Viewpoints: Lessons On A Safe, Effective Vaccine For COVID; Testing Is No Hallway Pass To Social Gatherings

Boston Globe: A COVID-19 Vaccine Must Be Safe And Effective
To build trust and confidence in a COVID-19 vaccination strategy, there needs to be a framework. Creating one is critical because widespread acceptance and distribution of safe and effective vaccines is the best approach to ending the coronavirus pandemic. Preliminary results of several candidate vaccines have been promising, with each inducing the type of immunity that might protect against becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Proof that one or more of these vaccines does, in fact, protect against COVID-19 and is safe to administer to the general population can only come from large-scale placebo-controlled clinical trials. Such trials, involving tens of thousands of volunteers, are underway. While we can’t predict the results of these trials, we’re confident that when concluded, they will provide definitive evidence about whether a particular vaccine candidate is safe and can prevent or lessen the severity of COVID-19. (10/5)

New England Journal of Medicine: The FDA And The Importance Of Trust
As SARS-CoV-2 emerged, the global scientific community first studied the virus at the bench, then took what was learned to the bedside in the hope of helping patients, and later returned to the bench with observations from the bedside. Such a process has led to progress in the treatment and prevention of every important disease we have faced, including AIDS, cancer, and diabetes. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, the information we have gathered has increased our understanding of the biology of the virus, the diagnosis of the infection, the nature of the injury it causes, and potential therapies to treat it, but much is still unknown. In Covid-19, clinicians at the bedside continue to face an imperfectly understood disease that leads to tragic consequences for too many patients. Under enormous pressure to help patients while doing no harm, clinicians rely on the transparency of the scientific process and on the careful judgment of regulators who base their decisions on the best available scientific understanding of the disease. (Lindsey R. Baden, et al., 9/30)

Stat: Trump Likes To Vilify Drug Makers, But Now He Needs Them
The man who once said drug makers are “getting away with murder” may now have to rely on them to save his life. Despite his trademark cockiness, President Trump is now infected with the same novel coronavirus that has killed more than 1 million people around the world, including some 208,000 Americans. (Ed Silverman, 10/3)

Los Angeles Times: What Trump Got Wrong About Coronavirus Testing
Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to Earth. Even so, the starlight visible from here is more than 4 years old because of the distance it must travel. So what does that have to do with the president’s coronavirus infection?Coronavirus testing has to navigate a similar kind of delay. The tests aren’t that good at detecting whether we are infected if we’re tested within a couple of days of being exposed to the virus. That’s because it often takes more than a day or two for the virus to propagate in our bodies enough to be discovered. The tests are better at determining whether we were infected four or five days earlier — which is why health experts generally advise people to be tested five days after a possible exposure. (Karin Klein, 10/3)

Boston Globe: Not So Fast On Indoor Gatherings
By now, the governor should know that when it comes to COVID-19 amid a failed federal response, the Commonwealth can’t have it both ways. Letting indoor businesses gather more people — known to increase risk of community spread — undermines schools’ ability to safely return to in-person instruction, because schools are not isolated bubbles. If their surrounding communities are engaging in risky behavior, that makes students and teachers more vulnerable to contracting the virus as well. (10/2)

Stat: With The Coronavirus, There Are No Magic Bullets 
What lessons should we learn from the fact that the president of the United States has caught Covid-19? There is one simple one, which the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, keeps teaching but which seems extremely difficult to learn: There are no magic bullets against Covid-19. (Matthew Herper, 10/5)

WBUR: Kids Will Get COVID-19. We Need To Make Sure They're Not Bullied For It 
In February and March, health care workers and public health professionals like me began the tireless work of combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. While we were hailed as heroes, my lived experience was different. When I told people I cared for patients ill with COVID-19, many people took a step back. As I explained that I was an infectious diseases physician working with people experiencing homelessness, they took another step back. This happened with strangers and friends alike. (Joshua Barocas, 10/5)

Modern Healthcare: Are We Prepared For The Next Public Health Crisis?
The coronavirus pandemic has humbled U.S. healthcare organizations like few events in history. It is imperative for industry leaders to honestly assess whether we’re ready for the next wave or any future public health emergency. Will we apply lessons learned if—and more likely when—the virus spikes this fall and winter? In the years to come, are we prepared for another virus that could be far more lethal? (Michael J. Dowling and Charles Kenney, 10/3)

Modern Healthcare: COVID-19 Has Blasted Healthcare Into The Future
Today, we see how the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the adoption of these types of technologies that once seemed so far-fetched. For example, the use of telehealth has risen dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drones disinfect streets in China, deliver medical supplies in Rwanda, and transport healthcare supplies to U.S. homes. Hotels and hospitals even employ germ-zapping robots to disinfect rooms. (Richard Isaacs, 10/2)

The Wall Street Journal: An End To Michigan’s Endless Emergency
Michigan’s one-woman rule is no more. When the coronavirus hit the state this spring, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer drew complaints for the seemingly arbitrary nature of her lockdown orders. Stores were told to cordon off nonessential sections. You could buy lottery tickets, but not paint or gardening supplies. (10/4)

NBC News: U.S. Teens Are Having Less Sex — But Stigmatizing Their Sexuality Does More Harm Than Good
In late August, the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention released the results of its biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey, showing that in 2019, 38.4 percent of high school students in the United States had experienced sexual intercourse. The number is 15.7 points lower than the 54.1 percent of high school students who reported having had sexual intercourse in 1991 (the year the survey started tracking sexual experiences). (Amy Schalet, 10/5)