Now that coronavirus vaccines from
Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and the team of
BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) have started being distributed, many of our questions on the vaccine race have shifted into those concerning the vaccination challenge. An important one: Just how many people need to be vaccinated and protected against the coronavirus to reach herd immunity? Dr. Bruce Gellin of the Sabin Vaccine Institute joined Olivia Zitkus and Corinne Cardina of Fool.com s Healthcare and Cannabis Bureau on a Dec. 18 episode of
Fool Live to answer this question and more.
Olivia Zitkus: I d love to turn to that timeline and herd immunity idea. Herd immunity is when a critical mass of the population becomes immune to a pathogen. Ideally, through vaccination, not through infection and the spread dies out. I ll start here, if you could predict the timeline for when the US could reach herd immunity, what would be your most optimistic guess for what has to happen to get there?
BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) have commanded coronavirus headlines since their vaccines earned Emergency Use Authorization earlier this month. But there are still other vaccine candidates working their way through clinical trials. Dr. Bruce Gellin of the Sabin Vaccine Institute joined Olivia Zitkus and Corinne Cardina of the Fool.com Healthcare and Cannabis Bureau on a Dec. 18 episode of
Fool Live to talk about the tortoises of the race and what could give them an edge over the hares.
Olivia Zitkus: Beyond these two mRNA vaccines that the FDA advisory committee has reviewed, are there any other candidates now still on trial basis that you find particularly promising? You alluded to a one-dose vaccine earlier in the chat a few minutes ago.
A health care worker holds a Pfizer/BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine.
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
As Covid-19 vaccines go into broad use, some rare side effects of vaccination will almost certainly emerge, like the reports of small numbers of people developing anaphylaxis. But so will medical events whose timing just comes down to random chance and the potential ripple effects of those reports already have experts concerned.
Every single day, people die unexpectedly. They have strokes and heart attacks and seizures. On an average day, 110 people in this country may develop Bell’s palsy, a temporary facial paralysis, and another 274 will develop Guillain-Barré syndrome, a form of paralysis that usually resolves over time. The trigger for these medical events often isn’t known. But when they happen shortly after someone gets a vaccine especially a new one well, conclusions will be drawn.
BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX) team? Is it important that investors keep a close eye on FDA advisory committee meetings as new coronavirus vaccines come up for approval? Dr. Bruce Gellin of the Sabin Vaccine Institute joined Olivia Zitkus and Corinne Cardina of Fool.com s Healthcare and Cannabis Bureau on a Dec. 18 episode of
Fool Live to answer these questions and more.
Olivia Zitkus: I think we re going to start just by talking about some vaccine use from the past two-ish weeks. Just last week, an FDA advisory committee reviewed Pfizer and BioNTech s vaccine candidate, and the FDA granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). Now, frontline healthcare workers have already begin receiving the vaccine this week. Yesterday, the committee reconvened to look at Moderna s vaccine candidate and ultimately they voted to recommend authorizations for this vaccine as well. Last night, the FDA confirmed that it would work toward granting that EUA, which we re expecting some time today hopefully. Of
Dec 28, 2020 at 6:30AM Follow @omzitkus
If you decided to invest in coronavirus vaccine companies in 2020, you ve been in for a wild ride and it s not over yet. Earlier this month, a vaccine from the team of
BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), closely followed by
Moderna s (NASDAQ:MRNA) candidate, officially won the vaccine race when they were authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But many other companies are still working to bring coronavirus vaccines to market, and there are plenty of logistical challenges ahead. Dr. Bruce Gellin, President of Global Immunization at the Sabin Vaccine Institute, joined Corinne Cardina and Olivia Zitkus of Fool.com s Healthcare and Cannabis Bureau on a Dec. 18 episode of