“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
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, […]
China is the first country in the world to vaccinate its citizens with experimental COVID-19 vaccines that are still undergoing clinical trials. No other country has vaccinated people on such a large scale with experimental COVID-19 vaccines prior to final regulatory approval for general use as China has done with their coronavirus vaccine candidates.1 Chinese […]
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) has suspended testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus at Boston based laboratory on Aug. 8, 2020 after the laboratory reported almost 400 false positive tests.1 Orig3n Laboratory Currently Under State Investigation Orig3n Laboratory, a genetics and biotechnology company was suspended after state health officials became aware of an unusually […]
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new updates for influenza vaccines for 2020–2021 “flu season,” primarily for Fluzone and Fluad vaccines. In November 2019, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensed inactivated injectable Fluzone High-Dose Quadrivalent (HD-IIV4) for use in persons aged […]
On Aug. 19, 2020, Massachusetts public health officials announced that all children six months of age and older who are attending child care, pre-school, kindergarten, K-12 and colleges and universities in Massachusetts will be required to get the influenza vaccine “to reduce flu-related illness and the overall impact of respiratory illness during the COVID-19 pandemic.”1 […]
Under an amendment to the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP), pharmacists and pharmacy interns in the United States are now permitted to administer vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to children over three years of age.1 Currently, there are 28 states that allow pharmacists to administer vaccinations to […]
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health officials have maintained that people can use hand sanitizers as an alternative for hand washing to protect against SARS-CoV-2 infections. However, the widespread use of commercial disinfectant products is leading to another problem,1 and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now warning consumers and health […]
Story Highlights Most countries that have supply contracts with AstraZeneca have granted the drug company liability protection for their COVID-19 vaccine. In the U.S., vaccine manufacturers and administrators are shielded from liability under the PREP Act of 2005 for a vaccine or drug that is developed in response to a declared public health emergency, including […]
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. of East Hanover, New Jersey has agreed to pay $678 million to settle a civil fraud lawsuit in which the U.S. government accused the company of illegally providing doctors with cash payments and other gifts for prescribing their cardiovascular and diabetes drugs between 2002 and 2011.1 Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of […]
There are more than 150 experimental COVID-19 vaccines under development around the world, all of which are being designed for intramuscular injection.1 Some researchers are investigating whether the conventional intramuscular injection route is less effective when using vaccines to prevent microbial infections that invade the respiratory airway like SARS-CoV-2.2 Avery August, PhD, an immunologist at […]