How Our Brutal Science System Almost Cost Us a Pioneer of mRNA Vaccines

Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: As the first COVID-19 vaccines arrived at Penn Medicine last year, Penn Today reported with great pride, “It was mRNA research conducted at Penn—by Drew Weissman, a professor of Infectious Diseases, and Katalin Karikó, an adjunct associate professor—that helped pave the way for the development of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID vaccines.” While Weissman and Karikó…

COVID-19 vaccines: What does 95% efficacy actually mean?

You have likely heard that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine efficacy is 95%, Moderna’s is 94% and Johnson & Johnson’s is 66%. But what do these numbers actually mean? Source: https://www.livescience.com/covid-19-vaccine-efficacy-explained.html

Next coronavirus vaccines may be drops, pills or printed on demand

The world needs new vaccines to beat novel coronavirus variants, overcome delays and solve global inequality over vaccine access – here’s what’s in the works for 2021 and beyond Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933213-800-next-coronavirus-vaccines-may-be-drops-pills-or-printed-on-demand/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

The 5 best things you can do to boost the chance of a vaccine working

The coronavirus vaccines won’t work for everyone, but there are plenty of things we know can help with vaccine success, from sleeping well before a jab to avoiding doomscrolling afterwards and getting enough exercise Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933213-500-the-5-best-things-you-can-do-to-boost-the-chance-of-a-vaccine-working/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

How can you tell if a coronavirus vaccine has given you immunity?

Not everyone will have side effects such as a sore arm from a coronavirus vaccine, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t work. Antibody tests can confirm your immunity, but they must be the right kind Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2267170-how-can-you-tell-if-a-coronavirus-vaccine-has-given-you-immunity/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Facebook Says It Plans To Remove Posts With False Vaccine Claims.

Facebook said on Monday that it plans to remove posts with erroneous claims about vaccines from across its platform, including taking down assertions that vaccines cause autism or that it is safer for people to contract Covid-19 than to receive the vaccinations. From a report: The social network has increasingly changed its content policies over the past year as the coronavirus…

Covid-19 news: Race is on to tweak vaccine due to South Africa variant

The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 pandemic Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2237475-covid-19-news-race-is-on-to-tweak-vaccine-due-to-south-africa-variant/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…

Pfizer Is Doubling Its Output of Covid-19 Vaccines

31.9 million Americans have already received one or both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine — including more than 9.3 million people who have been fully vaccinated. And now USA Today reports: Pfizer expects to nearly cut in half the amount of time it takes to produce a batch of COVID-19 vaccine from 110 days to an average of 60 as it…

Russian Campaign Promotes Homegrown Vaccine and Undercuts Rivals

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: Russian news outlets connected to election disinformation campaigns in the United States have set their sights on a new target: convincing Spanish-speaking countries that the Russian coronavirus vaccine works better than its American competitors, according to researchers and State Department officials. The Russian campaign has focused on Latin American nations,…

How is Alaska Leading the Nation in Vaccinating Residents? With Boats, Ferries, Planes and Snowmobiles.

Alaska, the state with the largest land mass in the nation, is leading the country in a critical coronavirus measure: per capita vaccinations per capita vaccinations. From a report: About 13 percent of the people who live in Alaska have already gotten a shot. That’s higher than states such as West Virginia, which has received a lot of attention for a…