Nearly unanimous vote clears the way for possible approval for emergency use next month, making nearly 30m children eligible
Independent advisers for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine for children aged five to 11 – the first vaccine available for younger children in the US.
Of 18 members, 17 voted yes and one abstained.
Continue reading...Extra help called in for overwhelmed hospitals in California; two doses of Pfizer/BioNTech about 90% effective at preventing hospitalisations for at least six months, research reveals
Senegal has had only a handful of new daily Covid infections so far this week, with only two cases yesterday – the lowest number since the pandemic reached the country.
“Two cases were recorded today, the lowest ever recorded,” said the health ministry spokesperson Ngone Ngom. “They were in the past seven, 10 cases, but from the top of my head I think this is the lowest.”
Continue reading...After positive clinical trials for antiviral drug Molnupiravir, it joins other medicines that have shown promise
The first clinical trial results showing a positive effect for a pill that can be taken at home has been hailed as a potential gamechanger that could provide a new way to protect the most vulnerable people from the worst effects of Covid-19. Molnupiravir joins a growing list of medicines that have shown promise. Here are some of the main developments in treatments so far.
Continue reading...
The Associated Press is reporting an Australian economist who was arrested when Myanmar’s military seized power in February made an appearance Thursday in a court in the capital Naypyitaw, where he will be tried for violation of the official secrets law, his lawyer said.
Sean Turnell had been serving as an advisor to the country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was also arrested when her elected government was ousted by the army. Suu Kyi and three of her former Cabinet ministers have also been charged under the law.
Shadow energy minister Chris Bowen gave a blistering doorstop press conference earlier, blasting the Coalition’s climate and energy policy shift.
It comes as federal treasurer, Josh Frydenbrg is due to tell business leaders later today that the government needs to shift towards adopting a net zero commitment.
Josh Frydenberg personally intervened to try and get the chief executive of AGL sacked because he dared to invest in renewable energy. When he was energy minister, he wouldn’t commit to net zero by 2050. He was the architect of the failed National Energy Guarantee.
Yet, now in some sort of bizarre positioning, internally in the Liberal party, he thinks he can be the champion of net zero. Well, he’s got net zero credibility. Josh Frydenberg has net zero credibility when it comes to climate change. He has too often had the chance to act and too often failed.
Continue reading...Six companies warned not to put profit before lives as report shows less than 1% of almost 6bn doses have gone to low-income countries
Amnesty International has accused six pharmaceutical companies that have developed Covid-19 vaccines of fuelling a global human rights crisis, citing their refusal to sufficiently waive intellectual property rights, share vaccine technology and boost global vaccine supply.
After assessing the performance of six Covid-19 vaccine developers – Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and Novavax – Amnesty International claims that all are failing to uphold their own human rights commitments and warns they should not be putting profit before the lives of people in the world’s poorest countries.
Continue reading...Ursula von der Leyen says the union’s vaccination programme is now a success after its stumbling start
We did it,” said Ursula von der Leyen in her annual state of the union address last week. With more than 70% of its adult population now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, Europe is, “against all critics, among the world leaders”.
Moreover, the Commission president said, the EU had exported half its vaccines: “We delivered more than 700 million doses to the European people, and we delivered more than 700 million doses to the rest of the world. We are the only region to achieve that.”
Continue reading...Missed opportunities, gaps in correspondence and a failure to plan ahead. If this was a vaccine race, did Australia fall at the first hurdle?
On 30 June 2020, Victoria’s Covid cases were doubling. Within a week the state would be in its second lockdown.
That same day Pfizer wrote to the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, with a clear sense of urgency, wanting to discuss a vaccination deal.
Continue reading...Leaked supply document reveals clauses to protect US pharma company from legal action in the event of serious side-effects
Pfizer has been accused of holding Brazil “to ransom” over demands to shield itself from possible vaccine side-effect lawsuits in its contract to supply the country with 100m Covid jabs.
In its $1bn (£700m) deal with Pfizer Export BV, signed in March, despite its prior complaints, the Brazilian government agreed that “a liability waiver be signed for any possible side-effects of the vaccine, exempting Pfizer from any civil liability for serious side-effects arising from the use of the vaccine, indefinitely”.
Continue reading...Prime minister says deal will boost supplies in September as 12-to-15-year-olds join vaccination rollout
Australia’s vaccine program has received a boost, with a doubling of the number of Pfizer vaccines flowing into the country, after a “dose swap” deal was secured with the UK.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, says the deal will “break the back” of the September supply issues, with his UK counterpart, Boris Johnson, agreeing to send 4m Pfizer doses to Australia, which will be distributed to the states and territories on a per capita basis.
Continue reading...Decision is likely to trigger a wave of formal vaccine requirements from government departments, businesses and schools
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given full approval to the Pfizer vaccine for Covid-19. The vaccine and others have been in use for months under emergency use authorisation.
