Coronavirus Roundup: Full FDA Approval Sought for Second Vaccine
As the world prepares to return back to normality, so is the business world. However, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, or even different viruses, measures and regulations need to be put in order. The Equal Employment Opportunity commission has updated its guidance on coronavirus vaccines late last week as the business world prepares to go back to normal, and employee prepare to physically be at the workplace. Consequently, the Equal Employment Opportunity commission has reported, “Federal EEO laws do not prevent an employer from requiring all employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated for COVID-19, so long as employers comply with the reasonable accommodation provisions of the [Americans with Disabilities Act] and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other EEO considerations.” Equally important, The National Institutes of Health said on Tuesday it has started clinical trials to study mixed vaccine schedules. Though vaccines were already authorized and administered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health wants to arrange for the possibility of needing booster shots to counter waning immunity and to keep pace with an evolving virus. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases proclaimed, “The results of this trial are intended to inform public health policy decisions on the potential use of mixed vaccine schedules should booster doses be indicated.” Dr. Francis Collines, the director of the National Institutes of Health, has stated, “This whole issue about whether something happened at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, nobody knows.” The director has called for a “thorough investigation” into the origins of the coronavirus outbreak because the World Health Organization, as he claims the, “effort did not meet that standard.” However, such thorough investigation cannot occur if the Chinese government is willing to provide answers. Apart from this, Moderna has announced it is seeking full approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. So far, the company’s vaccine is currently only available to individuals 18 years of age and older. Morderna is also providing data to the agency on a rolling basis. Besides Morderna Pfizer and BioNTech applied for full approval of their vaccine for individuals 16 and older last month.
Author: Ameer Ford
