Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vaccine Rollout Guidelines: Put All Health Care Workers First, CDC Says
NPR: First COVID-19 Vaccine Doses To Go To Health Workers, Say CDC Advisers
Health care workers will almost certainly get the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. when one is approved, according to Dr. José Romero, head of the committee that develops evidence-based immunization guidelines for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's a decision based on the science of what will quell the pandemic fastest. "It's not just the doctors and nurses that are interacting with patients, but also the support personnel that help," Romero said in an interview Thursday with NPR. "It could include those persons that are delivering food, or maintenance people that could come in contact with them," so they can protect themselves and patients from the virus, and stay healthy to keep the U.S. health care system running. (Huang, 11/5)
In other news about the COVID vaccine —
KHN: VA Joins Pentagon In Recruiting Volunteers For COVID Vaccine Trials
The Department of Veterans Affairs is recruiting 8,000 volunteers for the Phase 3 clinical trials of at least four COVID-19 vaccine candidates at 20 federal medical facilities across the U.S., according to officials with the VA and Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s initiative to fast-track a coronavirus vaccine. The largely unpublicized effort follows a Department of Defense announcement in September that it has partnered with AstraZeneca to recruit volunteers at five of its medical facilities, which are separate from the VA system. (Kime, 11/6)
Reuters: Experts Spar Over Ethical Question: Should We Be Paid To Get COVID-19 Shots?
A suggestion by an ethics professor at a leading UK university that governments should pay citizens to get vaccinated against COVID-19 has sparked debate over whether such incentives are ethical, or dangerous, and would boost or limit uptake. Arguing that governments should consider a “pay for risk” approach to encourage their populations to have COVID-19 shots when they become available, Julian Savulescu, a professor at the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics at Oxford University, said it would allow people to make an informed choice. (Kelland, 11/5)
The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Vaccine Safety Efforts To Feature App Tracking Of Vulnerable Groups
Government health officials and drugmakers plan to roll out extra tools to detect whether Covid-19 vaccines cause any serious side effects once the shots are cleared for widespread use, aiming to fill gaps in existing safeguards given the expected speed and scope of the rollout. The measures include surveys tracked through a smartphone app developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and special monitoring for groups including pregnant women and the elderly, according to health officials and company executives involved in the plans. (Loftus, 11/5)
AP: COVID-19 Vaccine Trials To Be Run At University Of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky along with two Kentucky hospitals will conduct a clinical trial for a potential COVID-19 vaccine. UK will partner with Baptist Health Lexington and Norton Healthcare in Louisville for Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson’s phase three clinical study. The study will evaluate Janssen’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate. (11/6)
Reuters: AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine To Begin Clinical Trials In China
AstraZeneca Plc plans to start early and mid-stage clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in China this year, a senior executive said on Friday, as it prepares a global rollout of the vaccine. The vaccine candidate is already in the final stage of clinical trials in other countries, and AstraZeneca and its partner on the project, the University of Oxford, expect data from the late-stage trials this year. (11/5)
