“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
In early January 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended against pregnant women receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech experimental mRNA COVID-19 vaccine due to insufficient scientific data for that vulnerable population.1 On Jan. 26, the WHO recommended against pregnant women receiving the Moderna experimental mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, with WHO director of immunization Kate O’Brien being quoted by […]
Story Highlights The World Health Organization issued a Jan. 26, 2021 statement recommending that pregnant women should not be vaccinated with Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, approved for use under emergency authorization, citing a lack of data in pregnancy. Previously, most countries were in agreement with that opinion, but Israel is now recommending that pregnant women should […]
When baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron was given a COVID-19 vaccination at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia on Jan. 5, 2021, it came across as an event meant to encourage other people, particularly African-Americans, to also get vaccinated. Shortly after getting Moderna’s experimental mRNA-1273 vaccine, Aaron told The Associated Press, “[Getting vaccinated] […]
Austin Beutner, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) in California said the district would require its students to get a COVID-19 vaccine once it is available for school-aged children.1 Two experimental mRNA COVID-19 vaccines,, Pfizer/BioNTech’s BNT162b2 and Moderna’s mRNA-1273 vaccines, have been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food […]
Only two weeks after the first experimental biologic for SARS-CoV-2 became available, the U.S. was more than 16 millions doses behind Operation Warp Speed’s goal of giving COVID-19 vaccines to 20 million people by the end of 2020.1 Responding to the slow rollout, Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Moncef Slaoui, MD proposed giving half-doses to […]
On Dec. 22, 2020, a patient at Decatur Morgan Hospital in Decatur, Alabama suffered a severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis just minutes after receiving Pfizer/BioNTech’s experimental messenger RNA (mRNA) BNT162b2 vaccine for COVID-19.1 2 3 In a press release, the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) stated the patient, who reportedly had a history of […]
Opinion | If you’re on Facebook, by now you probably know that it has long ceased to be a social media platform where you can post freely without the threat of censorship. This is particularly true if you post something related to vaccines and vaccine policy or law that may not conform 100 percent to […]
On Dec. 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) released the first images of the government’s proposed COVID-19 vaccination record card and vaccination kits that include a needle, syringe, alcohol wipes and a mask. The vaccination card, which will be issued to everyone who gets a COVID-19 vaccine, will be used by the U.S. […]
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, […]
Biotechnology firm Moderna, Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts began a Phase 3 human clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of its experimental mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine on July 27, 2020. The randomized, placebo-controlled trial involves giving two 100-microgram doses of the vaccine to 28,618 volunteer participants over 18 years of age, including some elderly people […]