Second COVID-19 vaccine

Moderna Inc. reports nearly 95% effectiveness rate

Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash

American biotechnology company Moderna Inc. announced a 94.5% effectiveness rate of their COVID-19 vaccine using mRNA technology to protect against infection Monday. This comes a week after Pfizer and German company BioNTech released their vaccine that tested over 90% effective in their late-stage vaccine trial.

Both vaccines employ mRNA, or messenger RNA, technology in the structure of their vaccine. This means that the vaccine does not use active COVID-19 agents in the vaccine – which eliminates the risk of obtaining the virus from the vaccine.

Besides Moderna’a slightly higher effectiveness rate in their late-stage trial, there are a few key differences between the two vaccines. The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at incredibly cold temperatures (-70 degrees Celsius), compared to Moderna’s storage temperature of -20 degrees Celsius – comparable to that of a typical freezer. This makes distribution of both vaccines different: Pfizer will have to ensure the availability of extremely cold storage units for the vaccine while it is distributed. This makes the cost of distribution higher.

Both vaccines plan to apply for Emergency Use Approval through the United States’ Food and Drug Administration by early December.

Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci said that it is promising that we have two vaccines that are testing effective that use similar technology in their makeup; this provides hope that other vaccines in testing that use the same technology will also prove effective.

On top of the development of the Moderna vaccine, it was revealed that country singer and song writer Dolly Parton donated $1 million to the research efforts at Moderna.

U.S. election misinformation travels

Taiwan, Italy and Spain combat election falsehoods in their own news industries

While American news sources worked diligently to check and combat information presented about the state of the general election in the U.S. — and still do as votes continue to be counted — fact checkers across the world keep an eye on the election in order to properly inform their citizens.

Summer Chen, editor-in-chief of the Taiwan FactCheck Center, cites anti-China sentiment as a potential reason for spread of election misinformation across Taiwan. Some citizens favor Trump because of his relations with China. Chen stated the fact checking center was uncharacteristically busy for reviewing information regarding an election on a completely separate continent.

Italian content director Giovanni Zagni for Facta said that half of his business the week of the election centered around American politics in a foreign country.

Because of the misinformation that is propagated and widely accepted as truths across the United States that information spreads beyond our borders to affect the beliefs of citizens of other countries. This may not seem like a big deal, but put it into perspective: if we are not able to correctly identify information in our own country, how do we expect those who are not directly involved in American workings to understand the truth?

This is yet another reminder of the importance of telling the truth, investigative journalism and trust among viewership. In order to have a lasting affect overseas, we must start here.

Biden announces top picks

Biden plans to fill his cabinet with longstanding team members

President-elect Joe Biden announced Tuesday a group of individuals that will take up positions in the White House once Biden is inaugurated in January.

Biden’s picks range from senior ranking campaign officials as well as longtime confidants will take over key positions on Biden’s team.

Biden’s former campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon will transition to Deputy Chief of Staff. O’Malley Dillon had formerly served as Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s campaign manager before receding the 2020 presidential nomination and as part of President Obama’s campaign manager for the 2012 election.

Dana Remus, former general counsel to Biden’s campaign, will serve as a counsel to President elect Biden once inaugurated. Other notable choices include Mike Donilon, Julie Chavez Rodriguez and Annie Tomasini.