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Valley’s Vaccination Center Hosting Additional Evening Vaccination Sessions, by Appointment Only

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Paramus  NJ, Valley’s Vaccination Center, located at 599 Valley Health Plaza in Paramus will be hosting additional evening vaccination sessions, by appointment only, for individuals looking to receive their primary two-dose vaccination series (Pfizer or Moderna) or their COVID-19 booster (Pfizer or Moderna).

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No Surprise ,Pfizer and BioNTech said initial lab studies show a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine may be needed to neutralize the omicron variant

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, having only been on the global radar since late November, early analysis around the world regarding the Omicron variant of concern (VOC) is providing insight into its characteristics and risks. Some preliminary laboratory analyses suggest that the Omicron variant could exhibit some resistance to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. One study conducted by researchers in Germany (preprint) found that blood serum collected from fully vaccinated individuals had reduced efficacy in neutralizing the Omicron variant. The researchers tested sera from a variety of vaccinated patients, including those who received the Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccines, including some with heterologous combinations and some who received booster doses. The researchers observed reductions in neutralizing capacity on the order of 10-30 times, compared to the Delta variant. Additionally, sera from participants who received a heterologous combination of the AstraZeneca-Oxford and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines exhibited “no efficacy against Omicron.” Preliminary findings from studies conducted by researchers in South Africa and Sweden (both preprint) are similar.

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Vaccine Makers are Working to Determine how well the Current Vaccine Formulations hold up Against Omicron

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the emergence of the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant in southern Africa has vaccine manufacturers discussing vaccine effectiveness and the possibility of updating vaccines to make them variant-specific. Omicron has around 50 mutations, and more than 30 of the mutations are located on the viral spike protein that is responsible for entry into host cells. The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein also is one of the primary antibody targets for the immune system. According to some analysis, most of the antibody target sites on Omicron’s spike protein are mutated, and several of those differences could indicate that Omicron is capable of escaping current vaccine formulations. A subset of Omicron’s spike mutations have been previously reported in the Beta and Delta variants, but 26 spike mutations are believed to be unique. Scientists are anticipating a decrease in antibody neutralization of the virus, and doctors in South Africa are reporting reinfections in patients who have already recovered from COVID-19.

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Moderna in dispute Over Patent Rights to the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Moderna and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) are currently in a dispute over which entity should receive patent rights to the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine the company and the agency developed in partnership. The collaboration to develop the vaccine was widely hailed as a shining example of successful interaction between public and private entities for the benefit of the global population. However, Moderna’s patent paperwork noticeably does not include the government scientists involved in the vaccine development process as co-inventors. Moderna’s stance on this dispute is that they “reached the good-faith determination that these individuals did not co-invent” the vaccine. The NIH and consumer advocacy group Public Citizen disagree with this assessment, believing that federal scientists were core to the invention of the vaccine and should be included on the patent. The NIH and Moderna currently are engaged in talks to resolve the dispute, but if left unresolved, the issue could be taken into the court system for resolution.

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CDC encourages vaccinated individuals to continue taking public health precautions to prevent infection and transmission

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, on April 2, a team of researchers led by the US CDC COVID-19 Response Team published interim estimates of a prospective cohort study describing the effectiveness of the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines among healthcare and other frontline workers. The report, published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), describes data collected from December 14, 2020 to March 13, 2021, through the HEROES-RECOVER network of 8 US sites. Overall, 3,950 frontline workers (i.e., those who routinely are within 3 feet of other individuals as part of their occupation) with no prior laboratory documentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection were included in the analysis. Participants were actively monitored for COVID-19 symptoms and self-collected weekly nasal swabs which were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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Valley Hits Milestone Administering 50,000 doses of COVID-vaccine

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, It’s a milestone day for Valley Hospital! Valley has administered 50,000 doses of the Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines! They will continue to open up appointments as the vaccine becomes available. You can check appointment availability here: https://www.valleyhealth.com/vaccine.

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CDC Now Says Vaccinated People can Safely Gather Indoors without Masks

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest it is safe for fully vaccinated people to gather indoors with each other without masks. “If you and a friend, or you and a family member are both vaccinated, you can have dinner together” without wearing masks or without distancing, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters on Monday.

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Dr. Fauci says all three Covid vaccines highly effective, urges people to take shot most available

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington DC, the White House Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Sunday he would take the newly approved Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine and urged Americans to take whichever shot is available when they are eligible.

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DISTRIBUTION OF MODERNA VACCINE TO BERGEN COUNTY HEALTHCARE WORKERS BEGINS MONDAY

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

HACKENSACK NJ, Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco announces that the County of Bergen in partnership with Bergen New Bridge Medical Center have received 1000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and will begin distribution to Bergen County category 1A healthcare workers on Monday, December 28.

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FDA Advisory Committee Votes To Endorse Emergency Use for Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Moderna, Inc., (Nasdaq:MRNA) a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients, today confirmed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) recommended that the FDA grant an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273. 20 VRBPAC members recommended for EUA, 0 members voted against, and 1 abstained.

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BREAKING: Moderna to apply for Emergency use Authorization for COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Today

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

CAMBRIDGE  Mass ,  Moderna, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNA), a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients, today announced that the primary efficacy analysis of the Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273 conducted on 196 cases confirms the high efficacy observed at the first interim analysis. The data analysis indicates a vaccine efficacy of 94.1%. Safety data continue to accrue and the study continues to be monitored by an independent, NIH-appointed Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB). The Company also announced that today, Moderna plans to request an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and conditional approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The Phase 3 study, known as the COVE study, enrolled more than 30,000 participants in the U.S. and is being conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine 94.5% Effective !

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.,  Moderna, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNA), a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients, today announced that the independent, NIH-appointed Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) for the Phase 3 study of mRNA-1273, its vaccine candidate against COVID-19, has informed Moderna that the trial has met the statistical criteria pre-specified in the study protocol for efficacy, with a vaccine efficacy of 94.5%. This study, known as the COVE study, enrolled more than 30,000 participants in the U.S. and is being conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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Moderna Starts Phase 3 Trial For Its Coronavirus Vaccine

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

CAMBRIDGE Mass. Moderna, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNA), a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients, today announced a modification to its contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for an additional commitment of up to $472 million to support late stage clinical development including the expanded Phase 3 study of the Company’s mRNA vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) against COVID-19.

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Moderna, Inc., issues encouraging preliminary results from its Phase 1 COVID19 vaccine trial

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington DC, Last week, US President Donald Trump provided additional details on Operation Warp Speed, the US plan to rapidly develop, test, and manufacture a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. The program will involve senior experts and leadership from both the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense, and it aims to develop, test, and scale up production for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in order to make millions of doses available by early 2021. This would be a monumental effort and would considerably accelerate the process for any previous vaccine by months or years. One of the project leaders, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, commented that he had recently seen encouraging preliminary data from early clinical trials of a vaccine candidate. This morning, Moderna, Inc., issued a press release describing encouraging preliminary results from its Phase 1 vaccine trial. While Phase 1 trials are designed to evaluate safety of the vaccine in humans, Moderna noted that early data (based on only 8 participants) are promising that the vaccine could induce the development of protective antibodies. More data is required to better characterize the body’s immune response, particularly with respect to the effect on conferring immunity to SARS-CoV-2.