Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Sanofi Won't Have A Covid Vaccine In 2021
The Hill: Sanofi CEO: Vaccine Candidate Will Not Be Ready In 2021
Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said that a COVID-19 vaccine candidate that the company is developing will not be ready in 2021. “This vaccine will not be ready this year, but it could be of use at a later stage all the more if the fight against variants was to continue,” Reuters reported Hudson told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. (Williams, 2/13)
Fox News: Oxford-AstraZeneca Testing COVID-19 Vaccine In Children As Young As 6
The University of Oxford has launched a trial to study the safety and efficacy of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in children as young as 6. The study, which Oxford University said is the first of its kind, will involve 300 volunteers, 240 of which will receive the vaccine while the 60 others will receive a meningitis shot. The university said the 60 who will receive the meningitis shot will serve as the control, and that the jab is safe in children but also is expected to produce similar reactions such a sore arm. (Hein, 2/15)
In updates on side effects and anaphylaxis —
The New York Times: As Millions Get Covid Vaccine Shots, F.D.A. Struggles With Safety Monitoring
More than 35 million Americans have received Covid vaccines, but the much-touted system the government designed to monitor any dangerous reactions won’t be capable of analyzing safety data for weeks or months, according to numerous federal health officials. For now, federal regulators are counting on a patchwork of existing programs that they acknowledge are inadequate because of small sample size, missing critical data or other problems. (Kaplan, 2/12)
CIDRAP: CDC Data: COVID Vaccine-Related Anaphylaxis In Less Than 4 Per Million
Pfizer/BioNTech's and Moderna's mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been associated with 4.7 cases of anaphylaxis per million doses and 2.5 cases per million, respectively, according to data published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists in JAMA late last week. Sixty-six total cases have occurred in the United States through Jan 18, 2021, making the cumulative frequency 3.8 cases per million doses. No known deaths have been reported. (2/15)
In other news about vaccine development —
CIDRAP: Study Shows Strong 1-Dose Immune Response With Pfizer Vaccine
A single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was immunogenic in 92% of recipients, with no difference in immunogenic response between men and women but a decreasing response among older recipients, researchers from Israel's Bar-Ilan University reported yesterday in Eurosurveillance. The research also showed that, among those with previous evidence of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, the immune response to a single dose was significantly stronger. (2/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Symptomatic Covid-19 Cases Dropped 94% With Pfizer Vaccine, Israeli Data Show
The latest data from Israel shows a 94% drop in symptomatic Covid-19 infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s vaccine, offering important new insights for other countries as they roll out their own campaigns. The vaccinated group was also 92% less likely to develop severe illness from the disease, according to a study by Clalit, Israel’s largest healthcare provider. Clalit compared 600,000 people who got the shots with a group of the same size who didn’t in what was Israel’s largest vaccine study to date. (Lieber, 2/15)
KHN and PolitiFact: Can Pfizer And Moderna End The Pandemic By Sharing Their Vaccine Designs? It’s Not That Simple
Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna earned praise for creating highly effective covid-19 vaccines in record time. But are they inadvertently hurting the public by not sharing their technology with other pharmaceutical companies to help speed up vaccine manufacturing and distribution? That’s what one post circulating on social media claims. “The vaccine shortage doesn’t need to exist,” reads an image of a tweet shared thousands of times on Facebook. “Pfizer and Moderna could share their design with dozens of other pharma companies who stand ready to produce their vaccines and end the pandemic.” (Putterman, 2/15)
