Adios, Vaccine Patents; CDC OKs Mock Cruises; Factory Troubles at Lilly

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The Biden administration announced its support for waiving patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines in an effort to help lower-income countries boost production. (CNBC)

Bon voyage! CDC released guidance for cruise ship operators to start “simulated voyages” with volunteers prior to setting sail with paid passengers this summer; alternately, operators can avoid the mock cruises if 98% of crew and 95% of passengers are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, a federal judge in D.C. ruled the CDC had no legal authority to issue a nationwide moratorium on evictions; the Justice Department plans to appeal the decision. (Washington Post)

As of Thursday at 8:00 a.m. EDT, the unofficial U.S. COVID-19 toll reached 32,558,066 cases and 579,280 deaths, up 44,611 and 777, respectively, since this time a day ago.

Moderna said its strain-matched COVID-19 vaccine booster increased neutralizing titers against SARS-CoV-2 as well as the South Africa and Brazil variants in a phase II trial.

And in real-world data from Qatar, Pfizer’s vaccine demonstrated 72-75% effectiveness against the South Africa variant, and was 97.4% effective against severe or fatal cases involving the U.K. or South Africa variants. (New England Journal of Medicine)

It’s already being tested in U.K. trials, but what’s the logic behind mixing and matching COVID vaccines? (NPR)

Canada authorized Pfizer’s vaccine for kids ages 12 to 15, though still no word from FDA for the U.S. (Reuters)

A factory executive at a U.S. plant manufacturing Eli Lilly’s COVID-19 antibody treatment allegedly changed documents to “downplay serious quality control problems.” At a second Lilly facility, “substandard sanitation and quality control procedures” caught the eye of FDA inspectors. (Reuters)

The FDA detailed in a new report exactly how well it has kept up on critical inspections during the pandemic and how the agency plans to move ahead.

The pandemic’s anticipated baby boom turned into more of a baby bust. (CNN)

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