The CEOs of nine drug companies made a joint pledge Tuesday that they will “stand with science” and not release a vaccine for the new coronavirus until it has been adequately vetted for safety.
The pledge was signed by leaders from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Moderna and Novavax. The leaders of four companies working on joint vaccine projects — Pfizer and BioNTech, and Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline — also signed.
Work toward a vaccine has become a flashpoint in the race to the White House, with President Donald Trump accusing Democrats of “disparaging” for political gain a vaccine he repeatedly has said could be available before the Nov. 3 election, according to The Associated Press.
Trump leveled the accusation a day after Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate, said she “would not trust his word” on getting the vaccine. “I would trust the word of public health experts and scientists, but not Donald Trump,” Harris said.
Currently, nine vaccines are in the phase 3 large-scale efficacy test stage, and three have been approved for early or limited use. None has been approved for full use, according to the New York Times’ coronavirus vaccine tracker.
The debate over vaccines comes as cases of the new coronavirus continue to grow. The Washington Post reported Tuesday that infections have nearly quadrupled to some 6.2 million during the summer months.
Over the holiday weekend, large crowds in New Orleans prompted city officials to issue a warning that the activities could cause a spike in coronavirus cases and that businesses will face citations for violating rules.
Meanwhile, colleges across the country continue to crack down on students who choose to party and ignore social distancing guidelines.
Eleven first-year students at Northeastern University were expelled after they were found together in a room at the Westin Hotel in Boston, the school said. No tuition refunds will be issued, the school said, but the students will have an opportunity to appeal their dismissal.
West Virginia University also suspended 29 students for coronavirus-related violations over the weekend. A member of the Theta Chi fraternity, which is not recognized by the university, tested positive and was instructed to isolate. However, the member attended a party at the fraternity house Friday even though all residents of the fraternity house also had been told to isolate or quarantine.
All 29 students have been banned from campus and online courses.
San Diego State University took another approach, issuing a stay-at-home order for all students on campus throughout the holiday weekend.
More than 51,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed at more than 1,020 American colleges and universities, the New York Times’ tracker shows.
At least 261 new coronavirus deaths and 25,167 new cases were reported in the United States as of Monday, according to a New York Times database. Over the past week, there have been an average of 38,915 cases per day, a decrease of 9 percent from the average two weeks earlier.
As of Tuesday, 32 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen, up three from Monday. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.
More than 6.3 million people in the United States had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Tuesday, and at least 189,300 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
PEABODY PATCH
