People working as medics near the Colorado State Capitol on May 31, during one of Denver's many protest demonstrations in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images hide caption
People working as medics near the Colorado State Capitol on May 31, during one of Denver's many protest demonstrations in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
Amid clouds of choking tear gas, booming flash-bang grenades and other "riot control agents," volunteer medics in Denver plunged into street protests in recent weeks to help the injured sometimes rushing to the front lines as soon as their hospital shifts ended.
Known as "street medics," these unorthodox teams of nursing students, veterinarians, doctors, trauma surgeons, security guards, ski patrollers, nurses, wilderness EMTs and off-the-clock ambulance workers poured water not milk into the eyes of tear-gassed protesters. They stanched bleeding wounds and plucked disoriented teenagers from clouds of gas, entering dangerous corners where on-duty emergency health responders may fear to go.
Many are medical professionals who see parallels between the front lines of COVID-19, where they confront stark racial imbalances among those stricken by the coronavirus, and what they see as racialized police brutality.
So, donning cloth masks to protect against the virus, plus helmets, makeshift shields and other gear to guard against rubber bullets, projectiles and tear gas, the volunteer medics organized themselves into a web of first responders to care for people on the streets.
A table is filled with supplies for injured protesters at an apartment complex that became the central command for Denver's street medics on June 1. LJ Dawson for KHN hide caption
A table is filled with supplies for injured protesters at an apartment complex that became the central command for Denver's street medics on June 1.
They showed up early, set up first-aid stations, established transportation networks and covered their arms, helmets and backpacks with crosses made of red duct tape, to signify that they were medics. Some stayed late into the night, past curfews, until every protester had left.
Iris Butler, a 21-year-old certified nursing assistant who works in a nursing home, decided to offer her skills after seeing a man injured by a rubber bullet on her first night at the Denver protests. She showed up as a medic every night thereafter. She didn't see it as a choice.
"I am working full time and basically being at the protest after getting straight off of work," says Butler, who is black. That's tiring, she says, but so is being a black woman in America.
After going out as a medic on her own, she soon met other volunteers. Together they used text-message chains to organize their efforts. One night, she responded to a man who had been shot with a rubber bullet in the chest; she says his torso had turned blue and purple from the impact. She also provided aid after a shooting near the protest left someone in critical condition.
Iris Butler, a certified nursing assistant, worked as a medic during Denver's June 1 protest. "I am working full time and basically being at the protest after getting straight off of work," says Butler. LJ Dawson for KHN hide caption
Iris Butler, a certified nursing assistant, worked as a medic during Denver's June 1 protest. "I am working full time and basically being at the protest after getting straight off of work," says Butler.
"It's hard, but bills need to be paid and justice needs to be served," she says.
The street medic movement traces its roots, in part, to the 1960s protests, as well as the American Indian Movement and the Black Panther Party.
Denver Action Medic Network offers a 20-hour training course for people who want to serve as volunteer medics that prepares them to treat patients in conflicts with police and large crowds; a four-hour session is offered to medical professionals as "bridge" training.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the Denver Action Medic Network has added some new guidelines to its trainings: Don't go to protests if sick or in contact with those who are infected; wear a mask; give people lots of space and use hand sanitizer.
Jordan Garcia, a 39-year-old medic for over 20 years who works with the Denver network, says his group also warns medics about the increased risk of transmission due to protesters coughing from tear gas, and urges them to get tested for the virus after the protests.
The number of volunteer medics swelled after George Floyd's May 25 killing in Minneapolis. In Denver alone, at least 40 people reached out to the Denver Action Medic Network for training.
On June 3, Dr. Rupa Marya, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California-San Francisco and the co-founder of the Do No Harm Coalition, which runs street medic training in the Bay Area, hosted a national webinar attended by over 3,000 medical professionals to provide the bridge training to be a street medic. In her online bio, Marya describes the coalition as "an organization of over 450 health workers committed to structural change" in addressing health problems.
