vaccine Archives - Page 4 of 16

Baker names 17-member coronavirus vaccine advisory group

October 11, 2020

A 17-member group of doctors, public health experts, lawmakers and community activists will guide Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration on how to distribute a coronavirus vaccine — once one is available — equitably, safely and efficiently.

There are currently 11 vaccine candidates in the last phase of clinical trials testing for safety and efficacy, according to the New York Times vaccine tracker. Massachusetts’ own Moderna is currently conducting some of its trials at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. Moderna and Pfizer are leading the pack, most likely to cross the finish line to a viable vaccine first, experts have said.

The advisory group held its first meeting last week and the governor’s office said its work will build on vaccine planning that has been underway since August.

Members are working closely with leaders from the Department of Public Health and adding to the commonwealth’s state-of-the-art Massachusetts Immunization Information System, which

Health Department stresses importance of getting flu vaccine | Health and Fitness

October 11, 2020

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| Dept Of Health

Barb Martinez, a public health nurse at the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, vaccinates Spencer Harper, 12, at Lefler Middle School on Wednesday.

Health Department officials said there hadn’t been any flu cases reported in Lancaster County as of Friday, but it is best to get a flu shot before Halloween.

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department in recent weeks has stressed the added importance of getting a flu shot this year amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Much like the coronavirus, influenza’s symptoms include fever, chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches and fatigue. That likely will make it difficult to tell whether a person has COVID-19 or the flu without a test, and an active flu season would put even more strain on Lincoln’s already busy health

Brazil coronavirus vaccine trials: Volunteers counter anti-vaxxers

October 11, 2020

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“A two-front war,” she said.

It’s one reason the 33-year-old physician is participating in clinical trials for an experimental vaccine by the Chinese manufacturer Sinovac. It might be a chance to inoculate herself against a disease that terrified her. But it was also an opening to align herself with evidence and logic — rather than the doubts and medical falsehoods she saw proliferating across Brazil.

Brazil has long been recognized as one of the vaccine-friendliest countries in the world. It has universal health care, a strong public medical system, a population that has trusted vaccines and a history of carrying out massive and logistically challenging immunization campaigns. Yellow fever, measles and other pathogens have all been brought into submission.

That record, and a relentless coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 150,000 Brazilians and infected more than 5 million, have made Brazil an inviting testing ground in the global race

UK study tests if BCG vaccine protects against COVID

October 11, 2020

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LONDON (Reuters) – The widely used BCG tuberculosis vaccine will be tested on frontline care workers in Britain for its effectiveness against COVID-19, researchers running the UK arm of a global trial said.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, used to protect against tuberculosis, induces a broad innate immune-system response and has been shown to protect against infection or severe illness with other respiratory pathogens.

“BCG has been shown to boost immunity in a generalised way, which may offer some protection against COVID-19,” Professor John Campbell, of the University of Exeter Medical School, said.

“We are seeking to establish whether the BCG vaccine could help protect people who are at risk of COVID-19. If it does, we could save lives by administering or topping up this readily available and cost-effective vaccination.”

The UK study is part of an existing Australian-led trial, which launched in April and also has arms in the Netherlands,

UK Study Tests if BCG Vaccine Protects Against COVID | Top News

October 11, 2020

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| Health Article

LONDON (Reuters) – The widely used BCG tuberculosis vaccine will be tested on frontline care workers in Britain for its effectiveness against COVID-19, researchers running the UK arm of a global trial said.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, used to protect against tuberculosis, induces a broad innate immune-system response and has been shown to protect against infection or severe illness with other respiratory pathogens.

“BCG has been shown to boost immunity in a generalised way, which may offer some protection against COVID-19,” Professor John Campbell, of the University of Exeter Medical School, said.

“We are seeking to establish whether the BCG vaccine could help protect people who are at risk of COVID-19. If it does, we could save lives by administering or topping up this readily available and cost-effective vaccination.”

The UK study is part of an existing Australian-led trial, which launched in April and also has arms in the Netherlands,

BioNTech expects pre-reserved vaccine bottling capacity to be freed up

October 11, 2020

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By Ludwig Burger

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – BioNTech said global capacity to bottle new COVID-19 vaccines, which is in tight supply as producers hoping to develop successful candidates book up slots, will likely be more freely available once some drop out of the race.

