Vaccine progress and profits - July 27, 2020
First Phase 3 human study of a vaccine candidate now underway, some nursing homes have avoided COVID-19, but many nursing home workers are getting infected.
Vaccine candidate enters Phase 3 and investors win
While many of the COVID-19 deaths have been among elderly residents of nursing homes, there are many nursing homes without COVID-19 outbreaks. The San Francisco Chronicle reports on how San Francisco officials have - so far — protected the 700 vulnerable residents of the city’s enormous Laguna Honda nursing home.
The first candidate COVID-19 vaccine is now in its final phase of testing to determine whether it is safe and effective. Moderna’s experimental vaccine Phase 3 trial began when it was administered to a human subject shortly after dawn. Phase 3 is intended to determine whether the vaccine is safe and protects against COVID-19 infection.
The New York Times reports on how some investors are reaping enormous profits from news releases associating small companies with Operation Warp Speed, the Trump Administration’s effort to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine development. As the article notes, there are a few examples of news releases that generate investor buzz but lack facts to support their exciting headlines.
How are we doing?
Travel news site Skift has a good article on the advisability (or inadvisability) of travel right now.
Renowned epidemiologist Larry Brilliant provided an update on how he thinks the USA is doing in the effort against COVID-19 in an interview with Wired. Noting that the COVID-19 virus is proving more “pernicious” than previously known viruses, Brilliant says the USA still can get control over the epidemic if we take contact tracing seriously, isolate those who are infected, and keep gathering places closed longer.
Google announced it will keep employees working from homeuntil next summer.
While many of the COVID-19 deaths have been among elderly residents of nursing homes, there are many nursing homes without COVID-19 outbreaks. The San Francisco Chronicle reports on how San Francisco officials have - so far — protected the 700 vulnerable residents of the city’s enormous Laguna Honda nursing home.
Healthcare workers hit hard
The director of the intensive care unit at a Baltimore hospital has died of COVID-19. One tally counts more than 800 physicians, nurses and other healthcare workers in the USA have died of COVID-19.
In Los Angeles, nearly 12,000 healthcare workers — many of them employees of nursing homes — have been infected with COVID-19, according to the county health department.