• About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • DMCA
  • Sitemap
  • Write For Us
Sunday, February 28, 2021
Daily illinois - USA | News, Sports & Updates Web Magazine
  • Covid-19
  • News
    • All
    • Education
    • Politics
    • Sports
    • World
    Protesters shout slogans as police arrive during a protest against the military coup in Mandalay, Myanmar, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021. (Associated Press)

    Burma military crackdown on anti-coup protests leaves at least 2 dead

    Donald Trump, pictured at the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference, is looking to cash in on...

    Trump Restarts Fundraising Ahead Of His CPAC Visit

    NBA outlines COVID protocols in 134-page guide

    Kemba gives Celts needed lift: ‘Willed us’ to win

    Blackhawks’ defensive logjam sends Nicolas Beaudin to AHL, boosts competition for others

    Blackhawks’ defensive logjam sends Nicolas Beaudin to AHL, boosts competition for others

    Poll: A majority of Americans think teachers should be vaccinated before reopening schools

    Poll: A majority of Americans think teachers should be vaccinated before reopening schools

    Medical workers wait for consultations after receiving a dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in Tokyo on February 17, 2021.

    Why Japan took so long to start Covid-19 vaccinations, even with the Olympics looming

    Crown prince's actions in Khashoggi killing leave Saudi fund vulnerable, ex-Obama official says

    Crown prince’s actions in Khashoggi killing leave Saudi fund vulnerable, ex-Obama official says

    LeBron to Zlatan: No way I'll ever 'stick to sports'

    LeBron to Zlatan: No way I’ll ever ‘stick to sports’

    Chrishell Stause and Keo Motsepe

    Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause slams ex Keo Motsepe ‘playing the victim’

    House passes $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, sends it to Senate

    House passes $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, sends it to Senate

  • Science & Tech
    • All
    • Mobile
    Microsoft’s Xbox Game Streaming app for Windows includes touch controls, gyro, and more

    Microsoft’s Xbox Game Streaming app for Windows includes touch controls, gyro, and more

    FDA advisors endorse Janssen's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine

    FDA advisors endorse Janssen’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine

    Facebook apologizes for 'mistake' in threatening to ban 81-year-old woolen pig knitter for hate speech

    Facebook apologizes for ‘mistake’ in threatening to ban 81-year-old woolen pig knitter for hate speech

    How will NASA's Perseverance rover engineers pilot first helicopter on Mars?

    How will NASA’s Perseverance rover engineers pilot first helicopter on Mars?

    Sir David Attenborough narrates the "exhibits" in this AR iPhone app

    Sir David Attenborough narrates the “exhibits” in this AR iPhone app

    There's a secret code in the Mars rover's parachute

    There’s a secret code in the Mars rover’s parachute

    Spotify reveals HiFi tier, 80-country expansion, new exclusive podcasts

    Spotify reveals HiFi tier, 80-country expansion, new exclusive podcasts

    ‘Follow the Sun’ is a new Mac app to automate brightness and color temperature of HomeKit lights - 9to5Mac

    ‘Follow the Sun’ is a new Mac app to automate brightness and color temperature of HomeKit lights – 9to5Mac

    Democrats ask cable and streaming providers about their role in spreading misinformation ahead of Capitol riot

    Democrats ask cable and streaming providers about their role in spreading misinformation ahead of Capitol riot

    Bradley Voytek

    The Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Be Meaningful After All

  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    Ava Max released her debut album,

    Ava Max Looks To A Post-Pandemic Future With Her Euphoric New Video

    22 weekend culture picks: A Belafonte birthday bash with Jay-Z and Tiffany Haddish

    22 weekend culture picks: A Belafonte birthday bash with Jay-Z and Tiffany Haddish

    Broadway Is Dark. London Is Quiet. But in Australia, It’s Showtime.

    Broadway Is Dark. London Is Quiet. But in Australia, It’s Showtime.

