Vaccines

Vaccine Makers Hedge Bets On Which One Will Emerge As Effective And Safe

5:06am June 10, 2020

by Joe Palca

To speed vaccine production from years to months, companies must start making a vaccine in large quantities even before it's clear a vaccine works.

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Dr. Jonas E. Salk, who discovered the polio vaccine, reads with his wife and three boys in Ann Arbor, Mich., on April 11, 1955. The boys were among the first vaccinated during testing. The family was photographed the night before an announcement the vacci

Health & Safety

Among The 1st To Get A Polio Vaccine, Peter Salk Says Don't Rush A COVID-19 Shot

9:20pm May 30, 2020

by Greg Myre

When he was 9 years old, Salk was inoculated by the polio vaccine developed by his father, Dr. Jonas Salk. Today, he is an optimistic about a COVID-19 vaccine but offers a warning.

An engineer works in April on an experimental COVID-19 vaccine at Sinovac Biotech's facilities in Beijing. Sinovac Biotech is conducting one of four clinical trials that have been authorized in China.

Amid High Stakes, China Is Fast-Tracking COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts

4:07pm May 20, 2020

by John Ruwitch

Experts say the Communist Party sees more at stake than public health. One of the biggest concerns is the economy. China is also looking to defuse criticism over its early handling of the outbreak.

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A view of Moderna headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., earlier this month. Moderna is touting preliminary data from an initial coronavirus vaccine trial.

New Coronavirus Vaccine Candidate Shows Promise In Early, Limited Trial

3:44pm May 18, 2020

by Joe Palca

Cambridge, Mass.-based Moderna, Inc., is reporting preliminary data suggesting its COVID-19 vaccine is safe, and appears to be triggering an immune response in test subjects.

Footage issued by Britain's Oxford University shows a person injected as part of human trials in the U.K. to test a potential coronavirus vaccine last month. Pfizer on Monday began U.S. trials of another vaccine candidate.

Health & Safety

Pfizer Begins Coronavirus Vaccine Trial In U.S.

11:44am May 05, 2020

by Joe Palca

The vaccine, developed in a partnership between the pharmaceutical giant and a German biotech company, began trials on Monday with 360 volunteer subjects.

Nurses and health care workers mourn and remember their colleagues who died during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus during a demonstration outside Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

Coronavirus Vaccine? Two Pharmaceutical Giants Collaborating To Develop One

1:11pm April 14, 2020

by Joe Palca

Pharmaceutical companies GSK and Sanofi are partnering to work on several vaccine candidates to fight the coronavirus.

A pharmacist gives Jennifer Haller, left, the first shot in the first-stage study of a potential coronavirus vaccine on March 16, 2020, at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle.

'I Wanted To Do Something,' Says Mother Of 2 Who Is First To Test Coronavirus Vaccine

7:44am March 21, 2020

by Martha Ann Overland

The first woman to receive the experimental treatment says she was driven to volunteer for the Phase 1 trial out of a sense of helplessness.

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Paul McKay, a molecular immunologist at the Imperial College School of Medicine in London, checks a dish of bacteria containing genetic material from the new coronavirus. He and his team are testing a candidate vaccine.

Timetable For A Vaccine Against The New Coronavirus? Maybe This Fall

1:46pm February 12, 2020

by Joe Palca

Recent advances in biotech make scientists optimistic that they might have a vaccine that has passed basic tests of human safety and efficacy ready to go to clinics as soon as this fall.

Science

Raising Awareness About The Importance Of Vaccines

6:58am January 23, 2020

by David Ford

Over the last 18 years, measles vaccinations alone are estimated to have saved more than 23 million lives according to the

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It's still pretty early in the flu season, but some states, including Texas and North Carolina, are already reporting the first influenza deaths, including at least 10 children. Most kids each year who die from the flu had not been vaccinated.

Health & Safety

Do You Really Need A Flu Shot? Here's How To Decide

5:46pm December 20, 2019

by Tara Haelle

The internet abounds with myths about the relative risks of flu and flu shots, maybe partly because it's an annual shot and nobody likes needles. Here's the latest on what you might need — and why.