Covid-19 Vaccine Development

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US charges Chinese Covid-19 research 'cyber-spies'

The US justice department has accused China of sponsoring hackers who are targeting labs developing Covid-19 vaccines.

Officials have charged two Chinese men who allegedly spied on US companies doing coronavirus research and got help from state agents for other thefts.

The indictment comes amid a US crackdown on Chinese cyber espionage.

The UK, US and Canada last week accused Russia of seeking to steal research related to Covid-19.

The accusations against former electrical engineering students Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi released on Tuesday include charges of trade secret theft and wire fraud conspiracy.

What are the accusations?
Prosecutors said the two men spied on a Massachusetts biotech firm in January which was known to be researching possible cures for Covid-19. They also hacked a Maryland company less than a week after it said it was researching Covid-19.

Officials called the men private hackers who occasionally received support from Chinese intelligence agents, including an officer from the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS).

_113567744_776749b0-3675-4b04-9e10-c04706c3a8a6.jpg
Image copyrightFBI
Image captionLi Xiaoyu (left) and Dong Jiazhi
They previously stole "hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of trade secrets, intellectual property, and other valuable business information" beginning in 2009, prosecutors alleged.

The indictment unsealed in Washington state said the two men - who reside in China - recently "researched vulnerabilities in the networks of biotech and other firms publicly known for work on Covid-19 vaccines, treatments, and testing technology".

Countries where firms were targeted include Australia, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

According to the indictment, the hackers were able to infiltrate a British artificial intelligence firm, a Spanish defence contractor, and a Australian solar energy company.

More at link.
 
Confusion spreads over selection of priority groups for Covid-19 vaccines

As manufacturers around the world race to develop Covid-19 vaccines, a parallel effort has begun to figure out who in the United States should get them first — and how those doses should be distributed.

But already the effort is being complicated by tensions over who gets to make those critical decisions, with some groups feeling sidelined and multiple new actors crowding the stage.

On Tuesday, the National Academy of Medicine, tasked by top U.S. health officials, named an expert panel to develop a framework to determine who should be vaccinated first, when available doses are expected to be scarce. But that panel is ostensibly encroaching on the role of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel that has made recommendations on vaccination policy to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for decades, including drawing up the vaccination priority list during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic.

Related:
In unusual arrangement, deputy HHS secretary’s wife has been lobbying the agency on behalf of health care companies
There is also the matter of Operation Warp Speed, the government’s vaccine fast-tracking program that has claimed authority over, among other things, distribution decisions when it comes to Covid-19 vaccines.

Amid so many players, public health experts are expressing concern and confusion.

More at link
 
Either North Korea has more than one case of covid already. Or they have been prepping for a while.


If North Korea’s State Commission of Science and Technology is to be believed, clinical trials for the country’s domestic vaccine candidate are already underway.
And a debate is now happening about how to proceed with the third phase, which involves human testing.
To the outside world, the claim could appear dubious.
https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/heal...ne-race-even-though-it-has-no-cases-c-1181383


The Indian government sent $1 million worth of anti-tuberculosis medicine to North Korea per a request from the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a press release issued by the Indian embassy in Pyongyang on Wednesday.
India sends $1 million worth of anti-tuberculosis medicine to North Korea | NK News

As a possible link to the above:
Tuberculosis drug could be Covid-19 silver bullet


This could mean that China has more covid cases than we are aware of:
As of July 9, the DPRK “has tested 1,117 people for COVID-19. All tested negative,” Salvador stated, adding that North Korea continues to give the organization weekly updates on issues regarding the pandemic. “Currently 610 people, all nationals, are under quarantine.”
Salvador stated that those under quarantine are “laborers and loaders” working at the Nampho seaport and the China-North Korea border at Sinuiju and Dandong.
North Korea conducted more than 1,000 COVID-19 tests: All results 'negative' | NK News


Mr Kim recently went 20 days without appearing in public, and missed the celebration of his grandfather's birthday - one of the biggest events of the year.
The lawmaker (Kim Byung-kee) said the North Korean leader's absence could have been down to a Covid-19 outbreak that the authorities in Pyongyang had not reported.
China concerned over N Korea coronavirus outbreak
 
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Virus vaccine put to final test in thousands of volunteers

The world’s biggest COVID-19 vaccine study got underway Monday with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers helping to test shots created by the U.S. government -- one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race.

