New top story from Time: Pfizer-BioNTech Will Start to Ship Smaller Packs of Its COVID-19 Vaccine, In An Effort to Reach More People

https://ift.tt/331FRR3

Now that every American adult is eligible to get vaccinated, vaccine makers are shifting their priorities to meet the changing needs of people will need to be vaccinated in coming months.

On April 29, Pfizer-BioNTech announced that it will begin shipping smaller packages of its COVID-19 by the end of May. Currently, the companies’ vaccine comes in packs of 195 vials, each of which contains about six doses of vaccine, for a total of around 1,100 doses. That size is useful for the mass vaccination centers that have been the focus of the U.S. vaccination program so far, with their goal of immunizing hundreds or even thousands of people a day. But it’s actually prohibitive for smaller doctors’ offices and pharmacies, which might be able to only vaccinate a few dozen people a week, no matter how many doses they have on hand. The company’s new packs will contain three containers of 25 vials each, for a total of 450 doses. The outer shipping container, which can serve as a temporary ultra-cold freezer at temperatures of around -70°C for the vaccine as long as it is replenished with dry ice for up to 30 days, will remain the same.

“We’re hoping this solution will enable channels like doctor’s offices where 1,100 doses may be too much quantity, to have something they can use,” says Tanya Alcorn, vice president of the biopharma global supply chain at Pfizer.

The companies are working on other approached to making their vaccine more easily distributable. For example, they are hope that by the end of this year, they will have a version that won’t require mixing at the vaccination site. Currently, technicians have to mix the doses in the vials with a dilutant; a ready-to-use version of the vaccine could further expand the vaccine’s utility globally in places where such expertise isn’t available.

And like Moderna, which just recently reported it has begun testing a version of its vaccine that doesn’t need to be frozen (and could be stable at refrigerated temperatures for up to three months), Pfizer-BioNTech scientists are developing a version of their vaccine that can be shipped and stored at refrigerated temperatures. Alcorn says those studies are ongoing and if all goes well, the companies may have a vaccine by early next year for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to review.

Comments

FOX NEWS: Couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell.

Couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3ES5g0B

FOX NEWS: Canine influenza outbreak: What dog owners need to know A canine influenza outbreak in Los Angeles is drawing up concern among pet owners on the West Coast.

Canine influenza outbreak: What dog owners need to know A canine influenza outbreak in Los Angeles is drawing up concern among pet owners on the West Coast. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/lTOH3qM

FOX NEWS: Boy bullied for Tony Stark Halloween costume goes viral: ‘He’s just brave’ Jill Struckman told Fox News about how her 10-year-old son Evan returned to school after being bullied for his Tony Stark Halloween costume.

Boy bullied for Tony Stark Halloween costume goes viral: ‘He’s just brave’ Jill Struckman told Fox News about how her 10-year-old son Evan returned to school after being bullied for his Tony Stark Halloween costume. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3vX5j80

New top story from Time: I Left Poverty After Writing ‘Maid.’ But Poverty Never Left Me

https://ift.tt/3kXte3r I signed my first book contract without paying much attention to what it said. I didn’t know at the time that the book would be a best seller or that it would one day inspire a Netflix series . I just needed the money. I was a single mom with a 2-year-old and a 9-year-old, living in low-income housing, and because of a late paycheck, I hadn’t eaten much for a few weeks, subsisting on pizza I paid for with a check I knew would bounce. This wasn’t my first bout of hunger. I had been on food stamps and several other kinds of government assistance since finding out I was pregnant with my older child. My life as a mother had been one of skipping meals, always saving the “good” food, like fresh fruit, for the kids I told myself deserved it more than I did. The apartment was my saving grace. Housing security, after being homeless and forced to move more than a dozen times, was what I needed the most. Hunger I was O.K. with, but the fear of losing the home wher

New top story from Time: We Have No Idea What We’re Fighting For Anymore

https://ift.tt/3ymywZs Once again, we are we seeing Americans being airlifted to safety amidst chaos and defeat, abandoning many of those who helped us. There will be much finger-pointing and political posturing about who is to blame . We can have those conversations. But the question no one is discussing is why for decades successive administrations of both parties continue to involve us in wars that not only we don’t win, but that for years we keep on fighting even when we know we can’t win and our objectives in those wars are confusing and malleable. If you look back over the history of our war in Afghanistan, it was clear as early as 2002 that we didn’t fully understand what we were doing there anymore or how to go about doing it. Yet we remained for nearly 20 more bloody years. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Why do we keep doing this? How can we stop? We get into these wars on the recommendations of presidents who are influenced by their staffs, most of whom are s

