almost 75 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 1 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 1.6 million people have died. On Dec. 17, there were 732,675 new cases and 13,171 new deaths confirmed globally.
Editor's note: On Nov. 25, Turkey changed its policy to include asymptomatic cases in its daily numbers. On Dec. 10, the country provided a large case dump to bring the total historical reporting in line with this new standard. However, the data are not yet available to accurately distribute this increase retroactively. The result is a significant anomaly that impacts the charts and maps both for Turkey, and, due to the country’s large case numbers, the world.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here is every country with over 1 million confirmed cases:
After months of relative success controlling the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan appears to be backsliding, Tim Hornyak reports for TIME. Many of the same problems that have hampered the U.S.' response—pandemic fatigue, misinformation and mixed messages from leaders—appear to be leading Japan toward a dangerous winter. Japan, which has recorded fewer than 200,000 cases since the pandemic began, has been consistently breaking daily case count records since mid-November. Tokyo alone reported 822 cases yesterday.
Vaccine acceptance seems to be higher in Africa than in the U.S., according to new survey results. In an Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention poll released yesterday, almost 80% of respondents said they would take a COVID-19 vaccine if it were deemed safe and effective. In recent polls, about 70% of Americans have said they would, up from around 50% over the summer.
The Situation in the U.S.
The U.S. had recorded more than 17.2 million coronavirus cases as of 1 a.m. E.T. today. Almost 310,700 people have died. On Dec. 17, there were 233,271 new cases and 3,270 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Congress may pass a stopgap spending plan today to avoid a government shutdown—but COVID-19 relief probably won't be part of it, Reuters reports. Lawmakers hoped to pass a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package today as part of a larger spending bill, but Republicans and Democrats have been unable to reach a compromise on key elements. They reportedly disagree about how to handle eviction prevention and food assistance for the public; how to run a Federal Reserve emergency lending program; and whether struggling states and local governments should be reimbursed for some pandemic-related expenses. Negotiations may continue into the weekend.
Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond this week became the first member of the incoming White House staff to test positive for COVID-19. Richmond, a close adviser to President-elect Joe Biden who is set to direct his Office of Public Engagement, will quarantine for 14 days. His staff said he had not been in contact with Biden in the days before testing positive.
After weeks of record cases, hospitalizations and deaths, the severity of the winter COVID-19 surge seems to be sinking in for Americans. In a Kaiser Family Foundation poll, half of adults said they believe the worst of the pandemic is yet to come, and 68%—the highest number recorded since Kaiser began polling in February—said they're worried they or someone in their family will get sick. The fact that Americans feel this way as vaccines are finally rolling out highlights how widespread and devastating the pandemic's third wave has been.
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Dec. 18, 1 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Only Congress Can Keep the Trains Running
Public transportation ridership plummeted when stay-at-home orders came down and many workers began "commuting" to the living room. Now, it may take a significant influx of federal funding to save transit systems that serve as the economic backbone of some of the country’s largest cities. Read more here.
Can We Double Our Vaccine Supplies?
Most COVID-19 vaccines were designed to be given in two separate doses. But in a New York Times op-ed, public health experts Zeynep Tufekci and Michael Mina question whether it may be beneficial to instead vaccinate twice as many people with a single dose, a strategy that could result in many more people receiving only slightly less protection. Read more here.
15 Ways to Improve Your Home Office
If you're still working while hunched over your laptop at the kitchen table, it's time to upgrade your work-from-home setup. Here, my colleague Nadia Suleman gathered some gear suggestions. Read more here.
Vaccines of the Rich and the Famous
In sadly unsurprising news, wealthy people are going to great (but largely unsuccessful) lengths to get COVID-19 vaccines before they're widely available, the Los Angeles Times reports. One patient reportedly asked if a $25,000 donation to a hospital could help cut the line—but the answer was no. 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. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
If you were forwarded this and want to sign up to receive it daily, click here.
Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and edited by Alex Fitzpatrick.
沒有留言:
張貼留言