"When we see suffering, that's where we go," Marya says. "And right now that suffering is happening on the streets."
In the recent Denver protests, street medics responded to major head, face and eye injuries among protesters from what are sometimes described as "kinetic impact projectiles" or "less-than-lethal bullets" shot at protesters, along with tear-gas and flash-bang stun grenade canisters that either hit them or exploded in their faces.
Garcia, who by day works for an immigrant rights nonprofit, says that these weapons are not designed to be shot directly at people.
"We're seeing police use these less-lethal weapons in lethal ways, and that is pretty upsetting," Garcia says about the recent protests.
Denver police Chief Paul Pazen has promised to make changes, including banning chokeholds and requiring SWAT teams to turn on their body cameras. Last week, a federal judge also issued a temporary injunction to stop Denver police from using tear gas and other less-than-lethal weapons in response to a class action lawsuit, in which a medic stated he was shot multiple times by police with pepper balls while treating patients. (Meanwhile, last week in North Carolina,, police were recorded destroying medic stations.)
Aj Mossman, a Denver emergency medical technician who is studying to be a nurse, was shocked to be tear-gassed and struck in the back of the leg with a flash grenade while treating a protester in late May. LJ Dawson for KHN hide caption
Aj Mossman, a Denver emergency medical technician who is studying to be a nurse, was shocked to be tear-gassed and struck in the back of the leg with a flash grenade while treating a protester in late May.
Denver street medic Kevin Connell, a 30-year-old emergency room nurse, says he was hit with pepper balls in the back of his medic vest which was clearly marked by red crosses while treating a patient. He showed up to the Denver protests every night he did not have to work, he says, wearing a Kevlar medic vest, protective goggles and a homemade gas mask fashioned from a water bottle.
As a member of the Denver Action Medic Network, Connell also served at the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota in a dispute over the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
"I mean, as bad as it sounds, it was only tear gas, pepper balls and rubber bullets that were being fired on us," Connell says of his recent experience in Denver. "When I was at Standing Rock, they were using high-powered water hoses even when it was, like, freezing cold. So I think the police here had a little bit more restraint."
Still, first-time street medic Aj Mossman, a 31-year-old Denver emergency medical technician studying for nursing school, was shocked to be tear-gassed and struck in the back of the leg with a flash grenade while treating a protester on May 30. Mossman still has a large leg bruise.
The following night, Mossman, who uses the pronoun they, brought more protective gear, but says they are still having difficulty processing what felt like a war zone.
"I thought I understood what my black friends went through. I thought I understood what the black community went through," says Mossman, who is white. "But I had absolutely no idea how violent the police were and how little they cared about who they hurt."
For Butler, serving as a medic with others from various walks of life was inspiring. "They're also out there to protect black and brown bodies. And that's amazing," she says. "That's just a beautiful sight."
Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit, editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation. KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
According to new data released by Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz showed an increase of one hospitalization in the region from June 8.
BUFFALO, N.Y. As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday night, Erie County has conducted 85,120 diagnostic tests for COVID-19, of which 6,543 have been positive. This means that 7.7% of diagnostic tests have come back positive. There have been 580 deaths from the virus in Erie County.
Additionally, 56,007 antibody tests have been conducted.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz shared new statistics via Twitter Wednesday on the coronavirus pandemic.
There are a few main takeaways from the data Poloncarz shared:
More on Hospitalizations and Last Week
According to new data released Wednesday, the Western New York region saw an increase of one COVID-19 related hospitalization, but Erie County's hospitalization numbers stayed put.
Poloncarz tweeted the new numbers Wednesday morning showing that COVID-19 hospitalizations in Western New York increased from 112 to 113 based on the most recent data. In Erie County, there are 98 people hospitalized with COVID-19.
The Erie County Health Department conducted 3,864 tests from June 6 and 8. Just 1.4% of those tests came back positive. Since the outbreak began 6,543 people in the county have tested positive, 580 have died. Hospitalizations across all age categories, except for 85 and older, have declined during that time period.
