Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Whipping Up A Vaccine Is Way Tougher Than It Sounds — Especially If You're Short On Glass Vials
ProPublica: 'Fast-Tracking' A Coronavirus Vaccine Sounds Great. It’s Not That Simple.
Pharmaceutical companies are racing to develop a coronavirus vaccine, with the most ambitious timelines ever attempted in history. When announcing Operation Warp Speed, the government’s effort to develop a vaccine, President Donald Trump said in May, “We’re looking to get it by the end of the year if we can, maybe before. ”Vaccine development under normal circumstances typically takes about 10 to 15 years. Now, developers are compressing the traditional timeline with both technological innovation and by putting vast amounts of money at risk. (Chen, 6/17)
ProPublica: How — And When — Can The Coronavirus Vaccine Become A Reality?
It’s been six months since researchers in China said they had identified a novel coronavirus spreading in the city of Wuhan. Hope and desire for a vaccine to end the global devastation is growing with each passing week. Almost every day, I hear people making plans around the eventual arrival of a coronavirus vaccine — office reopenings, rescheduled weddings, family reunions and international travel. In recent weeks, colleagues and friends have asked me with growing urgency: “When will we have a vaccine? Will it be any good?” (Chen, 6/17)
Reuters: U.S. Narrowing Support To Seven COVID-19 Vaccine Candidates, Expects Them To Be Free For Many
The Trump administration aims to narrow its financial support to about seven experimental coronavirus vaccines from the 14 it has been working with so far, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Tuesday. U.S. government officials also said that they expect many Americans to get an approved vaccine to prevent COVID-19 at no charge once it begins distribution, potentially in January. (6/16)
The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Vaccine Makers Are Hunting For Vital Equipment: Glass Vials
Frantic efforts to bring coronavirus vaccines to the world are facing a maddening bottleneck: the small glass vials that hold the shots. Drugmakers in the U.S., Europe, China, and elsewhere are pushing ahead to test and manufacture vaccines against the new coronavirus, hoping to distribute billions of shots once they have proven to work safely. Yet hampering the ramp-up, industry officials said, is a shortage of vials and the special glass they are made from. (Hopkins and Hinshaw, 6/16)
Reuters: China's COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Shows Promise In Human Trials, CNBG Says
China National Biotec Group (CNBG) said on Tuesday its experimental coronavirus vaccine has triggered antibodies in clinical trials and the company plans late-stage human trials in foreign countries. No vaccines have been solidly proven to be able to effectively protect people from the virus that has killed more than 400,000 people, while multiple candidates are in various stages of development globally. (6/16)
