Tag: Covid

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Honeywell CEO on mass Covid vaccination website in North Carolina

Honeywell CEO on mass Covid vaccination site in North Carolina

More than 20,000 people were vaccinated against Covid-19 last weekend at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The idea for the three-day event came during a humble walk, according to Darius Adamczyk, CEO of Honeywell International.

“In the Covid era, one of the more social things you can still do is go for a walk outside with some of your friends,” Adamczyk said on Squawk Box on Tuesday. One weekend, Adamczyk said he was walking with Carolina Panthers President Tom Glick and Atrium Health CEO Gene Woods, who both live in his neighborhood.

The men discussed the introduction of Covid vaccinations in the US, which started more slowly than expected from mid-December, Adamczyk recalled. “We said, ‘You know, maybe we could help here. Maybe we could work together as a team.'”

Atrium Health, as a non-profit healthcare system with 42 hospitals, could of course direct the actual administration of the vaccines, Adamczyk said. The Panthers are now well experienced in handling large crowds at Bank of America Stadium, where David Tepper’s NFL franchise plays its home games.

Honeywell could bring its logistics and sales expertise, as well as its technological capabilities, to the table more broadly, Adamczyk said. Put all three Charlotte-based organizations together, he said, and “we think we can do something really different.”

“I have to thank our mayor, [Vi Alexander Lyles,] thank our governor, [Roy Cooper,] for actually shooting ourselves because it could have been a disaster, “said Adamczyk. But it turned out to be a success, he said.

The goal was to deliver 19,000 vaccines at the stadium event, a spokesman for Atrium Health told CNBC. In the end, more than 20,000 were administered. The week before, Honeywell, Atrium Health, and Tepper Sports & Entertainment, the company that holds Tepper’s ownership of the Panthers, also worked together on a vaccination site at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where more than 15,000 shots were fired.

The pace of vaccinations in the US has improved in recent weeks and the number of doses given now exceeds the number of confirmed Covid cases since the pandemic began. As of Monday, a total of 32.8 million doses had been administered, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including just over 6 million Americans who both received two-dose vaccinations. 26.4 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the United States, data from Johns Hopkins University shows.

The event at Bank of America Stadium was vaccinated every 4.5 seconds on average, Adamczyk said. “The other statistic that I think is really important here is that 30% are from communities of colored people.”

“We did it in three days – Friday, Saturday, Sunday,” he added. “Twelve hours a day, 20,000 people. See if we could do it and set up 50 or 100 such locations across the country.”

Adamczyk acknowledged that vaccine supply restrictions may currently prohibit this vision, but was confident that those restrictions would ease in the coming weeks and months.

“Ultimately, this becomes a queuing problem, and the right and most efficient way to solve the queuing problem is to have very large, very efficient distribution centers that are all over the country, across the states, and very quickly take them in the arms of the people, “said Adamczyk.

“We have to get back to life, we have to go back to good economic times and the fastest way the economy can recover is to get people vaccinated,” he added.

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GOP senator says Covid reduction ‘determine shouldn’t be foreordained’ after Biden assembly

GOP senator says Covid relief ‘figure should not be foreordained’ after Biden meeting

Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy suggested that the Covid relief figure should not be “predetermined” and based on data shortly after his meeting with President Joe Biden.

“If we are driven by data, we will get the right number,” Cassidy told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” during an interview Monday night. “That number shouldn’t be predetermined.”

Biden had a face-to-face meeting with 10 Republican senators, including Cassidy, on Monday. GOP Senators have introduced a $ 618 billion bailout bill, less than a third the price of Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion bailout.

The direct payments are lower, and those payments expire at a lower income threshold of $ 40,000 for individuals. There is also no funding for state and local governments, which was a major sticking point for Democrats.

Republicans have advocated a “targeted approach” when it comes to relief. Cassidy told host Shepard Smith that he was “a great advocate for state and local aid” but “needs to have data”.

“The Republicans offered something a little more focused, but another thing they have in common is that it’s data,” Cassidy said. “What does the data show that we need? And the president will have his staff come back to us and we will compare our data points.”

If 10 Republican Senators join the Democrats on an aid package from Covid, they would overcome the filibuster.