Britains housing market remains depressed despite a pick-up in enquiries from people looking to buy, but estate agents are expecting a sharp increase in demand for homes with gardens over the next two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite estate agents being allowed to reopen in England on 13 May following an eight-week shutdown, sales and house prices continued to fall across the UK in May, according to a monthly survey of surveyors and estate agents from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).
A balance of 35% estate agents said newly-agreed sales were down. The balance deducts the number of agents who said sales rose from those who said sales fell.
As the housing market in England started to get going again, enquiries from new buyers picked up markedly but remained in negative territory. A balance of 5% of estate agents reported lower enquiries in May, compared with a record number of 94% in April.
Near-term sales expectations were flat in May, while the majority of agents are now expecting slightly higher sales over the next 12 months.
Michael Darwin, a chartered surveyor in Northallerton, in North Yorkshire, said: The last three months are the strangest I have known in 39 years. There are enquiries, but can people obtain finance to buy, whose jobs are safe and how long will the danger of Covid continue? If anyone has answers they are keeping very quiet.
The Rics measure of house prices moved deeper into negative territory. A balance of 32% of estate agents reported lower prices compared with 22% in April, marking the weakest figure since 2010. Even looking 12 months ahead, a balance of 16% of agents are expecting prices to fall.
This echoes surveys from mortgage lenders Nationwide and Halifax that showed house prices fell further last month.
Rics said there were no major changes in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales where restrictions on estate agents were not removed in May.
The vast majority of surveyors and estate agents (81%) say homes with gardens or balconies will be in demand over the next two years, along with houses near green spaces, and 68% reckon that properties with greater private and less communal space will become more desirable. Tower blocks and properties in crowded urban areas are expected to be less in demand.
Simon Rubinsohn,Ricschief economist, said: Following the reopening of the housing market in England, pre-Covid sales that were in the pipeline are now largely going through. This isencouraging but it remains to be seen how sustained this improvement will prove.
Much will inevitably depend on the macro environment and, in particular, the resilience of the jobs market as the furlough scheme unwinds. For the time being respondents to the survey see the trend in transactions being broadly flat.
Genetically engineered cows are making human antibodies that neutralize SARS-CoV-2.
By Mitch LeslieJun. 5, 2020 , 4:35 PM
Sciences COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center.
The latest recruits in the fight against COVID-19 are munching hay in a South Dakota barn. A biotech company has coaxed genetically modified cows to pump out human antibodies that subdue SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen causing the deadly disease, and it plans to start clinical trials of them this summer.
This is promising, says Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. We want to have as many countermeasures as we can.
To manufacture antibodies for treating or preventing diseases, companies typically turn to sources such as cultured cells or tobacco plants. But almost 20 years ago, researchers began to develop the approach now pursued by SAb Biotherapeutics of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to produce antibodies on the hoof. The company genetically alters dairy cows so that certain immune cells carry the DNA that allows people to make antibodies. That upgrade enables the animals to manufacture large quantities of human antibodies against a pathogen protein injected into them, such as the spike surface protein of the new coronavirus. Essentially, the cows are used as a giant bioreactor, says viral immunologist William Klimstra of the University of Pittsburgh, who has been analyzing the bovinemade antibodies potency against SARS-CoV-2.
Cows make good antibody factories, and not just because they have more blood than smaller animals engineered to synthesize human versions of the proteins. Their blood can also contain twice as many antibodies per milliliter as human blood, says Eddie Sullivan, SAb Biotherapeuticss president and CEO.
The animals may provide another advantage.Most companies trying to produce antibodies to combat COVID-19have pinned their hopes on mass-producing identical copies of a single version, a so-called monoclonal antibody that homes in on and attaches tightly to a particular section of a virus. Instead of making just one antibody variety, the cows fashion polyclonal antibodies, a range of the molecules that recognize several parts of the virus. Thats the natural way that our bodies fight disease, Sullivan says. This diversity may make the cows proteins more powerful than monoclonal antibodies, he says, and they may remain effective even if a virus mutates.
