There is good, bad and ugly – and perhaps we should add missing – news on COVID-19 early in this week No. 10 of Southeast Tennessee’s coronavirus chronicle.
The good news is that an experimental vaccine – one of eight in the works worldwide – is showing promising early signs that it can create an immune response in the body that could help fend off the novel coronavirus, according to sampling of data from a small, first human trial of inoculation.
In 25 people who received a test shot, researchers reported that their levels of antibodies equaled or exceeded the levels of antibodies found in patients who had recovered from the virus. In eight, the vaccine successfully stimulated the body to create antibodies capable of neutralizing the virus in a test tube, meaning the virus could no longer infect cells. That second number may rise, officials said, as that particular test takes longer to perform.
A phase two trial is expected to begin shortly, and the final-stage trial could begin in July, according to officials with the drug company Moderna Inc., which is running the trial with the U.S. government and a grant of up to $483 million. With this news, Moderna shares surged 26% in trading, according to Bloomberg News.
Secondary good news is that Tennessee is one of 10 states to reach a benchmark for COVID-19 testing. The benchmark, set by Harvard researchers, called for the state to perform 3,266 tests daily by May 15 to track and contain the virus. Tennessee in the past seven days averaged 9,059 tests a day.