Currents News Staff
One of the latest warriors in the fight against COVID-19 is Dawn Baker. She’s the first of an anticipated 30,000 U.S. volunteers expected to participate in the third phase of a clinical trial for a potential vaccine.
At a roundtable in Miami, Vice President Mike Pence praised trial volunteers and spoke about plans to produce a stockpile of the vaccine so it would be ready to go, if and when it’s approved by the Federal Drug Administration.
“We have a goal of literally manufacturing hundreds of millions of doses by this fall and to have them available by next year.”
The biotech firm Moderna and the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.) are testing their vaccine at 89 sites across the U.S. Volunteers won’t be told whether they are getting the vaccine or a placebo. The Moderna/N.I.H. vaccine is one of 25 in trials around the world to curtail the pandemic.
Meanwhile in Washington, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien has tested positive for COVID-19. As virus cases rise in many states, Google announced that its employees may work from home until at least July 2021, just as Congress negotiates a new stimulus package.