COVID Vaccine News

01/01/2021

"Graham told McLellan, a structural virologist at the University of Texas at Austin, that the ailment appeared to be a beta-coronavirus, meaning it fell into the genus of viruses that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). He asked McLellan: “Are you ready to get back in the saddle?”

This duo was part of a small band of government and university scientists who had spent more than a decade cracking a complex viral puzzle—and their skills were needed once more. Their years of sleuthing and innovating ultimately contributed a microscopic but critical piece to the most promising candidates for COVID-19 vaccines. Two already authorized in the U.S. use their discovery, as do at least two other top contenders.

Their solution? Tweaking a shape-shifting protein to make it sit still."

Credits to National Geographic

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Long before anyone knew of SARS-CoV-2, a small band of government and university scientists uncovered a prototypical key that unlocked life-saving immunizations.

01/01/2021

"The World Health Organization has listed Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, a critical step that the United Nations health agency said aims to make the vaccine more readily available in developing nations.

In a statement on Thursday, WHO said its validation of the vaccine – the first since the start of the pandemic – “opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine”.

Credits to Al Jazeera English

www.getcovidvaccines.com

UN health agency says emergency use listing ‘opens the door’ for countries to expedite their vaccine approval processes.

12/31/2020

"A vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) has been found to be 79.34 per cent effective against Covid-19, according to an interim analysis, the company said.

The vaccine was shown to be safe, and participants receiving the two-dose course produced a high level of antibodies against the virus at a rate of 99.52 per cent, according to a statement posted on Wednesday by the company’s subsidiary Beijing Institute of Biological Products – which has also formally submitted an application to China’s regulators for conditional listing, it said.

Few further details were given – including critical information about the number of people evaluated to reach the results, or which data had been analysed."

Credits to South China Morning Post

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Few details were released in the announcement but the company is seeking conditional listing from Chinese regulator.

12/30/2020

"The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, with the first doses due to be given on Monday.

There will be 530,000 doses available from next week, and vaccination centres will now start inviting patients to come and get the jab.

Priority groups for immunisation have already been identified, starting with care home residents, the over-80s, and health and care workers."

Credits to BBC

www.getcovidvaccines.com

The first doses are due to be given on Monday, amid concern over rising coronavirus cases.

12/29/2020

"Twelve months of study have shown that our bodies, in many cases, develop a robust and persistent immune response to SARS-CoV-2, but for some people with severe cases, it can go haywire and hurts more than helps.

Our fundamental comprehension of immune responses to the coronavirus has grown significantly, but more questions—like the longevity of immunity—are still to be answered, especially amid concerns that mutations may help SARS-CoV-2 evade our immunological defenses. With vaccination on the horizon for many at-risk individuals, the immune response’s intricacies are even more critical to understand."

Credits to National Geographic

www.getcovidvaccines.com

A year into the pandemic, our understanding of immune responses to the coronavirus has skyrocketed. But more questions—such as how long immunity lasts—still need answers.

12/16/2020

"Higher income countries like the U.S. and the U.K. are putting themselves at the front of the line — that's obviously what's happening," Philip Clarke, a professor of health economics at the University of Oxford, said. "The clear failure here is not having stronger international institutions and stronger funding to pay for a vaccine globally."

Credits to NBC News

www.getcovidvaccines.com

"Higher income countries like the U.S. and the U.K. are putting themselves at the front of the line — that's obviously what's happening," one expert said.

12/15/2020

"Singapore has approved Pfizer-BioNTech's novel coronavirus vaccine and expects delivery of the first shots by the end of December, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday.

The city-state of 5.7 million people expects to have enough vaccines for everyone by the third quarter of 2021 and will make it free for citizens and long-term residents, Lee said."

Credits to NDTV

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Singapore has approved Pfizer-BioNTech's novel coronavirus vaccine and expects delivery of the first shots by the end of December, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday.

12/14/2020

"Canadian health officials in Quebec and Ontario plan to administer the first COVID-19 vaccines on Monday.

Residents of two long-term care homes in Quebec will be the first to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in that province. Francine Dupuis of the Montreal regional health agency says health care workers have been ready to administer the doses at Maimonides Geriatric Centre since Friday. Dupuis says the agency expects to receive 1,950 initial doses, which will first go to residents, to Maimonides staff and then to health care workers in other nursing homes."

Credits to The Washington Post Magazine

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Family doctors in England are set to start COVID-19 inoculations this week, in the latest stage of the U.K.’s mass vaccination program

12/14/2020

"Bahrain said Sunday it approved the use of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine, following its earlier approval of a vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

Separately, Kuwait has granted emergency use for the Pfizer vaccine.

Bahrain’s state-run news agency said the Sinopharm vaccine would be available in the island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf."