When the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, SAb Biotherapeutics had already completed a clinical trial with cow-generated antibodies againstMiddle East respiratory syndrome, which is caused by a coronavirus related to SARS-CoV-2. Developing that treatment gave us the initial knowledge to focus on the right target, Sullivan says. Within 7 weeks the cows were generating antibodies against SARS-CoV-2s spike.
Before the animals start to release these antibodies into their blood, the cows need a starter immunizationa DNA vaccine based on a portion of the virus genome that preps their immune system. Then comes the injection that contains a piece of SARS-CoV-2s spike protein, which serves as the virus passkey to cells. Each month, one cow can yield enough antibodies to treat several hundred patients, Sullivan says.
In test tube studies, Klimstra and colleagues recently pitted the antibodies against so-called convalescent plasma from the blood of COVID-19 survivors. Rich in polyclonal antibodies,the plasma is being tested in clinical trials as a treatment for the virus. The cow antibodieswere four times better than convalescent plasmaat preventing the virus from entering cells, the company announced last week.
The biotech hopes to begin a clinical trial within the next couple of months, Sullivan says, and wants to test whether infusions of antibodies sifted from the cows blood prevent healthy people from getting infected by SARS-CoV-2 and prove beneficial for patients who are already sick.
Not everyone thinks the cows are the best choice for making antibodies, however. Infectious disease physician Manish Sagar of Boston University Medical Center says he will remain skeptical until I see further proof that production of antibodies in cows is a lot more feasible and economically viable than other methods. So far, no antibodies generated by the animals have been approved for treating any disease.
But infectious disease specialist Jeffrey Henderson of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis describes the cow-produced antibodies as the logical next step to the convalescent plasma he has been studying. The whole approach, he says, is based on sound science and on past experience going back more than a century.
By: Explained Desk | Updated: June 11, 2020 10:09:03 am China has maintained that there was no delay or cover-up in the Chinese governments response to the outbreak of the disease and has rebutted all other accusations suggesting the virus may have originated from the lab, saying that its a smear campaign.
A new study carried out by researchers from the Harvard Medical School, Boston University of Public Health and Boston childrens hospital used satellite imagery of parking lots and disease-related search engine queries to investigate the possibility that coronavirus may have been circulating in Wuhan since August last year.
The authors of the study say that they observed an upward trend in hospital traffic and search volume for disease-related terms beginning in late summer and early fall of 2019, implying that the virus may have already been circulating before the identification of the Huanan market cluster in Wuhan late November, early December.
This hypothesis is supported by emerging epidemiologic and phylogenetic evidence indicating that the virus emerged in southern China and may have already spread internationally, and adapted for efficient human transmission by the time it was detected in late December, the study says.
Significantly, the study say that while queries for the respiratory symptom cough show seasonal fluctuations that coincide with yearly influenza seasons, the search for the term diarrhea, which is a more COVID-19 specific symptom showed an association with the current epidemic only.
An Expert Explains: The best practices for home quarantine of Covid-19 patients
For the study, researchers collected over 111 satellite images of Wuhan from January 9, 2018 to April 30, 2020 resulting in 140 successful daily extractions of parking lot volume from hospitals. As per their analysis, between 2018 and 2020 there was a general upward trend of increased hospital occupancy and a steep increase in volume starting August 2019. Further, while individual hospitals have days of high relative volume in both Fall and Winter 2019, between September and October 2019, five of the six hospitals show their highest relative daily volume, which coincides with elevated search queries for the term diarrhea and cough.
Searches for diarrhea showed elevated traffic starting in late 2019, cough shows yearly peaks that coincide with the influenza season. Both the search terms show a large increase approximately three weeks preceding the large spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases in early 2020. The researchers observed a large decrease in hospital volume and search query data following the public health lockdown of Wuhan on January 23, 2020.
Essentially, the researchers are saying that while it cannot be confirmed if the increase in the volume of hospital traffic and symptom search data in Wuhan was directly related to the coronavirus, they say that there is some evidence to believe that the disease might have been spreading before its identification at the Huanan seafood market.