    What really happened when the FBI persecuted Billie Holiday

    What really happened when the FBI persecuted Billie Holiday

    The House passed Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package

    The House passed Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package

    Review: Billie Eilish is an ordinary teen with extraordinary talent in 'The World's a Little Blurry'

    Review: Billie Eilish is an ordinary teen with extraordinary talent in ‘The World’s a Little Blurry’

    Coronavirus in Illinois updates: United Center COVID-19 vaccination site could distribute up to 6,000 doses a day; 2,441 new cases and 55 additional deaths reported

    Coronavirus in Illinois updates: United Center COVID-19 vaccination site could distribute up to 6,000 doses a day; 2,441 new cases and 55 additional deaths reported

    Writer-director Lee Isaac Chung (right) with actors Steven Yeun (left) and Will Patton (center) on the set of "Minari."

    What the controversy over ‘Minari’ says about being American

    Review: Mexico's 'I'm No Longer Here' spans the gap between alienation and connection

    Review: Mexico’s ‘I’m No Longer Here’ spans the gap between alienation and connection

    ACMs shut women out of top country category but say female representation improving

    ACMs shut women out of top country category but say female representation improving

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Travel
    krupp group logo 2019

    KRUPP GROUP Is Hiring An Account Coordinator, Fashion + Digital In New York, NY

    Kraft Heinz pilots recycled plastic packaging as roofing material

    Kraft Heinz pilots recycled plastic packaging as roofing material

    'JL' Actor Ray Fisher Re-Asserts Racism Claims Amid Black Superman Rumors

    ‘JL’ Actor Ray Fisher Re-Asserts Racism Claims Amid Black Superman Rumors

    Test drive: The 2021 Genesis GV80 is ready for its unexpected fame

    Test drive: The 2021 Genesis GV80 is ready for its unexpected fame

    A day pass will get you poolside at 8 of the hottest hotels in L.A.

    A day pass will get you poolside at 8 of the hottest hotels in L.A.

    second co. apparel

    The Second Co. Drops Apparel + More Canadian Fashion News

    The inaugural Sunshine & Sunflower Day is happening at Kalbar – March 27, 2021 | Australian Food News

    The inaugural Sunshine & Sunflower Day is happening at Kalbar – March 27, 2021 | Australian Food News

    How did Bad Bunny end up as a snake plant on SNL? The team behind the skit explains

    How did Bad Bunny end up as a snake plant on SNL? The team behind the skit explains

    Demi Lovato shared a post on Instagram written by someone else that called gender reveal events 'transphobic.'

    Demi Lovato shares post claiming gender reveals contribute to transphobia, draws mixed reactions

    20 of the world's best soups

    20 of the world’s best soups

41 °f
Chicago
29 ° Mon
31 ° Tue
41 ° Wed
40 ° Thu
No Result
View All Result
Daily illinois - USA | News, Sports & Updates Web Magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home Science & Tech

FDA OKs Pfizer vaccine, opening new front against COVID-19; shots to begin within days

by Staff Writer
December 12, 2020
in Science & Tech
Reading Time: 7min read
0
FDA OKs Pfizer vaccine, opening new front against COVID-19; shots to begin within days
492
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


Opening a new front in America’s battle against the coronavirus, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech, clearing the way for widespread immunizations to begin.

Related posts

Microsoft’s Xbox Game Streaming app for Windows includes touch controls, gyro, and more

Microsoft’s Xbox Game Streaming app for Windows includes touch controls, gyro, and more

February 27, 2021
FDA advisors endorse Janssen's single-shot COVID-19 vaccine

FDA advisors endorse Janssen’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine

February 27, 2021

The authorization came one day after an FDA scientific advisory panel endorsed the two-dose vaccine, which was 95% effective in clinical trials and easily surpassed the agency’s requirements for both safety and efficacy for use by people 16 and older.

“It is nothing short of a medical miracle to have FDA authorization of a vaccine for COVID-19 just over 11 months since the virus was made known to the world,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in announcing the decision Friday night.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he was blown away by the fact that the coronavirus genome was first sequenced in January and now the country will have “a vaccine in somebody’s arm in less than a year.”

