Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vaccine Being Touted As Silver Bullet, But Experts Say Waiting For One Is 'Poor Exit Strategy'
Politico: The ‘Hard Slog’ Of Waiting For A Coronavirus Vaccine
What if all it took for the world to return to normal was a shot in the arm? Politicians are repeating the mantra that a coronavirus vaccine is the exit strategy. But getting there is neither simple nor even guaranteed. "A vaccine is not a given," said David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology and distinguished fellow at Chatham House. There are hundreds of vaccine candidates in development, but the vast majority will fail. Assuming one is successful, it could take years to manufacture billions of doses for the entire globe. (Deutsch and Martuscelli, 6/10)
The Hill: Final Testing Stage For Potential Coronavirus Vaccine Set To Begin In July
The final testing stage for a potential coronavirus vaccine developed by Moderna is set to begin in July, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday. John Mascola, the director of the vaccine research center at NIAID, told The Wall Street Journal that the trials will involve about 30,000 people at more than 50 sites, which will mostly be within the U.S. The third phase of testing for potential vaccines developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca will begin in August while the last trials for one developed by Johnson & Johnson will start in September, NIAID confirmed to The Hill. (Coleman, 6/10)
Reuters: J&J Moves Up Start Of Coronavirus Vaccine Human Trials To July
Johnson & Johnson moved up the start of human clinical trials for its experimental vaccine against the highly contagious coronavirus by two months to the second half of July, as the drugmaker rushes to develop a prevention for COVID-19, the company said on Wednesday. The acceleration should allow J&J to take part in the massive clinical trials program planned by the U.S. government, which aims to have an effective vaccine by year end. (Steenhuysen and Joseph, 6/10)
The Washington Post: Coronavirus Vaccine: AstraZeneca, Moderna Chase Outbreaks Before They Disappear
The top teams rushing to develop coronavirus vaccines are alerting governments, health officials and shareholders that they may have a big problem: The outbreaks in their countries may be getting too small to quickly determine whether vaccines work. A leader of the Oxford University group, one of the furthest ahead with human trials, admits the reality is paradoxical, even “bizarre,” but said the declining numbers of new infections this summer could be one of the big hurdles vaccine developers face in the global race to beat down the virus. (Booth and Johnson, 6/10)
The Wall Street Journal: Hit Hard By Coronavirus, Russia Joins Global Race For A Vaccine
From state-run Siberian labs where scientists are experimenting on rats to military garrisons where servicemen are isolating ahead of participation in a clinical trial, Russia’s top scientists are racing to answer a daunting demand from President Vladimir Putin: Develop a coronavirus vaccine by the fall. The global pursuit of a vaccine against the respiratory coronavirus disease Covid-19 has been likened to the 1960s space race that pitted the Soviet Union against the U.S. (Kantchev and Hinshaw, 6/11)
Boston Globe: Testing Accelerated For Coronavirus Vaccine Developed By Beth Israel, Johnson & Johnson
An experimental COVID-19 vaccine developed partly by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center will be tested in humans starting in July, two months earlier than originally scheduled, according to Johnson & Johnson, the health care giant collaborating with the Boston hospital. Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday that the vaccine appeared so promising in preclinical studies that the partners were able to push up the start for testing in healthy volunteers to the second half of July. The vaccine uses a common-cold virus to deliver a coronavirus antigen into cells to stimulate the immune system to fight off an infection. (Saltzman, 6/10)
