Tag: vaccines

Posted on

FDA Advisers Give Thumbs Up To Moderna Vaccine

New York state is about to drop its face mask mandate as COVID-19 cases continue to drop in the Empire State.

Excellent news! An FDA advisory committee has recommended approving the coronavirus from Moderna for use in the fight against COVID-19. From the Washington Post:

Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine got the greenlight from a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee Thursday, paving the way for authorization of a second shot aimed at slowing a pandemic that has killed nearly 310,000 people in the United States.

The panel voted that the benefits of the highly effective vaccine outweighed its risks for people individuals 18 years of age and older.

The FDA plans to authorize the vaccine Friday, according to knowledgeable individuals who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the schedule.

Gen. Gustave F. Perna, who is leading the federal effort in getting vaccine shipments out to states, has already prepped his team to ship nearly 6 million doses of the Moderna vaccine to 3,285 locations in the first week upon approval.

Posted on

News Round-Up: December 15, 2020

Riotron releases surprise holiday single, ‘Silent Night Angel’ (promo photo)
Some news items you might have missed: • Instinct Magazine: Hungary’s parliament has voted to amend the country’s constitution defining families as ‘the mother is a woman, the father is a man.’ This effectively bans LGBTQ people from adopting since queer people cannot marry in the conservative nation. • NY Times: A day after the U.S. surpassed 300,000 deaths due to the coronavirus, the FDA has confirmed Moderna’s assessment that its vaccine had an efficacy rate of 94.1 percent in a trial of 30,000 people. With expected approval on Friday, six million doses could begin shipping across the country. • Christmas Music: Canadian retrowave pop artist Riotron (above photo) returns with a surprise holiday single titled “Silent Night Angel.” Riotron’s Jeff Fettes says, “For me, the holiday season is magical, but also intense and full of surprises. This is my version of a carol.”

• Ipsos Polling: New polling shows more than one in four Americans (27%) say they plan to get the vaccine as soon as it’s available, more than double the number that said the same in mid-September (13%). Nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) trust the FDA to look out for the best interests of their family. • USA Today: A judge in Phoenix jettisoned a lawsuit claiming widespread election fraud in Arizona, saying the plaintiff had no standing to challenge the state’s election results because she was not registered to vote. • The Advocate: Mike Pence is being mocked for his exuberant entrance to a campaign event where he “prance-clapped” across a tarmac in order to stump for Georgia Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. It’s like he was just called down on The Price Is Right.

Posted on

Coronavirus Vaccinations Begin Across U.S.

(photo: Daniel Schludi/Unsplash)
The Washington Post reports vaccinations for the coronavirus have begun today as nearly 3 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are being delivered to 636 locations across the U.S. More pandemic news from the Post: • After having passed on the opportunity to secure an additional 100 million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer, the U.S.  is in talks with the pharma company for acquiring more in the second quarter of 2021, but no deal has been confirmed. • Donald Trump reversed course on a plan to have some White House staff members be among the first Americans vaccinated. The plan had been criticized in light of the Trump White House’s downplaying of the severity of the pandemic. • There’s also a late-to-the-dance public service campaign being launched to encourage people to take the vaccine Trump says he pushed so hard for. While more than eight in 10 Americans currently say they would take the vaccine, many are divided on the question of how soon.

Posted on

Trump Administration Passed On Purchasing Additional Pfizer Vaccine

From the New York Times:

Trump administration officials passed when Pfizer offered in late summer to sell the U.S. government additional doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, according to people familiar with the matter.

Now Pfizer may not be able to provide more of its vaccine to the United States until next June because of its commitments to other countries, they said.

As the administration scrambles to try to purchase more doses of the vaccine, President Trump plans on Tuesday to sign an executive order “to ensure that United States government prioritizes getting the vaccine to American citizens before sending it to other nations,” according to a draft statement and a White House official, though it was not immediately clear what force the president’s executive order would carry.

