Currently, there are 10 vaccine candidates in development around the world that are in the beginnings of human trials. Some will be ready for large-scale testing as soon as the beginning of July, says Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health and a member of the White House coronavirus task force.
Testing, both for active cases of COVID-19 and for antibodies indicating prior exposure to the disease, will be critical to resuming economic activity. In addition, scientists are racing to develop therapies for people who do get infected -- especially those who become seriously ill.
The damage done by keeping children out of school might outweigh the risks of COVID-19 transmission, a regional organization of pediatricians said, pushing back against educators who have cautioned against reopening campuses too soon.
Hydroxychloroquine did not prevent healthy people exposed to covid-19 from getting the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to a study being published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study is the first randomized clinical trial that tested the antimalarial drug, touted by President Trump, as a preventive measure. It showed that hydroxychloroquine was no more effective than a placebo — in this case, a vitamin — in protecting people exposed to covid-19.
When the CDC issued guidelines in early March asking people to wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the question for many Black men was not where to get a mask or which kind. It was: How do I cover my face and not get shot?