Operation Warp Speed | New Zealand In Talks With Biden | AstraZeneca-Oxford Vaccine Up To 90% Effective

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TOPLINE

As the U.S. braces simultaneously for a presidential power handoff and distribution of coronavirus vaccines that are expected to be approved soon, the head of the White House’s program to accelerate development of a vaccine, Operation Warp Speed, said Sunday morning that while he’s happy to work with President-elect Joe Biden, he’s been instructed not to share vaccine information with anyone outside the Trump administration. 

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who has been widely praised for steering one of the world’s most successful responses to Covid-19, on Monday revealed that she had put President-elect Joe Biden in contact with the nation’s health officials in efforts to share tactics on how to battle the devastating pandemic that has killed more than 256,000 Americans.

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is preparing to submit its Covid-19 vaccine, developed in conjunction with the University of Oxford, to regulatory authorities for emergency approval after a preliminary analysis of an ongoing clinical trial revealed it to be up to 90% effective at preventing Covid-19. — while the findings follow 95% success rates from Moderna and Pfizer’s vaccines, the Oxford vaccine is cheaper and much easier to store and transport.   

KEY FACTS

“I have been informed that I should not be saying anything confidential to anyone that’s not part of the [Trump] administration,” Moncef Slaoui told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding that he’ll “act according to what the requirements are” on potentially briefing Biden next week. 

New Zealand, which has successfully battled community transmission of Covid-19 among its population of nearly 5 million people, has recorded just 2,030 infections and 25 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

KEY BACKGROUND

Distribution of the vaccines appears imminent with Pfizer and BioNTech on Friday submitting an emergency use authorization request for their coronavirus vaccine candidate to the Food and Drug Administration. The companies say their final analysis of data from clinical trials found that the vaccine was 95% effective in preventing coronavirus infections. Moderna has also touted early data from trials of its vaccine candidate showing a similar rate of efficacy. Slaoui said Sunday that doses of both vaccines will begin to be made available to states within 24 hours of approval. 

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