4 December 2020

• Executives at the pharmaceutical corporations which are developing vaccines are dubbed “Covillionaires” – the net worth of BioNTech’s Chief, Ugur Sahin, is estimated at $5.1 billion after phase III data and the UK approval of the vaccine that the company is co-developing with Pfizer; the net worth of Moderna’s Founder and CEO, Stephane Bancel’s, is now estimated at $4.7 billion; a Moderna co-founder, Robert Langer, owner of a 3% stake in the company, now has a net worth of $1.7 billion. Source
• The Washington Post publishes a story detailing Sinovac’s history of corruption – bribing regulators to obtain and expedite approvals for their vaccine candidates and kickbacks to officials making deals to sell the vaccines. The company’s April 2020 annual report noted that the company’s strict anti-corruption policies “…may not be completely effective.” Sources 1,2
• Bahrain – which has one of the highest per capita rates of coronavirus cases – becomes the world’s second country to grant an EUA for the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. Source
New England Journal of Medicine publishes a letter to the editor about immune responses among 34 participants in a phase I trial of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine. Each had received the second 100 μg dose 90 days ago, and all continue to have elevated levels of neutralizing antibodies, regardless of age (which ranged from 18 to over 71 years of age). The authors concluded by saying that the vaccine “.. has the potential to provide durable humoral immunity.” Source

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