Related: ‘You are not a horse’: FDA tells Americans stop taking dewormer for Covid
Continue reading...Raised charges and Covax deals on order books of Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca
Two US companies, Pfizer and Moderna, have raised the prices of their Covid-19 vaccines after data from clinical trials showed their mRNA formula was more effective than cheaper vaccines from Britain’s AstraZeneca and the American drugs maker Johnson & Johnson.
AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have pledged to provide their doses on a not-for-profit basis until the pandemic ends.
Continue reading...Pfizer reportedly asked to supply 35m more doses, with final go-ahead for this year’s programme still awaited
Ministers have started ordering vaccines for a booster campaign in autumn 2022, with Pfizer reportedly being asked to supply the UK with a further 35m doses.
The government has still not give the final go-ahead for the vaccine booster programme expected this autumn, but it is understood to have placed the order with Pfizer despite the company raising its prices.
Continue reading...The firms are already taking the lion’s share of earnings from the market, as this week’s results will show
Praised for preventing hundreds of thousands of deaths and allowing a return to more normal life, Covid vaccines will also substantially benefit some pharmaceutical companies.
In June, analysts estimated the global market for the vaccines could be worth $70bn (£50bn) this year, but the figure could be even higher as the Delta variant of coronavirus spreads and scientists debate whether people will need booster shots.
Continue reading...The prime minister jumped the gun in November 2020 when he declared ‘we can look forward to a much better 2021’
Eight months ago, Scott Morrison faced the cameras in a laboratory in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and promised hope after a torrid year.
“Today is another day when we can look forward to a much better 2021,” he said.
Continue reading...Premier Gladys Berejiklian says 29 of the new cases were infectious in the community as new restrictions announced for Sydney; state and territory leaders meet with PM to discuss the vaccine rollout. Follow latest updates
And just a reminder these greater Sydney restrictions came into force about an hour and 15 minutes ago...
NSW residents must now carry ID while exercising to show they are within 10km of their home if they are asked by police. Other rules set out below #COVID19nsw https://t.co/De6jiaZURT pic.twitter.com/PAIVHyV94j
Significant NDIS development. We covered the background to this in detail this morning.
Big news: NSW families minister Alister Henskens confirms the government's NDIS independent assessments plan "will not proceed". pic.twitter.com/gJByatuma2
Although Victoria's disability minister Luke Donnellan is slightly less categorical about it in his statement. pic.twitter.com/zFIYR1bIgc
Continue reading...Prime minister Scott Morrison says pace of vaccination rollout accelerating
The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer says there is no change in the number of doses the company has contracted to deliver to Australia over 2021 – contradicting reports asserting the Morrison government had secured a “game-changing deal” to triple its access to the jabs.
The prime minister – who has been under significant political pressure because of the slow pace of the vaccination rollout, pressure that has ramped up during the lockdown of greater Sydney – embarked on a media blitz on Friday to argue the pace of the vaccination rollout was accelerating.
Continue reading...Evidence shows a greater risk of reinfection six months after inoculation as Israel reports a drop in vaccine effectiveness
Pfizer plans to ask US regulators to authorize a booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine within the next month, the drugmaker’s top scientist said on Thursday.
The announcement was based on evidence of greater risk of reinfection six months after inoculation and due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of coronavirus.
Continue reading...Israel says technical issues have scuppered deal to give UK Covid vaccines expiring on 30 July
More than a million Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses held in Israel that are due to expire at the end of July may be thrown away after attempts to broker a swap deal with the UK failed.
Israel had reportedly offered the jabs to Britain in return for a similar number of vaccines that the UK is due to receive from Pfizer in September. Health authorities are racing to vaccinate as many of its adult population as possible before Covid restrictions are lifted in England later this month.
Continue reading...We look at the drug firms – led by Pfizer and Moderna – that are set to profit most in an unprecedented global vaccination drive
Drugmakers led by US firms Pfizer and Moderna stand to make tens of billions of dollars from their Covid-19 vaccines this year and next, given G7 governments’ pledge to vaccinate the entire world by the end of 2022, but sales are likely to drop sharply thereafter, according to analysts.
Acclaimed for allowing a return to more normal life, Covid vaccines will also substantially benefit some pharmaceutical companies. The global market for the vaccines is worth $70bn (£50bn) this year, says Karen Andersen of Morningstar.
Continue reading...Moderna becomes second manufacturer to announce successful trial results in adolescents
Mass vaccination of children against Covid-19 moved a step closer as Moderna became the second manufacturer to announce successful trial results, showing its vaccine can stop transmission in people aged 12 to 18.
Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine has already been given emergency approval for adolescents aged 12 to 15 in the US by the regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), after its trials were said to show better efficacy even than in participants aged 16 to 25. It has begun a trial in young children, from six months to 11 years old.
Continue reading...