Credits to AP

www.getcovidvaccines.com

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain said Sunday it approved the use of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine, following its earlier approval of a vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner...

12/13/2020

"With the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of a coronavirus vaccine on Friday, the United States became the third highly developed Western country — after Britain and Canada — to approve such a shot, and is expected to start inoculating people within days.

But the three countries have very different health care systems. And they face different challenges in the race to get the vaccine to millions of people.

Here are some similarities and contrasts."

Credits to The New York Times

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Within days, all three countries could be giving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but they have varying strategies and challenges. The U.S. plan, working through the states, is the least centralized.

12/13/2020

"As the rapid rollout begins, this infographic looks at the process and how long it takes to achieve full immunity in the case of a successful vaccination. As reported by the BBC, this particular vaccine requires two doses. 12 days after the first jab, immunity starts to build. After 21 days a second dose is required, allowing the body to develop full immunity by day 28."

Credits to Statista

www.getcovidvaccines.com

12/13/2020

"The Hong Kong government weighed scientific, logistical, business and even political factors before choosing the manufacturers to supply millions of Covid-19 vaccine shots to the city’s residents, according to health experts and an insider close to the selection process.

But one leading doctor questioned why mainland Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech was among the final approved companies, given it had not yet published third-phase data on its vaccine candidate."

Credits to South China Morning Post

www.getcovidvaccines.com

The scientific, logistical and even political reasons behind how authorities decided which manufacturers would provide doses.

12/13/2020

"Hospital systems nationwide should expect the first shipments of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine to arrive Monday, Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, said during a media briefing Saturday.

"Boxes are being packed and loaded with vaccine with emphasis on quality control," Perna said. Within the next 24 hours, he said, those boxes will move from Pfizer's manufacturing facility to UPS and FedEx hubs, where they will be delivered to 636 predetermined locations nationwide."

Credits to NBC News

www.getcovidvaccines.com

CDC advisory panel recommends vaccine for ages 16 and older. About 2.9 million doses of the vaccine are expected to be shipped within the first week.

12/13/2020

"The finish line in the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine is in sight. Yesterday, an independent advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) green lighted the use of Pfizer’s vaccine, setting up an FDA decision that could result in Americans being vaccinated in the next several days. This decision follows announcements from Pfizer and Moderna that their vaccines for COVID-19 were more than 90 percent efficacious, fueling speculation that COVID-19 vaccines could be distributed in the United States by the end of the year. But as the race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine concludes, a new one begins: the race to ensure that enough people are vaccinated to end the pandemic. "

Credits to The Hill

www.getcovidvaccines.com

How can we ensure that COVID-19 vaccine uptake is adequate? Here, we highlight six strategies that might be used over the coming months.

12/13/2020

"Pfizer Inc. is packing boxes with thousands of its Covid-19 vaccines for shipment around the U.S., as hospitals gear up to give shots while also confronting the surging pandemic.

Trucks carrying the fragile cargo at minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit will start rolling out of Pfizer plants in Michigan and Wisconsin on Sunday. Doses are scheduled to start arriving at hospitals on Monday.

Health-care workers treating Covid-19 patients, nursing-home residents and perhaps others could start getting inoculated soon thereafter, though it might take a day or two for facilities to train staff and begin injections.

The rest of the population will have to wait, as the drugmakers produce and ship more of the doses."

Credits to The Wall Street Journal

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Pfizer is packing boxes with thousands of its Covid-19 vaccines for shipment around the U.S., as hospitals gear up to give shots while also confronting the surging pandemic.

12/12/2020

"The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the use of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, a landmark moment in the fight to suppress a virus that has killed nearly 300,000 people in the United States and sickened tens of millions around the world.

“Today’s emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine holds the promise to alter the course of this pandemic in the United States,” Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in a press release."

Credits to The Verge

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Health care workers will start receiving shots within days.

12/12/2020

"Pharmaceutical and vaccine production involves complex coordination, involving product development, manufacturing, packaging, storage, distribution, and regulatory review, and each stage can cause unexpected delays.

The manufacturing process can — and usually does — go awry at some point. “Manufacturing never goes 100%, there’s always issues and stock you have to throw out,” said Lee. “You bake a thousand cakes, you’re not going to get a thousand successful cakes.”

Credits to STAT

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Vaccine production involves complex coordination involving many steps, and each stage can cause unexpected delays.

12/12/2020

"Hong Kong has secured 15 million shots of Covid-19 vaccines manufactured in China and Europe, with the first million expected to be available next month for high-risk groups under a free, voluntary vaccination scheme for the city’s population of 7.5 million residents."

Credits to South China Morning Post

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Advance agreement will see Sinovac and partners BioNTech and Pfizer provide 7.5 million jabs each for city residents, while deal with AstraZeneca is in works.

