Is it true:

I hear that the US stock market has spiked (up), on the news that a US company is near to developing a vaccine against Covid-19. The UK BBC seem hesitant to cover this as yet. Have you heard anything on this? Or is it fake/premature news....

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Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

U.S. medical news is big and right now there's not a whole lot to feel 'happy about' in that regard.

American drug companies are all claiming to be 'nearly ready' and on top of that you currently have Bill Gates (no less) travelling the world telling everyone who'll listen that his 'foundation' has been looking at this for years..."

Not to mention a U.S. President desperate for good news of any kind right now.

Hence, as usual, everything is over-hyped.

So the BBC is right to let you know of the 'story'. But right now, that's all it is.

Valentine · M

@Picklebobble2 Thank you. Appreciate your view. Always.

Northwest · M

@Picklebobble2

American drug companies are all claiming to be 'nearly ready"

Not really. A half dozen or so, are in an advanced stage, all because they had been working on vaccines for SARS/MERS for years. If you have not heard of it, the first human trial, started back in March, in Seattle. That would be the Moderna vaccine candidate (and the one the OP alludes to).

and on top of that you currently have Bill Gates (no less) travelling the world telling everyone who'll listen that his 'foundation' has been looking at this for years..."

Bill Gets is staying close to home, but is vocal about what his foundation is doing, alone, or in cooperation with others, is doing. For a good reason. His Foundation HAS been working on methods to standardize vaccine development tools, and speeding up the process. These are simple facts.

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

@Northwest All currently tied in to what is going on. This too is a fact.

Northwest · M

@Picklebobble2

All currently tied in to what is going on. This too is a fact.

I don't know what that means. If you meant that we don't have an approved vaccine yet, then duh, yes. All these vaccines must undergo phase II and III. A couple of weeks ago, I posted here, about the ethical issues involved.

Typically, they pick primates for phase II, and intentionally inject them. The way things are moving, Moderna, and others, will be asking for permission to use humans for phase II. They already have 14,000 human volunteers. In this case, they give humans the vaccines, and then flood their systems with an overdose of the virus.