As I understand it, Pfizer has a contract with the U.S. to deliver 100 million doses. Any more would be a new order. And, as Pfizer wasn’t part of Operation Warp Speed and received no federal funds for research and development, the company isn’t beholden to the U.S. In related news, the CEOs of vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna have declined an invitation to attend a “vaccine summit” (read that as “photo opp – victory lap”) at the White House tomorrow.

Posted on

News Round-Up: December 4, 2020

U.S. flag and Pride flag

Some news items you might have missed: • Edge Media: A new report published by the Washington Post suggests that President-elect Joe Biden may have won the 2020 election because of higher LGBTQ voter turnout. • Pew Research: A new poll shows 60% of American adults say they will get vaccinated for the coronavirus, up from 51% in September. • CNBC: Sidney Powell, who has already been booted from the Trump legal team, asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to order Georgia officials to “preserve all data on the Dominion System” and allow “Republican Electors to audit” that system in 10 counties. Finding it has no jurisdiction to hear the appeal, the 11th Circuit Court sent the Kraken lawsuit back to its cage in the District Court.

• Nevada Independent: A Carson City District Court judge rejected a legal request to award the state’s six electoral votes to Donald Trump. Judge James Russell ruled that he found the evidence offered by the Trump campaign to have “little to no value,” and failed to provide under any standard of proof that the campaign’s long list of alleged fraud and vote irregularities could be backed up under any evidentiary standard. • Detroit Free Press: Team Trump also lost in Michigan today as well. The court chastised the campaign for dragging its feet on the appeal, said the certification of Michigan’s election results by the Board of State Canvassers in the interim had made the lawsuit moot, and said that if the Trump campaign wanted to challenge the results it could have requested a recount, but it did not. • WXKY Radio: New York Young Republicans hoped to keep the New Jersey location of their annual fundraiser a secret but were outed by folks tweeting from the party. Jersey City chief prosecutor Jake Hudnut responded to a tweet by an attendee taunting New York Gov. Cuomo to “come and get me” by tweeting “Gov. Cuomo may not be able to ‘come and get’ you, but I can.”

Posted on

News Round-Up: December 3, 2020

A moment from Todrick Hall’s “Bells, Bows, Gifts, Trees”
Some news items you might have missed: • Edge Media: Will Columbia be 2021’s most popular LGBTQ travel destination? The South American country has been gaining traction as the next hot spot for queer travelers. • NewNowNext: Inspired by the legendary Black and Latino houses and vogue balls in 1980s New York City, the illuminating, fierce documentary Deep In Vogue introduces North Americans to Manchester’s “Northern Vogue” scene. The film will be available on December 8.

• The Hill: Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are offering to publicly take the COVID-19 vaccine to prove its safety and encourage Americans to be inoculated. • NowThis News:  This is the Trump campaign’s star witness before Michigan state legislators today whose unhinged voter fraud testimony broke the internet. “With friends like this, who needs enemies?”

• The Gaily Grind: Also at the Michigan hearing today, another of Rudy Giuliani’s witnesses said she thinks “all Chinese look alike” while making the argument for a voter ID requirement in Michigan. • Instinct Magazine: Sleigh what!? Todrick Hall has reworked his now-legendary track ‘Nails Hair Hips Heels’ for the holidays, serving up a brand new version titled “Bells Bows Gifts Trees” that is sure to help get us through a holiday season like we’ve never seen before.

Posted on

Fauci: Herd Immunity Possible By Summer If Majority Of Americans Vaccinated

New York state is about to drop its face mask mandate as COVID-19 cases continue to drop in the Empire State.

Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters on Tuesday that ‘herd immunity’ to the coronavirus could be attained in the U.S. by the end of summer 2021 if a large majority of Americans are vaccinated. From The Hill:

In a Tuesday news conference with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), Fauci predicted that high-risk groups of Americans, as well as health care workers and some others, could begin to be vaccinated beginning this month, with inoculations continuing through March.

