"All of our decisions will continue to be based on good science ... "
PLUS: Russia's approval of virus vaccine greeted with some alarm
Aug 10, 2020 |
The Hill – The head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pledged Monday that the U.S. "will not cut corners" in its race to develop a coronavirus vaccine.
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn told the American Medical Association (AMA) in a video briefing that he’s heard experts have wondered...
"We all hope for a rapid end to the pandemic and an effective vaccine would be a surefire solution. But there are risks that come with a fast-tracked vaccine ... "
By William A. Haseltine
June 22, 2020
Scientific American – The excitement and enthusiasm for a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2020 is both palpable and understandable.
We all hope for a rapid end to the pandemic and an effective vaccine would be a surefire solution....
"It's a global dilemma."
WHO wants vaccines sent to Third World countries ASAP
Aug 02, 2020
AP – U.S. health authorities hope by late next month to have some draft guidance on how to ration initial doses, but it's a vexing decision.
"Not everybody's going to like the answer," Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, recently told one of the advisory groups the government asked to help decide. "There will be many people...
‘I happen to think it works.’
July 28, 2020 |
Politico – President Donald Trump on Tuesday doubled down on his promotion of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19 despite no evidence of the malaria drug’s efficacy in doing so.
“Many doctors think it is extremely successful, the hydroxychloroquine coupled with the zinc and perhaps the azithromycin,” Trump asserted at a White House briefing, though there is no evidence from at least five rigorous clinical trials that hydroxychloroquine has...
Kaiser Health News – Scientists are worried a vaccine will be developed and work best in younger people--who are far less vulnerable to COVID than seniors are. Other vaccine news focuses on the global development race.
The Wall Street Journal: Efforts For Coronavirus Vaccine Focus On Vulnerable Group: Older Adults
Health experts are worried about whether coronavirus vaccines under development will adequately protect the elderly, sparking efforts to make sure there are shots that can help...
"The FDA’s appears to formally close the door on U.S. officials’ willingness to use to prevent or treat Covid-19."
June 15, 2020
STAT News, WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Monday said it had withdrawn an emergency approval for use of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a Covid-19 treatment.
Almost since the beginning of the novel coronavirus pandemic, President Trump and other world leaders have touted hydroxychloroquine as an effective treatment based...
Researchers are skeptical over lack of shared data
June 3, 2020
Ars Technica – The Lancet medical journal on Tuesday issued an “expression of concern” over the validity of a recent study suggesting that the anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine raise the risk of death and heart complications in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
More than a hundred researchers have raised questions and skepticism about the data and analysis, even as researchers halted clinical trials in light of the...
Will you get the Covid-19 vaccine if it's made in China? Comment below.
May 30, 2020
Bloomberg News – A front-running Covid-19 vaccine candidate being developed in China is expected to be available as soon as the end of this year, according to an official report.
The vaccine has completed phase II testing in China and may be ready for the market at the end of this year or early next year, said the report.
The production line for the...
"If you do not have any repository symptoms such as fever, cough or runny nose, you do not need to wear a mask."
WHO recommendation has not changed; most people do not need a mask
May 29, 2020
Fox News – The World Health Organization is recommending healthy people, including those who don't exhibit COVID-19 symptoms, only wear masks when taking care of someone infected with the contagion, a sharp contrast from the advice given by American public...
"Understanding the rampage could help the doctors on the front lines treat the fraction of infected people who become desperately and sometimes mysteriously ill."
Clinicians trace a ferocious rampage through the body, from brain to toe
Apr. 17, 2020
Science Magazine – As the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 surges past 2.2 million globally and deaths surpass 150,000, clinicians and pathologists are struggling to understand the damage wrought by the coronavirus as it tears through the...
"AstraZeneca recognizes that the vaccine may not work, but is committed to progressing the clinical program with speed and scaling up manufacturing at risk.''
AstraZeneca secures orders for virus vaccine under testing
| LONDON (AP) – Drug maker AstraZeneca said Thursday it had secured its first agreements for 400 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine it is testing, bolstered by an investment from the U.S. vaccine agency.
The Anglo-Swedish company reported it had received more than $1...
CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid have all instructed workers not to refuse service to patrons who choose not to wear masks.
May 1, 2020
Fox Business – Retail chains from CVS to 7-Eleven are being forced to decide whether and how to enforce rules on masks after a string of attacks on clerks and security guards by patrons who refused to cover their faces.
As more cities, states and businesses require customers to cover up in...
“This is going to go away without a vaccine, it’s gonna go away." – President Trump
May 8, 2020
Yahoo News – President Trump on Friday broke with health experts, telling reporters that the coronavirus will “go away without a vaccine.”
“This is going to go away without a vaccine, it’s gonna go away, and we’re not going to see it again, hopefully, after a period of time,” Trump said at the White House. “You may have...
This state says it has figured out how to treat drug-addicted inmates |
Cranston, RI – On a gray, bone-chilling morning earlier this month, 18 men in a medium-security prison walked into an empty lunchroom and sat at stainless steel topped tables, placing both hands palms down, as if they were about to receive a manicure.
Over the next few minutes, they received the anti-addiction medication buprenorphine under their tongues, administered by a nurse and double-checked...
