Donald Trump accuses Pfizer of deliberately waiting until after election to release vaccine results - National Post

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President-elect Joe Biden said the news was excellent but did not change the fact that face masks, social distancing and other health measures would be needed well into next year.

The World Health Organization called the results very positive but warned there was a funding gap of $4.5 billion that could slow access to tests, medicines and vaccines in low- and middle-income countries.

There are other challenges as well that could affect less affluent countries. The Pfizer vaccine must be shipped and stored at an extremely cold temperature, which requires necessary infrastructure. Even many U.S. hospitals lack these super cold storage units, which may impact when and where the vaccine becomes available in many U.S. rural areas as well.

That highlights the need for more traditional vaccines in development, such as J&J’s candidate.

‘Near ecstatic’

Still, there was cause for jubilation.

“I’m near ecstatic,” Bill Gruber, one of Pfizer’s top vaccine scientists, said in an interview. “This is a great day for public health and for the potential to get us all out of the circumstances we’re now in.”

Between 55% and 65% of the population will need to be vaccinated to break the dynamic of the spread of COVID-19, said Germany’s health minister Jens Spahn, adding that he did not expect a shot to be available before the first quarter of 2021.

The European Union said on Monday it would soon sign a contract for up to 300 million doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMihwFodHRwczovL25hdGlvbmFscG9zdC5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC9kb25hbGQtdHJ1bXAtYWNjdXNlcy1wZml6ZXItb2YtZGVsaWJlcmF0ZWx5LXdhaXRpbmctdW50aWwtYWZ0ZXItZWxlY3Rpb24tdG8tcmVsZWFzZS12YWNjaW5lLXJlc3VsdHPSAbUBaHR0cHM6Ly9uYXRpb25hbHBvc3QuY29tL25ld3Mvd29ybGQvZG9uYWxkLXRydW1wLWFjY3VzZXMtcGZpemVyLW9mLWRlbGliZXJhdGVseS13YWl0aW5nLXVudGlsLWFmdGVyLWVsZWN0aW9uLXRvLXJlbGVhc2UtdmFjY2luZS1yZXN1bHRzL3djbS84YjgwNDg5Ny03NGE2LTQxYmItYTM2My04YTY5MjY4OWRlYTgvYW1wLw?oc=5

2020-11-10 15:22:04Z
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