Included in President Joe Biden’s sprawling strategy document for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic are an array of plans intended to ramp up vaccination efforts. Also in the plan are proposals for accelerating the development of therapies such as antiviral compounds effective against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses with pandemic potential. The “full-scale, wartime” plans have considerable relevance…
U.S. government stockpile of COVID-19 vaccines already drained
Last week, President-elect Joe Biden vowed to release COVID-19 vaccine doses from a government stockpile. On Jan. 13, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) echoed that sentiment, stating it would “no longer stockpile millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses held to ensure Americans receive their second shot,” according to a brief notice. But federal…
Biden vows to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine distribution with $1.9T stimulus package
President-elect Joe Biden has announced a proposal for a $1.9 trillion economic rescue package that includes $415 billion to fight the pandemic, including boosting COVID-19 vaccine deployment. Of that latter total, some $20 billion would be invested in a national vaccination program to establish community vaccination centers across the country, including mobile vaccination units in…
HHS chief assures smooth transition to Biden administration, COVID-19 vaccine availability
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar stated on CNN that he has met with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team. “I have already met with the Biden transition team. We want to make sure they get everything that they need,” Azar said in an interview with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota. Azar also noted that he would…
CVS teams up with U.S. government to administer COVID-19 antibody therapy
CVS Health (NYSE:CVS), the parent of the retail pharmacy chain CVS Pharmacy, Aetna and other brands, has committed to partnering with the Trump administration to administer Eli Lilly’s (NYSE:LLY) monoclonal antibody LY-CoV555 (bamlanivimab). The company will administer the intravenous therapy to high-risk patients in their homes or long-term care facilities. In the pilot program, CVS will administer 1,000…
U.S. plans to ship 6.4M COVID-19 vaccine doses to states in mid-December
About 6.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and its partner BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) will ship to U.S. states in mid-December, as long as the vaccine soon receives an FDA EUA. There are also plans to quickly distribute vaccine from rival COVID-19 vaccine developer Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA), which could soon apply for an EUA, officials at the…
HHS offering COVID-19 vaccine supply kits
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced it was gathering supply kits to facilitate a potential mass vaccine effort. FDA has yet to approve a vaccine for COVID-19, and at least five states are planning to require independent verification of vaccines after FDA approval. In the interim, HHS is partnering with…
How much could Operation Warp Speed change pharma, medtech distribution?
A top U.S. Department of Health and Human Services official used an appearance today at a virtual medtech conference to repeat the U.S. government’s astounding goal for its Operation Warp Speed program: start delivering 300 million doses of a safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021. The project could revolutionize not only how pharmaceuticals are…