Author: Lori Jia
The New York Times, January 5, 2021 (with Jonathan Corum)
Researchers are testing 64 coronavirus vaccines in clinical trials on humans. Here are explanations about how nine of the leading vaccines work.
How the Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Works
The vaccine, known as Comirnaty, has been approved or authorized for emergency use in many countries, including the United States. Clinical trials showed the vaccine has an efficacy of 95 percent.
The New York Times, December 29, 2020 (with Bryan Pietsch)
The first United States case of the more contagious coronavirus variant that was initially discovered in Britain was found in Colorado on Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis said, raising the worrisome possibility that the variant is already well established in the patient’s community — and perhaps elsewhere.
“It didn’t teleport across the Atlantic,” said William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The variant was detected in a man in his 20s with no travel history, Mr. Polis said. The man was in isolation in Elbert County, southeast of Denver, he said.
Continue reading “First U.S. Case of Highly Contagious Coronavirus Variant Is Found in Colorado”
The New York Times, December 28, 2020
The Maryland biotech Novavax is starting a final, so-called Phase 3 clinical trial in the United States and Mexico for its experimental coronavirus vaccine, the company announced on Monday.
The little-known firm, which has never brought a vaccine to market before, received up to $1.6 billion from the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed this summer to expedite development. The company reported robust results in earlier phases of its trial, showing that the vaccine prompted strong immune responses in monkeys and people.
Continue reading “Novavax is starting the final stage of testing for its vaccine.”
The New York Times, December 25, 2020 (with Ernesto Londoño)
Turkish officials announced Thursday that a vaccine from the Chinese company Sinovac has an efficacy rate of 91.25 percent, but the finding was based on preliminary results from a small clinical trial and none of the data was published in a journal or posted online.
The announcement came a day after another ambiguous news conference, also about Sinovac’s vaccine, in Brazil. Officials there were expected to provide detailed results from another trial, but only reported that the vaccine had an efficacy rate over 50 percent.
Continue reading “Turkey and Brazil Say Chinese Vaccine Effective, With Sparse Supporting Data”
The New York Times, December 23, 2020 (with Benedict Carey)
A team of British scientists released a worrying study on Wednesday of the new coronavirus variant sweeping the United Kingdom. They warned that the variant is so contagious that new control measures, including closing down schools and universities, might be necessary. Even that may not be enough, they noted, saying, “It may be necessary to greatly accelerate vaccine rollout.”
Nicholas Davies, the lead author of the study, said that the model should also serve as a warning to other countries where the variant may have already spread.
Continue reading “Coronavirus Variant Is Indeed More Transmissible, New Study Suggests”