Top of the morning to you. Another steamy day is unfolding here at the Pharmalot campus, where the short person will soon leave for a day of summertime fun. As for the rest of us, well, we can only dream. But our to-do list will keep us busy, including online meetings with some interesting folks. Hopefully, you can relate. Either way, it is time to get cracking and fire up the coffee kettle. Our choice today is vanilla macadamia nut. As always, we have also gathered a few tidbits to get you going. Have a grand day and keep us in mind if you hear anything provocative or revolutionary …
The shortage of vaccines to combat a fast-growing monkeypox outbreak was caused in part because the Department of Health and Human Services failed early on to ask that bulk stocks of the vaccine it already owned be bottled for distribution, The New York Times reports. By the time the U.S. government placed its orders, the manufacturer, Bavarian Nordic, booked other clients and was unable to do the work for months, even though the U.S. government invested well over $1 billion in the vaccine’s development. The U.S. government is now distributing about 1.1 million doses, less than a third of the 3.5 million health officials estimate are needed to fight the outbreak.
Meanwhile, scientists at the National Institutes of Health are getting ready to explore a possible work-around to the supply problem and are putting the finishing touches on the design of a clinical trial to assess two methods of stretching available doses of the Bavarian Nordic shot, STAT reports. They plan to test whether fractional dosing — using one-fifth of the regular amount of vaccine per person — would provide as much protection as the current regimen of two full doses of the vaccine given 28 days apart. They will also test whether using a single dose might be enough to protect against infection.
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