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Tag: vaccine

By [email protected]_84
October 14, 2020 Off

Coronavirus Vaccine Makers Are Not Mass-Slaughtering Sharks

Several companies in the race for a coronavirus vaccine have stumbled upon a new and unexpected hurdle: activists protesting the use of a substance that comes from sharks in their products.

The oily compound, called squalene, is churned out by shark livers and has immunity-boosting powers, which has led several companies to use it as an ingredient in vaccines. A group called Shark Allies has mounted a campaign calling on the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory bodies to halt the sourcing of the compound from sharks, warning that mass distribution of a coronavirus vaccine could require harvesting tissue from more than 500,000 sharks.

The call to action made headlines around the globe. But the story on shark squalene isn’t as clear-cut as it might at first seem.

Companies commonly use squalene as a moisturizing additive in cosmetics and

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By [email protected]_84
October 14, 2020 Off

COVID vaccine trials are on hold. Why experts say that’s reassuring.

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It takes a lot of people to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. Volunteers may be one of the most important.

Wochit

Recent pauses to two large-scale COVID-19 vaccine trials and a treatment study should reassure people — not frighten them — vaccine experts said, though it is a reminder of the messiness of science.

“This is an indication that the system is working as it was designed to work to protect human subjects in clinical trials,” Lawrence Gostin, a public health and legal expert at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities, said Tuesday. “It demonstrates that the ethical guard rails on vaccine trials are working.”

It’s not unusual for late-stage trials of drugs and vaccines to be stopped briefly to examine safety concerns, he and others said.

The discovery of an adverse event and a pause in the clinical trial is actually reassuring, said Dr. Bali Pulendran, a professor of immunology

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By [email protected]_84
October 14, 2020 Off

Experts foresee triumphs and tragedies in worldwide quest for COVID-19 vaccine

Panel on COVID-19 vaccine
GeekWire founders John Cook and Todd Bishop chat with a trio of experts involved in the quest to develop coronavirus vaccines on the first day of the 2020 GeekWire Summit. The annual event is being conducted virtually due to COVID-19 concerns. (GeekWire Photo)

The good news is that Operation Warp Speed, the multibillion-dollar effort to develop vaccines for COVID-19, is moving ahead at a pace that justifies its name.

The bad news is that despite all that effort, the coronavirus outbreak is still likely to be with us next year — and low- to medium-income countries such as India are likely to be hit particularly hard.

“We’re going to probably see a lot of deaths,” said Lynda Stuart, deputy director for vaccines and human immunobiology at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “It’s going to be a great inequity and tragedy that will unfold.”

Stuart and other experts involved in

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By [email protected]_84
October 14, 2020 Off

Vaccine reluctance linked to belief in virus hoaxes: study

Up to a third of people in certain countries may believe coronavirus misinformation and in turn be less open to immunisation, scientists said Wednesday, warning that development of a vaccine “might not be enough”. 

Researchers in Britain and the Netherlands conducted surveys in the UK, United States, Ireland, Mexico and Spain and found that while most people rejected Covid-19 conspiracy theories, some of these false stories had taken root in “substantial sections” of the population. 

The World Health Organization has warned that the pandemic has been accompanied by a damaging “infodemic” that has made it hard for people to cut through the misinformation.  

The study found the conspiracy most believed by participants was the claim that the virus was deliberately engineered in a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the epidemic first emerged. 

Between 22-23 percent of respondents in the UK and US rated this assertion as “reliable”,

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By [email protected]_84
October 14, 2020 Off

Pauses of coronavirus antibody and vaccine trials are routine, doctor says

Two setbacks have been reported in 24 hours in the fight against the coronavirus. On Tuesday, drugmaker Eli Lilly halted human testing of a COVID-19 treatment citing a potential safety concern. A person familiar with the trial told CBS News the pause will last approximately two weeks.

The treatment, which uses COVID-19 antibodies, is similar to a therapeutic given to President Donald Trump that he touted as a cure. “It was like unbelievable,” Mr. Trump said. “I felt good immediately.”

This comes as Johnson & Johnson said its vaccine trial, the largest to date, is also stopping temporarily while it investigates if an unexplained illness was caused by its vaccine.

CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus said these pauses are routine and reassuring.