12/12/2020

"France's Sanofi and Britain's GSK said Friday their Covid-19 vaccines will not be ready until the end of 2021, after interim results showed a low immune response in older adults.
The announcement is a huge setback in efforts to fight the pandemic, which emerged in China last December and has killed over 1.5 million people worldwide.

Sanofi and GSK said the delay in their adjuvanted recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine programme was to "improve immune response in older adults."

The vaccine's potential availability had been pushed back "from mid-2021 to Q4 2021," they said in a statement."

Credits to NDTV

www.getcovidvaccines.com

France's Sanofi and Britain's GSK said Friday their Covid-19 vaccines will not be ready until the end of 2021, after interim results showed a low immune response in older adults.

12/11/2020

"The UK has become the first country to approve one of the coronavirus vaccines that the entire world has been desperately waiting for. And on Tuesday it delivered the first dose, to 90-year-old Margaret Keenan in Coventry. We should be very pleased about this. But, as with every other stage of the pandemic, the final stretch brings a new set of unprecedented challenges. The world is watching as the UK becomes the first test case of our collective ability to manufacture, ship, and deliver an entirely new class of vaccines, on a scale and speed that no previous vaccination drive in history has ever approached."

Credits to The Guardian

www.getcovidvaccines.com

The challenge of delivering vaccines on this scale are hard, but are firmly within the world of logistics, engineering, and politics, says science writer Stephen Buranyi

12/11/2020

"Development of a COVID-19 vaccine in Australia was abandoned Friday, December 11, after clinical trials produced a false positive HIV result among subjects involved in early-stage testing.

The result prompted the government to axe plans to purchase millions of doses of the candidate vaccine and instead increase orders of alternatives from AstraZeneca and Novax, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

The candidate vaccine, which was still in phase one trials at the University of Queensland, used a small amount of HIV protein as a "molecular clamp" but triggered an antibody response that could interfere with HIV screening, Health Minister Greg Hunt said."

Credits to Rappler

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Development is abandoned over fears it could undermine public confidence in vaccinations

12/10/2020

" An experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) has 86% efficacy, the health ministry of the United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday, citing an interim analysis of late-stage clinical trials."

Credits to Nikkei Asia

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Country's health ministry also says it has registered the shot

12/10/2020

"India’s Health Ministry has announced that some COVID-19 vaccines are likely to receive licenses in the next few weeks and outlined an initial plan to immunize 300 million people.

Health officials said on Tuesday that three vaccine companies have applied for early approval for emergency use in India: Serum Institute of India, which has been licensed to manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine, Pfizer Inc and Indian manufacturer Bharat Biotech.

“Some of them may get licensed in the next few weeks,” federal Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said."

Credits to Al Jazeera Channel - قناة الجزيرة

www.getcovidvaccines.com

India’s immunisation plan will prioritise healthcare workers, front-line workers and other vulnerable people.

12/10/2020

"Documents released by US regulators on Tuesday confirmed that Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine was strongly protective against the disease – offering the world’s first detailed look at the evidence behind the shots."

Credits to South China Morning Post

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Review posted by the US Food and Drug Administration offers the world’s first detailed look at the evidence behind the shots.

12/10/2020

"Many Asian countries have signed agreements with vaccine makers for supply. India has secured 600 million doses, mostly from AstraZeneca, according to data from Airfinity, a science information and analytics company. China, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand all have deals for millions of doses from the European company. Malaysia recently signed a supply deal with Pfizer.

Taiwan has held direct discussions with a drugmaker on securing 10 million doses of vaccines and has made a down payment, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said. The Taiwanese public is expected to receive inoculations as early as the second quarter of 2021."

Credits to Nikkei Asia

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Production and distribution hurdles mean many countries will wait months

12/09/2020

"Testing of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an important strategy for tracking and containing the pandemic we find ourselves in. A recent study has created a novel test using an ultrasensitive paper-based electrochemical sensor that can rapidly detect the presence of the virus in 5 minutes or less."

Credits to Contagion Live

www.getcovidvaccines.com

A large-scale diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 is paramount to downregulating its spread and mitigating the current outbreak.

12/09/2020

"The Covid-19 vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca appears to have moderate efficacy in preventing symptomatic illness, and may significantly reduce hospitalization from the disease, data from four clinical trials of the vaccine reveal.

The highly anticipated publication of the data, released Tuesday in The Lancet, also point to some signals that deserve further exploration — the possibility of protection after a single dose and the suggestion that at least one dosing regimen may have led to a decrease the number of asymptomatic infections."

Credits to STAT

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Detailed data published in the Lancet show the vaccine may significantly reduce hospitalization from the disease.

