“I am excited to be a part of something like this. This is huge, ”said Melissa Harting, a 36-year-old nurse who received an injection in Binghamton, New York. Especially with family members in front-line jobs that could expose them to the virus, she added, “doing our part to eradicate it is very important to me.”
It will be months before the results come, and there is no guarantee that the vaccine will ultimately work against the scourge that has killed some 650,000 people worldwide, including nearly 150,000 in the US.
“We have sat on the sidelines passively trying to wear our masks and social distance and not go out when it is not necessary. This is the first step to becoming active against this, ”said researcher Dr. Frank Eder at the test site in Binghamton. “There really is no other way to overcome this.”
As if to underline how high the stakes are, there were further setbacks in efforts to contain the coronavirus.
In Washington, the Trump administration revealed that National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien has the virus, the highest-ranking US official who has tested positive so far. The White House said he has mild symptoms and “has been self-isolating and working from a safe off-site location.”
The move to restart the national hobby struggled just five days after the long season: Two major league baseball games scheduled for Monday night were suspended when the Miami Marlins faced an outbreak: the Marlins’ first game. against the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees game in Philadelphia, where the Marlins used the clubhouse over the weekend.
As for alleviating the economic damage caused by the virus, Republicans on Capitol Hill planned to implement a $ 1 trillion package that could include a new round of $ 1,200 stimulus checks but cut the additional $ 600 a week in federal benefits. of unemployment expiring for millions of Americans this week.
In Europe, the growing infections in Spain and other countries caused alarm just weeks after nations reopened their borders in hopes of reviving tourism. Over the weekend, Britain imposed a 14-day quarantine on travelers arriving from Spain, Norway ordered a 10-day quarantine for people returning from across the Iberian Peninsula, and France urged its citizens not to visit the Catalonia region in Spain.
Scientists set speed records for obtaining a vaccine made from scratch in mass tests just months after the coronavirus emerged. But they emphasized that the public should not fear that someone is cutting corners.
“This is a significant milestone,” said NIH Director Francis Collins after the first test injection, at 6:45 am in Savannah, Georgia. “Yes, we are going fast, but no, we are not going to commit” to test if the vaccine is safe and effective.
“We are focusing on speed because every day is important,” added Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, based in Massachusetts.
After volunteers receive two separate doses per month, scientists will closely monitor which group experiences more infections as they go about their daily routines, especially in areas where the virus is spreading uncontrollably.
The answer probably won’t come until November or December, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief of infectious diseases at the NIH.
Among many questions the study can answer: how much protection does a single dose offer compared to the two scientists think is needed? If it works, will it protect against serious disease or completely block the infection?
Don’t expect a vaccine as strong as the measles vaccine, which prevents about 97% of measles infections, Fauci said, adding that he would be happy with a COVID-19 vaccine that is 60% effective.
Several other vaccines made by China and by Britain’s Oxford University started smaller tests in the final stage in Brazil and other affected countries earlier this month. But the United States requires its own tests of any vaccine that can be used domestically.
Every month through fall, the government-funded COVID-19 Prevention Network will launch a new study of a leading candidate, each with 30,000 volunteers.
The final United States study on the Oxford shot will begin in August, followed by a Johnson & Johnson candidate in September and a Novavax candidate in October. Pfizer Inc. plans its own study of 30,000 people this summer.
That’s an amazing number of people who needed to roll up their sleeves for science. In the past few weeks, more than 150,000 Americans have completed an online registration indicating interest, Collins said. But many more are needed.
The NIH is working to ensure that the study is not only filled with healthy, younger volunteers, but also includes populations most affected by COVID-19, including older adults, people with health problems, and African-Americans and Latinos.
“We are really going to depend on that sense of volunteering for people from all corners of society if we are really going to discover how this vaccine, and its potential to end this terrible pandemic, is going to work in each of those groups.” Collins said.