“So this is not unusual,” Agus said. “I hope that Americans see news like this and have comfort that we are investigating every single

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By [email protected]_84
October 13, 2020 Off

Vaccine development process is safe, claims of the contrary are baseless

All of our lives have been drastically impacted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic — and we know all of us are eager to return to the way things were before the pandemic began. However, that simply won’t be possible without a safe, effective vaccine. Fortunately, due to the strength of American innovation and unprecedented public-private partnerships, a COVID-19 vaccine is on the horizon. We, as the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee and a physician on the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, have been closely following our nation’s progress — and we are confident that we will have a safe, effective vaccine soon.

On July 21, 2020, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing on vaccine development. The subcommittee heard from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Moderna, and Pfizer. All five companies are working on various vaccines

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By [email protected]_84
October 13, 2020 Off

Johnson & Johnson pauses coronavirus vaccine trial following ‘unexplained illness’ in participant

Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson on Monday night announced that it had paused its late-stage COVID-19 vaccine trial after an “unexplained illness” was reported in a participant. 

“Adverse events – illnesses, accidents, etc. — even those that are serious, are an expected part of any clinical study, especially large studies,” the company said in a statement when announcing the temporary halt. 

The pause, which was first reported by the health news site STAT, come after the company began the Phase 3 trial of its vaccine in September. 

The pause, which was first reported by the health news site STAT, come after the company began the Phase 3 trial of its vaccine in September. 
(iStock)

No details on the illness were revealed, and it’s not currently clear if the illness is related to the shot or was a coincidence. It’s also not clear if the volunteer had received the vaccine or the placebo. 

“Based on our strong commitment to safety, all clinical studies conducted by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson have prespecified guidelines. These

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By [email protected]_84
October 13, 2020 Off

Facebook to ban ads that ‘explicitly’ discourage vaccine use

Oct. 13 (UPI) — Facebook said Tuesday that it will ban ads that “explicitly” discourage vaccine use, expanding on its policy to reject vaccine hoaxes.

The social media company’s head of health, Kang-Xing Jin, and Rob Leathern, director of product management, announced the ban against such ads in a joint statement.

“We already don’t allow ads with vaccine hoaxes that have been publicly identified by leading global health organizations, such as the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” they said in the joint statement. “Now, if an ad explicitly discourages someone from getting a vaccine, we’ll reject it. Enforcement will begin over the next few days.’

They added that the ban will not include ads that advocate for or against legislation or government policies around vaccines, but those ads will have to be authorized and will include a “paid for by” label for people

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By [email protected]_84
October 13, 2020 Off

Johnson & Johnson Pauses Coronavirus Vaccine Trials due to ‘Unexplained Illness’ in Participant | Health News

Johnson & Johson has paused the clinical trial for its coronavirus vaccine following an “unexpected illness” in a participant.

Health experts have said that pauses in vaccine trials aren’t uncommon and mean that safety precautions are working. It’s the second vaccine trial to be paused in the U.S. A vaccine from AstraZeneca and Oxford University was put on pause last month after a participant fell ill. That trial hasn’t yet resumed in the U.S.

Photos: Daily Life, Disrupted

TOPSHOT - A passenger in an outfit (R) poses for a picture as a security guard wearing a facemask as a preventive measure against the Covid-19 coronavirus stands nearby on a last century-style boat, featuring a theatrical drama set between the 1920s and 1930s in Wuhan, in Chinas central Hubei province on September 27, 2020. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

It is unclear how long Johnson & Johnson’s pause could last. The company said there is a “significant distinction” between a study pause and a regulatory hold of a clinical trial, which could last much longer.

“We must respect this participant’s privacy. We’re also learning more about this participant’s illness, and it’s important to have all the facts before we share additional information,” the company said in a press release Monday night.

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By [email protected]_84
October 13, 2020 Off

France launches flu vaccine campaign amid COVID-19 crisis

PARIS (AP) — France launched a flu vaccine campaign Tuesday in an effort to avoid facing another epidemic peak as the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the country.

French health authorities have issued official recommendations to prevent potential shortages of flu vaccine, which they fear might happen amid increased demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medical staff are advised to initially reserve it for priority patients, including people over 65, pregnant women and those suffering from respiratory illness and some other diseases. Others are advised to wait for December.

The campaign was launched as French health authorities report a rapid increase in cases of coronavirus infections, with more and more people admitted in hospitals. COVID-19 patients now occupy more than 42% of intensive care unit beds in the Paris region.

Sylvie Ducamp, 73, was among the first patients to get the flu vaccine at a Paris pharmacy on Tuesday morning.

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