vaccine

Health

The 2 Coronavirus Vaccine Stocks I’d Buy Right Now

By Shelton Muro 2 weeks ago

It’s too early to say which company — or companies — will win the coronavirus vaccine race. But we do have tools to identify the most promising players. It’s important to look at timelines, clinical trial data, and a company’s ability to fund and manufacture billions of doses of a safe and effective vaccine. More of this information is available now than was the case a few months ago.

Considering these elements, Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) would be on my buy list. The clinical-stage biotech and big pharma player are among the 11 programs currently in phase 3 trials. Both are working on messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. Unlike traditional vaccines, they don’t introduce weakened virus into the body. Instead, they instruct the body to make specific disease antigens to fight future infection. Let’s take a closer look at both companies to see exactly what makes them the best coronavirus

Health

Bill Gates wonders whether FDA can be trusted on a COVID vaccine

By Shelton Muro 1 month ago

Philanthropist says political pressure cost agency credibility

Erik Schatzker, Bloomberg

Published

7:23 am CDT, Tuesday, September 15, 2020

In this Feb. 1, 2018 photo, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, with his wife Melinda, poses for a photo before an interview with The Associated Press in Kirkland, Wash.

In this Feb. 1, 2018 photo, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, with his wife Melinda, poses for a photo before an interview with The Associated Press in Kirkland, Wash.

Photo: Ted S. Warren, STF

Photo: Ted S. Warren, STF

In this Feb. 1, 2018 photo, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, with his wife Melinda, poses for a photo before an interview with The Associated Press in Kirkland, Wash.

Photo: Ted S. Warren, STF

Health

Vaccine developer Moderna could slow COVID-19 trials to add at-risk minorities

By Shelton Muro 1 month ago

a group of people standing in front of a store: FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Moderna Therapeutics seen during COVID-19 in Massachusetts

© Reuters/Brian Snyder
FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Moderna Therapeutics seen during COVID-19 in Massachusetts

(Reuters) – Moderna Inc has been asking sites that are conducting clinical trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine to focus on enrolling at-risk minorities, even if that slows down the trial speed, the company said on Friday.

Shares of Moderna, one of the few companies in the final stages of developing a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, fell 6.8% in morning trading.

The drug developer said it expected to enrollment to the late-stage study that began in late-July and aims to add 30,000 healthy volunteers to be completed in September.

As of last week, it had added 17,000 participants, of which nearly 24% are from communities of color.

A growing body of evidence has shown that long-standing health and social inequities have resulted in increased risk of infection and death from COVID-19 among communities of color.

Health

Early data on Russian COVID-19 vaccine published in The Lancet for peer review

By Shelton Muro 1 month ago

Sept. 4 (UPI) — Critical data for the COVID-19 vaccine announced by Russia last month were published Friday in a major medical journal for scientific review, a key step in the approval process.

British medical journal The Lancet published the early-stage data that shows the Sputnik V vaccine didn’t produce serious adverse effects among 76 adults participating in a pair of 42-day trials.

The vaccine elicited an antibody response in all participants, it added, as well as responses in T cells and neutralizing antibodies with in 28 days.

“Large, long-term trials including a placebo comparison and further monitoring, are needed to establish the long-term safety and effectiveness of the vaccine for preventing COVID-19 infection,” the authors at the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow state in the study.

Russia announced the vaccine last month and said it had been registered for use, the first COVID-19 vaccine in

Health

Russia publishes virus vaccine results, weeks after approval

By Shelton Muro 1 month ago

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian scientists have belatedly published first results from early trials into the experimental Sputnik V vaccine, which received government approval last month but drew considerable criticism from experts, as the shots had only been tested on several dozen people before being more widely administered.

In a report published in the journal Lancet on Friday, developers of the vaccine said it appeared to be safe and to prompt an antibody response in all 40 people tested in the second phase of the study within three weeks. However, the authors noted that participants were only followed for 42 days, the study sample was small and there was no placebo or control vaccine used.

