Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Russian Data Shows Vaccine Produces Immune Response
The New York Times: Russians Publish Early Coronavirus Vaccine Results
On Friday, a team of Russian scientists published the first report on their Covid-19 vaccine, which had been roundly criticized because of President Vladimir Putin’s decision last month to approve it before clinical trials had proved it safe and effective. In a small group of volunteers, the scientists found that the vaccine produced a modest level of antibodies against the coronavirus, while causing only mild side effects. The research has not yet shown, however, whether people who are vaccinated are less likely to become infected than those who are not. (Zimmer, 9/4)
Fox News: Coronavirus Vaccine Trial In Russia Shows Promising Results With Immune Response, Study Claims
Results of coronavirus vaccine trials in Russia have shown an antibody response within three weeks in all participants tested, according to findings released Friday. “The vaccine is safe, well tolerated, and induces strong humoral and cellular immune responses in 100 percent of healthy participants," the researchers said of a vaccine, called Sputnik V, in a study published in the journal The Lancet on Friday. (McGorry, 9/4)
CNN: Putin's Coronavirus Vaccine Meets Opposition From Frontline Workers In Russia
Russian authorities have singled out teachers -- as well as doctors -- as key workers who will get access to the vaccine first, even before crucial phase 3 human trials have finished. But that's not gone down well with some sections of these frontline workers who don't buy Putin's claims of the efficacy of the vaccine and are reluctant to be used as human guinea pigs. (Ullah and Chernova, 9/6)
In other news on the global vaccine race —
Reuters: China's Sinovac Coronavirus Vaccine Candidate Appears Safe, Slightly Weaker In Elderly
Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd (SVA.O) said on Monday its coronavirus vaccine candidate appeared to be safe for older people, according to preliminary results from an early to mid-stage trial, while the immune responses triggered by the vaccine were slightly weaker than younger adults. Health officials have been concerned about whether experimental vaccines could safely protect the elderly, whose immune systems usually react less robustly to vaccines, against the virus that has led to nearly 890,000 deaths worldwide. (9/7)
NPR: How Scientists Determine If A COVID-19 Vaccine Works
Several vaccines are currently in large-scale studies to see if they can prevent COVID-19, and more are on the way. President Trump has been hinting that a vaccine could be ready before the end of October, but Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser to the administration's Operation Warp Speed, downplayed that possibility in an interview on NPR's All Things Considered. "There is a very, very low chance that the trials that are running as we speak could read before the end of October," Slaoui said. (Palca, 9/7)
Stat: From Shipping To Security, A Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Chain Takes Shape
For the past few months, Joachim Kuhn has scrambled to rework his factories and rapidly ramp up production of temperature-controlled containers — a critical but often overlooked part of the global supply chain that will be needed to deliver Covid-19 vaccines around the world. Container supplies are among the countless challenges facing companies that are part of a vast, behind-the-scenes global network planning to quickly transport huge numbers of Covid-19 vaccines. (Silverman, 9/8)
The New York Times: Race For Coronavirus Vaccine Pits Spy Against Spy
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted one of the fastest peacetime mission shifts in recent times for the world’s intelligence agencies, pitting them against one another in a new grand game of spy versus spy, according to interviews with current and former intelligence officials and others tracking the espionage efforts. (Barnes and Venutolo-Mantovani, 9/5)
