Times Insider explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together. Last Sunday, the United States reported its 10 millionth case of the coronavirus, with the last million added in the preceding 10 days. Covid-19 hospitalizations hit a new high this …
Read More »How the New Coronavirus Vaccine Might Make You Sick
Photo by Africa Studio / Shutterstock.com This week’s news that a new COVID-19 vaccine may be 90% effective in protecting recipients from the coronavirus disease set off whoops of joy across the nation. But while there is plenty to celebrate about the new preventive developed by Pfizer, there are some …
Read More »Was the Pfizer vaccine part of the government’s Operation Warp Speed?
On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence said on Twitter that the news came “thanks to the public-private partnership forged” by Mr. Trump. In July, Pfizer got a $ 1.95 billion deal with the government’s Operation Warp Speed, the multiagency effort to rush a vaccine to market, to deliver 100 million …
Read More »Who Should Get a Covid-19 Vaccine First?
In the United States, the standard approach to distributing a routine vaccine is based on the assumption that there will be plenty of doses available. Ideally, everyone will then follow their doctors’ recommendations when it comes to being immunized against the germ in question. As a practical matter, though, rarely …
Read More »The Trump Administration Shut a Vaccine Safety Office Last Year. What’s the Plan Now?
As the first coronavirus vaccines arrive in the coming year, government researchers will face a monumental challenge: monitoring the health of hundreds of millions of Americans to ensure the vaccines don’t cause harm. Purely by chance, thousands of vaccinated people will have heart attacks, strokes and other illnesses shortly after …
Read More »Coronavirus Vaccine Makers Are Not Mass-Slaughtering Sharks
Several companies in the race for a coronavirus vaccine have stumbled upon a new and unexpected hurdle: activists protesting the use of a substance that comes from sharks in their products. The oily compound, called squalene, is churned out by shark livers and has immunity-boosting powers, which has led several …
Read More »Biotech Industry Pushes Trump Administration to Release New Vaccine Guidelines
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s recent suggestion that the White House may not approve stricter criteria for the emergency authorization of any coronavirus vaccine is causing growing angst within the biotech industry, whose trade organization is calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to quickly publish the guidelines and make …
Read More »Covid-19 Live Updates: Top White House Official Denies Pressuring F.D.A. on Vaccine Guidelines
A volunteer taking a vaccine as part of a study in Hollywood, Fla., on Thursday.Credit…Marco Bello/Reuters A top Trump official dismisses a report that he pushed the F.D.A. to soften new vaccine guidelines. The White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, dismissed reports that he had pressured the Food and …
Read More »Covid-19 Live Updates: Trump Suggests Vaccine Approval Plans Are Driven by Politics
Here’s what you need to know: Trump suggests that the F.D.A.’s new vaccine approval plans may be driven by politics. Israel will tighten its national lockdown as infection rates soar. The ranks of jobless workers in the U.S. seeking aid rose last week. England finally releases a contact-tracing app. Fears …
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