vaccines vie to beat virus
Panel grilled on next steps to reopen country
Eight vaccines are being tested in an accelerated process as testing and attacking any flare-ups becomes a “bridge” to open up the economy, a panel of health experts from the president’s coronavirus task force told senators.
It was a fast-paced, mostly video hearing Tuesday that started with U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate committee on Health, Education Labor & Pensions, Zooming in from his cabin as he isolates at home. The session was titled: “Covid-19: Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School.”
The senators and guests — including doctors Anthony Fauci and the CDC’s Robert Redfield — were grilled on when schools can open, vaccines will arrive, testing capability, tracing, recovery numbers, helping nursing homes, dealing with people who are asymptomatic, immunity, mortality of children and the food supply chain. Here are key takeaways:
The Fauci factor
Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was first up and he quickly announced there are at least eight candidate COVID-19 vaccines in clinical development — including Cambridge-based Moderna’s that was just cleared by the FDA for a phase 2 study.
He also said the timeline is being compressed to determine if they have a winner by the “late fall or early winter.” Having eight vaccine trials going at the same time puts “multiple shots on goal,” he added with a hockey reference.
Fauci also described the thought of reopening schools in the fall as “a bridge too far.”
And, later in the session, he did warn the “consequences could be really serious” if states open too fast. “We could see little spikes that could turn into outbreaks,” he said. At one point he both defended himself saying he wasn’t the lone voice but a member of a team and that nobody has told him to take his “foot off the gas.”
CDC at the ready
Redfield, also isolating at home after a White House staffer tested positive for coronavirus, assured the senators “we are not defenseless.” He said testing, contact tracing and monitoring will be the key to success.
“We are not out of the woods yet,” Redfield said, “but we are more prepared.” He added guidance from the CDC on safely opening up in stages will be posted soon after it is approved by President Trump.
Redfield also admitted the death rate in nursing homes — cited by one senator as 35% of all deaths in America, is “one of the great tragedies we all experienced together.” More than 82,000 Americans have died from coronavirus, to date.
Vaccines for all
Admiral Brett Giroir, also a member of the Trump task force, told former Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders that he was determined vaccines are made available to “all segments of society regardless of their ability to pay.”
Children and immunity
The senators were warned that there’s no guarantee young children are immune to the virus — with Fauci saying there are reports of kids with a rare illness similar to Kawasaki disease that attacks a child’s skin, eyes, and blood vessels and can be fatal.
As for adults who may be immune, Fauci said it is “very likely” and if so, it “indicates a degree of protection.” But, he added, history and more testing may prove that wrong.
And for college students and public school children heading back to classrooms in the fall, there was “no easy answer.” Testing, panelists said, is the key.