A Volunteer in AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Has Died in Brazil

A volunteer in one of the most advanced coronavirus vaccine trials in the world has died and, despite the news, AstraZeneca’s testing continues. … A major setback in the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Of course, I’m not going to get a vaccine if they don’t know what the hell you’re working with. A […]
DC Bill B23-0171 Allowing Children 11 Years and Older to Be Vaccinated Without Parental Knowledge or Consent Advances

Opinion | On Oct. 7, 2020, during a hastily scheduled virtual meeting,1 four District of Columbia Council members making up the Health Committee2 amended and unanimously passed a minor consent bill, B23-0171.3 The bill would not only permit children aged 11 years and older to give consent for doctors and other vaccine administrators to give them […]
Pharma’s Public Pledge On COVID-19 Vaccines

On Sept. 8, 2020, nine pharmaceutical companies working on COVID-19 vaccines signed a pledge saying they would not submit their experimental vaccines to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unless they were shown to be both safe and efficacious in the Phase 3 human clinical trials.1 2 3 4 5 The pledge, signed by […]
Brazilian Doctor Dies Participating in AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trial

Story Highlights A COVID-19 vaccine trial participant, who was a physician working with COVID-19 patients at hospitals in Brazil, has reportedly died from coronavirus infection complications. It has not been confirmed, but sources indicate the victim was given the trial “placebo” (a meningococcal vaccine) and not the experimental AZD1222 vaccine developed by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca […]
Half a Million Sharks Could Die to Produce Squalene Adjuvants for COVID-19 Vaccines

Story Highlights A shark conservation group is calling for alternatives to using squalene harvested from the liver of sharks as an adjuvant in COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Shark conservation advocates estimate that an additional 500,000 sharks will be killed every year should squalene adjuvanted coronavirus vaccines become licensed for global general use. The group is asking […]
Frontline Health Care Workers to Get Coronavirus Vaccine First

Who gets the [COVID-19] vaccine first? It’s the frontline health care workers—the final guidelines for vaccine distribution coming out from the National Academies today. Here’s how they break it down into essentially four groups. First, of course, high-risk workers in health care, first responders… Phase 1b includes high-risk individuals with underlying conditions, also older adults. […]