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Scott Atlas, a favorite coronavirus adviser to the president of the United States, who tweeted in October “Do the masks work? NO,” submitted his resignation, effective December 1, Fox News reported.
US President Donald Trump speaks in the White House meeting room on November 5, 2020 in Washington, DC. Image: AFP
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s controversial coronavirus adviser resigned on Monday, while hopes for a first wave of vaccinations before the end of 2020 received a new boost with an announcement from the American firm Moderna.
Scott Atlas, a favorite coronavirus adviser to the president of the United States, who tweeted in October “Do the masks work? NO,” submitted his resignation, effective December 1, Fox News reported.
Lacking relevant experience or qualifications in public health or infectious diseases, he also called in November for people in Michigan to “stand up” against Covid-19 measures.
Atlas resigned as hopes for a first wave of vaccines rose before the end of the year after Moderna said it was requesting an emergency clearance for its vaccine in the United States and Europe.
After leading American scientists warned Americans to prepare for a “surge overlapping the surge,” Moderna reported that the full results had confirmed a high efficacy estimated at 94.1%.
It was slated to join US pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, which applied for similar approvals last week, and predicted that their vaccine could receive the green light in the US shortly after December 10.
If the US Food and Drug Administration agrees that Moderna’s product is safe and effective, the first of two doses of the drug could be injected into the arms of millions of Americans in mid-December.
Health Secretary Alex Azar told CBS News: “We could see these two vaccines outside and get into people’s arms before Christmas.”
Developed in conjunction with the US National Institutes of Health, the bumps were generally well tolerated, with the most common side effects including injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, and headache.
Moderna expects to have approximately 20 million doses of the vaccine available in the US by the end of 2020, and between 500 million and 1 billion doses globally in 2021.
The news came after prominent American scientist Anthony Fauci voiced his fears as millions of travelers returned home after Thanksgiving holidays.
The United States is the most affected country, with more than 267,000 deaths from Covid-19, and the Trump administration has issued mixed messages about the use of masks, travel and the danger posed by the virus.
“What we hope, unfortunately, as we go through the next two weeks in December is that we could see an increase superimposed on the increase we are already in,” Fauci said on Sunday.
FOURTH WAVE
More than 1.4 million people have died worldwide since the outbreak in China last December, according to a count from official sources compiled by AFP.
The World Health Organization (WHO) insisted on Monday that it was doing its best to find the animal origin of the virus, although it has not yet dispatched a full team of expert researchers to China.
Observers have expressed concern that the agency gave in to Chinese pressure and delayed the investigation, but WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus responded, urging critics to stop “politicizing” the issue.
In a briefing, Tedros added that he was alarmed by the rapidly worsening Covid-19 situations in Brazil and Mexico, urging them to be “very serious” in stopping the spread.
Meanwhile, Europe is still struggling to reduce the daily number of deaths and infections with a variety of curbs, lockdowns and tests after deaths surpassed 400,000 over the weekend.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a total closure for the weekend and a curfew for the rest of the week.
In Asia, Hong Kong on Monday announced social distancing measures at some of the strictest levels in the city since the start of the pandemic, as authorities fight a fourth wave of infections.
“This new wave of Covid-19 has hit Hong Kong very quickly,” said Executive Director Carrie Lam.
Anger over the rising number of infections sparked a riot at a Sri Lankan prison where guards shot dead eight inmates and injured at least 71 others.
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