12/08/2020

"The fight against COVID-19 has taken a historic leap forward after the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was given to someone outside a clinical trial for the first time.

Grandmother-of-four Margaret Keenan, 90, has become the first person in the world to receive the jab as part of a vaccination programme."

Credits to Sky News

www.getcovidvaccines.com

The fight against COVID-19 has taken a historic leap forward after the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was given to someone outside a clinical trial for the first time.

12/08/2020

"India’s claim to fame is staggering scale of its general elections, with 900 million voters mobilised across 1 million polling stations, to choose from 8,000 candidates across a landmass spanning 2,000 miles north to south and pretty much the same east to west.

But now the country has to go one better. India must vaccinate 1.3bn people against Covid-19 – twice and twice as fast. With more than 9 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and a battered economy, how will the country meet this challenge?

Prime minister Narendra Modi is confident. “We have a vast and experienced vaccination network and the country will capitalise on these advantages,” he said recently."

Credits to The Guardian

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Analysis: Even with the world’s largest vaccination scheme already in place, the distribution at this scale has huge potential pitfalls

12/08/2020

"China's Sinovac Biotech SVA.O has secured $515 million in funding from a local firm to double production capacity of its coronavirus vaccine, the companies said on Monday, as it expects efficacy data of its experimental shot this month.

The investment deal also comes as Sinovac expands supply deals and trials of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac with more countries following positive results from early to mid-stage clinical trials.

China's Sino Biopharmaceutical Limited 1177.HK said on Monday a business unit will invest $515 million in Sinovac Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Sinovac, to help development and production of CoronaVac."

Credits to Reuters India

www.getcovidvaccines.com

China's Sinovac Biotech has secured $515 million in funding from a local firm to double production capacity of its coronavirus vaccine, the companies said on Monday, as it expects efficacy data of its experimental shot this month.

12/08/2020

"The World Health Organization is holding discussions on Monday about the feasibility of trials in which healthy young volunteers are deliberately infected with coronavirus to hasten vaccine development – amid questions over whether they should go ahead given the promising data from the frontrunner vaccine candidates.

Some scientists have reservations about exposing volunteers to a virus for which there is no cure, although there are treatments that can help patients. However, proponents argue that the risks of Covid-19 to the young and healthy are minimal, and the benefits to society are high."

Credits to The Guardian

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Advisory meeting will discuss feasibility of human challenge trials despite first jabs becoming available

12/07/2020

"Indonesia on Sunday received its first shipment of coronavirus vaccine from China, its president announced.

"I want to convey the good news that today the government has received 1.2 million doses from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd." Joko Widodo told an online news briefing.

The vaccine has gone through clinical trials in the archipelago country, he said, adding that the government is working to secure another 1.8 million doses by early January."

Credits to Anadolu Agency

www.getcovidvaccines.com

President Joko Widodo says 1.2M doses recieved by China's Sinovac, another 1.8M shots expected to arrive in January - Anadolu Agency

12/07/2020

"Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine maker by number of doses produced, has sought government approval for emergency use authorisation of the coronavirus vaccine that it is developing with the University of Oxford and British drugmaker AstraZeneca. The Pune-based pharmaceutical firm is the second to do so after American firm Pfizer sought approval from the drug regulator - the DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) - for its COVID-19 vaccine, cleared by the United Kingdom and Bahrain."

Credits to NDTV

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine maker by number of doses produced, has sought government approval for emergency use authorisation of the coronavirus vaccine that it is developing with the University of Oxford and British drugmaker AstraZeneca, sources have said.

12/07/2020

We at COVID Vaccines News Follows Responsible media reporting on COVID-19 Vaccines.

Journalists play an important role in informing the public on science. Here is some guidance for responsible media reporting about the COVID-19 vaccine.

12/06/2020

"Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine within weeks, after UK regulators granted emergency approval and the world's first roll-out begins next week, reports late Saturday said."

Credits to NDTV

www.getcovidvaccines.com

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine within weeks, after UK regulators granted emergency approval and the world's first roll-out begins next week, reports late Saturday said.

12/06/2020

"Recently, AstraZeneca announced its vaccine is about 70 percent effective at preventing COVID-19.

But a closer look at the clinical trials shows the efficacy isn’t as clear-cut as the pharmaceutical initially stated.

During the clinical trials, some participants were mistakenly given half a dose rather than a full dose in their first round of shots, according to BBC News. Still, the trial continued and the researchers discovered those given the weaker dosage produced a better immune response.

Here’s what experts make of AstraZeneca’s vaccine trials."

Credits to Healthline

www.getcovidvaccines.com

AstraZeneca recently announced their vaccine is 70 percent effective, but a major dosing error that occurred during the trials may have impacted the overall efficacy. Some participants accidentally received a weakened dose, but ended up producing a more robust immune response.