The Phase I trail showed encouraging results, but that’s still a long way from a working vaccine that everyone can take. Biotech company Moderna reported positive Phase 1 COVID-19 vaccine trial results this morning, boosting its stock shares by 25% and drumming up a media cyclone of excitement. What does this actually mean, though? Not as much as you hope. Read Full Story

Initial tests have been promising, but what happens if none of the trials pans out? The race for a COVID-19 vaccine is unprecedented: 198 potential vaccines are now in development, and that development is happening faster than it ever has in history. Moderna, for example, finalized its vaccine just days after Chinese researchers released the genetic sequence of the new coronavirus in January. Two months later, the first volunteer was dosed with the vaccine. Last week, the company published positive Phase I trial results showing that the vaccine seems safe and generates an immune response; days later, Oxford University researchers published similarly promising results. Read Full Story

The effacacy of the Oxford vaccine is relatively low compared to Moderna’s and Pfizer’s—but it has two major advantages over its competitors. Another week and more good news in the fight against COVID-19. For the third week in a row, a successful COVID-19 has been announced—this time from researchers at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, reports the BBC. The Oxford vaccine has been one of the longest in the making—work began almost 10 months ago. However, the Oxford vaccine has a major drawback versus the American vaccines, but it also has two major advantages. Here’s what you need to know. Read Full Story

Early signs are encouraging, but we need to let the science take its time and not get our hopes too high yet. Last week the world got a big dose of promising news: Pharma giant Pfizer announced early results showing its COVID-19 vaccine was effective in more than 90% of the people who received it. This week is also getting off to a good start. American biotech giant Moderna has now announced that its own COVID-19 vaccine is effective in 94.5% of the people who received it, reports The Wall Street Journal . Here’s what you need to know: Read Full Story

Moderna's coronavirus vaccine candidate entered its next phase of human trials on Monday. The company hopes to have results by Thanksgiving.

The two announcements provide a welcome shot in the arm for global health efforts amid reports of a new mutation of the coronavirus. Despite a slow start to U.S. vaccinations, there was good news abroad this week as the United Kingdom gave emergency-use authorization to the COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. Meanwhile in China, the state-backed drugmaker Sinopharm reported nearly 80% efficacy for its own vaccine candidate, following an interim analysis of Phase 3 clinical trials. Read Full Story

The vaccines ‘do not show that they prevent you from potentially carrying this virus . . . and infecting others.’ We’ve gotten three incredibly good pieces of news in as many weeks when it comes to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each of the last three weeks saw the announcement that another SARS-CoV-2 vaccine has shown promising results and is waiting on regulatory approval so distribution can begin. For some, like front-line healthcare workers, the vaccine could be delivered as early as December. But for most, it’ll be late spring to summer before the mass rollout of vaccinations begins. Yet even then, things may not “get back to normal” as quickly as we’re all hoping it would once a vaccine became available. Read Full Story

Yes, it’s very good news—yet it’s important to keep hopes and expectations in check. Nothing is certain yet. There’s some massive news out about COVID-19—and it’s good for a change. Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine is reportedly successful in preventing over 90% of infections according to early data from its phase 3 study , says STAT News. Needless to say, if the data holds as the study continues, this vaccine could be the thing that turns the tide of the COVID-19 pandemic in humanity’s favor. Read Full Story

The announcement closely follows similar news from a rival vaccine program by Pfizer and BioNTech, which touted late-stage success a week ago.

Posted by MiriamEllis Image credit: Sharon Mollerus A new client comes to your digital marketing agency and says their competitors are stuck to the local packs like mussels cleaved to coastal rock. “How do we edge our way up in Google’s local finder, and find our place above the tideline? We don’t even know where to begin,” the local business owner says. The rough truth is that Google’s local search engine results often don’t make sense at first glance, or even at second or third glances. Local brands are left to puzzle out how to achieve maximum growth when they’re consistently being outranked by sticky competition for their core search phrases. Methodology About a year ago, I decided to run a study in which I’d track a local finder for a single query — “breakfast (X city)” — to see if anything brands or the public did over the course …