One part of the safety trial included only men and the study mostly involved people in their 20s and 30s, so it is unclear how the vaccine might work in older populations most at risk of

Health

Trump’s rush for a covid vaccine could make it less likely to work

By Shelton Muro 2 months ago

The Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to allow a vaccine against the coronavirus to be used on an emergency basis before its formal approval process is finished, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has told states to be ready to distribute doses by Nov. 1 — two days before the election.

But wanting a vaccine to be ready by the time the polls open and getting one that is safe, effective and accepted by the American people are two very different things. And the Trump administration’s attempts to make government agency leaders support the president’s political positions this year have undermined public trust in the very institutions needed to evaluate and distribute the immunizations. Now the same impulses that have led Trump to downplay the virus and latch onto imagined miracle cures could also get in the way of an effective vaccine.

Trump is right that

Medicine

Canada strikes deal with Pfizer, Moderna for COVID-19 vaccine, Ontario wants 38 per cent of doses

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

Yahoo News Canada is committed to providing our readers with the most accurate and recent information on all things coronavirus. We know things change quickly, including some possible information in this story. For the latest on COVID-19, we encourage our readers to consult online resources like Canada’s public health website, World Health Organization, as well as our own Yahoo Canada homepage.

As cases of COVID-19 continue to spread around the world, Canadians seem to be increasingly concerned about their health and safety

Currently, there are more than 117,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in Canada and nearly 8,947 deaths.

Check back for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak in Canada.

For a full archive of the first month of the pandemic, please check our archive of events.

August 05

1:00 p.m.: Ontario announces $83M in funding through the Resilient Communities Fund

Premier Doug Ford announced that his government

Medicine

Federal government strikes deal with Pfizer, Moderna for millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

Yahoo News Canada is committed to providing our readers with the most accurate and recent information on all things coronavirus. We know things change quickly, including some possible information in this story. For the latest on COVID-19, we encourage our readers to consult online resources like Canada’s public health website, World Health Organization, as well as our own Yahoo Canada homepage.

As cases of COVID-19 continue to spread around the world, Canadians seem to be increasingly concerned about their health and safety

Currently, there are more than 117,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in Canada and nearly 8,947 deaths.

Check back for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak in Canada.

For a full archive of the first month of the pandemic, please check our archive of events.

August 05

10:15 a.m. Canada secures vaccine candidates with Pfizer and Moderna

On Wednesday, Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita

Health

Voters much more likely to trust family, Fauci than Trump on vaccine

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

Only 14 percent of voters said they would be more likely to take a coronavirus vaccine if President Donald Trump recommended it, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.

Voters were far more likely to say they’d take a vaccine based on the advice of their family (46 percent), the CDC (43 percent) or the government’s top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci (43 percent). One-third said they would be more likely to get vaccinated if the World Health Organization encouraged Americans to do so.

“Kitchen table conversations will be critical in the effort to get Americans vaccinated against COVID-19 when one becomes available. Nearly half of voters would be more likely to get vaccinated against the virus if their family encouraged them to do so,” said Kyle Dropp, co-founder and chief research officer at Morning Consult.

More voters said they’d get vaccinated on the advice of presumptive Democratic presidential candidate

Health

Fauci ‘cautiously optimistic’ of safe vaccine by early winter; Hong Kong delays elections

By Shelton Muro 3 months ago

Dr. Anthony Fauci returns to Capitol Hill on Friday to testify before a special House panel. His testimony comes at a time when early progress on combating COVID-19 seems to have been lost and uncertainty clouds the nation’s path forward.

Also in Washington, the extra $600 in federal unemployment aid that helped many Americans stay afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic is expiring as plans for additional stimulus stalled in a deadlocked Senate.

A new survey shows fewer Americans want to resume daily activities like going to restaurants or sending children to school as cases spike. But as the school year approaches, state officials are releasing guidelines for schools to reopen. Increasingly, teachers are worried about their students’ mental health.

Here are some significant developments:

📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 152,000 deaths and over 4.4 million cases of COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have