Moderna is offering a third dose of its coronavirus vaccine to people who participated in the company's early clinical trials, as part of ongoing research on how the vaccines perform over time and whether individuals will need additional vaccinations to protect them from the virus.
The third shot, known as a booster, has been offered to volunteers who participated in Moderna’s Phase 1 clinical trial. The company’s Covid-19 vaccine uses genetic material called messenger RNA, or mRNA, to trigger the immune system to produce protective antibodies without using actual bits of the virus. In clinical trials, the vaccines were given in two doses and were found to be 94.5 effective at preventing the illness.
Researchers are now investigating how long protective antibodies from the vaccines last, whether additional boosters are needed and how they can be safely administered.
“We anticipate that an additional dose could further boost the levels of neutralizing antibodies, should such a boost be required, and that this is expected to be an advantage of mRNA vaccines,” a Moderna spokesperson said in a statement to NBC News. The spokesperson added that additional booster shots may be investigated in later research, if necessary.
Monoclonal antibodies could ease record Covid hospitalizations. Why are they going unused?
A drug that could protect high-risk Covid-19 patients from developing severe illness is sitting on shelves unused as a record number of people are hospitalized in the U.S.
On Thursday, public health officials at the federal and state levels pleaded with the country to take advantage of its vast supply of monoclonal antibody treatments, the only available therapy that can potentially keep patients out of the hospital.
"This is the first time during the pandemic that I can recall when our resources far exceed demand," Dr. William Fales, medical director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, said Thursday during a media briefing organized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Fales estimated that just 10 percent of Covid-19 patients in the state who are eligible for the therapy had received it.
Monoclonal antibodies are lab-made drugs meant to mimic natural antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. They're recommended for people who are at high risk of getting very sick from the virus, including anyone over age 65 and people with underlying health conditions.
More than 3,900 died of Covid-19 Thursday, Nevada sets record
Thursday was the third consecutive day that more than 3,000 died of Covid-19 in the United States, with a daily total of 3,957.
The country also logged 229,842 new cases, according to NBC News' tally.
Overall, 23,421,424 cases have been confirmed and 389,652 people have died from Covid-19 in the United States. The number of New daily cases has risen 20 percent in the past two weeks, and the number of new daily deaths has risen almost 23 percent.
Nevada set a single-day record with 62 deaths.
Fauci: We 'obviously we have to do better' on vaccine rollout
Dr. Anthony Fauci told the “TODAY” show on Friday what he expects to see when President-elect Joe Biden takes office in less than a week, saying “obviously we have to do better” about getting vaccines into the arms of the American people.
“There will be a greater degree of coordination, interaction, and support on the part of the federal government interacting with the states,” Fauci said.
When asked if he believes in Biden’s plan to rollout 100 million vaccines in 100 days, Fauci said: “I believe strongly that it’s doable.”
He told host Craig Melvin: “You don’t want the federal government to take all the responsibility on doing this. You don’t want the states to be left on their own. You got to have a good degree of interaction. That’s what we’re going to see more of — where states will have the help and resources, but more of a general coordinated plan to do all of this.”
To return to some semblance of normalcy, Fauci shared a few parting words: “Please, when the vaccine becomes available, get vaccinated.”
Former FDA chief tapped to serve as Biden's chief science officer for Covid-19 response
The Biden transition team announced Friday that former FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler will join the new administration's Covid-19 response team as its chief science officer.
Kessler already serves as a co-chair of Biden's Covid-19 task force and has regularly briefed Biden on the pandemic. He led the FDA from 1990 to 1997 under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
"Dr. Kessler helped spearhead a major global effort to make drugs available to millions to end the transmission of mother-to-child HIV-AIDS. A professor of pediatrics and epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Kessler has also served as the dean of the medical schools at Yale and UCSF," the announcement said.
Andy Slavitt, former acting chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will serve as senior adviser to the Covid-19 response coordinator.
China builds mass isolation center ahead of Lunar New Year
A Chinese city in Hebei province is building a quarantine facility with capacity for 3,000 people to support an anticipated surge of Covid-19 cases ahead of the Lunar New Year travel rush.
Images show construction efforts for building the mass site outside the northern capital city of Shijiazhuang, reminiscent of when China rapidly built mass hospitals and turned gyms into isolation centers to cope with the initial outbreak epicenter in Wuhan.
Ahead of the country’s most important national holiday on Feb. 12, approximately 28 million people are under lockdown, as cases see their biggest increase in over ten months. China’s National Health commission reported 144 new cases Friday, the majority in Hebei province.
Refugees in Jordan receive Covid-19 vaccine
Jordan became one of the first countries to provide vaccines to registered refugees, according to a UNHCR statement Thursday.
Jordan’s national vaccination campaign, which came into effect this week, includes anyone living on Jordanian soil. Citizens and residents as well refugees and asylum seekers are entitled to receive vaccinations for free.
The first confirmed Covid-19 case among refugees in Jordan was reported last September. Since then almost 2,000 refugees living in refugee camps have tested positive for the virus, the statement added.
Jordan is home to the second highest share of refugees per capita in the world, with 1.3 million coming from Syria. The Arab nation aims to vaccinate 20 percent of its population in the coming months after procuring three million doses.
France imposes earlier curfew and tightens border control
France will impose a nationwide 6 p.m. curfew on Saturday for at least 15 days, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Thursday. Additional stricter measures include requiring travelers from outside the European Union to have a negative Covid-19 test and self-isolate for a week upon arrival.
Unlike the U.K., the French government has repeatedly favored curfews in an attempt to mitigate viral spread. France was already subjected to an 8 p.m. curfew.
France has the seventh highest death toll in the world. The government is especially concerned by the more-transmissible coronavirus variant first detected in Britain, which now accounts for approximately one percent of new cases.
January 16, 2021 at 08:12AM
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Covid live updates: Global Covid-19 death toll tops 2 million, Vaccine access expands - NBC News
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