“If clinical trials fail or get delayed, capacity may be freed up again,” Sierk Poetting, BioNTech’s head of operations and finance, told an online news conference on Thursday.

“The (fill and finish) market is indeed very tight because everyone has reserved capacity, but I believe we will see some adjustments there once the first products are on the market,” he said.

“This is certainly a type of capacity that can be more easily transferred (than production capacity).”

More than 40 experimental vaccines are currently being tested on volunteers around the globe to combat the new coronavirus, which has claimed more than 1 million lives.

Also speaking at

I’m part of a COVID-19 vaccine trial in New Jersey

October 10, 2020

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On the afternoon of Sept. 22, I became a data point in the search for a vaccine to prevent COVID-19.

That’s when I received the first of two shots in a clinical trial to develop a vaccine, and became one of 30,000 volunteers to take a needlestick for science.

Why am I doing it? A combination of altruism, curiosity, and a sense of duty as a journalist. But more on that later.

Aside from the nurse who injected me and the hospital pharmacy that supplied her with the injection, no one else knows whether I received a placebo or the would-be vaccine. Not me. Not even Dr. Bindu Balani, the principal investigator in the trial at Hackensack University Medical Center, one of 89 study sites around the country.

This is called a double-blind study because both the researchers and the participants are blind to what was inside that syringe.

I

‘It has been something on everyone’s mind’: A public health planner on preparations, challenges in COVID vaccine rollout

October 10, 2020

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| Health Center

The race is on to create a COVID-19 vaccine — and when one is finally available, local health officials will be on the front lines of a long chain of logistical challenges as they work to protect the public.

Christopher M. Goshea, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission’s Public Health Emergency Preparedness Planner for Hampden County, says a main concern involves the preparations needed to immunize local populations against the virus once vaccines are approved for distribution.

The National Governors Association has issued a memo advising governors on how to prepare for immunization against COVID-19 on a mass scale. Massachusetts Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders, who noted the state through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health distributes about 3.2 million vaccine doses every year, said the DPH “has had an internal working group to ensure that we have the infrastructure in place” when a vaccine is ready for distribution.

China is doubling down in the global push for a coronavirus vaccine

October 10, 2020

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| Global Health

The global push to develop a coronavirus vaccine is gathering pace, but much to the likely frustration of US President Donald Trump, caution exercised by American drug makers and regulators has put China out in front … for now.

Moderna, a leading coronavirus vaccine maker, said this month it will not be ready to apply for emergency use authorization until at least November 25. Meanwhile, the US-based trial sites of another frontrunner, AstraZeneca, have placed testing on hold after a participant in Britain developed a serious illness last month, further undermining Trump’s hopes that a vaccine would be ready in time for Election Day on November 3.

The stringent US safety protocols have shifted the so-called vaccine race in China’s favor, where — for better or worse — political will holds a much larger sway over state, commercial and individual actions, potentially bending rules or norms as needed.

China’s leader

Health Canada to start real-time review of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

October 9, 2020

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FILE PHOTO: A sign is pictured outside Pfizer Headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., July 22, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

(Reuters) – Health Canada will start a real-time review of Germany’s BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine, the companies said on Friday.

The companies said they would submit safety and efficacy data from the trial of their COVID-19 vaccine to Canada’s health ministry under a rolling submission as and when it becomes available.

A rolling review allows researchers to submit findings in real time, without waiting for studies to conclude. Canadian health minister Patty Hajdu last month signed an order allowing companies developing COVID-19 vaccines to submit information as it becomes available.

Health Canada said it will not make a decision on whether to authorize any vaccine under rolling review until it has received the necessary evidence to support the candidate’s safety, efficacy

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Tag: vaccine

Health Department stresses importance of getting flu vaccine | Health and Fitness

Brazil coronavirus vaccine trials: Volunteers counter anti-vaxxers

UK study tests if BCG vaccine protects against COVID

UK Study Tests if BCG Vaccine Protects Against COVID | Top News

BioNTech expects pre-reserved vaccine bottling capacity to be freed up

I’m part of a COVID-19 vaccine trial in New Jersey

‘It has been something on everyone’s mind’: A public health planner on preparations, challenges in COVID vaccine rollout

China is doubling down in the global push for a coronavirus vaccine

Health Canada to start real-time review of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine