August 5 coronavirus news

Moderna, one of the companies working on a treatment for Covid-19, said Wednesday that it's on track to finish enrollment for a phase three study of its vaccine by the end of September and plans to eventually price it below $40 per dose for most customers.

The biotech, which has received funding from the United States federal government's Operation Warp Speed program, also said it had about $400 million of customer deposits for a potential supply of its mRNA-1273 vaccine.

People have also been closely watching to see what drug companies plan to charge for treatments after biotech Gilead Sciences revealed in June that its remdesivir drug would cost $520 a vial, or $3,120 for a five-day course of six vials, for people covered by private heath insurance plans.

But Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel vowed during a conference call with analysts that its vaccine would be affordable. 

Moderna made the announcement in its earnings release Wednesday morning. The company posted a loss that was smaller than expected but revenue that topped forecasts.

Shares of Moderna fell about 2% on the news, but the stock has soared more than 300% this year on hopes that it will be able to develop a successful coronavirus vaccine.

The company has also come under scrutiny from some investors as several insiders have sold stock as it has surged.

Moderna is just one of several companies racing to come up with a vaccine. Shares of another smaller biotech, Novavax, soared 20% Wednesday after it announced promising clinical trial results of its own.

The US Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday announced it will own 100 million doses of the Covid-19 investigational vaccine Johnson & Johnson is developing. 

In a statement, HHS said the doses from the "large-scale manufacturing and delivery" agreement could be used in clinical trials or as part of a Covid-19 vaccination campaign under the guidance of the US Food and Drug Administration.

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is committing more than $1 billion for this agreement, Johnson & Johnson said in a separate statement. The US government may also purchase an additional 200 million doses of the vaccine candidate under a subsequent agreement, the company added.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in the statement the federal government is assembling a "portfolio of vaccines" under Operation Warp Speed and this latest partnership will increase the chances the US "will have at least one safe, effective vaccine by 2021."

Manufacturing will take place while clinical trials are underway to expedite the traditional vaccine development timelines, according to the statement.

The doses would be available to the American people at no cost if used in a Covid-19 vaccination campaign. However, health care professionals could charge for the cost of administering the vaccine even if the doses are purchased by the government, according to HHS.

Janssen has received about $456 million for clinical trials and other vaccine development activities from BARDA, according to HHS.

A first-grade teacher says she just found out yesterday that her county will proceed with allowing kindergarten and first-grade students back into her school. 

Amy Forehand, a teacher in Gwinnett County, Georgia, told CNN's "New Day" that she had been preparing for virtual learning and now has “a lot of fears” about the news that students will be returning on August 26. 

Forehand said she has asthma and is worried about her health and the well-being of her family and 2-year-old son.  

“Fears and anxiety are really high right now as we are trying to contemplate what this is going to look like for our students and for us and our safety,” she said.

Forehand said that the physical space of her school is not prepared yet for social distancing and has not been equipped with any sanitizing stations. 

The teacher said she isn’t comfortable with the situation right now, but she is still optimistic that something will work out. 

Watch the interview:

All pubs, cafes, bars and restaurants are to close in the Scottish city of Aberdeen by 5 p.m. local time Wednesday after a "significant" local outbreak in the area.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the measures during a new conference today, saying that the high number of new cases "considerably heightens our concern that we are dealing with a significant outbreak in Aberdeen."

According to Sturgeon, 54 cases associated with the cluster have now been confirmed. The outbreak was first identified by the local health authority last week. Sturgeon said that despite the main link in the cluster having been identified, more than 20 licensed venues "are now part of the contact tracing picture."

A further 64 cases were confirmed for the whole of Scotland on Wednesday.

New safety measures include:

The measures will remain in place for a seven day period, according to Sturgeon and will be extended if necessary. Sturgeon acknowledged that this was "extremely unwelcome news for the people of Aberdeen." 

Sturgeon emphasized that this "is also about doing everything we can to ensure that our children can return to school next week."

The University of Connecticut Department of Athletics announced today that its football program will cancel all competition for the 2020-21 school year.

According to the press release, members of the team will remain enrolled in classes, either virtually or in person, as full-time students at the school.  They will also retain access to facilities and support services in accordance with NCAA rules, ensuring that student-athletes remain on track academically and developmentally.    

