The U.S. government is planning to fund three 30,000-subject phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trials starting this month, and Pfizer is recruiting for its own similarly large vaccine trial. "Quickly lining up all the subjects for so many studies at the same time poses several challenges," The Wall Street Journal reports. "We not only have to find the number of volunteers," National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins explained, "but they need to be in an area where the virus is currently spreading, otherwise you learn nothing about the effectiveness of the vaccine."
The volunteers also need to be healthy and include sufficient high-risk groups that regulators can be sure the vaccines will be safe and effective in the broader population. That means COVID-19 hotspots are seen as fertile ground for recruiting, the Journal reports:
Among the areas being targeted in the U.S. and outside the country, industry officials say, are places where people generally aren't following preventive measures like social distancing or wearing masks. Some testing sites for Pfizer's vaccine trial will be in states that have seen recent increases in infections, such as Florida, Arizona, and Texas, Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said during a recent online event hosted by the Milken Institute. [The Wall Street Journal]
The need to quickly procure volunteers that meet these criteria has effectively created competition between vaccine trials. Vaccine developers and recruitment organizations are using novel techniques to find such volunteers, including working with churches and community groups, trawling testing centers and pharmacies, using algorithms, and asking employees to reach out to friends and family.
There are about 150 COVID-19 vaccines under development, and the three large late-stage trials being funded by the U.S. government this summer are for Moderna's vaccine candidate, the U.S. trial of a drug developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca that's already being tested in Britain, and Johnson & Johnson's vaccine effort. Peter Weber
Lebanese officials believe Tuesday's enormous explosion in Beirut's port was likely caused by 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse, and Prime Minister Hassan Diab vowed that those "responsible for this catastrophe will pay the price."
The blast killed at least 78 people and injured nearly 4,000, Lebanon's health ministry said, with many people still missing. The explosion leveled buildings, flipped cars, and blew out windows, and was so strong that it registered as a 3.3 magnitude earthquake.
Beirut's hospitals, already under stress due to the coronavirus pandemic, are now overwhelmed by patients, and medical facilities are asking for blood donations and generators. The city's governor, Marwan Abboud, told reporters he has "never in my life seen damage this enormous ... this is a national catastrophe. This is a disaster for Lebanon."
Lebanon is experiencing high unemployment and poverty rates, and Diab has asked for international assistance. Several countries, including Egypt, Jordan, and the United Kingdom, have pledged to help, and so has Israel, a country with which Lebanon is still technically at war; the country said it offered the Lebanese government "via international intermediaries medical and humanitarian aid, as well as immediate emergency assistance." Catherine Garcia
It cost nearly $5 billion for Disney to close Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, and its other theme parks from mid-March to June, the Walt Disney Company revealed on Tuesday.
During an earnings webcast, the company said it posted a loss of nearly $5 billion for the third quarter, which included a $2 billion loss in its parks, products, and experiences segment, USA Today reports. This segment's revenue dropped 85 percent to $1 billion compared to the same quarter in 2019.
While Shanghai Disneyland reopened in May, followed by Disney World and Disneyland Paris in July, Disneyland in Southern California remains closed. Hong Kong Disneyland reopened in June, but after a surge in coronavirus cases, shut its doors again last month.
Florida has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the United States, and executives said Disney World is seeing more cancelations and lower attendance than expected. "This is obviously a very uncertain time," CEO Bob Chapek said. "We should be in good shape once consumer confidence returns." Catherine Garcia
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) on Tuesday ordered a statewide mask mandate, requiring all residents to don a face covering while shopping or attending a public gathering during the next two weeks.
Mississippi is seeing a surge in new coronavirus cases and deaths, with more than 1 in 5 COVID-19 tests conducted in the state coming back positive, the Clarion Ledger reports. Previously, Reeves issued three separate executive orders requiring mask mandates in 37 of the state's 82 counties, but balked at issuing a statewide order because he said it was too hard to enforce and he trusted Mississippians to wear face coverings on their own.
On Tuesday, Reeves said he ordered the statewide mandate "because I believe that a large number of Mississippians are actually participating in slowing down the spread of the virus. They are doing exactly what they've asked them to do, and I'm proud of that."
Earlier in the day, Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi's top health officer, announced a statewide order that anyone who has been infected with COVID-19 and is not hospitalized must stay in self-isolation for 14 days from the onset of their illness. Failure to comply with this order could result in a misdemeanor fine of $500 and/or up to six months in jail. Catherine Garcia
Disney is getting down to business and releasing Mulan — at home.
The company on Tuesday announced that the live-action remake of Mulan, which was set to come to theaters in March but had its release postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, will debut on Disney+ next month. The film will be made available to stream on Sept. 4 and will cost $29.99 to watch, although it will also come to some theaters in countries that don't have Disney+, The Verge reports.
