Experts: Make Reducing Spread Top Priority Until Vaccines Arrive
The news is very promising about vaccines, but it's during these next critical months — when people are forced inside — that the virus will spread more quickly, health experts say.
Stat:
Hopeful Covid-19 Vaccine Data Won't Help Overstretched Hospitals
With the glimmer of promising data from two Covid-19 vaccines, the beginning of the end of the pandemic may be in sight, some experts say — but they warn that the coming winter months may be the most tragic yet, especially if policies aren’t enacted to stop the spread. (Boodman, 11/16)
CNN:
Encouraging Data From Covid-19 Vaccines Won't Prevent A Dangerous Stretch Of Rising Cases, Experts Warn
The US received more good news on the vaccine front this week -- with Moderna's clinical trial data showing its vaccine is more than 94% effective. But the country is still battling a Covid-19 crisis that's ravaging communities and hospital systems and is projected to get a lot worse before a possible vaccine could offer any help. (Maxouris, 11/17)
Also —
AP:
Who Will Be The First To Get COVID-19 Vaccines?
Who will be the first to get COVID-19 vaccines? No decision has been made, but the consensus among many experts in the U.S. and globally is that health care workers should be first, said Sema Sgaier of the Surgo Foundation, a nonprofit group working on vaccine allocation issues. (11/17)
AP:
What Does COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Mean?
What does COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness mean? It refers to the likelihood that a coronavirus shot will work in people. Two vaccine makers have said that preliminary results from their late-stage studies suggest their experimental vaccines are strongly protective. Moderna this week said its vaccine appears nearly 95% effective. This comes on the heels of Pfizer’s announcement that its shot appeared similarly effective. (11/17)
San Francisco Chronicle:
To Speed A Vaccine, Thousands Volunteer To Be Infected With The Coronavirus. But That’s Not Happening. Yet.
The worldwide search for a coronavirus cure has inspired tens of thousands of young people to volunteer to be infected with the coronavirus during human trials of experimental vaccines — a growing movement that critics fear will have dire consequences. More than 38,000 people mostly in their 20s or early 30s from all over the world have signed up to be part of an operation known as 1DaySooner, which supports “human challenge trials” to test experimental drugs and speed up the process of finding effective vaccines for the coronavirus. (Fimrite, 11/16)
Boston Globe:
Live Tracker: Coronavirus Vaccines To Keep An Eye On
President Donald Trump has predicted that a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19 could be ready as early as October and in mass distribution soon after. But Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently predicted that high-risk people such as health care workers might be able to get a vaccine in January, but it probably wouldn’t be more broadly available until spring or summer. (Freyer, Saltzman and Gardizy, 11/16)