In August, we identify a unique increase in searches for diarrhea which was neither seen in previous flu seasons or mirrored in the cough search data. While surprising, this finding lines up with the recent recognition that gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are a unique feature of COVID19 disease and may be the chief complaint of a significant proportion of presenting patients, the study says. The authors have cited a study carried out by the Wuhan Union Hospital and Wuhan Tongji Medical University, which says that while respiratory symptoms are common indicators of COVID-19, a potentially large segment of patients with digestive symptoms, such as diarrhea play an important role in community transmission.
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It is also possible that the initial rise in GI symptoms may have been ignored as an early signal of COVID-19 since the surveillance systems were looking for a respiratory pathogen, that are generally associated with symptoms such as fever, sore throat and cough.
Over the last month, conversations about the origins of the virus have picked up pace. Three weeks ago, China and the WHO agreed to allow an independent international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. In April, US President Donald Trump called the WHOs response to the pandemic, Chinacentric and has repeatedly blamed the body for supporting China in their efforts to under-represent the severity of the outbreak. Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have also claimed that the virus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Hubei province.
China, on the other hand, has maintained that there was no delay or cover-up in the Chinese governments response to the outbreak of the disease and has rebutted all other accusations suggesting the virus may have originated from the lab, saying that its a smear campaign. In late April, the head of the virology lab told Reuters there is no basis to claims that suggest the virus originated in the lab, adding that there still are no conclusive answers as to where the disease started.
A press release issued by the State Council Information Office of the Peoples Republic of China on Monday said that, China timely notified the international community of virus data and information about the epidemic, and made significant contributions to the global prevention and control. Significantly, a June 4 Associated Press report stated that China delayed sharing the virus genomic sequence.
China reported a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan to the WHO on December 31, 2019 and on March 11, the body characterised the disease outbreak as a pandemic. The scientific consensus is dominated by the view that the virus evolved naturally. WHO says on its website that the possible animal source of COVID-19 has not yet been confirmed. There is also a theory that the most trafficked mammals in the world, pangolins, maybe an intermediate host for transmission of the virus between bats and humans, however, research on this is still emerging.
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The first coronavirus vaccines might be ready for public use in late 2020, assuming everything goes well during the last stages of human testing, but it will take years for pharmaceutical companies to manufacture enough of the vaccine to meet demand. Immunizing the global population might be even more challenging if COVID-19 immunity turns out to be short-lived. Dr. Anthony Fauci and other experts warned that protection could last between six and twelve months, which is the case for the four known human coronaviruses that cause common colds. If that turns out to be the case for SARS-CoV-2, then people could catch the disease again after the acquired immunity wanes.
However, researchers studying new COVID-19 therapies arent placing all their eggs in the same basket. More than 130 teams are working on vaccines, but many hospitals are running trials with existing medicines that can be used to hasten recovery remdesivir is one such example. More importantly, other researches are looking at brand new drugs that can combine the best of both worlds. They can both treat existing COVID-19 patients and provide limited protection to people who havent contracted the disease.
The new drugs are known as monoclonal antibodies, which are drugs based on antibodies that can neutralize a pathogen. Several companies have identified human and animal antibodies that can prevent the SARS-CoV-2 virus from binding to the healthy human cells and invading them.
AstraZeneca announced on Tuesday that its going forward with six promising coronavirus-neutralizing antibodies of the more than 1,500 variations it had tested in lab conditions. The company licensed the antibodies from Vanderbilt University and evaluated their ability to inhibit the coronavirus. AstraZeneca signed an exclusivity deal for the six compounds and will combine two of them in a clinical trial set to start in the coming months.
The purpose of using both antibodies is to potentially increase the effectiveness of the resulting drug. The antibodies will target parts of the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein seen in the following illustration.
