Cartoon

Great Again

Written by SK Ashby

(Cartoonist - Chris Britt)

In other news, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied Michael Flynn's request to have the case against him tossed out because of the Trump regime's guidance. The vote was 8-2 against Flynn.

Meanwhile, scientists say early coronavirus vaccines approved in Russia and China may not be very effective because they're based on cold viruses that a lot of people are already immune to.

CanSino Biologics’ vaccine, approved for military use in China, is a modified form of adenovirus type 5, or Ad5. The company is in talks to get emergency approval in several countries before completing large-scale trials, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

A vaccine developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute, approved in Russia earlier this month despite limited testing, is based on Ad5 and a second less common adenovirus.

“The Ad5 concerns me just because a lot of people have immunity,” said Anna Durbin, a vaccine researcher at Johns Hopkins University. “I’m not sure what their strategy is ... maybe it won’t have 70% efficacy. It might have 40% efficacy, and that’s better than nothing, until something else comes along.”

And in related news, a clear majority of Americans are concerned the vaccine development process has been politicized.

Seventy-eight percent of Americans worry the Covid-19 vaccine approval process is being driven more by politics than science, according to a new survey from STAT and the Harris Poll, a reflection of concern that the Trump administration may give the green light to a vaccine prematurely.

The response was largely bipartisan, with 72% of Republicans and 82% of Democrats expressing such worries, according to the poll, which was conducted last week and surveyed 2,067 American adults.

The sentiment underscores rising speculation that President Trump may pressure the Food and Drug Administration to approve or authorize emergency use of at least one Covid-19 vaccine prior to the Nov. 3 election, but before testing has been fully completed.

I'm worried about this, too, and I am pro vaccine. I imagine the anti-vaccine movement will be extremely widespread in the coming months/year. And unfortunately, Trump will have given them legitimate reasons to protest by promising untested miracles.