September 29 coronavirus news

A Covid-19 vaccine developed by the biotechnology company Moderna in partnership with the National Institutes of Health has been tested in older adults and found to safely elicit an immune response in that age group, according to preliminary data.

Moderna expanded a Phase 1 clinical trial of its vaccine, called mRNA-1273, to include 40 participants ages 56 and older. The participants enrolled in the trial between April 16 and May 12. They were given two doses of either 25 micrograms or 100 micrograms of vaccine, 28 days apart.

The trial — conducted at sites in Seattle, Atlanta and Bethesda, Maryland — found that adverse events from the vaccine were mostly mild or moderate and included fatigue, chills, headache, muscle pain and pain at the injection site. Those events were more common after the second dose of vaccine, according to the study.

One participant developed a nail infection and rash, and another had hypoglycemia or low blood sugar — but the researchers noted that those were considered not related to vaccination.

Overall, the preliminary findings showed that a two-dose vaccine series in older adults had "an acceptable safety" profile and the 100 microgram dose induced a greater immune response than the 25 microgram dose, which the researchers noted supports the idea to continue testing the vaccine at the 100-microgram dose level and as a two-dose regimen in a Phase 3 trial. 

The researchers also noted that they did not observe "systematic differences" between the older adults in this study and the younger adults, ages 18 to 55, in their original trial. But it’s not clear if the antibody responses seen in the volunteers indicate they are protected from infection, the researchers said.

More research is needed to determine whether similar findings would emerge among a larger and more diverse group of participants. Moderna is testing its vaccine in an advanced, Phase 3 trial that’s expected to include 30,000 volunteers.

The United States was unprepared for the deadly coronavirus pandemic because its pandemic plan was based on an influenza model, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday at the Texas Tribune Festival.

“We got hit and have been hit very badly now with 200,000 deaths and about 7 million infections in the United States – certainly disproportionately,” Fauci said.

“It shows you a couple of things,” he said. “Pandemic preparedness that we have done prior to this, for which we were given accolades for as a country how well prepared we were, were really based on an influenza model,” Fauci said, adding that public health experts were ready to fight a virus that spread mostly when people already had symptoms.

Early in the pandemic, Fauci and others said that epidemics of respiratory disease were spread mostly by people who have symptoms. It’s clear now that the novel coronavirus is often spread by people who have no symptoms. That makes it harder to fight.

It’s not an excuse, Fauci added. It’s just an explanation of why the US is seeing about 40,000 infections a day and as many as 1,000 daily deaths.

Disney is laying off 28,000 US employees at its theme parks as the coronavirus pandemic hammers its theme park business.  

The layoffs will hit the company's Parks, Experiences and Products, the company said on Tuesday. 

Disney added that 67% of the employees laid off will be part-time workers. 

Canadian public health officials say they are increasingly concerned about the "acceleration" of Covid-19 in Canada but say it is not yet time for nationwide restrictions or lockdowns. 

Tam said this is a crucial moment for the country, especially in Ontario and Quebec. She warned Canadians that they need to cut down on social contacts as contact tracing is becoming more difficult and community transmission grows. 

“This means the daily case count has now reached the peak of daily cases seen in April and the average daily case count has increased to 1,412 cases being reported during the most recent seven days,” Tam said.

According to Canadian government data, there are now more than 14,000 active Covid-19 cases across the country with daily, average case counts doubling in just over two weeks. 

Several populous counties in California are being allowed to reopen further as they move into less restrictive tiers, Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced Tuesday.

Sacramento, Fresno and Santa Barbara are among seven counties moving from the most restrictive purple tier into the next level, red. In the red tier, which indicates a substantial spread of infection, churches, museums, and movie theaters are allowed to reopen.

San Francisco moves from the red to orange tier, which shows a moderate infection rate, along with Amador and Calaveras counties. Bars, wineries, bowling alleys, and offices will now be allowed to reopen in those areas.

California has four tiers based on metrics including case rate and tests positivity over a number of consecutive weeks. Ghaly said that the state will be soon adding a health equity metric as well.

On the heels of a letter signed by 19 California legislators urging the reopening of theme parks, Ghaly echoed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s promise that new guidelines are coming soon.

Following the temporary closures of the Tennessee Titans and Minnesota Vikings team facilities due to Covid-19 precautions, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell issued a league-wide memo calling for all personnel to “remain diligent in implementing all of our health and safety protocols to the fully extent.” 

In the memo, obtained by CNN from a source within the league office, Goodell acknowledged that he had expected coronavirus cases to arise during the season.

Now that two teams have had to halt in-person activities, Goodell reemphasized that all players and staff must wear personal protective equipment and to carefully regulate “behavior and contacts outside of the club facility.”  

Some background: Earlier on Tuesday, the Titans revealed three players and five staff members tested positive for Covid-19. The Vikings, who played the Titans this past Sunday, have not announced any positive cases but closed their facilities as a precaution. The Titans are scheduled to host the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday.  

Goodell said the league has reviewed contact tracing data for anyone who has come in close contact with the eight members of the Titans, including game officials, and has isolated the individuals. 

"Each of us has a special responsibility to keep others safe and healthy. What each of us does affects not only ourselves and our immediate families, but many others on our own club and on other clubs," Goodell said.

Indoor dining capacity in Philadelphia will increase to 50% on Friday, according to a news release by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

Current capacity is at 25% and the new limits are in line with current restrictions in Pennsylvania, the release said. 

Restaurants choosing to expand their capacity must self-certify to follow state guidelines set by Gov. Tom Wolf, as well as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and rules set by the city of Philadelphia.

The city rules include:

“The falling case counts we’re seeing show the success of our strategy,” Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley said in the release. “If folks continue to follow our guidance, I believe that we will be able to relax more restrictions.”

The total number of coronavirus cases in Philadelphia stands at 36,887.

Florida's Tampa International Airport today announced a new pilot program, which makes it the first airport in the country to offer two different types of Covid-19 testing, PCR tests and rapid antigen tests, for any arriving or departing passenger, John Tiliacos, executive vice president of operations and customer service for the airport said.

According to Tiliacos, testing will be available seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET. Tests will be administered by BayCare nurses and medical professionals, and passengers have the option of receiving the PCR test with results within 48 hours or the rapid antigen test that gives passengers results within 15 minutes, Tiliacos said.

“This is about taking a bold step to restarting air travel. This is about instilling even greater confidence in the flying public, and frankly it's about breathing life back into our industry that is very badly needed right now,” Tiliacos added.

New York City is reporting a spike of Covid-19 cases in nine neighborhoods in the city. The Department of Health released the zip codes where the 14-day average is higher than the citywide average.

The clusters across Brooklyn and Queens account for 25% of the overall city cases despite accounting for 7% of the city’s population according to Dr. Dave Chokshi, the Commissioner of the Department of Health.

Citywide, Health Department is reporting a 1.38% positivity rate over the last seven days.

Here are the neighborhoods identified by the Department of Health:

The city is also noting three more zip codes which are “showing increased growth of cases and test positivity between 2% and 3%.” 

The city said to combat these rising positivity rates it is reaching out to non-public schools about implementing new guidelines, canvassing streets and "using soundtrucks to reinforce COVID-19 guidance an precautions," the Health Department said in a statement.

The city also said it has sent more mobile testing units to these neighborhoods.