Eight vaccines are being tested in an accelerated process as testing and attacking any flare-ups becomes a “bridge” to open up the economy, a panel of health experts from the president’s coronavirus task force told senators.
Eight vaccines are being tested in an accelerated process as testing and attacking any flare-ups becomes a “bridge” to open up the economy, a panel of health experts from the president’s coronavirus task force told senators.
It was a fast-paced, mostly video hearing Tuesday that started with U. S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate committee on Health, Education Labor & Pensions, Zooming in from his cabin as he isolates at home. The session was titled: “Covid-19: Safely Getting Back to Work and Back to School.”
The senators and guests — including doctors Anthony Fauci and the CDC’s Robert Redfield — were grilled on when schools can open, vaccines will arrive, testing capability, tracing, recovery numbers, helping nursing homes, dealing with people who are asymptomatic, immunity, mortality of children and the food supply chain. Here are key takeaways:
The Fauci factor
Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was first up and he quickly announced there are at least eight candidate COVID-19 vaccines in clinical development — including Cambridge-based Moderna’s that was just cleared by the FDA for a phase 2 study.
