BioNTech chief: Highly likely COVID-19 vaccine will hold up against UK coronavirus mutation
BioNTech s chief executive Ugur Sahin told reporters Tuesday it is highly likely his company s COVID-19 vaccine, which was developed alongside Pfizer and has been rolled out in several countries including the United States, will hold up against the new coronavirus variant that was first identified in the United Kingdom.
Scientists have many questions about the variant, which appears to be more transmissible, including how it affects vaccine efficacy. Per
, Sahin said he ll need another two weeks of study and data collection to determine whether the Pfizer-BioNTech shot will remain effective, but he is confident the mutations won t be enough to evade the immune response it induces. The vaccine contains more than 1,270, and only nine of them are changed (in the mutant virus), Sahin said. That means 99 percent of the protein is still the same.
Vaccine for Fauci, DACA court hearing, gift shipping deadlines: 5 things to know Tuesday Editors, USA TODAY
Fauci, Azar to receive Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins and several NIH Clinical Center frontline health workers are set to get doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday. They will get vaccinated to build confidence in the vaccine, which is the best hope against this pandemic, NIAID said on Twitter. President-elect Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, each received the vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech Monday. Vice President Mike Pence; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., each got their shots Friday. President Donald Trump has spoken out in support of the vaccine, but he has not received one yet either. Fauci is among th
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As new details emerge about the newly passed $900 billion coronavirus relief package, US public health officials are welcoming the added resources for delivering the vaccine and shoring up other pandemic response activities.
And in global developments, the head of BioNTech said the vaccine it developed with Pfizer likely protects against the UK SARS-CoV-2 variant, as the virus pushed its way to Antarctica for the first time.
Stimulus boost for public health response
Despite the speed of vaccine development and emergency use approval, public health officials have warned that they lack the resources to develop and staff mass immunization campaigns needed to help make the best use of the new tool for battling COVID-19. The vaccine tracker from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that, as of yesterday, about 4.6 million doses had been distributed but only about 614,000 had been administered.
Trump is reportedly turning on virtually every person around him
As Trump continues his attempts to overturn the election he lost to President-elect Joe Biden,
Axios reports that he s turning bitterly on virtually every person around him and griping about anyone who refuses to indulge his efforts or baseless conspiracy theories.
Among the targets of his ire is evidently Vice President Mike Pence, who Trump has reportedly been complaining isn t fighting hard enough for him. Pence s upcoming role presiding over the Senate as the results of the 2020 election are validated, which the president would consider the ultimate betrayal, has started to loom large in Trump s mind,