Category: Corona Virus Vaccine

This photo illustration show a syringe referring to the vaccine for fighting the coronavirus ... [+] (Covid-19), with a representation of the virus in the background, photographed In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 15, 2020. The Brazilian government announced agreements with the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom, and with the Chinese company Sinovac and continues with the tests of the vaccine against Coronavirus (COVID-19) here in Brazil and may have its registration released in June 2021. (Photo Illustration by Allan Carvalho/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Let me start by making one thing clear: at the time of this writing, we don't have a scientifically validated vaccine for Covid-19. But more than 150 vaccines are being developed around the world, and many of them are already in advanced stages of testing.

So we'll have a vaccine soon, likely in a matter of months. And everyone should take it. I know I will.

Today Im going to try to de-mystify vaccines a bit, in the hope that this might help people feel more comfortable with them.

Before explaining what a vaccine actually is, let me point out that vaccines are probably the single greatest medical advance in the history of human civilization. Vaccines have saved hundreds of millions of lives: prior to vaccines, people lived in fear of diseases like smallpox, which killed 300 million people in the 20th century alone. Thanks to the vaccine, we eradicated smallpox from the entire world in 1980. Polio is another dreaded disease that killed or permanently injured millions, until the 1950s, when Hilary Koprowski, Jonas Salk, and Alfred Sabin invented vaccines that protected against it. Today, no one in the U.S. or Europe worries about polio, and it too has nearly been eradicated worldwide.

What exactly is a vaccine? Its a pretty simple concept. Our immune system has the remarkable ability to remember pathogens that weve been exposed to. So once youve been infected with some viruses or bacteria, you acquire immunity to those diseases that may last the rest of your life. A vaccine is basically a way to teach the immune system to recognize a pathogen without actually making you sick.

The simplest way to do this (conceptually) is to take a batch of viruses or bacteria, kill them so theyre harmless, and then just inject them into a person. The immune system then sees the proteins in the dead pathogens (because the proteins are still floating around), and it learns all it needs to know from these. Later on, if a live virus infects that person, her immune system will say aha, I know you! and will quickly surround and destroy the invaders.

Simple as it sounds, there are many complications with this process. One is that its often very hard to isolate and grow enough of the virus (or bacteria) for large-scale production. The viruses then need to be isolated, killed, and purified, which can be complicated and costly. For Covid-19, though, any cost is worth it.

Another, much newer way to make vaccines uses modern molecular technology to make RNA. Theres no need to isolate or grow the virus at all! This is how Modernas new mRNA vaccine works (see their whitepaper here).

The mRNA vaccine relies on the fact that we already know which protein in the SARS-CoV-2 virus is the most important one. Its called the spike protein, so Ill just call it Spike. Spike is what attaches to human cells and lets the virus infect them. We also know the sequence of the Spike gene: the sequence of the entire SARS-CoV-2 virus was released in early January, and weve now sequenced thousands of these viruses.

An mRNA vaccine simply uses the RNA itself, rather than dead viruses. Today we can synthesize RNA in large quantities, so if you take some of this RNA and inject it into a person, what happens? Well, our own cells will translate this RNA to produce the Spike protein. All by itself, the protein cannot possibly cause an infection. Its analogous to having a motor without a car: you cant go anywhere without the whole package.

But heres the good part: our immune system will recognize Spike anyway, even without the virus, and it will remember this invader. So the RNA vaccine is, in theory at least, even safer than traditional vaccines, because live pathogens are never used in the production process. (Before the anti-vaxxers jump on me here, let me emphasize that traditional vaccines are incredibly safe.)

This is just one example: there are 23 vaccines already in human trials, and over 150 in development, using mRNA, proteins, and other approaches.

There are other ingredients in vaccines too: preservatives and adjuvants. Anti-vaxxers like to read vaccine ingredients and then claim that all sorts of harmful stuff is in there, but their claims are mostly just gross ignorance. Preservatives are there to prevent the growth of things like bacteria, so they make vaccines safer. And adjuvants like aluminum salts (the most common adjuvant) are ingredients that enhance the effectiveness of vaccines, meaning you can use a lower dose. Aluminum salts have a very long safety record.

