Vaccine hopes boosted by data from Novavax and J&J, but fears over new variants persist

The company said around half of the trial participants who were infected with the virus had the mutated version which has been circulating in the UK for weeks. Preliminary analysis suggested that the vaccine is nearly 96% effective against the original virus and almost 86% against the new variant.

See also: The Novavax vaccine is effective. Now I seriously hope this is what injected me

Scientists have become even more concerned about a strain first discovered in South Africa that carries different mutations – and results from a smaller study from Novavax suggest the vaccine works but not as well as against the variant from the United Kingdom.

Now read: Drugmakers examine effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments against new, more infectious South African strain

It was a similar story of J&J JNJ,
-4.30%
when it released early Friday the first data from a Phase 3 trial of its COVID vaccine candidate, claiming it appears 66% effective in preventing moderate to severe disease 28 days after vaccination, but less effective – only 57 % – in relations with South Africa.

J&J will submit the data to a peer-reviewed journal in the coming weeks and expects to file an emergency use authorization application in early February. There are high hopes for this vaccine, as it only requires one dose, unlike those currently licensed, which require two doses spaced several weeks apart.

The data comes as the United States added at least 165,073 new cases on Thursday, according to a New York Times tracker, and counted at least 3,862 deaths, although this is down from the more than 4,000 deaths reported during of the previous two days.

The number of cases has decreased over the past 14 days. The United States recorded an average of 159,598 new cases per day last week, down 34% from the two-week average.

Hospitalization rates are also improving, according to the COVID Tracking Project. There were 104,303 COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals on Thursday, up from 107,444 the day before. The number has now declined for 17 consecutive days and is at its lowest level since December 7.

“Reported deaths increased 7% this week, with states reporting a total of 22,797 lives lost to COVID-19,” the COVID Tracking Project wrote in its weekly blog. “Deaths lag behind cases – both because it takes time to die from the virus and because the process of reporting deaths is very slow. Even with cases falling across the United States, we could still have a week or more of a very high number of deaths to come. “

Against this backdrop, President Joe Biden is pushing his pandemic response team to step up the pace of vaccinations and buy more doses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine tracking shows as of 6:00 a.m. ET Thursday, 26.2 million doses had been administered and 48.4 million doses had been delivered to states.

In other news:

• The European medicines regulator on Friday authorized the use of the AstraZeneca AZN, -2.07% COVID-19 vaccine for people over the age of 18, reported Lina Saigol of MarketWatch. The European Medicines Agency, or EMA, said it had evaluated the quality, safety and efficacy of AstraZeneca shot, which the pharmaceutical company developed in partnership with the University of Oxford, and the ‘recommended for conditional marketing authorization in the European Union.

Lily: When can younger, healthy people get vaccinated? Ex-Biden COVID-19 Advisor Says It Will Take Months

• Separately, Europe stepped up its fight to secure COVID-19 vaccines on Friday, after Brussels warned it would use all legal means to block vaccine exports if it did not receive the vaccine doses promised by pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca AZN,
-2.20%

AZN,
-2.07%
and Pfizer, reported MarketWatch’s Lina Saigol. In a letter to four European Union leaders, Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said the 27-member bloc could adopt “urgent measures” by invoking an emergency provision in EU treaties To address the block’s coronavirus vaccine shortage, which is approaching a crisis point. Several EU member states – including France, Portugal and Spain – said this week they were suspending their vaccination programs due to vaccine shortages.

Lily: AstraZeneca vaccine should only be given to under 65s, Germany recommends as EU shortage crisis worsens

• Seniors are at greater risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19, but many may not have access to online systems that could facilitate their vaccinations and save their lives, reported Meera Jagannathan of MarketWatch. Forty-five percent of Americans aged 65 to 80 say they haven’t opened an account on their healthcare provider’s online patient portal system, according to a recent analysis of survey data from the National Poll on Healthy Aging from the University of Michigan. Some seniors who may face an even higher risk of COVID-19 are less likely to use patient portals, survey finds: While 39% of older white adults did not have an account, nearly 50 % of older black adults and 53% of older Hispanic adults did not have one.

Also read: Quick info on COVID-19 vaccines for older people – where, when and how to get them

• Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has agreed to participate in the manufacture of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, AFP said, as many countries scramble to secure out-of-stock supplies. The news comes after the French pharmaceutical company said earlier this week that it would also help produce 125 million doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech jab.

• Experts from the World Health Organization are due to start face-to-face meetings with their Chinese counterparts on Friday in the central city of Wuhan at the start of the team’s long-awaited fact-finding mission into the origins of the coronavirus, reported the AP. Those meetings are expected to be followed by the first field visits in and around the industrial and transport hub on Friday, the WHO said on Twitter, but did not give further details on the team’s agenda. He said the team had previously requested “detailed underlying data” and planned to speak with first responders and some of the early COVID-19 patients. “All the assumptions are on the table as the team follows the science in its work to understand the origins of the COVID19 virus,” the WHO tweeted. “As members begin their field visits on Friday, they should be given the support, access and data they need.”

Latest calculations

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases globally surpassed 101.6 million on Friday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins University, and the death toll rose to 2.19 million. About 56 million people have recovered from COVID-19.

The United States leads the world in cases, with 25.8 million, and deaths, with 433,431, or about one-fifth of the global total.

Brazil has the second-highest death toll with 221,547 and the third-highest for cases with 9.1 million.

India is second in the world with 10.7 million cases, and now fourth in death with 154,010, after being passed by Mexico.

Mexico has the third highest death toll with 155,145 and the 13th highest number of cases with 1.8 million.

The UK has 3.8 million cases and 103,324 deaths, the highest in Europe and the fifth in the world.

China, where the virus was first discovered late last year, has recorded 99,797 confirmed cases and 4,813 deaths, according to its official figures.

What does the economy say?

Americans cut spending in December for the second month in a row, as a record increase in coronavirus cases opened new cracks in the economy and delayed the recovery, MarketWatch’s Jeffry Bartash reported.

Consumer spending fell 0.2%, the government said on Friday.

Lower spending towards the end of the year deprived the economy of its momentum. Gross domestic product slowed to 4% annualized growth and left the economy with a few gaping holes to fill.

If there is a silver lining, the spending has not fallen as much as expected. Economists polled by Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal predict a drop of 0.4%. In addition, the drop in November was not as steep as the one initially reported.

Lily: The US economy grew 4% slower at the end of 2020, according to GDP

Meanwhile, incomes rose 0.6% in December, suggesting consumers still have money to spend once they regain confidence in the economy. The savings rate remains extremely high at 13.7%, about double the normal.

Separately, Americans were wary but optimistic in late January about the prospects for an economic revival later in the year, once coronavirus vaccines become widely available, according to an investigation.

The second of two readings of consumer sentiment this month fell to 79 from 79.2 initially, according to an index produced by the University of Michigan.

Economists polled by Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal had forecast the index to hold steady at 79.2.

Still, the index was little changed from the 80.7 reading in December, suggesting Americans are looking ahead instead of looking back.

Lily: Consumer confidence rebounds on vaccine, Biden hopes

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA,
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and S&P 500 SPX,
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were lower in trade by mid-morning.