- AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine faces distrust in Europe, even as it gets rave reviews in neighboring UK, survey finds (fiercepharma.com)
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is facing a wave of mistrust in Europe—but that's a striking difference from its stellar reputation in the U.K...A recent survey from YouGov found that 81% of Britons believe the AZ vaccine is safe, on par with a similar 79% of U.K. citizens who trust the Pfizer vaccine. However, in Germany only 43% think the AZ vaccine is safe, and in France, just 33% consider it safe...READ MORE
- FDA’s inspection woes to grow if agency doesn’t address COVID-19 backlog: GAO (fiercepharma.com)
The Government Accountability Office has concerns about the FDA's widening inspection backlog. COVID-19 certainly amplified the problem, but the issues had been mounting long before last March...As the FDA looks to honor lockdown rules and protect its staffers, the agency has largely paused inspections since the pandemic started last spring, conducting only those deemed “mission-critical.” In fact, the FDA was unable to complete more than 1,000 planned inspections in 2020—and that backlog will likely grow with time, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a release...READ MORE
- FDA panel endorses Johnson & Johnson vaccine in 22-0 vote (chaindrugreview.com)
The Food and Drug Administration advisory committee endorsed Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine late Friday afternoon...The vaccine appears widely effective against the virus and is especially good at preventing severe cases...And because the vaccine is given as a single dose and is easy to ship, it presents an appealing profile for public health officials struggling to vaccinate hard-to-reach or skeptical populations...READ MORE
- ‘Mission Possible’: Pfizer and BioNTech star in their own vaccine discovery movie (fiercepharma.com)
It’s lights, camera, action for Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine scientists and executives. They're starring in “Mission Possible,” a branded content film from Pfizer and National Geographic that tracks the COVID-19 vaccine's journey to market...The movie-length product placement is a behind-the-scenes look at Comirnaty, the now-authorized coronavirus shot Pfizer developed and produced in concert with its partner BioNTech. Pfizer provided National Geographic's scientific storytellers “unprecedented access” to the vaccine's development...READ MORE
- Nevada COVID-19 vaccinations rise to 1 in 6 people statewide (apnews.com)
Nevada health officials reported Monday that about 1 in 6 people statewide has received at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine since shots became available in mid-December...“I do think progress is starting to finally click and continue to increase,” said James English, COVID-19 response operations chief in Washoe County, where state statistics show 16.8% of residents have received their first shot and 9.8% have been fully vaccinated...READ MORE
- Getting your COVID shot at CVS or Walgreens? Prepare for an onslaught of texts and coupons as the pharmacies plan to use customer data to ‘keep in touch’ and promote services (dailymail.co.uk)
CVS, Walgreens and Walmart are enrolling customers in patient systems in order for them to book vaccine appointments...Perk of data allows these chains to use information to promote their stores and services, which includes coupons and promotions, and tailor marketing...After customers create profiles for Walgreens, they get marketing emails and agree to let Walgreens 'automatically collect information about you'...READ MORE
- Nevada COVID-19 cases remain above average for third day in a row (reviewjournal.com)
Nevada on Thursday reported higher-than-average tallies of new coronavirus cases and additional fatalities over the preceding day...Updated figures from the Department of Health and Human Services posted to the state’s coronavirus website showed 571 new coronavirus cases and 14 additional deaths from Wednesday’s report. That brought cumulative totals for the state to 292,630 cases and 4,933 deaths...READ MORE
- Patent protection barriers not holding back vaccine production: drug groups say (reuters.com)
Manufacturing capacity and ingredients shortages are the main bottlenecks to expanding COVID-19 vaccine production, several global drug groups said...not patents that some critics are demanding be removed...“IP (intellectual property) rights is not the issue,” said Thomas Cueni, who heads the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations...“The bottlenecks are the capacity, the scarcity of raw materials, scarcity of ingredients, and it is about the know-how.”...READ MORE
- J&J Covid-19 Vaccine Authorized for Use in U.S. (msn.com)Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine scores FDA authorization, adding key third shot to U.S. supply (fiercepharma.com)
The first single-dose Covid-19 vaccine, a shot from Johnson & Johnson, was authorized for use...the third issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, will give health authorities a desperately needed new source of doses as they scramble to ramp up inoculations ahead of elusive emerging strains...J&J said it has begun shipping the vaccine to the U.S. government, which is managing allocation and distribution. That indicates first doses could be administered during the coming week...READ MORE
- Nevada still ranks near the bottom for COVID vaccine allotment (reviewjournal.com)
Nevada health officials are still awaiting answers about why the state has one of the nation’s lowest COVID-19 vaccine allocations from the federal government...As of this week, the state remained ranked among the bottom 10 states in terms of vaccine allocation per capita. It had received about 21,070 first doses per 100,000 adult residents...READ MORE