New Vaccine Likely Available This Year
Surge in Cases Means Phase 3 Study Meet Goals Soon
There are damn few good things about the giant surge in cases now overwhelming the US. Moderna’s new vaccine is 94.5% effective in preventing covid-19 infection. FDA requires about 30,000 people in the vaccine trial. 15,000 got the vaccine and 15,000 got saltwater placebo.
Moderna developed the vaccine in partnership with the National Institutes of Health. It will be distributed in addition to the Pfizer vaccine already approved by the FDA.
Moderna has committed to completing its trial before applying for emergency-use authorization — which means waiting until there are 151 cases of covid-19 in the study. A previous projection showed that the trial might end sometime early next year, but it is instead expected to reach its endpoint in seven to 10 days, Bancel said, because of surging coronavirus cases in the United States. The explosion of virus cases translates into an expedited ability to ascertain whether a vaccine works.
According to the New York Times, Ten other vaccine makers are also conducting big Phase 3 trials, including efforts in Australia, Britain, China, India and Russia. More than 50 other candidates are in earlier stages of testing.”
Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, the Moderna product is stable for weeks in refrigerators or regular freezers.
Preliminary Study Suggests 10% of Mild Coronavirus Cases May Develop Long-Term Organ Damage
The international COVERSCAN research group released a pre-review draft of a study of so-called long haulers, who feel covid-19 symptoms longer than most.
They followed 201 recently-diagnosed patients who had recovered from acute covid-19 illness and also had persistent symptoms including fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, and breathlessness. The median age was 44 years old, about 70% were female, and about a third were healthcare workers. Only 18% had been hospitalized and few had predisposing factors such as hypertension.
32% had evidence of mild heart damage, 33 % lungs, 12% kidneys, and 10% liver.
Oddly, researchers did not look at the central nervous system, which is affected in nearly every patient.
Unfortunately, the design does not allow researchers to tell if some subjects had organ damage before they got covid-19.
The study confirms that it is unsafe to encourage young apparently-healthy people to get infected to achieve herd immunity.
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