Moderna ups the ante — and takes some heat

First Pfizer and BioNTech announced a Covid-19 vaccine with 90% effectiveness. Then the Russians bragged that their Sputnik vaccine was 92 percent effective.

And now comes even more good news from Moderna, with a vaccine candidate that the company says is 94.5 percent effective against Covid-19.

Like Pfizer’s, it’s also a messenger RNA vaccine, but the big difference: Moderna’s can be stored in a normal refrigerator — 36 to 48°F — for 30 days. (Pfizer’s needs to be stored at -70°C (-94° in Freedom Units), and can only last five days in a refrigerator.)

That’s huge news for rural areas, where medical facilities usually don’t have those deep freezers.

But there’s the question of money

Still hanging over the whole vaccine issue, though, is the question of how states will pay to distribute it. Right now there’s not enough federal money set aside for the effort. Sure, President-elect Joe Biden promises* the money will be there, but that’s months away — and states are making plans now.

There’s not only shipping, but tracking, reallocating, monitoring who got the first dose and who needs the second, training healthcare workers, collecting data, even finding safe locations for mass vaccination events — not to mention the effort to convince people to get the vaccine.

There are myriad other costs too — including […] paying for secure convoys to transport the vaccine once it gets to states. “We can’t just throw it into Bob’s pickup truck and drive it down the road.”

* The check’s in the mail. Honest.

Techs: This is tomorrow!

Hey pharmacy techs — it’s time to mingle! Like, tomorrow night!

GPhA’s Academy of Pharmacy Technicians is hosting a networking event exclusively for technicians to let their (virtual) hair down (and, yes get some good ideas).

It’s tomorrow, November 18, 2020 from 6:30 – 8:00 pm, via Zoom.

Why mingle?

• To bring all pharmacy technicians together to party like only pharmacy techs know how to. (And to meet the APT board members and hear what APT wants to accomplish.)
• To get techs talking (sorry, we mean “to foster networking and discuss relevant topics of interest”) — learn from one another. Here’s a starter: What are the most comfortable shoes you own for the job?
• What else is there to talk about? How about some unique roles for pharmacy technicians, like in hospitals? What does it mean to be a lead pharmacy technician?
• How about the management skills you’ll need, how to help implement clinical services, and what’s up with immunization administration for technicians?

All this plus fun, prizes, and a great chance to bond. Don’t miss out — register today!

Virus-killing paint

You probably know that copper is pretty good at killing bacteria. So do the folks at Corning, and they get paid to do something with that knowledge.

In this case, the company has invented a paint additive that kills viruses and bacteria, thanks to a copper-based chemical that’s included. Once its registered with the EPA, Corning partner PPG will begin selling virus-killing paints. And we suspect other companies will follow.

[Research shows that Corning Guardiant kills] other bacteria and viruses with greater than 99.9% efficacy in under two hours, including gram positive bacteria (such as Staphylococcus aureus), gram negative bacteria (such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa), and non-enveloped viruses (such as murine norovirus, which belongs to the hardest-to-kill class of viruses in terms of its susceptibility to disinfectants).

The pandemic is a firestorm and it’s not under control

Every day, the U.S. sets new records for infections and hospitalizations. More than 70,000 Americans are currently hospitalized for Covid-19.

“It’s not one or two hotspots, the entire country is a hotspot of coronavirus infection.” And yet there are still people who consider wearing a mask to protect other people to be some kind of political statement.

Hospitals and healthcare services across the country are overwhelmed — and it’s worse than March.

In some hospitals, the staffing is so dire that asymptomatic doctors and nurses infected with coronavirus are allowed to keep working in Covid-19 units.

WSJ: “It’s Now Up to Governors to Slow the Spread”

“In previous waves, health-care workers from less-affected areas were deployed to New York and the South. It isn’t possible to send an army of health-care personnel into hot zones when the entire country is a hot zone,” wrote Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and former CMS Administrator Mark McClellan in the Wall Street Journal.

ICU beds are being rationed, even for heart-attack victims. Elective surgeries are being cancelled — and the definition of “elective” is being stretched. “In Idaho, some patients needing hysterectomies or joint replacements will have to wait.”

In the absence of federal rules, states are enacting their own: closing schools, restricting or eliminating indoor dining, prohibiting or restricting social gatherings (including religious services).

“We have legitimate reason to be very, very concerned about our health system at a national level,” says Lauren Sauer, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins University who studies hospital surge capacity.

And if you think it’s bad now, wait till after Thanksgiving…

Statins side effects — mostly in the head?

Statins sometimes have side effects: fatigue, muscle aches, the condition known as hot dog fingers, joint pain, nausea. But get this: Researchers in London found that those side effects could be the “nocebo” effect — patients got the side effects even when taking a placebo.

And not just some. “The researchers found 90% of symptoms experienced by the patients were present when they took placebo tablets. ”

So maybe try telling patients taking a statin, “Oh, this is a new formulation. No muscle aches” or “You’ll be able to speak to the dead.” Can’t hurt.

Masks: good for the economy

Check this out: It turns out that mask mandates are good for local economies. It’s both kind of obvious … and a study from Washington University in St. Louis.

Essentially, when the virus is hitting hard, people are understandably concerned about going out — especially if there will be others who refuse to wear a mask. (Remember, masks primarily protect others from the virus.)

But, WashU found:

In communities where masks were mandated, consumer spending increased by 5% on average […] Researchers found the effect was greatest among non-essential businesses, including those in the retail and entertainment industries — such as restaurants and bars — that were hit hard by the pandemic.

So wear masks, make others safer, and do your part for the local economy.

“When people feel safer to spend, or more importantly, when the pandemic is kept at bay, the economy is more likely to have a quick recovery. Not to mention the lives that will be saved.”