So why dont people trust vaccines? Largely because the anti-vaccine movement has spent years spreading misinformation and fear, and it is already pronouncing strong opposition to any coronavirus vaccine, regardless of the evidence. TheNew York Timesreported this weekthat mistrust of future coronavirus vaccines could imperil public health, especially in the United States. Polls have shown that large proportions of Americans say they won't take a vaccine even when it's available, which is, frankly, kind of crazy. (It didnt help when tennis player Novak Djokovic expressed doubts about whether hed be willing to take any future coronavirus vaccine.) Last month, NIHs Anthony Fauci said that the general anti-science, anti-authority, anti-vaccine feeling in the U.S. may seriously undermine the effectiveness of any future vaccine. Of course, this could change once we really do have a vaccine, and we should all hope it does. But the anti-vaxxers never let up.

It also doesn't help build trust when the Trump administration calls their vaccine program "Operation Warp Speed." This might have sounded exciting to some sci-fi fans in the White House, but to many people it sounds more like a devil-may-care approach that emphasizes speed over safety.

So how do we establish trust in the new vaccines, which are probably coming just a few months from now? One way to reassure people is to publish all the numbers from the vaccine trials. Ajust-published study in NEJMon the Moderna vaccine (the RNA vaccine) provides exactly these numbers, and they look very good in terms of both safety and effectiveness.

In that study, all 45 participants had a robust antibody responsea stronger response, in fact, than in many people whod been infected with the virus itself. There were some side effects, including fever and chills, but all were graded as mild or moderate. The scientists looked at 3 different dosage levels, and the side effects were greatest in the highest dosebut the antibody response was perfectly adequate in the lower dosage levels. So the next phase of testing, already under way, is using the lower dosages.

This was a phase 1 study, but it's very encouraging. If these results hold up in a large groupa question that is being tested now, in a phase 3 studywe'll have a working vaccine.

And if you want to know more about this trial, you can read about it at the public NIH site, ClinicalTrials.gov.

Many if not all of the vaccines being developed in Europe and the U.S. are going through the same kind of scrutiny, and well be able to see the results of those tests too. This is how we generate trust in the results: share them openly. Im very re-assured by what Ive seen so far.

The bottom line: vaccines work, and our methods for testing them are rigorous and thorough. With a little luck, the world will have multiple Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2020. Once we have enough people vaccinated, our long nightmare with the coronavirus pandemic will come to an end.

Full coverage and live updates on the Coronavirus

Continue reading here:

Why You Should Trust The Coronavirus Vaccine - Forbes

Immunogenicity and safety of a recombinant adenovirus type-5-vectored COVID-19 vaccine in healthy adults aged 18 years or older: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial  The Lancet

View post:

Immunogenicity and safety of a recombinant adenovirus type-5-vectored COVID-19 vaccine in healthy adults aged 18 years or older: a randomised,...

There is no coronavirus vaccine. Medications for COVID-19 are still being tested. Across the U.S., states that once acted as if the pandemic was going away are setting new daily records for infections, hospitalizations and deaths. There is one proved tool that has helped other countries stem the pandemic.But in the U.S. it is severely underused; the Trump administration tried to cut financing for it from the latest pandemic relief bill, reports this week say. And it often meets resistance from the people it is intended to help. The tool is called contact tracing.

The tracing approach is built on a simple idea: When someone tests positive for the new coronavirus or becomes sick with COVID-19, you find all the people the infected person came into contact with, because they, too, may be infected. Then you help them quarantine for two weeksalmost everyone who becomes sick will show symptoms within 14 daysso they do not accidentally spread the virus any further. The goal is to stop the chain of transmission, says Emily Gurley, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who has created afree online course to train contact tracers.

