Health

Report: Much needs doing to shield nursing homes from virus WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is claiming “resounding vindication” from an independent commission's report on the coronavirus crisis in nursing homes, but some panel members say... AP NEWS

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is claiming “resounding vindication” from an independent commission’s report on the coronavirus crisis in nursing homes, but some panel members say that’s a misinterpretation of their conclusion that much remains to be done to safeguard vulnerable residents.

Two drug companies that are leading the race to develop coronavirus vaccines bowed to public pressure on Thursday, abandoning their traditional secrecy and releasing comprehensive road maps of how they are evaluating their vaccines.

The companies, Moderna and Pfizer, revealed details about how participants are being selected and monitored, the conditions under which the trials could be stopped early if there were problems, and the evidence researchers will use to determine whether people who got the vaccines were protected from Covid-19.

Moderna’s study will involve 30,000 participants, and Pfizer’s 44,000.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, there were lots of stories about scrappy manufacturers promising to revamp their factories to start making personal protective equipment in the U.S.

Back in the spring, fuel-cell maker Adaptive Energy retooled part of its factory in Ann Arbor, Mich., to make plastic face shields. Now, 100,000 finished shields are piling up in cardboard boxes on the factory floor — unsold.

"We jumped in head first," said Ranvir Gujral, the company's principal owner. He added ruefully: "We weren't the only ones with a brilliant idea of getting our folks back to work and trying to help and manufacture PPE."