Cassidy told host Shepard Smith that after meeting Biden, Americans should be “more optimistic” about a two-party deal, but noted that “nothing is guaranteed in this process, as our founding fathers set it up”.

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Physician predicts one other Covid surge amid presence of latest variants

Doctor predicts another Covid surge amid presence of new variants

Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, medical director of the Special Pathogens Unit at Boston Medical Center, told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that she expects Covid infections to rise further as the new variants of the virus emerge in the US

“If I run into someone who has any of these variants, the more likely I will get the infection from them, and then again, much more likely that I will transmit it, which means we may have a lot.” more infections, “said Bhadelia during an interview on Monday evening.” And so you could see more infections in February, which then lead to more hospitalizations and deaths in March. “

The director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Monday that the dangerous new variants of Covid “remain a major problem” even though cases are falling across the country. At least 32 states have reported cases of new strains of Covid discovered in the UK, Brazil and South Africa, according to the CDC. Health officials in Maryland reported the first case of the South African variant by the state over the weekend, making it the third known case of the strain in the United States

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday that vaccines are the best way to tackle the variants.

“Viruses can’t mutate if they can’t duplicate,” said Fauci.

Bhadelia, a medical worker for NBC News, said that while the vaccines are less effective than the new variants, they can protect people from more severe cases of the virus and overwhelming health systems.

“After 49 days, Johnson & Johnson still has 100% protection, 100% protection from major illness and hospitalization,” said Bhadelia. “Any vaccine that turns a disease from fatal to mild will keep people out of hospitals.”

The US vaccination efforts are slowly picking up speed, according to the CDC. In the past seven days, the number of people fully vaccinated in the US has increased 79%, and as of January 31, approximately 1.8% of all Americans were vaccinated.

In addition to vaccinations, the Biden government is working to make home testing more widely available to help slow the spread of Covid. Andy Slavitt, Senior Advisor to the White House’s Covid-19 Response Team, announced Monday that the country’s first over-the-counter Covid test at home will be available soon. “The test is conducted by a company called Ellume and is on a test platform developed as part of the NIH RADx initiative,” he said.

Bhadelia told host Shepard Smith that readily available rapid tests could have a significant impact in fighting the virus.

“People can be clear about whether or not they will get infected, and they could stay home, hopefully not travel, and all of these are ways we could prevent one person from transmitting to another,” Bhadelia said . “I think it will make a difference.”

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Andrew Brooks, Who Developed a Covid Spit Check, Dies at 51

Andrew Brooks, Who Developed a Covid Spit Test, Dies at 51

After four years at the University of Rochester Medical Center, he returned to New Jersey to accept a position at Rutgers, and in 2009 joined the Cell and DNA Repository, a university-owned company that provides data management and analysis for biological research.

Updated

Jan. 31, 2021, 9:01 p.m. ET

Dr. Brooks was named the company’s chief operating officer, finding he had a flair for the business side of science. He expanded the company from just a few dozen employees to almost 250 and worked with almost all large pharmaceutical companies, among others.

The coronavirus outbreak>

Things to know about testing

Confused by Coronavirus Testing Conditions? Let us help:

    • antibody: A protein produced by the immune system that can recognize and attach to certain types of viruses, bacteria or other invaders.
    • Antibody test / serology test: A test that detects antibodies specific to the coronavirus. About a week after the coronavirus infects the body, antibodies start appearing in the blood. Because antibodies take so long to develop, an antibody test cannot reliably diagnose an ongoing infection. However, it can identify people who have been exposed to the coronavirus in the past.
    • Antigen test: This test detects parts of coronavirus proteins called antigens. Antigen tests are quick and only take five minutes. However, they are less accurate than tests that detect genetic material from the virus.
    • Coronavirus: Any virus that belongs to the Orthocoronavirinae virus family. The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is known as SARS-CoV-2.
    • Covid19: The disease caused by the new coronavirus. The name stands for Coronavirus Disease 2019.
    • Isolation and quarantine: Isolation is separating people who know they have a contagious disease from those who are not sick. Quarantine refers to restricting the movement of people who have been exposed to a virus.
    • Nasopharyngeal smear: A long, flexible stick with a soft swab that is inserted deep into the nose to collect samples from the space where the nasal cavity meets the throat. Samples for coronavirus tests can also be obtained with swabs that do not go as deep into the nose – sometimes called nasal swabs – or with mouth or throat swabs.
    • Polymerase chain reaction (PCR): Scientists use PCR to make millions of copies of genetic material in a sample. With the help of PCR tests, researchers can detect the coronavirus even when it is scarce.
    • Viral load: The amount of virus in a person’s body. In people infected with the coronavirus, viral loads can peak before symptoms, if any.