Contact tracing is a tried-and-true method that epidemiologists have been using for decades to tackle everything from foodborne illnesses to sexually transmitted diseases, as well as recent outbreaks of SARS and Ebola. Its a great tool for bringing an epidemic into the suppression or containment phase, says special pathogens expert Syra Madad of NYC Health + Hospitals, which leads New York CitysTest & Trace Corps contact-tracing program.

Large-scale contact-tracing programs in places such as South Korea and Germany have been instrumental in suppressing the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Within days of detecting its first case on January 20,South Korea created an emergency response committee that quickly developed wide-scale virus testing, followed by an extensive scaling up of the nations network of contact tracers. Germany similarly committed resources to mobilizing a tracing workforce. Inbothcountries, cases have dropped dramatically.

By contrast, tracing efforts lag in the U.S., where COVID-19 cases hit record highs in mid-July and which leads the world with more than 3.7 million infections and more than 140,000 deaths. The country has no national strategy for contact tracing, says Adriane Casalotti, chief of government and public affairs at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). Instead the federal government has said to states, do as you wish, she adds. According to news reports, this weekthe White House moved to block $25 billion for tracing and testing in the latest pandemic relief bill being considered by Congress, contending that states already have funding.

Yet many states do not have the money to start large tracing programs. In fact, state public health departments across the U.S. were drastically underfunded even before the pandemic. Since 2008, local health departments have lost close to 25 percent of their employees.

The result is a patchwork of programs with insufficient money and uneven implementation. NACCHO estimates that, given national levels of confirmed cases, the nation needs at least100,000 contact tracers. And that number would cost local, state, territorial, Native American and federal public health agencies at least $3.7 billion. So far, however, no federal dollars have been specifically allocated to contact tracing or to any federal contact tracing programs, Casalotti says.

A look at some individual states makes it clear that the workforce has not reached the scale required in several places. For instance, Arkansas recently announced plans to hire350 new contact tracers, which would bring its total to about 900. But based on the number of current cases, the state actually needs 3,722 tracers, according to acontact-tracing-workforce estimator developed by the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at George Washington University. In Florida, where the pandemic is surging terribly, the same estimator calculates that 291 tracers per 100,000 residents are needed. Yet as of early July, the state had onlyseven per 100,000. And cases of COVID-19 surged in Texas, even as contact tracers working for the Texas Department of State Health Services were taken off the job.

Some states and local governments have increased operations. Massachusetts has launched a large effort, and New York and Washington State have also mobilized strong programs, says Margaret Bourdeaux, a physician and research director of global public policy at Harvard Medical School. In California, San Francisco has called up city employees, such as librarians, to join its tracing workforce.

Yet making contact-tracing programs successful means more than just boots on the ground. Tracers are trained to help people think through who they might have been in contact with. Though numerous phone apps now aid in identifying potential contacts, technology cant solve the problem of convincing someone they should pick up the phone when a contact tracer calls, says Mary Gray, a social scientist at Microsoft Research, who also has affiliations with Harvard University and Indiana University Bloomington. It is the reason we are failingbecause we keep searching for something else we can buy or put into place. We have not conceded how deeply human this process is.

Contact tracing is built on trust. The first call from a tracer is the beginning of a relationship, Gurley says. Its not just explaining what someone needs to do; its also explaining why. From there, the contact tracer will follow up every day to make sure the contact is getting the support that person needs to maintain self-isolation. Contact tracers have to be good at building rapport, Gurley says.

The U.S.s divisive political climate can make this process challenging. The systemic racism that has disproportionately affected people in minority groups with the virus may also make them more hesitant to disclose their personal information, Madad says. With all the political rhetoric about immigration, people in [immigrant] communities may be afraid to talk.

Elizabeth Perez is bilingual in Spanish and English and works as a contact tracer in San Francisco. She mostly speaks with people in the Latino community, and she says that doing so in Spanish can help her build trust. Ramss Escobedo, who works in the same program, says that sometimes individuals worry about the information being collected. Occasionally, reluctant people give out incorrect phone numbers, and the team has to do some detective work to track down potential infected cases.

