Coronavirus in Ohio: UC will need 500 volunteers next month to test possible vaccine



https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2020/06/17/coronavirus-ohio-volunteers-wanted-test-vaccine-prospect-cincinnati/3205246001/



https://www.uchealth.com/press-releases/clinical-trial-for-covid-19-vaccine/

Source: Barrons

The biotech startup Moderna says it will begin the pivotal trial of its candidate vaccine against Covid-19 in July. In a Thursday morning announcement, it said it hopes to enroll 30,000 volunteers—randomizing them to receive either a placebo or the vaccine, and a second booster shot one month later. Researchers will then watch to see how many in each group contract Covid as they go about their lives over the subsequent year.



Read more: https://www.barrons.com/articles/moderna-will-start-testing-its-covid-19-vaccine-in-july-51591878151

The recovery has not been "V shaped" but pretty close. I think traders are getting used to COVID-19. I'm still nervous, but will not be pulling money out. During the darkest days, I just had to plug my ears and say la-la-la.



https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/02/stock-market-futures-open-to-close-news.html

Source: msn / sky new

A number of reported cases of coronavirus patients relapsing after overcoming the disease were actually due to testing failures, South Korean scientists say.

Researchers at the South Korean centre for disease control and prevention (CDC) now say it is impossible for the COVID-19 virus to reactivate in human bodies.

...

A total of 277 patients in the country were believed to have fallen ill for a second time, as had patients in China and Japan. This prompted concerns that the virus could be mutating so quickly that people were not necessarily immune to catching it again.

However, genetic analyses of the virus have not found any substantial changes which would effectively disguise it from the immune system.

Read more: https://news.sky.com/story/amp/coronavirus-scientists-conclude-people-cannot-be-infected-twice-11981721

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Hopefully they are now correct - very good news if so.

Source: Reuters

Hundreds of people who live in Poland and work in Germany protested on Friday evening in the southwestern Polish border town of Zgorzelec against a mandatory coronavirus quarantine for those who cross the border.

Poland was one of the first European Union states to close borders due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus. It also imposed a mandatory two-week lockdown for those who enter its territory - a major jolt for those who live their lives in between two EU states.

The protest was staged on a foot bridge connecting Zgorzelec and the German town of Gorlitz, which functioned as one town before the borders were closed.

“I’ve been trapped at home for six weeks, can’t cross the border, go to work. I can’t go back to my students,” said Mirella Binkiewicz, a teacher living in Zgorzelec and working in Gorlitz.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-cross-border-worke/hundreds-protest-against-lockdown-at-polish-german-border-idUSKCN2270BE

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The effects of closure of borders within the EU...

The chart below shows per-capita deaths of the five hardest hit counties, and then the US for reference. The starting point for each country is when it reached 5 deaths per million. Between those five and the US are the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden

Source: Yahoo

Stocks rose Tuesday as investors considered signs that states were beginning to plan for reopening parts of the economy, and braced for a choppy earnings season, as the coronavirus pandemic swept the country at the end of the first quarter.

The Nasdaq ended higher by nearly 4%, as Amazon (AMZN) shares jumped to a record high.

Federal and state officials have shifted their rhetoric around the coronavirus from solely discussing containment and distancing efforts to beginning to think about reopening portions of the country.

Read more: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stock-market-news-live-updates-april-14-2020-221136911.html

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S&P 500 up 27% from the bottom. About 16% from the previous high. Wild times.

Source: NPR

March 21, 20207:44 AM ET

When Jennifer Haller heard that researchers were looking for volunteers to be injected with an experimental coronavirus vaccine, the Seattle mother of two rolled up her sleeve.

Well, not literally. Haller, 43, the first person to receive the vaccine, was wearing a tank top when a pharmacist, sheathed in gloves, a mask and protective eye gear, injected her with an experimental vaccine named mRNA-1273. It made her arm a bit sore, "but besides that, no, no side effects," she says.

With the outbreak rapidly spreading across the nation, Haller says she was excited to enroll in the Phase 1 trial, which started Monday.

"I wanted to do something because there's so many millions of Americans that don't have the same privileges that I've been given," says Haller, who now works from home for a small tech company. "They're losing their jobs. They are concerned about paying bills, feeding their family."

Vaccines typically take years to develop and bring to market. They go through extensive animal trials to ensure they are not only effective, but safe. But as the coronavirus death toll rapidly climbed — reaching 11,147 on Friday — researchers felt they couldn't wait.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2020/03/21/818759617/i-wanted-to-do-something-says-mother-of-2-who-is-first-to-test-coronavirus-vacci

Maybe this has been discussed - I didn't see it.

It seems like these rallies can't be good for containing the virus, and present some risk (probably small) to our candidates.