“Most of the scientists I meet are not or otherwise interested in commercializing their activities,” said Dr. Jay Tischfield, Rutgers Professor and Executive Director of the Repository. “Andy understood that if you want something to come out and be used, you have to be a gamer. You can’t rely on other people. “

In 2018, the company, previously known as Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository Infinite Biologics, decided with Dr. Brooks to go private as the new managing director. The university agreed, but held a significant stake in the new company called Infinity Biologix.

The resources and experience he gained in the repository made it Dr. Brooks was relatively easy to develop the Covid spit test, which he conducted in collaboration with two other companies, Spectrum Solutions and Accurate Diagnostics Labs.

Dr. Brooks was used to doing genetic testing through saliva, and Dr. Tischfield said “it wasn’t rocket science” to adapt these techniques to extract RNA from the coronavirus. The company even had thousands of tubes that could be used to collect samples.

After the FDA granted approval, Dr. Brooks faces another challenge: scaling. He immediately needed significantly more equipment and personnel to create the tests and process the results. A cheap call from the White House for help and a call from Dr. Multi-million dollar loan arranged by Tischfield allowed the company to quickly add additional analytical equipment and nearly double its workforce almost overnight.

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Former Biden Covid advisor warns of coming surge in Covid instances

Former Biden Covid advisor warns of coming surge in Covid cases

Dr. Michael Osterholm, Regent Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair of Public Health and Director of the Center for Research and Policy on Infectious Diseases at the University of Minnesota, announced advances on COVID-19 testing in Minnesota at St. Paul, MN.

Glen Stubbe | Star Tribune | Getty Images

An epidemiologist who advised President Joe Biden’s transition to the Covid-19 crisis warned on Sunday of an impending wave of infections and said the US should adjust its vaccination strategy to save lives.

“We have to give an acoustic signal, I think there is no doubt about it,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm on NBC’s “Meet the Press”. He used a metaphor from soccer to describe the changing plans on the fly.

Osterholm said the administration should try to give as many initial vaccine doses as possible, especially for those over 65 years of age, before there can be a potential spike in cases related to mutations overseas.

The two federally approved vaccines are given in two doses three weeks apart. Osterholm suggested that his plan might require delaying the second dose.

“The fact is the surge that is likely to occur with this new variant from England is going to happen in the next six to 14 weeks. And when we see that, my 45 years in the trenches tell me we’re going to do it, We’re going to see something like we’ve never seen in this country, “said Osterholm.

“We still want to get two doses each, but I think right now, before this surge, we need to get as many doses as possible in as many people over 65 as possible to reduce serious illnesses and deaths in the coming weeks,” added Osterholm added. He said that data supports the idea that those who get their second dose later might get better results.

The variant of coronavirus first identified in the UK has been linked to faster transmission and can be more deadly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that the variant could be the dominant strain in the US by March.

Osterholm is the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. He was a member of the Covid-19 Advisory Board of the Biden transition team, which disbanded when Biden was inaugurated earlier this month.

The White House did not return a request for comment on Osterholm’s remarks on Sunday.

The number of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations every day has fallen sharply in recent weeks, although the total remains high. The monthly death toll from the virus hit a record high in January.

The United States has an average of more than 3,000 deaths from the virus and more than 150,000 infections every day, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

Osterholm suggested that the decreasing number of cases and hospitalizations could create a false sense of security and that these numbers would rise again if communicable mutations became more prevalent across the country.

“You and I are sitting on this beach, which is 70 degrees, perfectly blue skies, light breezes, but I see this hurricane – Category 5 or higher – 450 miles offshore,” Osterholm told host Chuck Todd. “Telling people to evacuate on the beautiful blue-sky day will be difficult. But I can also tell you the hurricane is coming.”

The federal vaccine rollout, which got off to a rocky start, has accelerated in recent weeks. Nearly 25 million people have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to CDC data, with around 5 million receiving both doses. Biden has pledged to meet a goal of 100 million doses administered within its first 100 days.

