- Governor Newsom relaxed California’s requirements for accelerated reopening. The new criteria focus less on how many deaths a county or municipality have and more on the number of cases. The new criteria will allow for up to 25 cases per 100,000 members of the population and no more than an 8% positive test rate. This was a major sticking point for larger counties as the previous criteria required a county have no deaths before they could reopen. It’s estimated that 53 out of 58 counties could be eligible to accelerate their reopening under these new requirements.
- Drug maker Moderna announced yesterday that its COVID-19 vaccine passed an important test. This early phase included 8 people and results have demonstrated that the vaccine was safe for them and that it produced a strong anti-COVID-19 antibody response. The company then studied those antibodies in the lab and found that they had a neutralizing effect on SARS-CoV-2 in vitro (scientific term for in a test tube). This is a standard approach and generally bodes well for an antibody’s ability to neutralize the virus in vivo (scientific term for in a living organism). Moderna’s approach to vaccines is different. Traditionally a vaccine contains inactivated virus or virus proteins which when injected into the body fool the immune system into thinking a real virus is present. The body then starts making antibodies to the harmless version of the virus. Once antibodies are present, they can mount an effective immune response when exposed to the real thing. Moderna instead uses something called an RNA vaccine. Instead of injecting virus bits or inactivated virus, they inject actual mRNA (genetic material) which codes for specific proteins on or in the virus itself (e.g. spike protein important for viral entry into a human cell). If Moderna had injected DNA into the the body there might be a risk of that DNA disrupting the body’s normal genetic code, but mRNA doesn’t incorporate into our genes, it only gets read to make protein. Once the vaccine mRNA is in the body actually starts creating the protein from the pathogen and expressing it on cell surfaces which is then recognized by memory cells allowing an immune response to a virus that the body has never actually seen. When a real virus invades, the body is ready for it and attacks it before it can do real damage. This type of vaccine has some advantages over traditional vaccines. They can be produced more quickly and more cheaply, they are less dangerous for patients since there’s no virus being used for the immune response and they can be scaled up quickly for mass vaccinations during a pandemic. Moderna plans to move on to their next phase of testing which will be an expansion to around 600 patients. Very good news indeed, but remember it’s still a long way to knowing for sure that this vaccine works and is safe.
- More and more data is showing that we could very effectively control the virus if we quarantined our mouth and nose more effectively. If 80% of the population was fully compliant with wearing masks whenever in public, the data shows we could stop the spread of this virus. This, of course, could have major implications for reopening our society and getting businesses back up and running. For an excellent dive into the importance of masks take a look at this must-read.
CHRIS DAEL 
One reply on “Thoughts on COVID-19 May 19, 2020”
[…] heels is the Moderna vaccine which is a genetic vaccine (the mechanism was discussed in an earlier post). Moderna expects to have a large scale Phase III trial underway in July. If these vaccines make it […]
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