Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Warp Speed? Race For Vaccine Starts To Look Much Slower
Stat: It May Be Time To Reset Expectations On When We'll Get A Covid-19 Vaccine
The ambitious drive to produce Covid-19 vaccine at warp speed seems to be running up against reality. We all probably need to reset our expectations about how quickly we’re going to be able to be vaccinated. Pauses in clinical trials to investigate potential safety issues, a slower-than-expected rate of infections among participants in at least one of the trials, and signals that an expert panel advising the Food and Drug Administration may not be comfortable recommending use of vaccines on very limited safety and efficacy data appear to be adding up to a slippage in the estimates of when vaccine will be ready to be deployed. (Branswell, 10/29)
The Hill: Fauci: COVID-19 Vaccine Likely Not Available Until Next Year
A potential COVID-19 vaccine will not likely be available until next year, Anthony Fauci said Wednesday. During a virtual Q&A with the editor in chief of the medical journal JAMA, Fauci said companies by December will likely have enough data for the independent safety monitoring board to recommend applying for emergency authorization, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may not grant that authorization until January at the earliest. (Weixel, 10/28)
Bloomberg: Inside Operation Warp Speed’s $18 Billion Sprint For A Vaccine
Operation Warp Speed isn’t an agency as such, but rather a mechanism to coordinate among private companies and an array of U.S. government bodies: the Department of Defense, HHS, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and beyond. More than 600 people in HHS and 90 people from the DOD are involved. “It’s a coordination activity that helps to cut through the bureaucracy faster,” says Paul Stoffels, chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson. OWS has awarded more than $12 billion in vaccine-related contracts and has an overall budget of as much as $18 billion. (Baker and Koons, 10/29)
AP: UK Vaccine Chief Warns Of Over-Optimism, Early Imperfection
Warning that the first COVID-19 vaccines may be imperfect, the head of the U.K effort to develop a vaccine called Wednesday for immediate international cooperation to prevent the “largest global recession in history.” U.K. Vaccine Taskforce chair Kate Bingham also warned against over-optimism, saying there is no guarantee a successful vaccine against the novel coronavirus will ever be developed. (Kirka, 10/28)
In other COVID vaccine news —
CNBC: Moderna Says It’s Preparing Global Launch Of Covid Vaccine As It Takes In $1.1 Billion In Deposits
Moderna is prepping for the global launch of its potential coronavirus vaccine, already taking in $1.1 billion in deposits from governments awaiting the potentially lifesaving drug, the biotech firm said Thursday in its third-quarter earnings report. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company said it was in ongoing talks with the World Health Organization-backed COVAX initiative on a tiered pricing proposal for its potential vaccine, which it’s tentatively calling mRNA-1273. It already has supply agreements in North America, the Middle East and in other regions of the world. (Lovelace Jr., 10/29)
The Hill: Washington, Oregon, Nevada Join California Plan To Review COVID-19 Vaccine
Three Western states announced Tuesday that they would join California's workgroup set to independently review any COVID-19 vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A press release from California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) office indicated that Washington, Oregon and Nevada would join the working group and identify experts in public health who could assist in the effort to verify the efficacy and safety of a vaccine approved under the Trump administration. (Bowden, 10/28)
Reuters: Next Crop Of COVID-19 Vaccine Developers Take More Traditional Route
The handful of drugmakers dominating the global coronavirus vaccine race are pushing the boundaries of vaccine technology. The next crop under development feature more conventional, proven designs. The world will need several different vaccines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, given the sheer size of global need, variations in effects on different populations, and possible limits of effectiveness in the first crop. (Steenhuysen and Copley, 10/29)
