Day: December 10, 2020

After nine hours of deliberation Thursday, a special panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for emergency use a coronavirus vaccine developed by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. The decision was made as the U.S. continues to confirm record numbers of coronavirus cases. As of Thursday evening, the U.S. had recorded 15.5 million cases and more than 291,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Of the 22 people on the special panel of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 17 voted yes, four voted no and one abstained on the question: “Based on the totality of scientific evidence available, do the benefits of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outweigh its risks for use in individuals 16 years of age and older?” With the recommendation of the emergency use authorization by the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, the FDA will likely give its final consent as early as Friday or Saturday. The U.S. government will immediately ship 6.4 million doses of the vaccine across the country, with front-line health care workers receiving top priority for the first inoculations. The U.S. military will also prioritize its health care workers for its initial allocation of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which will be just less than 44,000 doses.  A Pentagon spokesman told reporters Wednesday that the military will start inoculations “within a day or two” after the FDA approves the emergency use authorization. The vaccinations will be voluntary at first but could become mandatory once the vaccine is fully licensed. Thursday’s meeting was held a day after the United States recorded more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths in a single day for the first time in the nearly yearlong pandemic.   The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has jumped to the front of the line in the global effort to develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Britain became the first Western nation to begin mass inoculations of the drug on Tuesday, just days after the government’s medical regulatory agency approved the drug.  VOA’s Richard Green and Esha Sarai contributed to this report.
 
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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says “vaccine nationalism” is on the rise as wealthier nations line up to buy millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines at the expense of much poorer nations.During a virtual meeting Wednesday with African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat, Guterres called for contributions of $4.2 billion over the next two months for the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX, the joint project between the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, an organization founded by Bill and Melinda Gates to vaccinate children in the world’s poorest countries.     FILE – Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Dec. 7, 2020.Canada approves vaccine
Canada’s national health agency, Health Canada, announced Wednesday it has approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, and Canadians will start receiving it as early as next week. Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Nears Approval for Emergency Use in USFDA publishes documents online confirming vaccine’s effectivenessIn a statement, Health Canada said that it completed a full independent review of the data on the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, after receiving the company’s submission October 9. In its statement, the agency said, “Canadians can feel confident that the review process was rigorous and that we have strong monitoring systems in place.” On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine will arrive at 14 Canadian distribution centers next week, with more than 200,000 doses due before the end of the year. Canada has ordered a total of 6 million doses from Pfizer. Canada becomes the third nation, after Britain and Bahrain, to approve the drug for use.The push to approve and purchase the new vaccines comes as many nations are experiencing a mounting toll of new COVID-19 infections and fatalities on a daily basis. The United States, which leads the world with nearly 290,000 deaths out of more than 15.3 million total cases, set a grim milestone Wednesday with more than 3,000 coronavirus deaths, the highest single-day total in the nearly yearlong pandemic.  US sets new record
The U.S. has also averaged well over 200,000 new cases a day over the past seven days, another record-setting figure.  Japan’s health ministry posted 2,810 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, it’s highest one-day record since the start of the outbreak, including 555 people across the country diagnosed with serious coronavirus symptoms.  Germany’s national disease control and prevention agency, the Robert Koch Institute, posted 23,679 new coronavirus cases over a 24 hour period on Thursday, it’s highest one-day total.  Thursday’s figure includes 440 deaths, one day after posting 590 fatalities, its highest number of COVID-19 deaths in a single day.The worldwide coronavirus death toll remains at more than 1.5 million people out of more than 68.9 million total infections, according to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
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NASA on Wednesday formally introduced 18 astronauts who will take part in the U.S. space agency’s new manned lunar program.Nine men and nine women are the first group of astronauts assigned to the Artemis program, half of whom have already flown into space. Two of the Artemis astronauts, Victor Glover and Kate Rubins, are currently serving on the International Space Station as part of the first full-fledged crew to fly aboard the privately owned SpaceX Crew Dragon.The Artemis astronauts also include Christina Koch and Jessica Meir, who conducted the world’s first all-female spacewalk last year at the ISS.Vice President Mike Pence, who led the introduction ceremony at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, hailed the Artemis astronauts as “the future of American space exploration – and that future is bright.”The first Artemis mission, tentatively scheduled for next year, will be an unmanned test flight of NASA’s powerful new Space Launch System and its deep space Orion capsule, which is designed to transport humans to the Moon and Mars.  If NASA achieves its goal of landing the first Artemis crew on the moon in 2024, it will be the first manned lunar mission since the end of the legendary Apollo program in 1972.
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After more than 15.3 million total infections, the United States is on the verge of obtaining a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.A special panel of the Food and Drug Administration will meet Thursday morning to consider whether to grant emergency use authorization to the new vaccine developed by U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.If the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee recommends the emergency authorization as expected, the FDA will likely give its final consent as early as Friday or Saturday. The federal government will immediately ship 6.4 million doses of the vaccine across the United States, with front-line health care workers receiving top priority for the first inoculations.The U.S. military will also prioritize its health care workers for its initial allocation of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which will be just under 44,000 doses.  A Pentagon spokesperson told reporters Wednesday that the military will start inoculations “within a day or two” after the FDA approves the emergency use authorization. The vaccinations will be voluntary at first, but could become mandatory once the vaccine is fully licensed.Thursday’s meeting is being held a day after the United States recorded more than 3,000 COVID-19 deaths in a single day for the first time in the nearly yearlong pandemic.The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has jumped to the front of the line in the global effort to develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Britain became the first Western nation to begin mass inoculations of the drug on Tuesday, just days after the government’s medical regulatory agency approved the drug.
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SpaceX launched its shiny, bullet-shaped, straight-out-of-science fiction Starship several miles into the air from a remote corner of Texas on Wednesday, but the 6 1/2-minute test flight ended in an explosive fireball at touchdown.It was the highest and most elaborate flight yet for the rocket ship that Elon Musk says could carry people to Mars in as little as six years.This latest prototype — the first one equipped with a nose cone, body flaps and three engines — was shooting for an altitude of up to 12.5 kilometers. That’s almost 100 times higher than previous hops and skimming the stratosphere.Starship seemed to hit the mark or at least come close. There was no immediate word from SpaceX on how high it went.The full-scale, stainless steel model — 50 meters tall and 9 meters in diameter — soared out over the Gulf of Mexico. After about five minutes, it flipped sideways as planned and descended in a free-fall back to the southeastern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. The Raptor engines reignited for braking and the rocket tilted back upright. Upon touching down, however, the rocket ship became engulfed in flames and ruptured, parts scattering.The entire flight — as dramatic and flashy as it gets, even by SpaceX standards — lasted just over six minutes and 40 seconds. SpaceX broadcast the sunset demo live on its website; repeated delays over the past week and a last-second engine abort Tuesday heightened the excitement among space fans.”Awesome test. Congratulations Starship team!” read a scroll across the screen.Musk kept expectations low going into this first high-altitude attempt by Starship, cautioning earlier this week there was “probably” a 1-in-3 chance of complete success.Two lower, shorter test flights earlier this year from Boca Chica, Texas — a quiet coastal village before SpaceX moved in — used more rudimentary versions of Starship. Essentially cylindrical cans with cone tops and single Raptor engines, these early vehicles reached altitudes of 150 meters. An even earlier model, the short and squat Starhopper, made a tiny, tethered hop in 2019, followed by two increasingly higher climbs.  
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