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Republican senators current smaller Covid proposal

Republican senators present smaller Covid proposal

Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, listens during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Iran-US relations on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, the United States, on Wednesday, October 16, 2019.

Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images

WASHINGTON – A group of 10 Republican Senators urged President Joe Biden to consider a smaller, alternative proposal for Covid-19 aid as his administration works to pass a $ 1.9 trillion package, to deal with the economic consequences caused by the pandemic.

In a letter to Biden on Sunday, Sens. Susan Collins from Maine, Mitt Romney from Utah, Rob Portman from Ohio, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska and five other lawmakers said they would announce their legislative proposals on Monday.

“We recognize your demands for unity and would like to work in good faith with your administration to meet the health, economic and social challenges of the Covid crisis,” wrote the senators.

“We believe that with your support, Congress can once again work out a relief package that will provide meaningful and effective relief to the American people and get us on the road to recovery,” the group wrote, asking to meet with Biden on the subject to discuss the proposed law in detail.

The senators said their version of the Covid relief package is “providing more targeted assistance” to Americans in greatest need. The proposed legislation provides a total of $ 160 billion for vaccine development and distribution, testing and tracking, treatment, and other vital supplies.

The senators set the following details of their plan:

  • An additional round of economic impact payments for families in need of help most, including their dependent children and adults.
  • Extends the federal government’s improved unemployment benefits to the current level.
  • Funds food aid entirely to help families in trouble.
  • Additional resources to support small businesses and their employees through the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program.
  • Funds funds for the safe opening of schools and for childcare.
  • Dedicated $ 4 billion to strengthen behavioral health and substance abuse services.

On Sunday, Portman told CNN’s State of the Union that the proposal would be a leaner version of what was put forward by the Biden administration.

“It would be less than $ 1.9 [trillion] Because a lot of what the government has planned has nothing to do with Covid-19, “Portman said.” As an example of the direct payments, we think they should be much more targeted, “he added.

Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, told MSNBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that the White House had received the letter and was open to discussing the proposed legislation.

“The president has said repeatedly that he is open to ideas wherever they may come to improve the approach to actually dealing with this crisis. What he is uncompromising is the need to quickly take a comprehensive approach here,” Deese said .

“We have been working with members of Congress from both parties and in both Houses for the past week or two. We will continue to do so,” he added.

Deese also told CNN’s State of the Union that the government was ready to negotiate the stimulus checks.

CNBC’s Tucker Higgins and Emma Newburger contributed to this report from New York.

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Maryland confirms case of South African Covid variant that is extra infectious

Maryland confirms case of South African Covid variant that's more infectious

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan will hold a press conference on November 17th in Annapolis, MD to discuss COVID-19 concerns.

Bill O’Leary | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Maryland has reported a case of the new, highly transmittable variant of Covid-19, which was first found in South Africa. This is the third case discovered in the United States, Governor Larry Hogan announced on Saturday.

The case involves an adult resident who lives in the Baltimore area and has not taken any international travel in the past. Maryland health officials and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed this.

“We strongly encourage Marylanders to exercise particular caution to limit the additional risk of transmission associated with this variant,” said Hogan. “Please continue to practice normal health and safety precautions, including wearing masks, regular hand washing, and physical distancing.”

The first two U.S. cases of the South African variant, known as B.1.351, were identified in South Carolina on January 28. Other variants found in the US come from the UK and Brazil.

The variants do not appear to cause more serious illness or an increased risk of death, but are considered highly contagious. Health officials are particularly concerned about variant B.1.351 as preliminary research suggests that vaccines may be less effective at controlling it.

President Joe Biden signed a travel ban last week on most non-US citizens who recently entered South Africa and re-introduced travel restrictions on non-US citizens from the UK and Brazil.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the virus has infected more than 25.9 million people and killed at least 436,000 people in the United States since the pandemic began.

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Proof Builds That Pregnant Girls Cross Covid Antibodies to Newborns

Evidence Builds That Pregnant Women Pass Covid Antibodies to Newborns

One of the many big questions scientists are trying to unravel is whether people who receive Covid-19 while pregnant pass natural immunity to their newborns.