“It would have been inconceivable to me a year or two or three ago,” he said.

The official nod from regulators allows states and territories to place orders for the vaccine through a tracking system maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. State and local health officials will be responsible for delivering the shots to healthcare workers and other priority access groups.

Pfizer officials have said it would take only a few days to deliver millions of doses of the vaccine to points across the U.S., including 327,000 to California. The company said it can produce as many as 50 million doses by the end of the year.

Scientists, health officials and a beleaguered public all hope the arrival of the first vaccine will mark the beginning of the end of the pandemic, which has infected nearly 16 million Americans and killed almost 295,000. Indeed, on a single day this week, more Americans died of COVID-19 than were killed on 9/11 or D-day.

For months, public health leaders have maintained that the surest way back to a life in which children go to school, adults to go work and friends and family greet one another with hugs and kisses is a vaccine. If roughly 70% of the country is vaccinated, the resulting “herd immunity” will deprive the coronavirus of easy avenues to spread and the outbreak will peter out.

Friday’s decision is the first step in that process.

The FDA’s emergency use authorization will kick off “the most ambitious vaccine campaign in human history,” said Dr. George Daley, dean of Harvard Medical School. But he cautioned that it will be a long haul.

“Vaccines will not offer an overnight solution,” Daley said. “We need to brace ourselves for many more months of infection prevention and distancing measures as the vaccines are rolled out.”

In Phase 3 clinical trials involving more than 43,000 volunteers, the Pfizer vaccine consistently reduced the risk of developing COVID-19. It was 94% effective for people 55 and older. It was 95% effective for people with an underlying medical condition that made them more likely to have a serious case of COVID-19. It was 96% effective for people who were obese.

Likewise, the vaccine was 94.5% effective for Latinos, 94.7% effective for non-Latinos and 100% effective for Black clinical trial participants.

The volunteers were tracked for a median of two months after receiving their second dose of either the vaccine of a saline placebo. Of the 170 cases of COVID-19 that developed during that time, 162 involved people who were randomly assigned to receive the vaccine. Only eight people who got the vaccine became ill.

No serious adverse events were reported. The most common side effects were fatigue, headache, muscle pain and chills, along with short-term pain at the injection site in the upper arm.

Both Pfizer and the federal government will continue to monitor study participants long-term to watch for other problems and to see how long the vaccine’s protection lasts.

The vaccine, known as BNT162b2, breaks new ground in more ways than one. Not only is it the first COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized by the FDA, it’s the first mRNA vaccine for any disease to pass muster with U.S. regulators.

Rather than using a weakened or killed piece of the coronavirus to prompt an immune response, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine relies on a piece of the coronavirus’ genetic code called messenger RNA. That mRNA instructs the muscle cells in the upper arm to create the infamous “spike” proteins the give the virus its crown-like appearance. The immune system responds by creating antibodies that can swing into action in the event of an actual infection.

The antibodies are durable, but the mRNA is not. The fragile material breaks down quickly, lasting only a day and a half in the body, said Dr. Bruce Walker, an immunology and infectious diseases researcher at Harvard and MIT.

To keep it intact until it can be injected, the vaccine must be kept in a deep freeze. It will be shipped in specialized refrigerated containers designed to maintain a temperature of minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit — colder than the coldest parts of Antarctica.

Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, displays the specialized packaging that will be used to transport Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

(Evert Nelson / Topeka Capital-Journal)

Both FedEx and UPS stand ready to transport the vaccine in packages filled with dry ice, each equipped with a sensor to continuously monitor the interior temperature. The packages are destined for 636 locations around the country, said Army Gen. Gus Perna, who is overseeing the rollout effort for Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration initiative to accelerate the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

Syringes, swabs and other supplies needed to administer the vaccine were already on the move, Perna added.

