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The CDC is telling state health officials to be ready to distribute a coronavirus vaccine to health-care workers and other high-priority groups as soon as Nov. 1, heightening fears that the agency is under pressure to approve a vaccine before Election Day. Some scientists warn that granting emergency authorization to a vaccine before clinical trials are complete could pose safety dangers and inflame anti-vaccination sentiment — but others say that doing so could save thousands of lives.
Here are some significant developments:
- A Minnesota biker who attended the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has died of covid-19 — the first fatality traced to the 10-day event that drew more than 400,000 to South Dakota. At least 260 cases have been linked to the rally.
- By the end of 2020, the amount of debt owed by the United States will roughly equal the nation’s gross domestic product — reaching its highest level since the end of World War II, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
- Cheap, widely available steroids reduced the number of deaths in patients with severe cases of covid-19, according to three newly published clinical trials.
- United Airlines will furlough more than 16,000 employees once a federal payroll support program expires at the end of September.
- After facing criticism for visiting a San Francisco hair salon that was not cleared to reopen, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) maintained that she had been “set up.”
- More than 6,073,000 coronavirus infections and 182,000 fatalities have been reported in the United States since February.
September 3, 2020 at 12:54 AM EDT
Analysis: Why vaccine nationalism is winning
Governments have failed to unite in the fight against covid-19. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the race to develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus. Rather than consolidate efforts, many countries are striking out on their own.
The fragmented forces of vaccine nationalism won another victory this week: U.S. officials told The Washington Post that the United States would not participate in the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) Facility, a global effort to help develop and distribute a coronavirus vaccine backed by the World Health Organization.
The U.S. absence is a major blow for a project seeking to overcome unequal access to immunization. More than 170 countries are in talks to participate in Covax. But America is not alone in going it alone. Following the U.S. example, many others countries are pursuing unilateral plans, focused on producing a vaccine for priority use or buying up potential vaccines from other nations.
By Adam Taylor
September 3, 2020 at 12:26 AM EDT
Universities can’t use privacy laws to withhold data on coronavirus outbreaks, experts say
University of Alabama faculty members were threatened by department leaders Aug. 24 with “serious consequences” if they shared news of coronavirus infections on campus.
Arizona State University, which boasts one of the largest student enrollment numbers in the country, divulged its first case count in the past week amid public pressure after the school’s president refused to.
With coronavirus clusters popping up around campus in August, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill told its student newspaper it would not reveal the number of people infected in the outbreaks.
As students file onto campuses across the country for in-person classes, these universities and others tightened transparency, wielding one or a combination of two significant federal laws: FERPA, a federal law protecting the privacy of student education records, and HIPAA, a federal health privacy rule.
But these laws do not apply to withholding overall coronavirus campus data, three legal experts told The Washington Post.
By Meryl Kornfield
September 3, 2020 at 12:22 AM EDT
Those symptoms you Googled could help researchers better understand coronavirus
The first thing people should probably do when they fear they have contracted the novel coronavirus is call their doctor. The first thing most people actually do is Google their symptoms.
That’s good news for researchers. Google is sharing its treasure trove of data about runny noses and fevers to help health researchers learn more about covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The data set could even help them predict future hot spots for the disease or learn more about what long-term effects it has.
On Wednesday, Google is making county-level data on symptom searches in the United States available to researchers and the public. The information goes back three years and includes up to 400 symptoms and conditions, not just those known to be associated with covid-19. It will have information on searches for things such as stress and diabetes so experts can learn more about secondary health impacts.
By Heather Kelly
September 3, 2020 at 12:20 AM EDT
Debate rages over whether FDA should use emergency powers to clear a coronavirus vaccine early
A fierce debate has erupted over whether the Food and Drug Administration should use its emergency authority to clear a coronavirus vaccine before it is formally approved — a move opponents warn could pose safety dangers and inflame anti-vaccination sentiment but others say could save thousands of lives by speeding protection from the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has told state and local health officials to be ready to distribute a vaccine to health-care workers and other high-risk groups as early as Nov. 1 — part of an elaborate planning process happening while clinical trials are underway that has spurred anxieties in some quarters.
By Laurie McGinley and Carolyn Y. Johnson
