Merck and Pfizer Seek Approval for COVID-19 Antiviral Drugs
Merck and Pfizer have submitted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) applications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize distribution of what would be the first antiviral drug specifically designed to treat COVID-19 disease.1 Merck/Ridgeback Biotherapeutics are seeking EUA approval for Molnupiravir (MK-4482/EIDD-2801), an investigational oral antiviral drug originally developed to treat influenza.2 Pfizer […]
COVID Vaccine Mandates Worsen Shortage of Health Care Workers in U.S.
In early September 2021, Rick Pollack, the CEO of the American Hospital Association (AHA) said that the association supports COVID-19 vaccine mandates and has been trying to increase vaccination rates in hospitals and health systems. He added, “As a practical matter, this policy may result in exacerbating the severe workforce shortage problems that currently exist.”1 […]
Are Hospitals Really Being Overwhelmed With Unvaccinated COVID Patients?
Opinion | In an article published in The Vaccine Reaction on Aug. 29, 2021 titled “Is it Really a Pandemic of the Unvaccinated?” I wrote about the claim by U.S. health officials that 97 percent of people in the United States who have been hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated,1 specifically noting that the director of […]
Mandated Vaccinations. Who is Responsible for Their Risks?
Opinion | If I am mandated to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in order to keep my job, and subsequently experience an adverse event, who is responsible? Who is responsible if I have neurological complications, a heart attack, or a stroke and am never able to work again. Who is responsible if I die? Correct me […]
Pfizer Raises Sales Forecast for COVID-19 Biologic to $33.5 Billion in 2021
Pfizer, Inc. reported that the company sold $7.8 billion worth of their COVID-19 biologic BNT162b2 in the second quarter of this year raising the company’s 2021 sales forecast for the two-dose vaccine to $33.5 billion from the previously estimated $26 billion.1 The $7.8 billion from direct sales of the shot is split with its German […]
Existing Drugs Hold Promise for Treatment of COVID-19
Story Highlights A group of Israeli researchers have studied close to 3,000 approved drugs to see if any could be repurposed to treat COVID-19. They identified 18 that showed encouraging results in laboratory studies, in many cases completely protecting human cells despite infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Three drugs have been singled […]