Recent studies have indicated that this could be the case. New findings published in JAMA Pediatrics magazine on Friday are another piece of the puzzle that provides more evidence that Covid-19 antibodies can cross the placenta.

“What we found agrees pretty well with what we learned from studies with other viruses,” said Scott E. Hensley, associate professor of microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a leading author of the study.

In addition, the study suggests that women not only transfer antibodies to their fetuses, but also transfer more antibodies to their babies if they are infected earlier in pregnancy. This could have an impact on when women should be vaccinated against Covid-19, said Dr. Hensley, adding that vaccinating women earlier in pregnancy could provide more protective benefits, “but studies that actually analyze vaccination in pregnant women need to be completed.”

In the study, researchers from Pennsylvania tested more than 1,500 women who gave birth at the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia between April and August last year. Of these, 83 women had Covid-19 antibodies – and after birth, 72 of these babies tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies through their umbilical cord blood, regardless of whether their mothers had symptoms.

According to Dr. Karen Puopolo, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the study’s lead authors, found that about half of these babies had antibody levels that were as high or higher than those found in their mother’s blood, and about a quarter of the cases were Antibody levels in umbilical cord blood 1.5 to 2 times higher than the concentrations in the mother.

“That’s pretty efficient,” said Dr. Puopolo.

The researchers also observed that the longer the time span between a pregnant woman’s onset of Covid-19 infection and her delivery, the more antibodies were transferred, a finding noted elsewhere.

Updated

Jan. 30, 2021, 1:12 p.m. ET

The antibodies that crossed the placenta were immunoglobulin G or IgG antibodies made a few days after infection and believed to provide long-term protection against the coronavirus.

None of the babies in this study were found to have immunoglobulin M or IgM antibodies, which are typically not detected until soon after infection, suggesting that the babies were not infected with the coronavirus.

Experts don’t yet know if the amount of antibodies passed on to the babies was enough to prevent newborns from getting Covid-19. And because only some of the babies in the study were born prematurely, the researchers can’t say whether premature babies might miss these protective antibodies. The study’s authors also noted that the findings needed further replication as their findings only came from one facility.

The placenta is a complex and under-studied organ, said Dr. Denise Jamieson, an obstetrician at Emory University in Atlanta and a member of the Covid Expert Group at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists who was not involved in the organ study.

More research is needed to better understand whether antibodies generated by vaccines behave similarly to antibodies against Covid-19 infections, said Dr. Andrea G. Edlow, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School.

In a study published in Cell in December, Dr. For example, Edlow and her colleagues found that Covid-19 antibodies, due to a natural infection, may cross the placenta less efficiently than antibodies produced after vaccination against flu and whooping cough (pertussis). .

“What we really want to know is that antibodies from the vaccine efficiently cross the placenta and protect the baby as we know it to do with influenza and pertussis,” said Dr. Jamieson.

Experts don’t know if the Covid vaccine works this way, partly because pregnant women were excluded from the initial clinical trials.

“It is plausible that the Covid vaccine will offer protection to both pregnant mothers and their infants,” said Dr. Mark Turrentine, member of the Covid expert group at ACOG. “For me,” he added, “this study highlights the inclusion of pregnant women. Women in clinical trials such as the Covid-19 vaccine are critical, especially when the benefits of vaccination outweigh the potential risk of life-threatening illness. “

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AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid vaccine authorised to be used by European regulator

AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid vaccine approved for use by European regulator

Head nurse Sam Foster is holding a vial of Oxford University / AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on January 4, 2021 at Churchill Hospital in Oxford, South West England.

Steve Parsons | AFP | Getty Images

LONDON – The coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University has been approved by the European Medicines Agency, the European Medicines Agency.

The EMA said on Friday that it had assessed the safety and effectiveness of the Covid vaccine and recommended that the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, give formal conditional marketing authorization.

It also said the shot would likely work in the elderly after a German vaccine committee recommended Thursday not to give the vaccine to those over 65.

“With this third positive opinion, we have further expanded the arsenal of vaccines available to EU and EEA member states to fight the pandemic and protect their citizens,” said Emer Cooke, Executive Director of EMA, in a statement on Friday.

