Experimental COVID-19 vaccine puts it in its largest test

“I’m excited to be part of this stuff. It’s huge,” said Melissa Harting, a nurse who received an injection in Binghamton, New York. “It’s very important for me to play our part in eradicating it,” especially when my family is in frontline jobs that can be exposed to viruses.

It can take several months for the results to be fooled. There is no guarantee that the vaccine will eventually work against the tragedy that killed about 650,000 people worldwide, including about 150,000 in the United States.

“We were on the sidelines to wear masks and social distances and be passive so as not to go out when not needed. This is the first step towards becoming positive about this.” Investigator Dr. Frank Eder said at the Binghamton court. “There is no other way to overcome this.”

There was a further setback in efforts to contain the coronavirus, as if to emphasize how high the stake was.

In Washington, the Trump administration has revealed that national security adviser Robert O’Brien has the virus — the highest US official ever tested positive. The White House said he had mild symptoms, and “worked in isolation from a safe place away from the site.”

The move to regain public entertainment was in trouble in just five days of the long-delay season. Two major league baseball games scheduled for Monday night were canceled as the Miami Marlins dealt with the outbreak — the Marlins home opener against the Baltimore Orioles, and the New York Yankees match in Philadelphia, Marlins at the clubhouse on weekends. I used.

For relief from the economic damage of the virus, the Republican Party at Capitol Hill planned to roll out a $1 trillion package. For millions of Americans this week.

In Europe, an increase in infectious diseases in Spain and other countries triggered a warning just weeks after the country reopened its borders in hopes of a resurgence in tourism. Over the weekend, the United Kingdom imposes a 14-day quarantine on travelers arriving from Spain, Norway orders a 10-day quarantine for people returning from the entire Iberian Peninsula, and France keeps citizens from visiting the Catalan region of Spain. I requested.

Scientists established a record of the speed at which vaccines made from scratch could be incorporated into such large-scale tests, just months after the emergence of the coronavirus. But they emphasized that no one should be afraid to cut back.

“This is an important milestone,” NIH board member Francisco Linz said at 6:45 am in the Savannah, Georgia, after the first test injection was given. Regarding demonstrating whether a vaccine is safe and effective, “yes, we are fast, but no, we do not compromise.”

“We focus on speed,” added Stefan Banssel, Massana CEO of Modana, based in Massachusetts.

After the volunteers took it twice a month, scientists closely track which groups experience more infections in their daily lives, especially in areas where the virus has gone unchecked. To do.

The answer will probably not come until November or December, warned NIH Dr. Anthony Fauci, Head of Infectious Diseases.

Among the many questions the study may answer: how much protection do you think a single dose needs to be compared to two scientists? If it works, does it protect against serious illness or block infection altogether?

Don’t expect a vaccine that is as powerful as the measles vaccine, which protects about 97% of measles infections, says Fauci, adding that he is happy with the 60% effective COVID-19 vaccine. It was

Several other vaccines, made by Oxford University in China and the UK, started a small end-stage trial earlier this month in Brazil and other blockbusters. However, the United States needs its own testing for vaccines that may be used in the country.

The government-funded COVID-19 Prevention Network announces a new survey of leading candidates, each with 30,000 volunteers each month from fall.

The final study of Oxford Shots in the United States begins in August, followed by Johnson & Johnson candidates in September and Novavax candidates in October. Pfizer plans its own 30,000 studies this summer.

It’s an amazing number of people who need to roll up their sleeves for science. According to Collins, over the past few weeks, more than 150,000 Americans have filled online registries of interest. But more is needed.

The NIH found that the study wasn’t only filled with healthy, young volunteers, but rather with the population most vulnerable to COVID-19 (elderly, unhealthy, African-American and Latino). Are included).

“If we really can see how this vaccine and the potential to end this horrific pandemic work for each person, we can feel the sense of individual volunteering from every corner of society. It really depends, Collins said.

The Associated Press Health Sciences Department is supported by the Science Education Department of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. AP is solely responsible for all content.

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