Each state has developed its own distribution plan in consultation with the CDC. Most states have designated healthcare workers and residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities as their top priorities for the first wave of vaccinations, in line with guidance from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

State leaders, in turn, have identified regional hospitals and medical centers to administer vaccine to healthcare workers. And pharmacy giants CVS and Walgreens have signed agreements with the federal government to operate vaccine clinics at more than 50,000 long-term care facilities around the country.

Perna said 2.9 million doses of Pfizer vaccine will go out in the first shipments, with states receiving amounts proportionate with their populations. An additional 2.9 million doses are being held back so they can be sent out in 21 days for people to receive the required second dose, and 500,000 doses will be kept in reserve in case of unforeseen circumstances, he said.

The Pfizer vaccine could soon be joined by another mRNA vaccine from Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health. It was nearly 95% effective in Phase 3 clinical trials, and the FDA scientific advisory panel is scheduled to consider it Dec. 17.

Trump administration officials say they expect 20 million people will receive their first dose of vaccine by the end of the year. Every American who wants a COVID-19 vaccine should be able to get it by the end of June, Azar said.

Ultimately, health experts expect the FDA to approve multiple types of COVID-19 vaccines. That would boost the supply of shots needed to vaccinate about 70% of the population and achieve herd immunity.

But other obstacles stand in the way. State officials say they are woefully short of funds needed to carry out their vaccination programs. Although they’ve requested more than $8.4 billion, they have received only about $200 million, said Katie Greene, a visiting policy associate at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy.

And even if the supply side is squared away, there may be problems with demand. A poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in early December found that only 47% of U.S. adults said they planned to take a COVID-19 vaccine when it became available; 26% said they would decline it, with the remaining 27% unsure.

Fauci said he recognized that many skeptical Americans would need to be persuaded to trust the vaccines, especially considering how quickly they were developed and vetted. He said he’ll do his part by getting getting vaccinated on camera.

“Definitely I will get vaccinated, and I will get vaccinated publicly,” he said.

Times staff writer Noam N. Levey in Washington contributed to this report.



Source by www.latimes.com

Share197Tweet123Share49
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Van Morrison teams with Eric Clapton for anti-lockdown song

Van Morrison teams with Eric Clapton for anti-lockdown song

December 19, 2020
Sen. Rand Paul's ‘Festivus Report’ claims $54B in tax dollars was 'totally wasted'

Sen. Rand Paul’s ‘Festivus Report’ claims $54B in tax dollars was ‘totally wasted’

December 23, 2020
'Zombie' greenhouse gas lurks in permafrost beneath the Arctic Ocean

‘Zombie’ greenhouse gas lurks in permafrost beneath the Arctic Ocean

December 24, 2020
krupp group logo 2019

KRUPP GROUP Is Hiring An Account Coordinator, Fashion + Digital In New York, NY

0
Fact check: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he would defer his annual raise

Fact check: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he would defer his annual raise

0
Swedish government sidelines epidemiologist who steered country's no lockdown experiment as deaths rise

Swedish government sidelines epidemiologist who steered country’s no lockdown experiment as deaths rise

0
krupp group logo 2019

KRUPP GROUP Is Hiring An Account Coordinator, Fashion + Digital In New York, NY

February 28, 2021
5 Most Successful Video Marketing Tactics Brands Are Using to Grab Eyeballs and Convert Customers

5 Most Successful Video Marketing Tactics Brands Are Using to Grab Eyeballs and Convert Customers

February 28, 2021
Kraft Heinz pilots recycled plastic packaging as roofing material

Kraft Heinz pilots recycled plastic packaging as roofing material

February 28, 2021
Daily illinois - USA | News, Sports & Updates Web Magazine

Copyright © 2020 Dailyillinois.com.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • DMCA
  • Sitemap
  • Write For Us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • About Us Page
  • Contact
  • DMCA Policy
  • Home 1
  • Privacy Policy
  • Submit, Guest Post, Write For Us and Become a Contributor
  • Terms of Use

Copyright © 2020 Dailyillinois.com.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.