Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE announced on Wednesday, May 6, 2020, that the first participants have been dosed in the U.S in the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the BNT162 vaccine program to prevent COVID-19. The trial is part of a global development program, and the dosing of the first cohort in Germany was completed last week. The Phase 1/2 study is designed to determine the safety, immunogenicity and optimal dose level of four mRNA vaccine candidates evaluated in a single, continuous study. The dose level escalation portion (Stage 1) of the Phase 1/2 trial in the U.S will enrol up to 360 healthy subjects into two age cohorts (18-55 and 65-85 years of age). The first subjects immunized in Stage 1 of the study will be healthy adults 18-55 years of age. Older adults will only be immunized with ...
No masking it: Joe Biden eyes stark contrast with Donald Trump over virus
Joe Biden squared off with Donald Trump on Tuesday over the wearing of masks one day after the White House challenger emerged from coronavirus-imposed lockdown donning one while the president attended two events bare-faced. By wearing a mask at a Memorial Day ceremony in Delaware — and by changing his Twitter profile to a photograph of him donning the black covering — Biden signalled he is putting the coronavirus front and center during the US presidential race in a nation increasingly divided over the pandemic. After the president mocked him for his protective mask, Biden hit back, blasting Trump as an “absolute fool.” It appeared to mark a new front in the war of words between the rival politicians. Trump also attended a somber Monday ceremony honoring America’s fallen, in Baltimore. Ins...