“As in previous cases, the CHMP has rigorously evaluated this vaccine and the scientific basis of our work underpins our firm commitment to protecting the health of EU citizens,” said Cooke, referring to the EMA’s Committee on Medicinal Products for Human Use.

The vaccine is already being used in the UK, having received approval in late December, and now, along with the Pfizer BioNTech shot, which has already been approved for use in the UK, makes up most of the EU shocks administered in the country.

Approval comes at a difficult time for the EU as the vaccination program is at best sluggish and very prone to supply shortages.

He has been dealt two blows in the past few weeks, one from Pfizer, who announced that it would temporarily cut production while improving production capacity at its Belgian facility. Then last Friday it was reported that AstraZeneca would deliver far fewer cans to the block than originally expected due to production problems at its plants in the Netherlands and Belgium this spring.

The delays have sparked a crisis in the EU which has announced it will curb exports of coronavirus vaccines from the bloc to give citizens priority. These controls are expected to last until March.

On Wednesday, the EU called on AstraZeneca to do whatever it takes to deliver its agreement to supply millions of coronavirus vaccines, suggesting that the company is diverting some supplies from its UK manufacturing facilities to the EU.

German doubt

On Thursday, doubts arose about the possible approval of AstraZeneca’s vaccine after the German vaccine committee recommended that the vaccine only be offered to people between the ages of 18 and 64.

This is due to the fact that there is insufficient data to assess the effectiveness in people over 65 years of age.

Older study participants were later admitted to phase 3 clinical trials with the AstraZeneca shot, which took place in the UK and Brazil and earlier in South Africa. As a result, there are fewer data on effectiveness in those over 65.

AstraZeneca said this data would be collected when its study results were published in the medical journal The Lancet in December: “As older age groups were recruited later than younger age groups, there was less time to collect cases and, consequently, efficacy data in these cohorts The number of cases is currently limited, but additional data will be available in future analyzes, “it said.

On Friday when the AstraZeneca approval was announced, the EMA announced that older participants (over 55 years of age) had not yet had enough results to establish a number for the vaccine’s effectiveness in this group. However, it states that “protection is expected because an immune response is observed in this age group and is based on experience with other vaccines”.

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Pregnant Girls Might Obtain Covid Vaccines Safely, W.H.O. Says

Pregnant Women May Receive Covid Vaccines Safely, W.H.O. Says

The World Health Organization on Friday changed its guidelines for pregnant women considering a Covid-19 vaccine and abandoned opposition to immunization for most expectant mothers unless they were at high risk.

The change came after an outcry from WHO’s previous stance that the organization “did not recommend vaccinating pregnant women with the vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna”.

Several experts expressed their disappointment with the WHO’s earlier position on Thursday. The experts found that this was inconsistent with the guidelines of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the same topic and would confuse pregnant women who are looking for clear advice.

The vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have not been tested on pregnant women, but have not shown any harmful effects in animal studies. According to experts, the technology used in the vaccines is generally known to be safe.

The WHO’s new wording reflects this information:

“Based on what we know about this type of vaccine, we have no particular reason to believe that there are any specific risks that would outweigh the benefits of vaccination for pregnant women.” The recommendation is now closely aligned with the position of the CDC.

Experts praised the postponement and welcomed the agreement between the world’s leading public health organizations on this important issue.

“I was very pleased to see that WHO has changed its guidelines for offering the Covid-19 vaccine to pregnant women,” said Dr. Denise Jamieson, an obstetrician at Emory University and a member of the Covid Expert Group at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The association was among the many women’s health organizations that urged Pfizer and Moderna to speed up vaccine testing in pregnant women.

“The WHO’s more permissive language is an important opportunity for pregnant women to get vaccinated and protect themselves from the serious risks of Covid-19,” said Dr. Jamieson. “This impressively rapid overhaul by WHO is good news for pregnant women and their babies.”

Pregnant women have traditionally been excluded from clinical trials, so there is a lack of scientific data on the safety of drugs and vaccines in women and their unborn children. Vaccines are generally considered safe, and pregnant women have been encouraged to get immunized against influenza and other diseases since the 1960s, even though rigorous clinical studies have not been conducted to test them.

Pfizer will test its vaccine in pregnant women over the next few months, according to a company spokeswoman. And Moderna plans to set up a registry to monitor side effects in women who have been immunized with the vaccine.