Schematic showing the spike protein of the novel coronavirus. Image source: AstraZeneca
By preventing the virus from interacting with cells via the spike protein, these drugs would stop a critical step in the replication of the coronavirus. Antibodies prevent the virus from creating hundreds of millions of copies of itself. As a result, monoclonal antibody therapies could help COVID-19 patients recover faster, and boost the immunity of patients who are likely to develop complications, including the elderly and people with existing health conditions.
Monoclonal antibodies are somewhat similar to vaccines when it comes to providing protection to people who have not been infected. The difference between the two is that vaccines teach the immune system to produce its own antibodies, and the immunity lasts longer. Monoclonal drugs only lend antibodies to a patient, and once they expire, the protection wears off. The protection would be shorter than vaccines, but it could still save lives.
AstraZeneca says that the candidates it chose for the human trial have an extended half-life, as theyre engineered using proprietary technology to extend their longevity in the body.
AstraZeneca infographic explains the process of developing monoclonal antibodies therapies for COVID-19. Image source: AstraZeneca
These drugs may be enough to supplement vaccines and other therapies, and could very well replace them if vaccines arent available. Not to mention that monoclonal antibody treatments might turn out to be easier to manufacture and distribute than vaccines. Before that happens, AstraZeneca and everyone else developing similar courses of treatment have to prove the drugs actually inhibit the virus. The company has signed agreements with academia and US government agencies on the project.
Separately, AstraZeneca partnered with the team behind the famous Oxford vaccine and plans to produce hundreds of millions of doses if the vaccine proves to be effective.
Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it he was sharing his views on tech stuff with readers around the world. Whenever he's not writing about gadgets he miserably fails to stay away from them, although he desperately tries. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Researchers from around the world are all racing to find a vaccine for COVID-19.
And theyre close a number of approaches are about to start human trials from Band-Aid-like microneedle stickers to traditional shots in the arm. Still, experts say, widespread vaccine use could be at least a couple of years away.
If everything went perfectly, well, [it would take] 18 months to two years minimum, says Dr. Kevin Tracey, president of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health. More realistically, three to four years and that would still be fast.
Still, Tracey and other researchers on the front line of the pandemic have more hope lately.
We will beat this virus, whether its 18 months, two years or four years, he tells The Post. Our treatment protocols are improving every day.
Heres what we know so far.
One of the most promising COVID-19 vaccines is in the works from Moderna Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Massachussets, biotech company, and human trials have already begun bringing it one step closer to the necessary FDA approval.
The vaccine was developed at a rapid speed, partly due to China releasing the genetic sequencing for the novel coronavirus in January, giving scientists around the world a head start. Researchers were also able to refurbish previous vaccine research on another coronavirus, the Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS), and its outbreak in 2012.
Another vaccine on tap is from Novavax, a Maryland-based company that has reworked its previous vaccine research from the similar coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and its outbreak in 2002-2004. According to TIME, Novavax has several candidates, that will be ready for testing on humans in the coming months.
University of Pittsburgh researchers also hope to start human clinical trials this spring for their newly developed vaccine that uses microneedle technology to administer the medication, rather than an actual needle. The vaccine was also based on previous research on MERS and SARS, and their work was recently published in the Lancet.
These two viruses, which are closely related to SARS-CoV-2, teach us that a particular protein, called a spike protein, is important for inducing immunity against the virus, said co-senior author Dr. Andrea Gambotto, associate professor of surgery at the Pitt School of Medicine. We knew exactly where to fight this new virus.
Another vaccine trial that has been approved by the FDA for human testing is by Inovio Pharmaceuticals which is backed by Bill and Melinda Gates. Like the others, the vaccine is a spin-off of a previously developed MERS vaccine that already had a promising phase 1 study.
Going from mice to humans to worldwide use doesnt happen overnight. Some vaccines take decades before theyre used if ever.
Tracey notes that the flu and polio vaccines took decades to develop, and when it comes to viruses like COVID-19, there is a two-arm approach to drug research: You can try to find a vaccine to treat a wide population or you can treat the virus head-on, like with HIV, for example. After all these years, there is still no HIV vaccine, but scientists have found drugs that treat the virus.