"We engaged and listened to the concerns of our football student-athletes and feel this is the best decision for their health, safety, and well-being," head football coach Randy Edsall said. "Our team is united in this approach and we will use this time to further player development within the program and gear ourselves to the 2021 season."

The football student-athletes added this in the statement. 

The start of the new school year is already proving that there is no one way to reopen schools during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that returning to classes does not mean anything close to returning to normal.

Reopenings are underway, with the number of cases in the US surpassing 4.7 million and 156,782 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, leaving school districts to strategize how to safely restart.

Their plans for the best way forward vary wildly.

Chicago Public Schools is expected to begin the year with full remote learning for students, according to local reports.

Meanwhile in Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds pressed to have students back in the classroom by emphasizing that defying the state's 50% in-person learning mandate is against the law.

Other school leaders fall somewhere in between. In California, Los Angeles County announced that officials will not issue any waivers that would allow elementary schools to open for in-person classes. And in Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves ordered a delay in the return-to-classroom date for students in grades 7-12 in eight counties.

But as the infection rates in the country change, so will many districts' plans, said Wendy Price, president of the National Association of School Psychologists.

Read the full story:

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Schools find there's 'no one size fits all' approach to returning to campus during coronavirus outbreak

President Trump argued on Wednesday that children should return to US schools because they’re “almost” or “virtually immune” from the coronavirus. Even though children are less susceptible to the virus, they can still transmit it to others in their household or within their communities.   

Trump said he would get media criticism for using the term “totally immune,” adding, “but the fact is that they are virtually immune from this problem.” 

The President also brought up that only one minor had died from coronavirus in the state of New Jersey and that he suspected the child was diabetic. He also suggested that children under the diabetic child’s age were also even more immune. 

Remember: But at least two children have died from coronavirus in New Jersey and both were under the age of five. 

The President also said older teachers should wait out the pandemic before returning to work in classrooms. 

Last month, Trump asserted that children do not catch or spread the coronavirus easily and that he’s comfortable with his children and grandchildren returning to school. 

What we know about kids and coronavirus: CNN previously reported that researchers in South Korea have found that children between the ages of 10 and 19 can transmit Covid-19 within a household just as much as adults, according to research published in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. They also found that children ages 9 and under transmitted the virus within their household at rates that were a lot lower. 

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams told CBS News last month that though the risk to children getting coronavirus is low, they can still transmit it to others.  

"We know the risk is low to the actual students. But we know they can transmit to others. … We need to take measures to make sure we protect those who are vulnerable either because they are older or they have chronic medical conditions," Adams said. 

Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba of Jackson, Mississippi, said he is worried that the state has “yet to see the worst” of the coronavirus pandemic as cases continue to grow. 

He said that the city’s hospitals and intensive care units are “overwhelmed” and asked for temporary hospitals to be set up during a recent meeting with the governor and Dr. Deborah Birx, a key member of the White House coronavirus task force. 

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves just implemented a two-week temporary statewide mask mandate, which Lumumba calls “necessary.” 

“I think that we failed to operate with a sense of urgency. We issued a … mandatory facial covering mandate in the city of Jackson nearly a month ago,” Lumumba said. 

“...We warned that we were opening up too soon and that communities were having their hand forced to do so. And so I think we're seeing the ill effects of that decision,” he said. 

Lumumba also spoke out against President Trump saying in an interview “it is what it is” when asked about the coronavirus death toll. “It’s simply not OK just to say that people will die, knowing that we haven't put our best effort forward,” the mayor said. 

Watch:

President Trump reiterated on Wednesday that he may use executive authority to implement a payroll tax cut.

The President then went on to say that the leaders of Democratic states don’t want their states to reopen.

“The Democrats are standing in our way. They don’t want their states open, even if their state’s in good shape,” the President said.

Some context: Trump has been pushing Congress to include a payroll tax cut in the next economic relief package. Payroll tax cuts have had mixed results in the past, and some economists argue that it's not the best way to boost the economy right now.

A payroll tax cut would reduce the amount taken out of workers' paychecks to fund federal programs including Social Security and Medicare.

Congress would have to decide how much to reduce the rate and how long the tax holiday would last.