The National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases director predicted that “the general population” will begin being vaccinated in April.

He later added that if the U.S. has a “good uptake” for the vaccine, the country could have the “overwhelming majority of people” vaccinated by the end of the second quarter in the U.S.  

Posted on

6.4 Million Doses Of Pfizer Vaccine Will Ship Mid-December

The first confirmed case of the omicron variant in the U.S. has been discovered in California.

From the New York Times:

Around mid-December, 6.4 million doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine will be shipped out across the United States in an initial push after it receives an expected emergency authorization, officials leading Operation Warp Speed, the administration’s push to fast-track a vaccine, said on a call with reporters on Tuesday.

The first doses — which are expected to go to health care workers and potentially a few other vulnerable groups — will be allocated to all 50 states and eight territories, as well as six major metropolitan areas. The quantities will be based on how many adults live in each jurisdiction.

Posted on

News Round-Up: November 17, 2020

Joe Blizzard (image via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • InstaHunks: Woofy Joe Blizzard (above) is getting through the rough Miami winter the best he can 🙂 • Kenneth-in-the-212: The venerable NYC-based gay blog turned 15 recently! Hit the link to check out Kenneth’s Top 10 posts over the years. Congratulations, Kenneth! • Broadway World: NBC is bringing the magic of Dr. Seuss’ world to life in a new musical production airing next month. Matthew Morrison (GLEE, Hairspray) will star as the title role in Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Musical! set to air Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT from the Troubadour Theatre in London.

• STAT News: Pfizer may be within days of filing for an emergency use authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine, having collected the safety data necessary to submit an application to the Food and Drug Administration, CEO Albert Bourla said Tuesday. • Eonline: 13 years after Isaiah Washington was fired for calling his Grey’s Anatomy co-star T.R. Knight a ‘faggot’ on set, he reignited his feud with former co-star Katherine Heigl, who stood up for Knight at the time of Washington’s hate speech. There was no apparent reason cited for Washington reinvigorating the incident. Oh, and he’s a big Trump supporter, so… • Instinct Magazine: The European Union has announced a new strategy to fight anti-LGBTQ laws and sentiments across its borders. The union specifically made this announcement as a response to discrimination skyrocketing in Poland and Hungary.  

Posted on

News Round-Up: November 16, 2020

Fitness guru Joel Green (via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Mindful Monday: Fitness expert and InstaHunk Joel Green (above) notes quite wisely, “Some of the best things in life aren’t things.”  • Reuters: The number of coronavirus cases in the United States crossed the 11-million mark on Sunday reaching yet another grim milestone as the third wave of COVID-19 infections surged across the country. Reuters data shows the pace of the pandemic in the United States has quickened, with one million more new cases from just 8 days ago when it hit 10 million, making it the fastest since the pandemic began. • Mediaite: Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Dr. Moncef Slaoui downplayed President Donald Trump’s involvement in the coronavirus vaccine breakthroughs on MSNBC telling viewers that the Trumpster “has never been very actively involved.” • AP News: Donald Trump will have to pay $7.9 million if he wants a statewide recount of unofficial results in Wisconsin showing him losing to Democrat Joe Biden by about 20,500 votes. In 2016, Wisconsin’s recount took about 12 days and only showed a change of 131 votes. • Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A recount in Georgia’s presidential race found more than 2,600 ballots in Floyd County that hadn’t originally been tallied. County election officials apparently didn’t upload votes from a memory card in a ballot-scanning machine. GOP leaders in the county believe Donald Trump could have a net gain of 800 votes from the discovery, which wouldn’t be enough to overcome Joe Biden’s 14,000+ vote lead. • Global News: A Halifax man says police aren’t doing enough to keep him safe after he says he was violently attacked by his neighbor for reporting him for domestic abuse. The victim recorded audio of the attack and posted it on Twitter. Warning: graphic audio.