What you need to know about vaccine allocation

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are being distributed to patients across the country. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson is not far behind, announcing this week that they’ve fully enrolled their phase 3 trial and expect to have data in January. So, how will vaccines continue to be allocated?

Across the United States, vaccines are being distributed to the phase 1a group—frontline health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities, per guidance from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). 

Yesterday, ACIP published interim recommendations for the next phases of allocation of existing vaccines:

• Phase 1b: frontline essential workers and people over 75 years old
• Phase 1c: all other essential workers, people 64-74, and people 16-64 with underlying medical conditions that increase the risk of severe COVID-19 infection

BIO weighed in on the importance of including lab, research, and manufacturing staff in the medical, food, and agriculture industries as part of the list of frontline essential workers.

In general, phase 1b should cover those employees in pharmaceutical, food, and agriculture R&D and manufacturing. (The full recommendations are available here.)

Need conversation starters for the family holiday Zoom call? We've got you covered at COVIDVaccineFacts.org.

In the last quarter of 2020, BIO welcomed 52 new members, for a grand total of 150 new members this year.

We spoke to several of our newest members about why they decided to join BIO.

1. To make the right connections and grow

“As a smaller biopharma, it is important that we strategically allocate our limited resources for maximum effect. Forming the right partnerships can enable us to do more with less,” said Dr. Maria L. Maccecchini, Founder, President, and CEO of Annovis, which is working on Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other neurodegenerative conditions.

Dr. Maccecchini explains how BIO can help them find the right partners to execute on their vision.

2. To drive diversity and inclusion in the industry and society

Following the launch of the BIOEquality Agenda, companies were inspired to find solutions to inequitable health care delivery and eliminate economic, nutritional, and environmental disparities. 

“Initiatives such as The Right Mix Matters reflect our values as an organization and tie closely to what we hope to accomplish through The 221b Foundation, a non-profit we founded to address the global COVID-19 pandemic and diverse representation in STEM,” said Amy Lyons, Head of Communications at Sherlock Biosciences, Inc, which received the first FDA authorization for a CRISPR-based rapid SARS-CoV-2 detection kit.

Dr. Piraye Yurttas Beim, Founder and CEO of Celmatix, which focuses on Ovarian Failure, explained how BIO can “address gender disparities in our industry and…raise the profile of long-neglected therapeutic areas that affect women.”

3. To have a seat at the table in advocacy and policymaking

Companies across the industry agree: advocacy is critically important right now.

“BIO can play an important role communicating—in our case about various aspects of ag biotech. We hear very strong objections to science-based innovations, even though they can address significant problems in crop production,” said Brian W. Pusch, Chairman and CEO of Microbes, Inc, which produces products that contain beneficial microbes, mostly bacteria, that farmers use as crop inputs.

For reasons #4 and #5, read the whole thing. 

Happy Holidays and thanks to all of our members for your support this year! We look forward to working with members new and old to advance our new strategic vision. See you next year!

Learn more about BIO membership at www.bio.org/join-today.

President Trump’s Wednesday: Heading to Mar-A-Lago for Christmas. 

President-elect Biden’s Wednesday:In a speech yesterday, he said he will ask Congress for more coronavirus relief after his inauguration. 

What’s Happening on Capitol Hill: Congress agreed to a coronavirus relief and spending deal with $600 direct payments, but President Trump suggested in a video that he wants $2,000 payments. Now, Speaker Pelosi said Democrats would offer a bill by unanimous consent to increase the payments before Congress goes on recess. It could be a long day.