Friday’s Elk, October 3, 2020

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

…and here we are in October, with the President of the United States hospitalized for Covid-19. Not the timeline I would have expected us to follow back in March.

It looks as if the President’s infection was involved in one way or another with a superspreading event at the White House last Saturday. No one should be surpised that the coronavirus can spread this way. Scientists have been warning us for months now. Here’s a story I wrote back in June. Continue reading “Friday’s Elk, October 3, 2020” →

Novavax Enters Final Stage of Coronavirus Vaccine Trials

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, September 24, 2020

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The vaccine maker Novavax said Thursday that it would begin the final stages of testing its coronavirus vaccine in the United Kingdom and that another large trial was scheduled to begin next month in the United States.

It is the fifth late-stage trial from a company supported by Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort to speed a coronavirus vaccine to market, and one of 11 worldwide to reach this pivotal stage. Novavax, a Maryland company that has never brought a vaccine to market, reached a $1.6 billion deal with the federal government in July to develop and manufacture its experimental vaccine, which has shown robust results in early clinical trials.

Continue reading “Novavax Enters Final Stage of Coronavirus Vaccine Trials” →

Johnson & Johnson’s Vaccine Advances, Sparking Optimism in Race

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, September 23, 2020 (with Katie Thomas)

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The feverish race for a coronavirus vaccine got an infusion of energy on Wednesday as Johnson & Johnson announced that it has begun the final stage of its clinical trials, the fourth company to do so in the United States as the country hits a grim milestone of 200,000 deaths from the pandemic.

Johnson & Johnson is a couple of months behind the leaders, but its advanced vaccine trial will be by far the largest, enrolling 60,000 participants. The company said it could know by the end of this year if its vaccine works.

Continue reading “Johnson & Johnson’s Vaccine Advances, Sparking Optimism in Race” →

A Covid-19 Vaccine for Children May Not Arrive Before Fall 2021

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, September 21, 2020

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The pandemic has many parents asking two burning questions. First, when can I get a vaccine? And second, when can my kids get it? It may come as a surprise that the answers are not the same. Adults may be able to get a vaccine by next summer. But their kids will have to wait longer. Perhaps a lot longer.

Thanks to the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed and other programs, a number of Covid-19 vaccines for adults are already in advanced clinical trials. But no trials have yet begun in the United States to determine whether these vaccines are safe and effective for children.

Continue reading “A Covid-19 Vaccine for Children May Not Arrive Before Fall 2021” →

AstraZeneca Partly Resumes Coronavirus Vaccine Trial After Halting It for Safety

Posted on by Lori Jia

The New York Times, September 12, 2020 (with Katie Thomas and Benjamin Mueller)

Link

The pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said Saturday that it had resumed its coronavirus vaccine trial in Britain after suspending it six days ago over potential safety issues but that its trials in the United States and other countries were still on hold.

The news came the same day that a competitor, Pfizer, said it was expanding the trial of its coronavirus vaccine to 44,000 people — a big increase from its previous goal of 30,000 — in an effort to recruit a more diverse group of participants and potentially cut down the time needed to get results from the trial.

Continue reading “AstraZeneca Partly Resumes Coronavirus Vaccine Trial After Halting It for Safety” →