Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vaccines Vs. Variants: New Studies Show How The Shots Fare
Reuters: Pfizer COVID-19 Shot 91% Effective In Updated Data, Protective Against South African Variant
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine is around 91% effective at preventing the disease, they said on Thursday, citing updated trial data that included participants inoculated for up to six months. The shot was also 100% effective in preventing illness among trial participants in South Africa, where a new variant called B1351 is dominant, though the number of those participants was relatively small at 800. (O'Donnell, 4/1)
CNBC: U.S. Begins Testing Moderna's Covid Vaccine Booster Shots For Variant From South Africa
The National Institutes of Health has started testing a new coronavirus vaccine from Moderna designed to protect against a problematic variant first found in South Africa, the agency said Wednesday. The phase one trial, led and funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will test how safe and effective the new shot is against the variant — known as B.1.351 — in roughly 210 healthy adults, according to the agency. (Higgins-Dunn, 3/31)
CIDRAP: AstraZeneca COVID Vaccine 70% Effective Vs B117 Variant
Data from a UK phase 2/3 clinical trial suggest the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-vaccine is 70.4% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 caused by the B117 variant, which was identified in the United Kingdom in late 2020. The data, published in The Lancet yesterday, also showed it was 28.9% effective at preventing asymptomatic infections or cases with unknown symptoms. (Matt McLemon, 3/31)
And more on AstraZeneca vaccine safety —
AP: EU Says 'No Evidence' To Restrict Use Of AstraZeneca Vaccine
The head of the European Medicines Agency said Wednesday that there is “no evidence” that would support restricting the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in any population, as Germany has now done amid concerns over rare blood clots in people who got the shot. But EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke said her Amsterdam-based agency continues to study reports of new cases as they come in and will provide a further assessment next week. (Jordans, 3/31)
Bloomberg: AstraZeneca Haunts Countries That Shunned More Expensive Pfizer Covid Vaccines
Five countries that turned away more expensive Pfizer Inc. covid doses in favor of a cheaper version from AstraZeneca Plc are paying the price. Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia, which declined part of their Pfizer allotments to wait for Astra doses, are among the slowest in the bloc to administer vaccines, according to a European Union document seen by Bloomberg. While Pfizer has met its commitments, Astra has delivered just 30 million of its originally committed 120 million doses in the first quarter. (Chrysoloras and Nardelli, 3/31)
And more development news —
Stat: Pfizer And BioNTech Say Vaccine Prevents Covid-19 In Adolescents
Pfizer and BioNTech said Wednesday that their Covid-19 vaccine prevented symptomatic disease and was well-tolerated in a Phase 3 study of adolescents ages 12 to 15. The companies say they will submit the data to the Food and Drug Administration as an amendment to the vaccine’s emergency use authorization, and will also submit the results to other regulators around the world. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a press release that the companies hope it will be possible to begin vaccinating adolescents in this group before the beginning of the next school year. (Herper, 3/31)
CNN: Pfizer Vaccine: How One Company Makes Its Millions Of Covid-19 Vaccine Doses
When the coronavirus pandemic began, the challenge for Pfizer and BioNTech wasn't just developing a Covid-19 vaccine -- they also had to make it, and by the hundreds of millions. This was no small feat. Until the very end of last year, no mRNA vaccine had ever been authorized and no such vaccine had ever been manufactured to scale by any company. (Sealy, 3/31)
CNN: Vaccine Clinical Trial Participant Dr. Leana Wen Learns If She Got The Vaccine
There are three Covid-19 vaccines authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration, and they all required that each vaccine manufacturer conduct clinical trials with tens of thousands of volunteers to ensure that the vaccines are safe and effective. CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen participated in a clinical trial for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and she found out earlier this morning that she got the placebo. (Hetter, 3/31)