When it comes to vaccine development, once the human testing phase begins, scientists first have to determine if the vaccine causes an antibody response, Tracey tells The Post. Next, scientists have to see if the produced antibodies are effective against the virus. Then, of course, researchers have to make sure the antibodies arent dangerous.
Some people make good antibodies and some people make bad ones, and some people can make both, Tracey says. Bad antibodies can make the infection worse.
For example, if you immunize 1,000 people with a vaccine that protects 900 of them, but it makes 100 people worse, thats a disaster, Tracey says.
You cant make the clock run faster, Tracey says. You cant rush these things. A vaccine is going in healthy people. It has to have almost zero side effects.
The CDCs website is clear: There are no drugs or other therapeutics approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to prevent or treat COVID-19.
But the agency does list two therapies under investigation to treat COVID-19.
First, the controversial hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, which are taken orally and have been used in the past for the treatment of malaria and some inflammatory conditions, is also being studied as a treatment of patients with mild, moderate and severe COVID-19, according to the CDC. But theres only anecdotal evidence that the medicine could combat the coronavirus, and federal officials dont recommend taking the drug in an uncontrolled environment.
Its potential side effects include everything from fatal heart arrhythmia to vision loss, ear-ringing, vomiting, mood changes, skin rashes and hair loss.
A second drug, Remdesivir, manufactured by the California-based biotech company Gilead Sciences, has been in creation for a decade. It was once seen as a potential Ebola treatment but those trials were unsuccessful. Results from the first clinical trial testing Remdesivir administered through an IV for COVID-19 are expected this month.
The CDC says but does not name that there are numerous other treatments in the works.
One such treatment is the Japanese flu drug, favipiravir, which is already being used as a treatment in Turkey and Japan. Made by Fujifilm, the drug was found to improve lung function in 91% of patients in a Chinese study. On Tuesday, three Massachusetts hospitals received FDA approval to launch the first clinical trials of the drug.
Another promising treatment comes from researchers at Johns Hopkins, who have developed a therapy that uses blood plasma from recovered patients. Last week, the FDA approved a clinical trial for Johns Hopkins to test the therapy as a preventive measure on healthy people. The university is also waiting on FDA approval for another trial this time, on patients who are slightly or moderately ill to see if the serum will keep them out of ICUs and help bring them back to health, according to the university.
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The U.S. government will fund and conduct key studies on three experimental coronavirus vaccines, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, tells CNN.Phase 3 trials, which typically involve tens of thousands of people and measure whether a vaccine is safe and effective, will begin with one by Moderna in July, then an Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in August and one by Johnson & Johnson in September.The funding and trial timing were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. CNN has reached out to the companies for comment."The coronavirus vaccine effort is progressing very well and we expect more than one candidate vaccine to be in advanced clinical testing by early summer," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN. "This is good news for the overall coronavirus vaccine effort."Each Phase 3 trial is expected to take place at more than 50 sites, mostly in the United States, but possibly in other countries, too. The trials, which are expected to include about 30,000 people, will begin only after there's enough evidence of safety and efficacy from earlier trial stages.The U.S. government might also plan Phase 3 trials for additional coronavirus vaccines currently in development. According to the World Health Organization, there are 10 vaccines currently in human trials and 126 more in development.Fauci said the funding decision came from the Department of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the National Institute of Health and other agencies. He also said that the testing plans still track with the timeline that he has suggested in the past: a vaccine at scale by the end of the year or early next year.Last week, Fauci said the U.S. should have 100 million doses of one candidate coronavirus vaccine by the beginning of 2021, but many doctors caution that is an ambitious goal. He has also said there will be "more than one winner" in the COVID-19 vaccine field on Tuesday.The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. is nearing two million, and more than 112,000 Americans have died.
The U.S. government will fund and conduct key studies on three experimental coronavirus vaccines, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, tells CNN.
