The IMF now expects Vietnam to have 2.4% GDP growth in 2020 and 6.4% in 2021 while the world will average -4.4% GDP in 2020 and could bounce back 5% in 2021. The world would normally see 3-4% GDP growth in each year. 2020-2021 will the world miss the 8% GDP expected over the two …
Moderna, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNA) reported the results of its Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273 has met the statistical criteria pre-specified in the study protocol for efficacy, with a vaccine efficacy of 94.5%. A secondary endpoint analyzed severe cases of COVID-19 and included 11 severe cases (as defined in the study protocol) in this first interim …
U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for Eli Lilly & Companies investigational monoclonal antibody therapy bamlanivimab for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adult and pediatric patients. Bamlanivimab is authorized for patients with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing who are 12 years of age and older weighing at …
Three drugs out of 4000 existing drugs were identified as possibly effective against COVID. They are candidates for clinical trials. They are the antimalarial drug amodiaquine, the anti-psychotic zuclopenthixol, and the blood pressure medication nebivolol. University of New Mexico researcher Oprea and his team published in ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science, reported that an older …
Dr. David Nabarro, World Health Organization special envoy on COVID, is arguing for the middle way to have robust defenses against the virus without using lockdowns as the primary control method. Nabarro says “The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganize, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your …
There are four vaccines that are in phase 3 clinical trials in the USA. They are * BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines * Moderna * Johnson & Johnson viral vector vaccine. * Oxford/AstraZeneca viral vector vaccine A fifth vaccine should start US trials in October. * Novavax The two current leaders are Pfizer and Moderna. The CEO of …
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve published results of a survey of 35 economic forecasters on August 14, 2020. They predicted the US economy would expand at an annual rate of 19.1 percent in the third quarter. This was almost double the prediction of 10.6 percent from the last survey. The forecasters expected real GDP to decrease …
Oak Ridge National Laboratory supercomputer modeling analysis suggests COVID-19 causes the inflammatory molecule bradykinin to run amuck in the human body. The Bradykinin storm cause gel to form in the lungs and the blood vessels to leak. The same analysis identifies about ten interventions to reduce the severity of COVID-19. An easy precaution is to …
Various companies will be making card-based COVID-19 tests. These will be simple to use and will be similar to some home pregnancy tests. They will eventually be usable at home but will be usable at schools in the next couple of months. The US government has bought the initial supplies for testing at nursing homes. …
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, reports that the first generation of COVID-19 vaccines will give people who have vaccinated a 50% lower chance of getting infected than somebody who hasn’t been vaccinated. US Operation Warp Speed is giving billions to private pharma companies to try to …
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for investigational convalescent plasma for the treatment of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients. The tests on 70,000 people suggest that the blood transfusion can reduced COVID-19 mortality by 35%. This procedure is transferring antibodies in the blood of people who were infected with COVID-19 …