Experimental COVID-19 vaccine is put to its biggest test

The biggest test yet of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine got underway
Monday with the first of some 30,000 Americans rolling up their sleeves
to receive shots created by the U.S. government as part of the all-out
global race to stop the pandemic.

The glimmer of hope came even as
Google, in one of the gloomiest assessments of the coronavirus’s
staying power from a major employer, decreed that most of its 200,000
employees and contractors should work from home through next June — a
decision that could influence other big companies.

Final-stage
testing of the vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health
and Moderna Inc., began with volunteers at numerous sites around the
U.S. given either a real dose or a dummy without being told which.

“I’m
excited to be part of something like this. This is huge,” said Melissa
Harting, a 36-year-old nurse who received an injection in Binghamton,
New York. Especially with family members in front-line jobs that could
expose them to the virus, she added, “doing our part to eradicate it is
very important to me.”

Another company, Pfizer Inc., announced
late Monday that it had started its own study of its vaccine candidate
in the U.S. and elsewhere. That study also aimed to recruit 30,000
people.

It will be months before results trickle in, and there is
no guarantee the vaccines will ultimately work against the scourge that
has killed over 650,000 people around the world, including almost
150,000 in the U.S.

“We’ve been sitting on the sidelines
passively attempting to wear our masks and social distance and not go
out when it’s not necessary. This is the first step of becoming active
against this,” said Dr. Frank Eder of Meridian Clinical Research, the
company that runs the Binghamton trial site. “There’s really no other
way to get past this.”

As if to underline how high the stakes are, there were more setbacks in efforts to contain the coronavirus.

In Washington, the Trump administration disclosed that national security adviser Robert O’Brien
has the virus — the highest-ranking U.S. official to test positive so
far. The White House said he has mild symptoms and “has been
self-isolating and working from a secure location off site.”

The move to restart the national pastime ran into trouble just five days into the long-delayed season: Two major league baseball
games scheduled for Monday night were called off as the Miami Marlins
coped with an outbreak — the Marlins’ home opener against the Baltimore
Orioles, and the New York Yankees’ game in Philadelphia, where the
Marlins used the clubhouse over the weekend.

As for relief from the economic damage done by the virus, Republicans on Capitol Hill rolled out a $1 trillion package
that includes another round of $1,200 direct payments but reduces the
extra $600 a week in federal unemployment benefits that expire for
millions of Americans on Friday. Republicans proposed $200 a week,
saying the generous bump discourages people from returning to work.
Democrats call the added benefits a lifeline for those who have lost
their jobs.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House
chief of staff Mark Meadows worked through the weekend on the GOP
proposal and have agreed to negotiate with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer. House Democrats passed a $3
trillion relief package a couple of months ago.

In Europe, rising
infections in Spain and other countries caused alarm only weeks after
nations reopened their borders in hopes of reviving tourism.
Over the weekend, Britain imposed a 14-day quarantine on travelers
arriving from Spain, Norway ordered a 10-day quarantine for people
returning from the entire Iberian peninsula, and France urged its
citizens not to visit Spain’s Catalonia region.

Scientists set
speed records getting vaccines into massive testing just months after
the coronavirus emerged. But they stressed that the public shouldn’t fear that anyone is cutting corners.

“This
is a significant milestone,” NIH Director Francis Collins said after
the first test injection of Moderna’s vaccine was given, at 6:45 a.m. in
Savannah, Georgia. “Yes, we’re going fast, but no, we are not going to
compromise” on proving whether the vaccine is safe and effective.

“We are focusing on speed because every day matters,” added Stephane Bancel, CEO of Massachusetts-based Moderna.

After
volunteers get two doses a month apart, scientists will closely track
which group experiences more infections as they go about their daily
routines, especially in areas where the virus is spreading unchecked.

The answer probably won’t come until November or December, cautioned Dr. Anthony Fauci, NIH’s infectious-diseases chief.

Among
many questions the study may answer: How much protection does just one
dose offer compared with the two scientists think are needed? If it
works, will it protect against severe disease or block infection
entirely?

Don’t expect a vaccine as strong as the measles vaccine,
which prevents about 97% of measles infections, Fauci said, adding he
would be happy with a COVID-19 vaccine that’s 60% effective.

Several
other vaccines made by China and by Britain’s Oxford University began
smaller final-stage tests in Brazil and other hard-hit countries earlier
this month. But the U.S. requires its own tests of any vaccine that
might be used in the country.

Every month through the fall, the
government-funded COVID-19 Prevention Network will roll out a new study
of a leading candidate, each with 30,000 volunteers.

The final
U.S. study of the Oxford shot is set to begin in August, followed by a
candidate from Johnson & Johnson in September and one from Novavax
in October.

That’s a stunning number of people needed to roll up
their sleeves for science. In recent weeks, more than 150,000 Americans
filled out an online registry signaling interest, Collins said. But many
more are needed.

NIH is working to make sure that the study isn’t
just filled with healthy, younger volunteers but includes populations
hit hardest by COVID-19, including older adults, those in poor health
and African-Americans and Latinos.

“We really are going to depend
upon that sense of volunteerism for individuals from every different
corner of society if we’re going to really find out how this vaccine,
and its potential to end this terrible pandemic, is go to work in each
of those groups,” Collins said.