By James Griffiths, Adam Renton, Melissa Macaya, Meg Wagner and Mike Hayes, Eoin McSweeney, CNN
From CNN's Lauren Mascarenhas
There is no evidence to suggest that the new Covid-19 variants discovered in the UK and South Africa have a different impact on people, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific adviser for Operation Warp Speed said Wednesday.
“While there is data suggesting but not demonstrating that these variants may be more infectious,” there is no evidence that their pathogenesis or impact on people is any different than the strains that have been circulating, Slaoui said during a media briefing.
From CNN’s Andrea Kane
In addition to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, the other vaccines in Operation Warp Speed’s portfolio are making progress.
In a Wednesday’s press briefing, Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific advisor for OWS, provided an update on other vaccine candidate candidates currently in trials.
“The J&J, Johnson vaccine program continues to progress very well. We told you on Monday that the trial... had closed,” he said, adding that OWS is working with the company diligently “with the hope that we will be able to file for the EUA late in January, or more likely early in February and have vaccine doses available and approved for use in the US population as of the month of February.”
Slaoui said that the AstraZeneca Phase 3 program in the US is also progressing very well, almost reaching full enrollment. More than 27,000 subjects are already recruited in this trial of 30,00 adults, so recruitment is expected to close soon. Trials are also taking place in the UK and Brazil.
Slaoui said that the Novovax vaccine is “gearing up to start the Phase 3 trial anytime,” and that OWS is in discussion with Sanofi on the design of its vaccine’s Phase 2b trial.
From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio
The newly identified Covid-19 variant, which has been spreading through London and parts of Southeast of England, has been detected in Northern Ireland.
“This is sadly the confirmation we had been expecting,” the Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann said in a statement on Wednesday. “We all have to redouble our efforts to stop the virus spreading. We know how to do this – cut down our contacts with others, ensure strict social distancing, wash our hands regularly and thoroughly, and wear a face covering.”
“I would urge everyone to review their plans for Christmas and to err on the side of caution,” Swann added. “Just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean you have to.”
Health authorities in the nation went on to say it is “increasingly likely” that the new variant has established itself across the UK and Ireland.
“While virus mutation is not uncommon, the potential of this new strain to spread rapidly is cause for serious concern,” the Northern Ireland Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride said, according to the statement. “I would advise the public to act on the assumption that it is already well established in Northern Ireland and that the person they pass in the street or stand next to in a queue may have it.”
“We protect ourselves and others from this new strain through taking the same vital steps and using the same methods we have been using since the start of the pandemic.”
From CNN's Andrea Diaz
The Department of the Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) on Wednesday jointly announced an agreement with Merck & Co. to obtain an investigational Covid-19 drug known as MK-7110, which the pharmaceutical company is developing to treat severely or critically ill patients.
According to a press release from the HHS, the US government will provide about $356 million to Merck for the development of MK-7110.
This funding will go toward completing the requirements needed to request Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and for delivery of up to 100,000 doses by June 30, 2021.
"With this approach, doses will be packaged and ready to ship in the first half of 2021, in the event FDA determines MK-7110 meets the statutory criteria for issuance of an EUA," according to the press release. If approved for EUA, MK-7110 will be made available at no cost to patients.
Additionally, the HHS says that even though the study is still ongoing, interim data suggests that patients who received a single dose were 60% more likely to recover than those receiving a placebo, and that the treatment could reduce the risk of respiratory failure or death by a 50%.
From CNN's Kay Jones
A recently elected Louisiana congressman is now in the ICU for Covid-19, according to a statement from his office.
Congressman-elect Luke Letlow was transferred from a hospital in Monroe to the Intensive Care Unit at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport Academic Medical Center, a statement from his representative, Andrew Bautsch, said.
The statement said the Letlow is in stable condition and is being treated with Remdesivir and steroids.
Letlow announced his diagnosis on Twitter last Friday and posted on Monday that he was undergoing treatment in Monroe at St. Francis Hospital.
Letlow won a runoff election on Dec. 5 with 62% of the vote to represent Louisiana's 5th Congressional District.
From CNN’s Lauren del Valle
New Jersey recorded the highest number of Covid-19 hospitalizations since May 13, Gov. Phil Murphy said at a news conference Wednesday.
At least 3,841 patients are currently in New Jersey hospitals with Covid-19-related complications, he said.
The state recorded 4,919 new Covid-19 cases and 103 deaths Wednesday.
The statewide positivity rate is 12.97% as of Saturday, Murphy said.
At least 27,730 healthcare workers have received the first dose of a Covid-10 vaccine so far, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli announced at the press conference.
Note: These numbers released by the state of New Jersey may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project
Dr. Amesh Adalja, a fellow with the Infectious Diseases Society of America, says preliminary data shows the Covid-19 vaccine will offer protection against new variants of the virus.
"It's important to remember that a vaccine doesn't create one type of antibodies, it creates a whole host of antibodies and it's very hard for a virus to escape all of those, especially when it's happening so fast – meaning this mutation is rather new. It's not something that's been evolving for some time," Adalja told CNN on Wednesday.
Some background: Scientist say that a new variant of Covid-19 was first detected in the United Kingdom and can likely spread faster than others.
The variant has also been detected in Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia, according to the World Health Organization. In South Africa, a different coronavirus variant has been reported, the WHO's technical lead for Covid-19, Maria van Kerkhove, said Monday.
Adalja said vaccines also stimulate other parts of your immune system that are important to fighting off viruses.
"I don't think there's any worry at this point," he said. "Moderna, Pfizer, they're doing tests to make sure, but everything that we're seeing so far is really reassuring that these vaccines will be able to take this strain out just like they take out... the prior, older strains."
Adalja added that the concept of virus mutations is not uncommon.
"Viruses like this, coronaviruses that have RNA genetic material, they mutate a lot," he said.
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
Over one million Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses have been administered in the United States, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A Wednesday update to the CDC’s Covid Data Tracker said that nearly 9.5 million doses had been distributed and just over 1 million doses had been administered.
Doses distributed include both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines. Doses administered include only Pfizer vaccines. Administration of Moderna vaccinations just began on Monday.
The CDC notes there is a lag in data as it is reported to the agency; health care providers report doses to states, territories and public health agencies up to 72 hours after administration.
From CNN's Claudia Rebaza and Fred Pleitgen
The official Sputnik V Twitter account as well as a statement from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF-Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announced Wednesday that Argentina is the first country in Latin American to officially register the Covid-19 vaccine.
"Argentina was the first country in Latin America to officially register Sputnik V. The vaccine was registered under the emergency use authorization procedure and was approved by the regulator, ANMAT, based on the results of Phase III clinical trials in Russia, without additional trials in Argentina," the RDIF statement said.
"The registration confirms high confidence in Russian regulatory standards and Sputnik V," the Sputnik V tweet said.
Argentina Health Minister Gines González García tweeted Wednesday that an Aerolineas flight has arrived in Moscow and will bring back 300,000 of the first doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.
"With its arrival in the country, a logistics never before carried out will begin, for a federal and equitable distribution with each of the Argentine provinces," he tweeted.