New top story from Time: The Security Perimeter Around the Capitol Starts to Recede — and Washington Feels a Little More Normal

https://ift.tt/3ssgaEo This article is part of the The DC Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox every weekday. Washington isn’t a city particularly known for its rationality. We do overreaction better than most, and that talent is rivaled only by underreaction. Passions fuel far too much public policy, personalities dictate what is possible and personal relationships often triumph over pragmatism. It’s something I usually bemoan and curse under my breath — or, increasingly, in this newsletter. So you’ll forgive a moment of indulgent irrationality and some merriment. For, you see, the fencing around the U.S. Capitol has come down. Well, not all of it. And the barriers that remain don’t have an expiration date and may never get one. But at least some of the garish barricades that went up in response to the deadly failed insurrection on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 have been dismantled. The razor-wire on its top is gone, too

New top story from Time: U.K. Authorizes Oxford University-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine

https://ift.tt/37YB4mR (LONDON) — Britain has authorized use of a second COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the first country to greenlight an easy-to-handle shot that its developers hope will become the “vaccine for the world.” The United Kingdom government says the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has made an emergency authorization for the vaccine developed by Oxford University and UK-based drugmaker AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said “today is an important day for millions of people in the U.K. who will get access to this new vaccine. It has been shown to be effective, well-tolerated, simple to administer and is supplied by AstraZeneca at no profit. He added: “We would like to thank our many colleagues at AstraZeneca, Oxford University, the UK government and the tens of thousands of clinical trial participants.”

New top story from Time: Deaths and Blackouts Have Hit the U.S. Northwest Due to the Unprecedented Heat Wave

https://ift.tt/2UgzckI SPOKANE, Wash. — The unprecedented Northwest U.S. heat wave that slammed Seattle and Portland, Oregon, moved inland Tuesday — prompting a electrical utility in Spokane, Washington, to resume rolling blackouts amid heavy power demand. Officials said a dozen deaths in Washington and Oregon may be tied to the intense heat that began late last week. The dangerous weather that gave Seattle and Portland consecutive days of record high temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celcius) was expected to ease in those cities. But inland Spokane saw temperatures spike. The National Weather Service said the mercury reached 109 F (42.2 C) in Spokane— the highest temperature ever recorded there. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] About 9,300 Avista Utilities customers in Spokane lost power on Monday and the company said more planned blackouts began on Tuesday afternoon in the city of about 220,000 people. “We try to limit outages to one hour per

New top story from Time: ‘Medical Populism’ Has Defined the Philippines’ Response to COVID-19. That’s Why the Country Is Still Suffering

https://ift.tt/2SwLHIx Nurse Delta Santiago (not her real name) has reached the top of her field. She works at one of the Philippines’ top hospitals, frequented by billionaires and celebrities. But the 32-year-old can’t wait to leave. Santiago makes just $520 a month working 12-hour days and she’s desperate to land a job overseas. Because of the pandemic, the authorities have imposed restrictions on public transport, and Santiago’s 15-mile (24-kilometer) commute to work in the center of the capital Manila is a time-consuming ordeal. She wants to rent a room closer to her workplace, to cut down on the exhausting traveling, and to avoid the risk of bringing COVID-19 home to her family, but she can’t afford to. So, for the past eight months, she has been sleeping in a utility room at the hospital, just steps away from the plush, private medical suites where high-paying patients recline in relative comfort. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] There, on a thin mattress spread betwe

Covid-19: Govt to use mathematical model to monitor coronavirus transmission It will aggregate successful evidence-based mathematical and statistical forecasting models and include the best predictive analytics for robust forecasting of the spread of the disease

It will aggregate successful evidence-based mathematical and statistical forecasting models and include the best predictive analytics for robust forecasting of the spread of the disease from Livemint - Science https://ift.tt/2TY2QIO https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

My precise view

Search This Blog