Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Poll: 35% Of Americans Won't Get COVID Vaccine
The Hill: One In Three Americans Say They Won't Get Coronavirus Vaccine: Poll
More than 1 in 3 Americans surveyed in a NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll released Friday say they will not get a coronavirus vaccine once it is available. Thirty-five percent of respondents said they would not take the vaccine, 60 percent said they would and 5 percent said they were unsure. Those with college degrees are 19 points more likely to take a vaccine than those without, 72 percent to 53 percent. Democrats were also more likely to be willing to take the vaccine than Republicans, 71 percent to 48 percent. (Moreno, 8/14)
Kaiser Health News: Trust, Fear And Solidarity Will Determine The Success Of A COVID Vaccine
Thousands of letters stuffed with money flooded Jonas Salk’s mailbox the week after his polio vaccine was declared safe and effective in 1955. Everybody wanted his vaccine. Desperate parents clogged doctors’ phone lines in search of the precious elixir; drug companies and doctors diverted doses to the rich and famous.Some of the first batches of the vaccine were disastrously botched, causing 200 cases of permanent paralysis. That barely dented public desire for the preventive. Marlon Brando even asked to play Salk in a movie. (Allen, 8/17)
Also —
Reuters: Report: US Exploring Possibility Of Controversial 'Challenge Trial' For COVID-19 Vaccine
U.S. government scientists have begun efforts to manufacture a strain of the novel coronavirus that could be used in human challenge trials of vaccines, a controversial type of study in which healthy volunteers would be vaccinated and then intentionally infected with the virus, Reuters has learned. The work is preliminary and such trials would not replace large-scale, Phase 3 trials such as those now under way in the United States testing experimental COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc, according to a statement emailed to Reuters by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. (Steenhuysen, 8/14)
Kaiser Health News: With COVID Vaccine Trial, Rural Oregon Clinic Steps Onto World Stage
From the outside, it appears to be just another suburban allergy clinic, a tidy, tan brick-and-cinder-block building set back from a busy highway and across the road from an auto parts store. But inside the offices of the Clinical Research Institute of Southern Oregon, Dr. Edward Kerwin and his staff are part of the race to save the world. (Aleccia, 8/17)
Barron's: When Will A Covid-19 Vaccine Be Available For Everyone In The World? Analyst Says By The End Of 2021
The U.S. now has a half-dozen purchasing agreements with vaccine makers. And there are enough committed doses to immunize 75% of the population in 2021—even assuming 40% of the them fall through, according to Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal. “Even if (say) two vaccines fail/underperform in trials or manufacturing issues cause only 60% of the promised dose to be delivered, HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] would have enough to vaccinate [about] 85% of the U.S. population on the existing commitment alone,” Gal wrote in a note on Friday. (Smith, 8/16)
The Hill: The Hill Interview: NIH Chief Addresses Concerns About Speed Of COVID-19 Vaccine Development
The director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said despite the images conjured up by Operation Warp Speed — the Trump administration’s effort to get a COVID-19 vaccine to market as quickly as possible — the federal government is taking all the necessary safety precautions. In a wide-ranging interview with The Hill on Wednesday, NIH chief Francis Collins said he’s optimistic about the potential for one or more vaccine candidates to make it through phase three trials by the end of the year, and that the Trump administration is making the ancillary plans to deliver that vaccine widely. (Wilson, 8/14)
In related vaccine news —
San Francisco Chronicle: Flu Vaccines Could Be A Dry Run For Upcoming Coronavirus Immunizations
Influenza season is just around the corner, and with the possibility of the coronavirus circulating at the same time, the annual pleas have already begun: Get the flu shot, everyone. This fall likely will see the most aggressive flu vaccination campaign since the H1N1 pandemic in 2009, public health officials said. And it may serve a dual purpose as practice for the global immunization drive against the coronavirus that could begin next year. (Allday, 8/16)
The New York Times: Fearing A ‘Twindemic,’ Health Experts Push Urgently For Flu Shots
As public health officials look to fall and winter, the specter of a new surge of Covid-19 gives them chills. But there is a scenario they dread even more: a severe flu season, resulting in a “twindemic.” Even a mild flu season could stagger hospitals already coping with Covid-19 cases. And though officials don’t know yet what degree of severity to anticipate this year, they are worried large numbers of people could forgo flu shots, increasing the risk of widespread outbreaks. (Hoffman, 8/16)