New York Citys program has approached this problem by recruiting contact tracers with diverse backgrounds from within local communities, Madad says. More than half of the contact tracers in her program are from the hardest-hit zip codes. Theyre part of that community, she says.

One of the biggest challenges is misinformation being disseminated on social media. BuzzFeed News reports that Facebook posts and YouTube videos spreading hoaxes and lies about contact tracers have received hundreds of thousands of views. Some of these posts compare tracers to Nazi secret police and falsely say they take people to internment camps. Others suggest they should be greeted with guns. Contact tracers report they have faced death threats.

The next action that comes after a tracer has identified a potential infected persongetting that individual to adhere to quarantinehas proved exceptionally difficult in the U.S. For stopping the spread of a virus, however, isolation is absolutely key. You can do the contact tracing all you want. But if youre not also providing these support services people need to isolate, it wont work, Madad says. No one is going to quarantine for 14 days if that means losing a job and income or abandoning caregiving.

That fact is why the availability of services to support people in quarantine, such as housing, childcare, income or meal services, can make or break a contact-tracing program, Madad adds. For example,South Korea transformed existing public and private facilities into temporary isolation wards and has ensured that people quarantined via contact tracing receive a twice-daily check in from a public health worker, as well as deliveries of food and other necessities.

In the U.S., these kinds of resources have not been offered, by and large. New York City has set up quarantine hotels where people can go, and so have a few other localities. But efforts such as these are not widespread, and they are not enough tomeet the needs of every community.

At this point in the pandemic, that shortfall is a desperate problem, according to Harvards Bourdeaux. We are looking into the abyss, she says. Contact tracing at the large scale that is needed might seem overwhelming, but what other choice do we have? Bourdeaux asks. You cant have an economy, you cant have open schools, you cant have normal life if the epidemic is raging and uncontrolled. Until we have effective medications and a vaccine, she says, testing, contact tracing and quarantine are the most effective plague stoppers in existence.

Read more about the coronavirus outbreak from Scientific American here. And read coverage from our international network of magazines here.

Excerpt from:

Contact Tracing, a Key Way to Slow COVID-19, Is Badly Underused by the U.S. - Scientific American

TheWest Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) reports as of 10:00 a.m., on July 21,2020, there have been 239,341 total confirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 5,161 total cases and 101 deaths.

DHHR has confirmed the death of a 67-year oldfemale from Cabell County. Our sincere sympathy is extended to thisfamily for their loss, said Bill J. Crouch, Cabinet Secretary of DHHR.

In alignment with updated definitions fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the dashboard includes probablecases which are individuals that have symptoms and either serologic (antibody)or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to a confirmed case) evidence of disease, but noconfirmatory test.

CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (26/0), Berkeley (549/19), Boone(58/0), Braxton (7/0), Brooke (38/1), Cabell (218/7), Calhoun (5/0), Clay(17/0), Fayette (100/0), Gilmer (13/0), Grant (25/1), Greenbrier (80/0),Hampshire (51/0), Hancock (61/4), Hardy (49/1), Harrison (141/1), Jackson(149/0), Jefferson (269/5), Kanawha (534/12), Lewis (24/1), Lincoln (30/0),Logan (47/0), Marion (136/4), Marshall (82/1), Mason (30/0), McDowell (11/0),Mercer (74/0), Mineral (76/2), Mingo (60/2), Monongalia (748/15), Monroe(16/1), Morgan (21/1), Nicholas (22/1), Ohio (179/0), Pendleton (19/1),Pleasants (5/1), Pocahontas (38/1), Preston (92/22), Putnam (115/1), Raleigh(108/3), Randolph (200/2), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (12/0), Summers (2/0), Taylor(29/1), Tucker (7/0), Tyler (10/0), Upshur (31/2), Wayne (160/2), Webster(2/0), Wetzel (41/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (203/9), Wyoming (8/0).

