A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee was meeting Thursday to discuss whether the agency should grant emergency use authorization for Pfizer Inc.'s coronavirus vaccine candidate. Later this month, members will meet on a vaccine from Moderna. In short, a vaccine is likely to be on its way to specific members of the public very soon.
The nation’s first COVID-19 vaccine stands on the verge of approval, yet the complex distribution of the product — and the risk along the way — is keeping some logistics and public health professionals up at night. The stakes could not be higher. This vaccine represents what one freight industry executive has termed “the biggest product launch in history.” Within 24 hours of emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, the vaccine maker Pfizer plans to move the product to patients nationwide.
Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is all but assured to become the first in the U.S. to win an emergency use authorization after an FDA panel voted to recommend the vaccine for widespread use. The company’s vaccine needs to be stored at ultra-low temperatures, which will require special freezers and shipping methods in order to ensure the vaccine remains potent.
More than 68 million infected with the novel coronavirus and more than 1.5 million dead. 2020 has been a year defined by global sickness and loss. In the face of this extraordinary threat, it’s easy to forget how much we have accomplished. Doctors, nurses and staff in hospitals around the world have learned how to better care for those sick with COVID-19. Researchers have uncovered secrets of a virus that, not so long ago, was wholly unknown.
The Pentagon expects to distribute 44,000 doses of covid-19 vaccine among military personnel and retirees against COVID as early as next week at 16 sites in what officials called a “controlled pilot.” Initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine will go to what officials described as a “limited, limited'' number of senior military officials and officers, including the Defense Secretary and Deputy Defense Secretary, the Chairmen and Vice Chairman of the Joints Chief and some others. But the bulk of the initial doses will go to the military healthcare workforce.
Ashley Smith
Public Affairs Coordinator
INFORMS
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Can we really trust AI to make better decisions than humans? A new study says … not always. Researchers have discovered that OpenAI’s ChatGPT, one of the most advanced and popular AI models, makes the same kinds of decision-making mistakes as humans in some situations—showing biases like overconfidence of hot-hand (gambler’s) fallacy—yet acting inhuman in others (e.g., not suffering from base-rate neglect or sunk cost fallacies).
The genetic testing company 23andMe, which holds the genetic data of 15 million people, declared bankruptcy on Sunday night after years of financial struggles. This means that all of the extremely personal user data could be up for sale—and that vast trove of genetic data could draw interest from AI companies looking to train their data sets, experts say.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as the new secretary of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s de facto healthcare czar. He will have influence over numerous highly visible agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, among others. Given that healthcare is something that touches everyone’s life, his footprint of influence will be expansive.
Health insurance has become necessary, with large and unpredictable health care costs always looming before each of us. Unfortunately, the majority of people have experienced problems when using their health insurance to pay for their medical care. Health insurance serves as the buffer between patients and the medical care system, using population pooling to mitigate the risk exposure on any one individual.
From Tesla to SpaceX to xAI, Elon Musk’s sprawling global business empire will be slammed by Trump’s tariffs regime. Here’s how.
A bipartisan push in Congress would return the power to impose tariffs to the legislature.
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban's question to Representative Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, on energy costs took off on social media on Saturday.
Florida lawmakers have banned wind turbines off its shores and near the coast, saying the bill is meant to protect wildlife and prevent noise.