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COVID-19 Federal Responses: Thursday, December 10, 2020

COVID-19 Federal Responses: Thursday, December 10, 2020
  • Important vaccine news; data on hospital capacity; more payment info from CMS.

IMPORTANT VACCINE NEWS

As noted below, today the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee recommended that the FDA issue an emergency use authorization (EUA) for Pfizer’s vaccine. This is among the final steps before the FDA issues an EUA. The FDA could issue an EUA for Pfizer’s vaccine as early as Friday. Vaccines will be distributed within 24 hours of FDA authorization. The same Advisory Committee will convene to review Moderna’s vaccine candidate on December 17.

Congress

White House and Federal Agencies

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Updates

  • CDC updated its resource page on vaccinations. The webpage provides information for healthcare professionals on preparing for vaccinations, preparing patients, and the process for vaccine approval.
  • CDC updated:
  • CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield is expecting high levels of COVID-19 deaths for the next 60 days.

Economy, Vaccine, Testing and Treatment

  • A Federal Drug Administration (FDA) staff review of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine confirms the vaccine is successful at preventing COVID-19 symptoms.
    • The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee met today to review Pfizer’s vaccine candidate. This is among the final steps before FDA emergency approval.
    • The Advisory Committee recommended that the FDA issues an emergency use authorization (EUA) for Pfizer’s vaccine.
    • The federal government will immediately distribute 2.9 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine upon FDA approval.
    • The Department of Defense will immediately distribute 44,000 doses.
  • Moderna expects to produce 500 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in 2021.
  • New data released by AstraZeneca and Oxford University about their COVID-19 vaccine candidate suggests it will not be as effective as the candidates from Pfizer and Moderna.
  • The United Kingdom (U.K.), which recently began vaccinating people against COVID-19, reported some allergic reactions to the vaccine. It is important to note that such reactions are not unexpected with vaccines and in the case of this vaccine they are rare.
  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) no longer recommends remdesivir for patients on mechanical ventilators.
  • The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has mutated into seven strains.
  • NIH released information about a NIH-funded tool that helps organizations plan COVID-19 testing. An innovative online tool funded by the NIH helps organizations choose a COVID-19 testing strategy that will work best for their specific needs. The COVID-19 Testing Impact Calculator is a free resource that shows how different approaches to testing and other mitigation measures, such as mask use, can curb the spread of the virus in any organization.
  • NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins released a blog post about a study among healthcare workers that shows COVID-19 immunity lasts many months. New findings from a study of thousands of healthcare workers in England show that those who got COVID-19 and produced antibodies against the virus are highly unlikely to become infected again, at least over the several months that the study was conducted.

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