Moderna seeks FDA approval to vaccinate kids
Moderna announced Thursday that it has requested an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 12-17.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine already has won FDA authorization for kids as young as 12. Providing safe COVID vaccines for children is a crucial component in the effort to normalize in-classroom learning for the 2020-21 school year, little more than two months away in some school districts.
Moderna, which previously filed for the adolescent authorization with Health Canada and the European Medicines Agency, said it plans to file a similar request with agencies around the world.
“We remain committed to helping to end the COVID-19 pandemic,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement.
Biden vaccine goal for July 4 could be out of reach
President Joe Biden’s vaccine goal for America – 70% of adults receiving at least one COVID-19 shot by the Fourth of July – is starting to look like a long shot. If shots continue at their current pace, Biden will fall short of that benchmark. In the past week, an average of about 365,000 adults have received their first vaccine each day. To reach Biden’s goal, that number will need to increase to about 630,000 adults newly vaccinated each day. The pace of vaccine administration has fallen significantly from its peak in early April, when more than 2 million adults were reported newly vaccinated each day.
‘Joints for jabs’ off to shaky start
Some cannabis retailers in Washington state say they don’t have the space to accommodate the new “joints for jabs” vaccination incentive program, and health care clinics are balking at setting up shop in a pot shop. Retailers say they would prefer how the Liquor and Cannabis Board allowed breweries, wineries and bars to offer a free drink to customers who merely showed proof of vaccination – no onsite clinic required.
“We’re hearing from retailers that they want to be a part of this,” said Aaron Pickus, a spokesman for the Washington CannaBusiness Association, an industry group. “Why can’t we do this like the wineries and breweries did it?”
Pfizer, BioNTech to donate 500 million doses
Pfizer and BioNTech announced plans Thursday to donate 500 million doses to the U.S. government to distribute to 92 low-income countries and the African Union. The news confirms Wednesday’s report of President Joe Biden’s upcoming announcement to the G-7 summit. Vaccine inequality has become an increasingly pressing concern, and the World Health Organization has warned of a “two-track pandemic” as wealthy nations inoculate large portions of their populations and developing countries are left exposed to the coronavirus’ ravages.
In a June 3 report, Oxfam International said of the 1.77 billion doses administered worldwide to that point, 28% had gone to people in G-7 nations and only 0.3% to low-income countries. Such disparity could prolong the pandemic and allow for dangerous variants to emerge.
Calif. withdraws controversial work mask rules
California’s workplace regulators have reversed themselves for the second time in a week. They withdrew a controversial, pending mask regulation to give them time to consider a rule that more closely aligns with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s promise that the state will fully reopen Tuesday.
The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board’s revised rule would have allowed workers to forego masks only if every employee in a room is fully vaccinated. That contrasts with the state’s broader plan to do away with virtually all masking requirements for vaccinated people in concert with the latest recommendations from the CDC.
The goal, said board chairman David Thomas, is to change the workplace regulation “so that it matches up with the CDC and the California Department of Public Health, so that we’re all on the same page. That’s what this is about, so we’re not out of step with everybody else.”
Seattle, San Francisco top cities for shots
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said Wednesday that hers is the first major U.S. city with 70% of its residents 12 and older having completed their vaccinations, edging San Francisco by a percentage point. “Now that we have reached community protection, we can lead the nation in safely reopening and recovering in earnest,” Durkan said in a statement.
But San Francisco is slightly ahead with the nation’s best rate of residents 12 and above who’ve had at least one vaccine shot, 79-78%, and could inch ahead in the race for herd immunity. “I do believe we are on track to be the first city to achieve herd immunity,” Dr. Monica Gandhi of the University of California, San Francisco told the San Francisco Chronicle.