Biden urges Americans to unite against COVID
Increasing hospitalization rate keeps building towards rationing care, while millions anxiously await FDA's authorization for vaccines -- and distribution details
(Updated to correct FDA vaccine review meeting to December 10.)
“I know the country has grown weary of the fight. We need to remember we’re at war with the virus, not with one another, not with each other.”
- President-Elect Joe Biden, in remarks made Wednesday.
Dear Readers,
Thank you so much for being part of this community and for supporting these newsletters. Your comments and shares mean a lot to me. I hope that you and your loved ones are safe, happy and healthy this Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season. Next planned issue of this rundown will be Monday, November 30.
Sincerely,
Doug Levy
Today’s COVID-19 top stories
The CDC’s immunization advisors published their “ethical principles” for distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines once FDA gives the green light. Priorities are:
Maximize benefits and minimize harms
Promote justice
Mitigate health inequities
Promote transparency
Based on these principles, healthcare workers and elderly are first in line, followed immediately by front-line and essential workers both because they are at high risk and because their jobs enable others to avoid risks. Read more.
Save the date: The key committee reviews the Pfizer vaccine data on December 10, and FDA authorization for distribution is expected to follow a committee recommendation. You can register to attend online at the FDA website.
The absence of national guidelines has been one of the biggest challenges in the USA’s COVID-19 response.
Former CDC Director Tom Frieden recommends that the federal government implement a standardized COVID risk classification system so that everyone will know that the “red” or “yellow” status in one state means the same thing in another. He first made this recommendation in May and says it is still needed.
Border cities have been struggling, especially when an adjacent state has had different mitigation approaches. This article from the USC Center for Health Journalism includes some examples, such as along the Washington-Idaho border, and tips for journalists reporting on this issue.
A University of Washington study (in pre-press status for the journal Cell) adds to the increasing literature suggesting that people who get COVID-19 have potentially long-lasting immune responses, even from mild illness. If vaccines have a similarly durable effect, this is good news for the future control of the pandemic.
However, a new CDC study documents the decline in antibodies among 156 healthcare workers across 12 states who were followed from April to August.
There is no indication of herd immunity (or anything else) slowing down the spread of COVID-19 among people in the hard-hit nation, according to Sweden’s COVID-19 expert quoted by Bloomberg News.
Among the healthcare workers who have died recently from COVID-19 is a retired nurse who returned to work to teach her skills to others. She apparently had encountered a student with COVID-19 symptoms (sneezing, coughing, watery eyes) about a week before she got sick.
Building COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence: What the World Needs to Know Now: W2O Group, one of the agencies I am affiliated with, is sponsoring a webinar on Nov. 30 with an impressive panel of experts to discuss COVID-19 strategy and development as well as ways to address “vaccine hesitancy” — or build "vaccine confidence.”