While the number of coronavirus cases in the United States tops 10.1 million, there is some reassuring news today regarding a vaccine and treatment of the virus. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar told NBC today that Pfizer will be delivering 20 million doses a month of its vaccine starting at the end of November. He says the most at-risk people will get the vaccine first, this includes nursing home residents. This would be followed in January by health care workers and first responders, then the general population in Spring 2021.
“We have anticipated that we will have enough vaccine by the end of December to have vaccinated our most vulnerable citizens… and enough for all Americans by the end of March to early April.” -HHS secretary Alex Azar tells @SavannahGuthrie pic.twitter.com/kxUoXjMgjq
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 10, 2020
There is also news today concerning a treatment for coronavirus. Eli Lilly announced that the FDA has granted Emergency Use Authorization for its neutralizing antibody bamlanivimab. The company said this “is authorized for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with a positive COVID-19 test, who are at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization.” The New York Times reports that this was the treatment given to Chris Christie when he was in the hospital last month.
The treatment consists of a single powerful antibody that is believed to keep the infection in check, and has been shown in early studies to reduce emergency room visits and hospitalizations in patients who get the drug early in the course of their disease. It is similar to the treatment that President Trump received, made by the American biotech company Regeneron, which is a cocktail of two antibodies. Regeneron has also applied for emergency authorization.
Mr. Christie disclosed this fall that he had received the Lilly treatment on an emergency basis after he was infected with the virus.
The problem with this new treatment is a limited supply. The United States is set to receive just 300,000 doses in the next two months. Douglas White, a critical care physician and medical ethicist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine told the Washington Post:
“There is a very real concern of inequitable distribution, unless we are very thoughtful about ensuring that facilities to administer the treatment are in disadvantaged communities. We’ve already seen that testing centers for covid are disproportionately in wealthier areas of towns and cities, and that introduces an inequity. If the same thing were to happen with treatment centers with the [monoclonal antibodies], it would be deeply ethically problematic.”
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