As case surveillance continues at thelocal health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certaincounty may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individualin question may have crossed the state border to be tested.Such is thecase of Cabell and Fayette counties in this report.

Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR.

Please visit thedashboard at http://www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.

See the original post here:

COVID-19 Daily Update 7-21-2020 - 10 AM - West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources

Loading

Australia would have to negotiate through global health organisations to ensure supply, she said. "Supply of any vaccine or treatment for COVID-19 in Australia is being coordinated by international health-based bodies (the World Health Organisation, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and vaccine alliance Gavi). Interaction with national governments, including Australia, are held at the global level."

Science and technology company Merck has also been working with the Oxford group on large-scale manufacturing of the product, but local managing director of Merck Life Sciences Rebecca Lee said the Australian arm of the business did not engage in vaccine production.

"Merck does not undertake vaccine manufacturing in Australia, however, our Life Science business is providing our expertise and resources to support vaccine research currently underway," she said.

In June AstraZeneca reached a deal with Europe's vaccine alliance to supply 400 million doses at no profit.

Loading

The Australian government told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald last week it was talking to a range of vaccine manufacturers to discuss supply.

Australian listed biotech CSL, which is working with the University of Queensland on its vaccine trials, said the results from the Oxford study were "very encouraging" because they show vaccines that target the coronavirus' "spike proteins" are technically feasible.

CSL's vaccine company Seqirus is one of the largest flu vaccine manufacturers in the world. The $132 billion biotech's experience in making vaccines at scale has meant CSL is a leading prospect for any local vaccine production. The biotech's vice-president of recombinant product development, Anthony Stowers, said the company's priority was working with UQ on its vaccine project. However, it was keeping open discussions with other developers and projects, he said.

"In parallel to our work with UQ, we are exploring ways to support the manufacture of other vaccines under development and will keep discussions open."

Director of Intellectual Property at UTS faculty of law Professor Natalie Stoianoff said even if Australia had the capacity to manufacture the Oxford vaccine, there would be potentially complex licensing deals with the patent holders.

"Australia does have a number of companies that can do vaccine manufacturing. They might take a licence to do it and sell it here exclusively...the difficulty that might arise is if AstraZeneca doesn't want to licence other manufacturers," she said.

Get our Coronavirus Update newsletter for the day's crucial developments and the numbers you need to know. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald's newsletter here and The Age's here.

Emma is the small business reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald based in Melbourne.

See more here:

Australia left in the dark as manufacturers race to make Oxford COVID-19 vaccine - Sydney Morning Herald

The first doses of a swine flu vaccine were available in a little over five months.

ATLANTA ATLANTAWork to develop a COVID-19 vaccine is moving at warp speed, and its not the first time scientists have moved quickly to develop a vaccine to stem a pandemic.

The United States government is pouring billions of dollars into an effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible. Work on a vaccine began in January. The effort, called Operation Warp Speed, is on track to have a vaccine available to the public by the end of the year or early 2021.

In 2009, the country was in a similar rush, needing a vaccine to protect Americans from the Swine Flu.

In that case, it took a little over five months.

Lets look at why this effort is taking longer.

The virus that swept the world in 2009 was a new strain of the flu. There was already a flu vaccine that scientists adjust each year.

We had a base, says Dr. Walt Orenstein of Emory Vaccine Center. Even though it was a different influenza virus, we have an understanding of what we needed to trigger in terms of an immune response.

Vaccines work by imitating an infection that prompts your bodys immune system to fight back.

Scientists first need to learn what will prompt an immune response to a particular disease.

While they had a head start with the Swine Flu, Dr. Orenstein tells us thats not the case with COVID-19.

We dont understand yet what is and what isnt a protective immune response, says Dr. Orenstein. We have suspicions, but we dont really have clear knowledge.

COVID-19 is caused by a new strain of the coronavirus. Its not the first coronavirus, but the others never resulted in a vaccine.