. . .

But the U.S. requires its own tests of any vaccine that might be used in the country and has set a high bar: Every month through fall, the government-funded COVID-19 Prevention Network will roll out a new study of a leading candidate -- each one with 30,000 newly recruited volunteers.

The massive studies aren't just to test if the shots work — they're needed to check each potential vaccine's safety. And following the same study rules will let scientists eventually compare all the shots.

Next up in August, the final study of the Oxford shot begins, followed by plans to test a candidate from Johnson & Johnson in September and Novavax in October -- if all goes according to schedule. Pfizer Inc. plans its own 30,000-person study this summer.
 
Will vaccine sceptics make trials a headache?

It will soon be critical for the NHS to start vaccinating people against flu, to prevent hospitals being swamped with flu and Covid-19 patients this winter. Large-scale trials of Covid-19 vaccines, already under way in some places, are likely to start in Bradford in the autumn. It's therefore worrying, says Dr John Wright of the city's Royal Infirmary, that anti-vax conspiracy theories seem to have flourished in this pandemic.

The numbers of hospital patients continue to slowly decline, almost down to single figures this week. There is great relief in the hospital, tempered by the inevitability of a further spike of infection. We know of the warning from Game of Thrones - winter is coming - and never before has that phrase been so ominous. The prediction of a second wave of Covid-19 in January, with the added layer of an influenza epidemic, is our worst fear. So we will be working hard to make sure we vaccinate as many people for flu as we can in the autumn.

The race for an effective Covid-19 vaccine continues at pace. Over 130 candidate vaccines have now been developed and more than 30 are in clinical trials, with some showing promising early signs.

More at link.

UK pet cat found to have coronavirus

  • 59 minutes ago
_111902736_gettyimages-1200557059.jpg
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionA small number of coronavirus cases in pets have been found in Europe, North America and Asia
A pet cat has tested positive in the UK for the strain of coronavirus that is causing the current pandemic.

Experts say it is the first confirmed case of infection in an animal in the UK but does not mean the disease is being spread to people by their pets.

It's thought the cat caught coronavirus from its owner, who had previously tested positive for the virus. Both have now recovered.

Health officials stress the case is very rare and no cause for alarm.

Continued at link.
 
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Moderna just entered phase 3.

Human trial for coronavirus vaccine launched by Moderna enters Phase 3

Dr. Noubar Afeyan, co-founder and chairman of Moderna Therapeutics, said the biotech firm would become the first U.S. company to enter Phase III of a clinical trial for a potential coronavirusvaccine.

Moderna is one of the top contenders in the global race to develop a vaccine to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“The plan is to start enrolling this morning, and this will continue over the next couple of months. We have a very strong demand of folks who volunteered to participate,” Afeyan told ABC News' chief anchor George Stephanopoulos Monday on "Good Morning America."

The blind trial is expected to include 30,000 volunteers. Half of the volunteers will receive Moderna’s vaccine and the other half will receive a placebo of sodium and water. Afeyan said countries will work to identify the most vulnerable people to ensure they receive a vaccine first.

Volunteers are needed for this vaccine trial and future clinical trials. People 18 years of age and older who are interested in participating in a trial can visit the Coronavirus Prevention Networkor ClinicalTrials.gov, with a search identifier NCT04470427 for specific locations.

More info at link.

I will post this in main thread also.
 
'We don't know': AstraZeneca CEO says 'unpredictable' coronavirus may require annual vaccinations

I can think of worse things.

The company has reached deals to distribute its potential Covid-19 vaccine in different parts of the world. In June, for instance, it reached an agreement with Europe's Inclusive Vaccines Alliance, supported by Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, to supply up to 400 million doses. It's aiming to produce 2 billion in total, including 400 million doses for the U.S. and U.K. and 1 billion for low- and middle-income countries.

"We have set up supply chains independently from each other," Soriot told CNBC, reaffirming a commitment to provide their work all over the world.

"If it does work, we will be able to start supplying the vaccine in October, November and our goal is to supply everyone around the world at the same time," he said.
 
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