As More Companies Enter Vaccine Race, Hopes Rise That One Might Be Available For Emergency Use In Fall
The experimental vaccines still face a gauntlet of testing to make sure they are effective and safe, which could derail efforts to expedite use. But many companies have taken measures to shave months, if not years, off the normal development process. Companies have a huge financial incentive to be the winners of this particular race. Meanwhile, anti-vaccine groups already are launching a campaign against whichever emerges even though it's not developed yet.
The Wall Street Journal:
Race For Coronavirus Vaccine Accelerates As Pfizer Says U.S. Testing To Begin Next Week
The race for a vaccine to combat the new coronavirus is moving faster than researchers and drugmakers expected, with Pfizer Inc. joining several other groups saying that they had accelerated the timetable for testing and that a vaccine could be ready for emergency use in the fall. Pfizer said Tuesday it will begin testing of its experimental vaccine in the U.S. as early as next week. On Monday, Oxford University researchers said their vaccine candidate could be available for emergency use as early as September if it passes muster in studies, while biotech Moderna Inc. said it was preparing to enter its vaccine into the second phase of human testing. (Hopkins and Rockoff, 4/28)
Houston Chronicle:
Texas A&M To Lead Testing Of TB Vaccine Against COVID-19
Texas A&M University researchers have begun recruiting health care workers to test whether a century-old tuberculosis vaccine can help in the fight against the coronavirus, scientists’ latest attempt to repurpose a drug to fend off the deadly pandemic. The researchers, who are teaming with Harvard University, MD Anderson Cancer Center and Baylor College of Medicine, say the expectation isn’t so much that the vaccine will prevent people from becoming infected as that it could result in fewer hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. The vaccine, given to millions of people every year, has a proven track record of providing benefits not primarily intended by the intervention. (Ackerman, 4/29)
The Associated Press:
Groups Sow Doubt About COVID Vaccine Before One Even Exists
A coronavirus vaccine is still months or years away, but groups that peddle misinformation about immunizations are already taking aim, potentially eroding confidence in what could be humanity’s best chance to defeat the virus. In recent weeks, vaccine opponents have made several unsubstantiated claims, including allegations that vaccine trials will be dangerously rushed or that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, is blocking cures to enrich vaccine makers. (Klepper and Dupuy, 4/29)
