“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
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 […]
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 […]
Story Highlights Weeks after Johnson & Johnson announced that their experimental COVID-19 vaccine was in final, Phase 3 testing, the company has paused the study to evaluate an unexplained illness in a study participant. AstraZeneca’s late-stage vaccine trial is also still on pause in the U.S. after two cases of a neurological illness arose in […]
There was a young man walking down a deserted beach just before dawn. In the distance he saw a frail old man. As he approached the old man, he saw him picking up stranded starfish and throwing them, one by one, back into the sea. The young man gazed in wonder as the old man, […]
Story Highlights Zinc is a trace element necessary for human health and has many important benefits including anti-inflammatory properties and powerful immune system support. It has long been used to reduce the duration and severity of the common cold, which is generally caused by coronaviruses. Zinc is not made by or stored in the body […]
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, […]
In a poll conducted for CNN during Oct. 1-4, 2020, the Pennsylvania-based market research firm SSRS found that 51 percent of the 1,205 Americans surveyed said they would try to get a COVID-19 vaccine if it were widely available at a low cost, 45 percent said they would not and four percent had no opinion. Sixty […]
The synthetic estrogen Diesthylstilbestrol (DES) was prescribed to pregnant women in the U.S. from 1938 to 1971 for the prevention of miscarriages and premature births. In 1953, published research showed that DES did not in fact prevent miscarriages or premature births. However, physicians continued to prescribe it until 1971, when the FDA warned that the […]
On Sept. 23, 2020, U.S. pharmaceutical and medical devices company Johnson & Johnson, Inc. announced the start of the Phase 3 human clinical trial for its experimental Ad26.COV2.S vaccine for COVID-19. The New Jersey-based company, which is partnering with its subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutica NV of Belgium on development of the vaccine, is planning to enroll […]
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 […]