An informed guide to the global outbreak, with the latest developments and expert advice about prevention and treatment. |
(Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.) |
 | | The New York Times |
|
During the trial of a vaccine, the final test is also its biggest: Phase 3. That’s when the vaccine is given to tens of thousands of people, along with a placebo group, to determine its safety and effectiveness. It’s the final step before a vaccine is approved and distributed to the public. |
Of the more than 155 vaccines in development around the world, only four have reached Phase 3, according to The Times’s vaccine tracker. (The Chinese military issued the first approval for a vaccine last month, but only for limited use.) |
But at least three more potential vaccines appear ready to enter Phase 3. |
One, made by the biotech company Moderna, provoked an immune response in 45 people in a study published this week — and it did so safely and without serious side effects. The company announced yesterday that it would begin Phase 3 testing in 30,000 people later this month, to be completed by late October. |
Russian scientists hailed another potential vaccine as safe and effective this week, and said it would enter Phase 3 in mid-August. And in an interview with Meridian Magazine, an executive director for pharmaceutical sciences at Pfizer said the company would begin a Phase 3 trial with one of its vaccine candidates later this month and, assuming it is positive, have 200 million doses ready by November. |
Experts agree that we’ll need multiple vaccines because no single company can quickly produce the billions of doses the world needs. |
One big outstanding question: It’s unknown how effective any of these vaccines may be, even those that get F.D.A. approval. They’re created to provoke an immune response, often nudging our bodies to create antibodies. But experts say that antibodies don’t necessarily confer immunity. And a recent study suggests that antibodies may last only two to three months after infection, especially in patients who were asymptomatic. |
New thinking on blood type. Early studies suggested that people with Type A blood were at greater risk of getting sick and falling dangerously ill. But two studies that examined thousands of patients, suggest a much weaker link to blood type. |
An alarming situation in Texas |
Since early June, shortly after Texas had mostly reopened, the state’s daily case counts have followed a steep upward trajectory. It recorded nearly 11,000 new infections and more than 130 deaths on Tuesday alone — records in both categories for the state. |
Texas is now a microcosm of the U.S., showing how chronic underfunding of public-health initiatives has put the country on track for the worst response to the virus in the developed world. Caution is growing: The Houston Independent School District, the seventh-largest in the nation, announced plans to start the school year virtually on Sept. 8, tentatively moving to in-person classes in October. |
Much of Texas’ failure stems from a combination of public resistance to measures to stop the virus’s spread and political interference with them. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has frequently changed course in his efforts to control the state’s outbreak and, under pressure from his party and residents, started reopening the state in May before it had met his own criteria for doing so. |
The consequences of failing to tamp down the virus early on have become clear — and for our colleague Edgar Sandoval, they are personal. In late June, he returned home to the Rio Grande Valley to report on the surge of cases along the Texas-Mexico border. But when he arrived, he found an outbreak spreading through his own family. |
About a dozen of his relatives fell ill, and his mother and aunt were hospitalized. “Everyone told stories of excruciating body aches, debilitating chills and burning fevers,” he wrote. |
- Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama issued an order requiring people to wear masks in public as the state reported a record 47 deaths in one day. Intensive care units are nearing capacity.
- Tokyo raised its pandemic alert level to “red,” its highest, following record daily new cases last week.
- As cases surge in Victoria, Australia’s second-biggest state, officials have barred large groups and travel to most of the rest of the country — but that hasn’t stopped some people from trying to evade lockdown rules.
|
What else we’re following |
- After public attacks from President Trump’s aides, Dr. Anthony Fauci called on them to “stop this nonsense” and focus on stopping the virus.
- The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defended the Trump administration’s decision to strip the agency of control over some of the nation’s coronavirus data, saying the move was necessary to modernize data collection.
- A key public health threshold for reopening schools and controlling community spread is an average daily infection rate under 5 percent. Of the 10 largest U.S. school districts, only two meet that threshold, a Times analysis found.
- While U.S. national parks grapple with how to welcome visitors again, some lawmakers are questioning the decision open them even partially.
- Two hair stylists at a hair salon in Missouri were found to have the virus, but they wore masks and none of their 139 clients appeared to become infected, according to a new C.D.C. study.
- A homesick Greek student in Scotland decided to cycle home to Athens, embarking on a trip that spanned five countries and 48 days.
- Museums are working overtime to collect artifacts from this once-in-a-generation moment — including grocery lists and selfies — and they need your help.
- Check out Banksy’s new coronavirus-themed subway art.
|
| My son has been “tutoring” me and my brother-in-law on the music of Phish. We listen to a different Phish album every couple of weeks, and every Tuesday, we each tune into the weekly “Dinner and a Movie” on YouTube — a live Phish concert, spanning their many years — and text each other with comments and thoughts throughout the show. This era of coronavirus will also be known to us as the Season of Phish. |
| — Bill Green, Napa, Calif. |
Let us know how you’re dealing with the outbreak. Send us a response here, and we may feature it in an upcoming newsletter. |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment