Medical Treatments

How Will The U.S. Distribute COVID-19 Antibody Drugs If They Get FDA Approval?

6:28pm October 21, 2020

by Richard Harris

COVID-19 antibody drugs appear to be helping people avoid hospitalization. Tens of thousands of people a day could be candidates to take the drugs, but the scarce supply has to be rationed.

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COVID-19 mortality rates are going down, according to studies of two large hospital systems, partly thanks to improvements in treatment. Here, clinicians care for a patient in July at an El Centro, Calif., hospital.

Health & Safety

Studies Point To Big Drop In COVID-19 Death Rates

5:56pm October 20, 2020

by Geoff Brumfiel

More hospitalized patients are surviving than early in the pandemic. Improved treatments make a big difference, but so does flattening the curve to keep hospitals from overfilling, researchers say.

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People wait in the shade while in line to get coronavirus tests in Revere, Mass.

Coronavirus Test Results Get Faster, But Still Too Slow To Help Slow Disease Spread

10:54am October 19, 2020

by Rob Stein

The average wait time for results has dropped to about three days, but that is still too slow to keep infected people from unknowingly spreading the virus, researchers report.

Update On Coronavirus Vaccine And Drugs

4:07pm October 16, 2020

by Richard Harris

Pfizer announced Friday there would be no coronavirus vaccine before the election. And a new study questioned the effectiveness of remdesivir, a drug used to treat hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

The first patient enrolled in Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore receives an injection in May.

Health & Safety

Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Won't Be Ready By Election Day

1:29pm October 16, 2020

by Richard Harris

Pfizer Chairman and CEO Albert Bourla said in a public statement Friday that the company won't have data showing that the vaccine is safe before the third week of November at the earliest.

While coronavirus vaccine trials are ongoing and a U.S. vaccine has yet to be approved, state health officials are planning ahead for how to eventually immunize a large swath of the population.

Facing Many Unknowns, States Rush To Plan Distribution Of COVID-19 Vaccines

1:03pm October 16, 2020

A vaccine will only work if a lot of people can get immunized. State health officials are working furiously to design outreach and distribution plans, with little clarity from the federal government.

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Tobacco plants are being used in the development of COVID-19 vaccines. One is already being tested in humans.

Tobacco Plants Contribute Key Ingredient For COVID-19 Vaccine

5:09pm October 15, 2020

by Joe Palca

Here's irony: tobacco plants may be key in preventing COVID-19. Two companies are using the plants to produce proteins for a vaccine. One candidate vaccine is already in a clinical trial.

Pfizer Seems To Lead Coronavirus Vaccine Development Race. How Did It Get Ahead?

4:08pm October 15, 2020

by Joe Palca

Pfizer appears to have the lead in the race to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Results from its clinical trials could be out in a matter of weeks.

Until now, children under 16 have not been included in any of the U.S. COVID-19 vaccine trials.

Health & Safety

Will Kids Get A COVID-19 Vaccine? Pfizer To Expand Trial To Ages 12 And Up

9:22pm October 13, 2020

by Allison Aubrey

Pediatricians have been asking policy makers to include children in COVID-19 vaccine trials. Now, the FDA has given Pfizer approval to enroll adolescents as young as 12 years old.

A Look At Why Johnson & Johnson Paused Coronavirus Vaccine Trial

3:51pm October 13, 2020

by Sydney Lupkin

The development of a coronavirus vaccine is nearing the finish, but there have been stumbles. NPR discusses the pause in Johnson & Johnson's trial and the testing stages of other vaccines.

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