COVID-19 data trending slightly down
Encouraging data from CDC, Moderna reassures about vaccine efficacy against B117 strain, and Merck shelves its COVID-19 vaccines after disappointing Phase 1.
There is a lot to catch up on today, as FEMA steps up to support vaccine administration, there is reassurance about the effectiveness of the Moderna vaccine, and Merck pulls the plug on its two vaccine candidates. For a short video rundown, check out my Facebook news page.
Encouraging data from the CDC, though experts caution that loosening restrictions could spur new surges.
Merck halted the development of its two COVID-19 vaccine candidates after Phase 1 trials showed lackluster efficacy. The company instead will focus on developing COVID-19 treatments.
Data on whether the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective may be available within about two weeks, which could mean review and Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA in mid-February, if the data shows both safety and efficacy.
Moderna said it is working on a booster shot so that its vaccine can stop the B.1.351 coronavirus strain discovered in South Africa. The company’s lab tests show that its existing vaccine is effective against the B.1.1.7 COVID-19 strain first found in the United Kingdom, but the vaccine is somewhat resistant to B.1.351. Both strains are thought to spread faster than other COVID-19 strains.
The White House announced that current orders requiring negative COVID-19 tests within three days of inbound flights from most of Europe and Brazil are being extended, and South Africa now has been added to the restricted list.
Google announced it will provide $150 million worth of advertising and other support to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other authorities worldwide to promote accurate information about COVID-19. The company also offered some of its locations and is working with OneMedical to increase vaccine administration sites.
Because of COVID-19, Budweiser said it would not run any Super Bowl ads this year and instead put the money towards supporting COVID-19 vaccination programs.
Former CDC Director Dr. Tom Friden joined the chorus of experts urging people to wear better masks to prevent infection from the new COVID-19 strains.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom canceled the state’s rigid stay-at-home order that was announced December 3, citing improvements in keeping ICU beds available. Counties are still expected to maintain their own prevention orders to further control the pandemic.
Was shutting down outdoor dining in California a mistake? Preventing the spread of COVID-19 requires accurately predicting human behavior, which is an imperfect science. Now, researchers are analyzing whether closing outdoor dining inadvertently increased COVID-19 risk instead of reducing it.
Dozens of restaurants are suing Newsom over the statewide shutdown, when COVID-19 numbers were rising fast and ICUs reached capacity.
Epidemiologists have calculated the riskiest jobs in Calfiornia during the pandemic. Food, agriculture, transportation and logistics workers have borne the brunt of COVID-19 deaths in California, the study found.
The Biden Administration said it would begin COVID-19 science and public health briefings three days a week.
While data suggests COVID-19 deaths are undercounted almost everywhere, researchers say that there were 163 deaths undercounted for every 100 COVID-19 cases counted in the 25% of counties with the most voters who supported the Republican presidential candidate in 2020, according to STATNews.
The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Tony Fauci, shared what working in the Trump Administration was really like in an interview with Don McNeil of the New York Times.
Former White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx says that President Trump was receiving an “alternate” set of data from unknown other sources. “Someone out there, or someone inside, was creating a parallel set of data and graphics that were shown to the president,” she said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I know what I sent up, and I know that what was in his hands was different.”
And, perhaps there could be no clearer illustration of how things have changed than this 3-second video tweeted out by the White House on Saturday:
That’s it for today. Please let me know what you think, and share this with friends if you find it useful.