“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
The chief scientist for the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed (OWS) program aimed at facilitating development of COVID-19 vaccines confirmed on Dec. 1, 2020 that 10-15 percent of the volunteers, who participated in clinical trials to test the safety and effectiveness of experimental vaccines developed by Pfizer, Inc. (in partnership with BioNTech SE) and Moderna, […]
Story Highlights International Air Transport Association has developed a mobile application called IATA Travel Pass for passengers. The Travel Pass is a “digital passport” that will enable airlines to track passengers’ COVID-19 testing and vaccination status before boarding planes. North American airlines have not made a public comment on whether COVID-19 vaccination will be required […]
The German biotech firm BioNTech SE issued a joint press release with its American partner Pfizer, Inc. on Nov. 9, 2020 to announce that interim analysis of a global Phase 3 study of their mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine appeared to demonstrate an efficacy rate “above 90%”measured seven days after the second dose.1 “This is really a […]
Story Highlights On Nov. 9, 2020, Pfizer released preliminary Phase 3 clinical trial data indicating that its experimental mRNA COVID-19 vaccine is 90 percent effective, triggering a big surge in stock price. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla immediately sold 60 percent of his company stock, realizing a gain of $5.6 million in what the company called […]
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 […]
On Oct. 14, 2020, Pfizer, Inc. of New York City, New York announced it had received approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enroll children in the Phase 3 human clinical trial on its experimental messenger RNA (ribonucleic acid) BNT162b1 vaccine for COVID-19. The trial, which last month was expanded to include adolescent […]
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is asking federal officials to include children in COVID-19 vaccine trials.1 On September 29, 2020, Sara Goza, MD, president of the AAP, wrote a letter addressed to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Steven Hahn, MD stating, […]
If you look at the human clinical trials that have been conducted this year by drug companies developing experimental vaccines for COVID-19, the participants in those trials have all been “healthy adults.” Take, for example, Moderna’s Phase 1 clinical trial for its mRNA-1273 vaccine, which included 45 healthy adults 18 to 55 years old. The same […]
Numerous polls have been conducted during the last few months asking Americans if they would get a COVID-19 vaccine were it approved by the U.S. government and offered to the public. Polls in April-May 2020 showed that about half or more of those surveyed said they would get the vaccine. More recent polling, however, has […]
When Moderna, Inc. announced on May 18, 2020 the results of a Phase 1 human clinical trial for its experimental mRNA-1273 vaccine for COVID-19, the biotechnology company said the vaccine had produced no “serious adverse events” (SAEs) among the 45 people who participated in the trial and that it considered the vaccine to be “generally […]