Phase 3 trials, which typically involve tens of thousands of people and measure whether a vaccine is safe and effective, will begin with one by Moderna in July, then an Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in August and one by Johnson & Johnson in September.
The funding and trial timing were first reported by the Wall Street Journal. CNN has reached out to the companies for comment.
"The coronavirus vaccine effort is progressing very well and we expect more than one candidate vaccine to be in advanced clinical testing by early summer," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN. "This is good news for the overall coronavirus vaccine effort."
Each Phase 3 trial is expected to take place at more than 50 sites, mostly in the United States, but possibly in other countries, too. The trials, which are expected to include about 30,000 people, will begin only after there's enough evidence of safety and efficacy from earlier trial stages.
The U.S. government might also plan Phase 3 trials for additional coronavirus vaccines currently in development. According to the World Health Organization, there are 10 vaccines currently in human trials and 126 more in development.
Fauci said the funding decision came from the Department of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the National Institute of Health and other agencies. He also said that the testing plans still track with the timeline that he has suggested in the past: a vaccine at scale by the end of the year or early next year.
Last week, Fauci said the U.S. should have 100 million doses of one candidate coronavirus vaccine by the beginning of 2021, but many doctors caution that is an ambitious goal. He has also said there will be "more than one winner" in the COVID-19 vaccine field on Tuesday.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. is nearing two million, and more than 112,000 Americans have died.
Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is aiming to produce 2 billion doses of a coronavirus vaccine, including 400 million for the U.S. and U.K. and 1 billion for those in low- and middle-income countries.
It plans to start distributing the vaccine to the U.S. and U.K. in September or October, with the balance of deliveries likely to be made by early 2021, according to AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, on a call with journalists Thursday.
AstraZeneca said it had signed a licensing deal with the Serum Institute of India to provide 1 billion doses to low- and middle-income countries, with 400 million of those shots set to be delivered by the end of 2020, according to a press release Thursday.
The vaccine, named AZD1222, was originally developed by Oxford University in the U.K. and AstraZeneca is working with pharmaceutical industry partners to manufacture and distribute the drug.
Soriot said the distribution was dependent on clinical trials taking place by August. Clinical trials and manufacturing are set to occur concurrently, which is an unprecedented move for the pharmaceutical industry because of the risk of producing a drug that might not work.
"We are very focused and very committed. When you have something like this with this sort of pandemic and the tremendous impact it has on people, the economy, et cetera, you can't second-guess what's going to happen. You can't spend your time figuring out is it going to work or not going to work, you just have to commit. We come in and make a bet on some of these things," Soriot said on the call.
Oxford University's Jenner Institute has worked with the Oxford Vaccine Group to develop the AZD1222 vaccine that includes a protein of the SARS CoV-2 virus strain, which causes the coronavirus disease known as Covid-19. It is currently testing the drug in around 10,000 adult volunteers. So far it has been "safe and well-tolerated," according to AstraZeneca's press release.
Asked whether the vaccine will work, Soriot said, "The chance of the vaccine working I would say we all have pretty good hope from what we've seen so far, but we can't be sure of course," adding that the company is creating a comprehensive database of safety information and expects to eventually have clinical trials with more than 50,000 volunteers taking part.
Trials are running concurrently with manufacturing to make the vaccine available as early as possible, according to Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is working with AstraZeneca on the drug's production. "Obviously, if the vaccine is successful, placing that early bet on the manufacturing gives a huge payoff because you end up with tens or even hundreds of millions of doses that become available at the earliest possible moment," he said on the call with journalists Thursday.
"We believe we can get the vaccine to hundreds of millions of people around the world, importantly, including those in the countries with the lowest income. So our goal is really to not leave anybody behind," Soriot said.
On Thursday, governments and businesses said they would give $8.8 billion to a vaccine allianceknown as Gavi, which is backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation and the World Health Organization have created a mechanism known as the Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator to make sure the vaccine is distributed fairly.
Correction: A quote in this story has been updated and extended to more accurately reflect the comments made byAstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot.
