May 10, 2021 — The FDA on Monday granted emergency use authorization for the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to be given to children 12-to-15 years old. The much-expected decision increases the likelihood that schools in the United States will fully reopen in the fall — a goal of both the Biden and Trump administrations. … Read more
Feb. 5, 2021 — The world’s first single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, from Johnson & Johnson, has been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use approval. Preliminary findings from a large international study suggest the vaccine isn’t quite as strong as the two current FDA-approved vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, which are … Read more
Dec. 18, 2020 — As expected, the FDA granted Moderna an emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine, doubling the number of vaccine doses expected to be available in the coming days for distribution nationwide. There is one final step — the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will need to recommend its use, … Read more
Paul Offit, MD, director, Vaccine Education Center, and professor of pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; professor of vaccinology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Naor Bar-Zeev, PhD, associate professor of international health and vaccinology and deputy director, International Vaccine Access Center, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. JAMA Live Stream: Dec. … Read more
TUESDAY, Dec. 8, 2020 (HealthDay News) — New data released Tuesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee suggest that Pfizer’s two-dose COVID-19 vaccine works well protecting recipients against COVID-19. The committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday to consider the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use … Read more
Nov. 19, 2020 — The FDA on Thursday granted emergency use authorization for the arthritis drug baricitinib to be used in combination with remdesivir to treat hospitalized adults and children with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. The combination is meant for patients who need supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation. Baricitinib plus remdesivir was shown … Read more
Sept. 28, 2020 — Only 17% of doctors say they will get a COVID-19 vaccine if it is authorized before all clinical trials have been completed, according to results of a Medscape poll. The poll asked doctors and nurses how likely they were to order or use treatments or vaccines if the FDA grants … Read more
Grace Lee, MD, professor of pediatric infectious diseases, Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital, Stanford University, Stanford, CA. William Schaffner, MD, professor, preventive medicine, health policy, infectious diseases, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville. Tom Frieden, MD, president and CEO, Resolve to Save Lives, New York City. Hearing, U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions: … Read more
Sept. 2, 2020 — There’s no evidence to support the use of convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 patients, and doctors should not consider it a standard of care until more research is completed, a U.S. National Institutes of Health expert panel said Tuesday. “There are insufficient data to recommend either for or against the use … Read more
Aug. 20, 2020 — U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s emergency approval of blood plasma as a COVID-19 treatment was put on hold last week after senior federal health officials said data supporting the therapy was too weak. More data is under review and the approval could still be issued in the near future, according to … Read more