Coronavirus: Dexamethasone proves first life-saving drug (BBC)
• Fauci will oppose any rush to announce COVID-19 vaccine before ‘scientifically sound’ (McClatchy DC)
• Life-saving coronavirus drug ‘major breakthrough’ (BBC)
• New COVID-19 Antibody Test Targets Unique Region of Spike Protein (Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News)
• FDA revokes emergency use ruling for hydroxychloroquine: On Monday, it withdrew emergency approval for use of the malaria drug as a Covid-19 treatment (Stat)
• CureVac Coronavirus Vaccine Cleared for Human Trials in Germany (Bloomberg)
• Genes May Leave Some People More Vulnerable to Severe Covid-19 (NYT)
• Healthy teenager who took precautions died suddenly of Covid-19 (CNN)
• Rare, super coronavirus antibodies likely to yield vaccine, say Stanford, UCSF experts (San Francisco Chronicle)
• How deadly is the coronavirus? Scientists are close to an answer (Nature)
• UK public health bodies reviewing vitamin D’s effects on coronavirus (The Guardian)
• Is the world making progress against the pandemic? We built the chart to answer this question (Our World In Data)
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rssHow hesitant would you be to take a coronavirus vaccine?
According to a poll by Reuters/Ipsos, a quarter of Americans have little or no interest in taking a coronavirus vaccine
The survey was conducted on 13 May to 19 May, and gathered 4,428 respondents with 14% saying that they were ‘not at all interested’ in taking a vaccine and a further 10% saying that they were ‘not very interested’.
That said, an important thing to point out is that the hesitance can be tied back to the record-breaking pace that pharmaceutical companies are working at to churn out a vaccine.
Among those who expressed little or no interest in taking a vaccine, nearly half said that they were worried about the speed in which one is being developed – with more than 40% believing that the vaccine may be riskier than the disease itself.
The number of potential coronavirus vaccines in development is now above 70
But, these are just two of many. The World Health Organization (WHO) says there are 70 coronavirus vaccines in development globally:
- three are already already being tested in human trials
There are manufacturing contenders in the race:
- Hong Kong-listed CanSino Biologics
- Beijing Institute of Biotechnology
- US’ Moderna and Inovio Pharmaceuticals
- Pfizer and Sanofi also
Trump drops idea of New York lockdown as U.S. death count crosses 2,000
President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would issue a travel warning for the hard-hit New York area to limit the spread of the coronavirus, backing off from an earlier suggestion that he might try to cut off the region entirely.
“A quarantine will not be necessary,” he said on Twitter.
Trump’s announcement came as the U.S. death count crossed 2,100, more than double the level from two days ago. The United States has now recorded more than 122,000 cases of the respiratory virus, the most of any country in the world.
Since the virus first appeared in the United States in late January, Trump has vacillated between playing down the risks of infection and urging Americans to take steps to slow its spread.
Trump said on Saturday afternoon that he might impose a ban on travel in and out of New York and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut, the U.S. epicenter of the disease, to protect other states that have yet to bear the brunt. He offered few specifics.
Critics promptly called the idea unworkable, saying it would cause chaos in a region that serves as the economic engine of the eastern United States, accounting for 10 percent of the population and 12 percent of GDP. (more…)
More Powell testimony: Will see virus impact in data fairly soon
More from chair Powell’s testimony in the Senate
- we will see virus-infected data fairly soon
- affects could be important in China
- supply chains is an important issue.
- Financial markets can also transmit a reaction to virus
Fed Powell concludes his testimony at 11:24 AM ET.
Overall, the comments were in line with yesterday’s testimony and really didn’t shed any new light that we don’t already know. Coronavirus major concern but it’s too early to tell. The Fed is in continue repo operations the 2nd quarter. The economy is in a good place.
US stocks have been waffling back and forth but moving back higher. The S&P index is just off the day’s high level as is the NASDAQ index. The Dow industrial average is a little further off the intraday record high levels