This was yet another blow to the movie theater industry, as alongside Tenet, Mulan had been expected to be one of the first major blockbusters back in U.S. theaters when they reopen. Some films that were originally intended to play in theaters have been released on premium video on demand in recent months, including Trolls World Tour. But Mulan is by far the biggest film to take this step.
Disney previously made a similar move with Hamilton, the filmed version of the Broadway musical, bringing it to Disney+ in July instead of debuting it in theaters in October 2021 as planned. It was evidently a huge hit, and Disney+ as of Tuesday has reached 60 million subscribers after Disney forecasted it would have between 60 million and 90 million subscribers by 2024.
Though it still isn't entirely clear when theaters will widely resume operations in the United States, AMC Theatres is aiming to reopen its locations this month, and Warner Bros. is planning to give Tenet a limited release in theaters that are able to play it on Sept. 3. Brendan Morrow
There are 43 muscles in the human face and Jonathan Swan flexed all of them during his recent interview with the president of the United States, which aired Monday night on HBO. Throughout the 40-minute conversation, Swan's brow furrowed, his eyes squinted and bulged, his nose wrinkled. Sometimes his jaw would actually hang open, a cartoonish epitome of "incredulous."
Such open expressions of disbelief when speaking with President Trump could arguably be considered rude (as if Trump hasn't rolled his eyes and mocked interviewers himself). But Swan's face served a greater journalistic role during the interview than fueling great memes: it fact-checked a leader who is not accustomed to pushback.
Jonathan Swan is all of us. pic.twitter.com/jFQlrpXLGx
— Santiago Mayer (@santiagomayer_) August 4, 2020
Trump has long escaped close scrutiny in his interviews, dating back to when he was still a candidate. Today, "Trump gets his share of pointed questions, but in terms of standards, Trump's treatment in most interviews is not so different from that of his predecessors — some softballs, some tough questions, a handful of real-time fact-checks," The New Republic recently wrote. "The problem, however, is that unlike his presidential forebears, Trump lies constantly."
It is the "overabundance of available material" to fact-check that has made it difficult for veteran journalists like Bill Hemmer, Bret Baier, David Muir, and Chuck Todd to know what, precisely, to call out, CNN notes. That's where Swan's face comes in handy. While he still verbally pushes back on Trump's falsehoods, his expressions do the heavy-lifting of continuously doubting the president's parade of absurd claims, like that "manuals" and "books" say you shouldn't conduct too many COVID-19 tests. Swan's expression is also what telegraphs to viewers that Trump's rambling during an exchange about charts is, indeed, utterly incoherent — wearing a polite listening face instead would have been misleading. Sometimes Swan simply looks helpless, serving to remind us of the torrent of falsehoods we're hearing.
Swan's expressions haven't always been applauded. In 2018, the reporter was described as a "bootlicker" for his banter and look of apparent delight when walking the president into acknowledging that he intended to end birthright citizenship ("Never trust a reporter who bounces in his chair with glee," The Intercept blasted). As Swan, a print journalist, later wrote to his colleagues in apology: "I'm not used to having my facial expression recorded … but what you saw was authentic surprise."
Turns out it's a good thing for us all that he's an open book. Jeva Lange
Another vaccine is showing promising results in the fight to find a COVID-19 solution.
Novavax, a Maryland-based company with $1.6 billion federal funding behind its coronavirus vaccine development, released two preliminary studies Tuesday. In one, all of its more than 130 human volunteers produced antibodies to combat the coronavirus, and in another, monkeys developed strong a resistence to the virus.
All of the humans in Novavax's trial may have some form of protection against COVID-19, but 56 of them produced a high level of antibodies without any dangerous side effects, The New York Times notes. Volunteers who had two doses of the vaccine three weeks apart, plus a booster, had the best results. Their antibodies measured approximately four times higher than those in patients who'd recovered from coronavirus, Stat News reports. Still, more than 60 percent of recipients had side effects including pain, headaches, and fatigue. Eight people had to be hospitalized, though their side effects were not life threatening and they were quickly released.
Novavax's vaccines are only in their first phase of study, while other developers have some in a phase three, where large amounts of people receive the vaccine. Still, John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell Medicine who was not involved in the studies, told the Times these were some of the most promising vaccine results he has seen yet. "This is the first one I'm looking at and saying, 'Yeah, I'd take that,'" Moore said. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia University who was not involved in the studies, cautioned there's no guarantee of safety until a phase three trial compares people who get the vaccine with people who got a placebo. It's still essential this study receives a peer review as well. Kathryn Krawczyk