They were developing vaccines but never got to licensure and use, says Dr. Orenstein.

Work on a Swine Flu vaccine began in late April 2009. The first doses of the swine flu vaccine were given on October 5th as the U.S. was experiencing a second wave of the virus. The vaccine was not widely available until November of that year.

The World Health Organization declared an end to the pandemic the following August.

By then, the virus had taken at least 100-thousand lives worldwide.

The rest is here:

Why is a coronavirus vaccine taking longer to develop than the Swine Flu vaccine? - 11Alive.com WXIA

Getty Images

Some teams have begun testing rookies for COVID-19. Veterans soon will follow.

Ninety-five players have tested positive for coronavirus as of today and before league-wide testing results are known. Thats according to the NFLPA website.

Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, Rams center Brian Allen, Broncos pass rusher Von Miller and Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth are among the players who are known to have had COVID-19.

The NFLPA also had an update on the infectious disease emergency response plans submitted by each team. Eight teams have IDER plans approved by the NFLPA, and 24 are under review.

The NFLPA must approve a teams IDER plan before more than 20 players are allowed in the team facility. NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills and joint infectious disease experts already have OKd the 32 plans.

Original post:

95 NFL players have tested positive for COVID-19 - NBC Sports - NFL

Find developments on the coronavirus pandemic and the plan for recovery in the U.S. and Washington state.

Where cases stand in Washington:

Several high school sports, including football, will not take place this fall in Washington state.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association moved football, volleyball, girls soccer, and boys 1B/2B soccer to the spring.

The director of the association called it a "tough and unprecedented decision."

It will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better," President Trump said about the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday.

He encouraged Americans to wear masks when social distancing is not possible, Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact."

The NFL Players Association says 95 players are known to have tested positive for the coronavirus.

That number is up from 72 in the unions last report on July 10.

On Monday, the NFLPA and the NFL reached agreement on COVID-19 testing as rookies begin reporting to training camps.

UW Medicine said a coronavirus vaccine its developing has shown promising results in mice and monkeys during pre-clinical studies.

The experimental vaccine induced a strong immune response after a single dose and immunity increased over time, Dr. Deborah Fuller, professor of microbiology, said Monday.

Reported coronavirus cases vastly underestimate the true number of infections, U.S. government data published Tuesday suggest, echoing results from a smaller study last month.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study says true COVID-19 rates were more than 10 times higher than reported cases in most U.S. regions from late March to early May.

The Kent School District has announced that schools will begin the 2020-21 school year with remote learning.

The district looked at data from a staff and family survey, as well as guidance from health officials and the districts Back to School Task Force in making the decision to start remotely for the upcoming school year.

More:

What you need to know about coronavirus today - KING5.com

Dublin, July 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "COVID-19 Diagnostics (PCR Testing, Antibody Testing) and Therapy (Immunotherapy, Vaccines, Antiviral, Cell-based, Plasma therapy) Market Opportunity Assessment and Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The healthcare systems have been struggling to manage the COVID-19 patient population globally and hence the medical researchers are racing to find a solution to the pandemic. According to this latest publication, the leading areas of research include antibodies, protein-based vaccines, antiviral, drug repurposes, RNA-based vaccines, non-replicating viral vectors, and cell-based therapies. While more than 50% of the therapies being developed are in the preclinical stage, government initiatives, such as Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by FDA, is expected to accelerate the research and development (R&D) process.

Based on healthcare options, the COVID-19 impact assessment is analyzed into diagnostics and treatments areas. The market opportunity of these products is estimated to reach USD 13.9 billion in 2025. The diagnostics segment is further divided into PCR-based testing and antibody testing. The treatment area is segmented into vaccines, immunotherapies, anti-virals, cell-based therapies, and other therapies. Vaccines and anti-virals are the most explored treatment options currently being investigated by researchers worldwide.

