Johnson & Johnson Halts Vaccine Test, WHO Warns Against Harsh Lockdowns to Fight COVID

AHA Publisher — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 07:00:05 +0000

News Staff via CBN News – Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has paused a late-stage study for a potential COVID-19 vaccine while the company investigates whether an “unexplained illness” with one of the study’s participants is related to the shot. The company said in a statement that illnesses, accidents, and other so-called adverse events “are an expected part of any clinical study, especially large studies.” Additionally, physicians and a safety monitoring panel are working to determine what could have caused the illness. The pause encompasses all trials, including a large phase-3 trial that launched in September and focused on recruiting 60,000 people in the US and several other countries. J&J Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk said on Tuesday the company remains optimistic the delay will conclude after a few days, but the illness is “still under investigation, and we’re going to let that process play out.” Wolk added, “Right now it’s in the hands of the independent drug-safety monitoring board.” CBN News previously reported on another COVID-19 vaccine that was placed on hold last month after a volunteer came down with an unexplained illness. AstraZeneca, the company developing the vaccine with Oxford University in the United Kingdom, instructed researchers to pause the vaccine trial as a precautionary measure. J&J’s CFO explained the potential for obstacles and setbacks to arise during these types of trials. “This is the largest vaccine study that’s out there,” Wolk said. “It’s endeavoring to study 60,000 patients. When you have a study of that size, it’s not uncommon to see unexpected illnesses within the population. That’s for any drug across any therapeutic area. This is something that’s not foreign in the development process.” WHO Warns Against Lockdowns Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) officials are now warning against lockdowns as a way to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of the organization’s health emergencies program explained the significance of preventing another widespread lockdown. “What we want to try and avoid, and sometimes it’s unavoidable – we accept that – but what we want to try and avoid are these massive lockdowns that are so punishing to communities, to society and to everything else,” he said. “So, we don’t want to flip from no cases, everything’s open, a few cases, everything shuts down again, because that’s exactly the sort of scenario that we want to try and avoid.” Ryan added that instead of lockdowns, countries should focus on surveillance, tracking, education, and other measures. To read the original article click here. For more articles from CBN News click here.

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What Is a Pandemic and What Can We Expect?

AHA Publisher — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 07:00:33 +0000

Dr. Alesia Greene via CBN News – The volume of information regarding COVID-19 released in the past week is overwhelming. The initial, simple message has increased in complexity with new tallies daily on how many are infected and what actions governments, educational institutions, hospitals, and businesses are taking to help control the spread of the infection. With no medications or vaccines currently available, the focus remains on personal hygiene, COVID-19 testing and public health strategies. But really…what is a “pandemic” and what can we expect over the upcoming weeks as the world responds to this infection? A pandemic is defined when an infection has “efficient and sustained human to human transmission worldwide.” Some recent prior pandemics have included HIV/AIDS 2005, Hong Kong Flu pandemic 1968, and the Asian flu pandemic of 1956. There are phases to a pandemic with different public health strategies applied in each phase: Phase 1: Investigation Phase 2: Recognition Phase 3: Initiation Phase 4: Acceleration Phase 5: Deceleration Phase 6: Preparation With no medications or vaccines currently available, the focus remains on personal hygiene, COVID-19 testing and public health strategies. But really…what is a “pandemic” and what can we expect over the upcoming weeks as the world responds to this infection? A pandemic is defined when an infection has “efficient and sustained human to human transmission worldwide.” Some recent prior pandemics have included HIV/AIDS 2005, Hong Kong Flu pandemic 1968, and the Asian flu pandemic of 1956. There are phases to a pandemic with different public health strategies applied in each phase: Currently, in the United States, we are experiencing the Acceleration phase, so you can expect a rapid doubling of cases over the next days to weeks. How fast this occurs depends on how successful we are in applying public health strategies. Over the next week, we will continue to see case identifications with the isolation of those sick patients, enhanced testing for COVID-19 to help us to identify cases, plus the addition of more and more social distancing, which includes things like canceling large public events, closing schools, etc. The peak of the pandemic will see cancellation and postponement of elective medical care, including procedures like knee replacements, hysterectomies and routine physicals. GET YOUR FREE FACTSHEET Coronavirus: What You Need to Know Much has been highlighted in the news regarding COVID-19 testing and social distancing, but one important thing to note is that COVID-19 testing is recommended for only a small subset of people who: Have a fever of 100.4º and cough/shortness of breath AND You have returned from international travel with the last 14 days, or You have returned from a cruise within the last 14 days, or You have been in close contact with someone who is sick with known Coronavirus. As more tests become available, testing volume will increase. Still, it is important to understand that these tests are primarily to help our public health and medical systems to understand the timing and aggressiveness of social distancing, and to manage medical resources. For the short term, there are no proven antivirals or vaccines to treat this infection. Medical care will be focused on supportive treatment for those who develop breathing complications from the virus. As a reminder, if you are concerned that you may have symptoms of fever, cough, or shortness of breath and are wondering if you should seek testing, please consult with your health provider. Medi-Share members should take advantage of the free MDLive telehealth resource, which allows you to speak with a board-certified physician 24/7 who can help guide you on the best next steps to safeguard your health. Medi-Share, like our nation, will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation. We encourage our members and everyone to stay calm and to follow local public health recommendations regarding travel, avoiding work/school if sick, and implementing social distancing when directed in your area. We are grateful to be a part of a faith community and are lifting our members, our staff and our nation in prayer… This article has been modified. To read the original article click here. For more articles from CBN News click here.

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Johnson & Johnson Halts Vaccine Test, WHO Warns Against Harsh Lockdowns to Fight COVID

What Is a Pandemic and What Can We Expect?