Geographically, North America has been the most affected region, primarily attributed to the U.S. being the most affected country having the most number of confirmed cases as well as deaths, globally. Other most affected nations include the U.K., Spain, France, Italy, Brazil, Germany, and India among others. Further, almost all the affected nations have experienced rapid economic decline leading GDP decline, an increase in unemployment rates, and an increase in the inflation rates.

To overcome the situation, governments have imposed restriction on people movement as well as invested resources towards dealing with crisis and supporting all research and medical efforts towards developing a treatment option. The U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, China, and India are some of the key nations leading the research and production efforts geared towards developing COVID-19 medication.

Some of the key players engaged in COVID-19 diagnostics and treatment development include Roche Holding AG (Switzerland), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (U.S.), Abbott Laboratories (U.S.), Becton, Dickinson and Company (U.S.), AbbVie Corporation (U.S.), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (U.S.), Eli Lilly and Company (U.S.), Moderna, Inc. (U.S.), Novavax, Inc. (U.S.), Medicago, Inc. (U.S.), Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (U.S.), GlaxoSmithKline (U.K.), Sanofi S.A. (France), Johnson & Johnson (U.S.), Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (U.S.), AstraZeneca Plc (U.K.), Pfizer, Inc. (U.S.), CTI Biopharma Corporation (U.S.), OncoImmune, Inc. (U.S.), Athersys, Inc. (U.S.), Celularity, Inc. (U.S.), Pluristem Therapeutics (Israel), and Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Ltd (Japan), among others.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction

2. Research Methodology

3. Coronavirus: Epidemiology3.1. About Coronavirus3.2. Transmission & Symptoms3.3. Prevention3.4. Epidemiology

4. Executive Summary4.1. Introduction4.2. Global Economic Impact4.3. COVID-19 Response4.4. COVID-19 Research Pipeline4.5. COVID-19 Pipeline Development Challenges4.6. Key Companies

5. Covid-19: Impact on Healthcare Industry5.1. Introduction5.2. Key Trends & Impact on Healthcare Subsegments5.3. Diagnostics5.3.1. PCR / Rapid Antigen Testing / Nucleic Acid-Based Tests5.3.1.1. Advantages Offered by PCR Testing in COVID -19 Diagnosis5.3.1.2. Restraints5.3.1.3. Key Companies5.3.2. Antibody Testing / Serological Testing5.3.2.1. Advantages Over Molecular Tests5.3.2.2. Use of Antibody Testing for Herd Immunity Analysis and Easing Lock-Down5.3.2.3. Restraints5.3.2.4. Key Companies5.4. Therapies5.4.1. Vaccines5.4.2. Immunotherapies (Antibodies)5.4.2.1. Monoclonal Antibody5.4.2.2. T-Cell Therapy5.4.2.3. Potential Game Changers: Antibodies5.4.2.3.1. Ilaris (Canakinumab)5.4.2.3.2. Sylvan (Siltuximab)5.4.2.3.3. Lenzilumab5.4.2.3.4. Ultomiris (Ravulizumab-CWVZ)5.4.2.3.5. Tocilizumab5.4.3. Antivirals5.4.3.1. Potential Game Changers5.4.3.1.1. Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)5.4.3.1.2. Remdesivir5.4.4. Cell-Based Therapies5.4.5. Other Therapies5.4.5.1. Plasma Therapy5.4.5.2. Devices

6. Geography Impact Assessment6.1. Introduction6.1.1. Global Virtual Fund-Raising Event to Raise USD 8 Billion for Coronavirus Vaccine6.2. North America6.2.1. COVID-19 Impact on the U.S. Economy6.2.2. Significant R&D Investment by the U.S. Government for COVID-19 Treatment6.2.3. High Dependence on the U.S. on Drugs Import Expected to Create Drug Shortages6.2.4. Investments by Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Canadian Government6.2.5. Canada Announced Investment of USD 192 Million on Vaccine Development as Well as Partnering with Industry and Academics6.2.6. Creation of SARS-COV2 Vaccine-Bank by Researchers in Canada6.3. Europe6.3.1. Economic Impact of COVID-19: European Nations6.3.2. European Firms to Lead the COVID-19 Treatment Researches6.3.3. U.K. at Forefront in Drug Development Researches to Fight Covid-196.3.4. Partnership of European Pharmaceutical Giants - Sanofi and GSK To Develop COVID-19 Vaccine6.3.5. German Vaccine Became the First European MRNA Vaccine to Enter Human Testing6.3.6. Growing Interest of Billionaire in German Drug Development for COVID-196.4. APAC6.4.1. Economic Impact of COVID-19: APAC6.4.2. Asian Countries Leading the Diagnostics Test Commercialization6.4.3. India In Favourable Position for Future Production Of COVID-19 Vaccine6.4.4. Chinese Lockdown to Negatively Impact the Drugs Supply Chain6.5. Rest of the World6.5.1. Government Initiatives to Support COVID-19 Medicine Research & Other Drug Supply in Brazil6.5.2. Saudi Arabia to Invest USD 2 Billion in Coronavirus Vaccine Development6.5.3. Government Initiatives to Support Rapid Development of COVID-19 Therapy in South Africa

7. Competitive Landscape7.1. Introduction7.2. Agreements/Deals/Partnerships/Collaborations/Joint Ventures7.3. R&D Updates7.4. Auhrozation / Approvals7.5. Donations Made7.6. Funding Received7.7. Capacity Expansion7.8. Other Growth Strategies

8. Company Updates8.1. Company Segmentation8.2. Diagnostic Companies8.3. Antivirals8.4. Vaccine Developers8.5. Immunotherapy Firms8.6. Cell-Based Therapy8.7. Plasma Therapy

Companies Mentioned

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/cvgzn9

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

View post:

Worldwide COVID-19 Diagnostics and Therapy Industry to 2025 - Agreements, Deals, Partnerships, Collaborations & Joint Ventures - GlobeNewswire

Public health officials in at least two Colorado counties warn they may have to roll back some aspects of their reopening as novel coronavirus infections continue to rise in the state.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment notified Larimer and Jefferson counties that theyre at risk of losing their variances, which allow local governments to loosen restrictions on certain events and businesses after they show progress in curtailing the spread of COVID-19.

We must take swift, strategic action now to help keep our cases below the permitted threshold, so we do not have to take giant steps backwards in our countys recovery efforts, said Dr. Mark Johnson, executive director for Jefferson County Public Health, in a statement.

As a result, Jefferson County Public Health on Monday issued a new order requiring venues to receive approval from the agency before holding events with more than one designated activity, and which would have more than 100 people inside or 175 people outside, according to a news release.

The order, which goes into effect at 5 p.m. Monday, comes weeks after Jefferson County Public Health said Bandimere Speedway violated social-distancing requirements at a July 4 event. A ruling in the court case stemming from that dispute is expected Tuesday morning.

Under its variance, Jefferson County has a limit of 580 new cases during a two-week period. The county reported 486 cases between July 5 and July 18, according to the news release.

Jeffcos state variance, which was approved in June, affects the number of people allowed to gather, including in gyms, malls, breweries and houses of worship.

Larimer Countys variance was approved in May and covers the opening of gyms, theaters, bowling alleys, pools and other businesses. The variance will be rescinded if Larimer County confirms more than 25 new cases, or 10% of individuals tested on three separate days, during a two-week period.

The increase in COVID-19 cases in Larimer County is partly attributed to large gatherings during the July 4 weekend, according to a news release.

I know that we will regroup and reverse this uptick, said Tom Gonzales, Larimer County public health director, in a statement. But in order to do that, we must all take this seriously and be diligent with handwashing, face coverings and social distancing. We must slow our case count to keep our businesses open.

The county has two weeks to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus or its variance could be modified or revoked, according to the news release.

Join our Facebook group for the latest updates on coronavirus in Colorado.

See the original post:

Jefferson, Larimer counties warn they may have to scale back reopening as COVID-19 cases rise - The Denver Post