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Today in healthcare news: American Well is set to make its public-market debut after raising $742 million by pricing at $18 a share on Wednesday night.
Elsewhere: What you need to know about the plan to get Americans vaccinated, when the director of the CDC expects everyone to get a coronavirus shot, and the CEO of Moderna says the biotech is more than just a coronavirus vaccine company.
The US just laid out a 57-page playbook to get free coronavirus vaccines to every American. Here are the 5 crucial takeaways.
- The Trump administration released a playbook about how it would make sure every American in the US gets a free coronavirus vaccine.
- The government will distribute the vaccine to people who need it most and then ramp up to more people as more shots are made.
- Officials expect people will need to get two vaccines that will be administered between 21 to 28 days apart.
Read the full story from Kimberly Leonard here>>
CDC director Robert Redfield just told Senators that most Americans won't get a coronavirus vaccine until summer or fall 2021
- At a Senate hearing on Wednesday, CDC Director Robert Redfield said most Americans won't receive a coronavirus vaccine until "late second quarter, third quarter 2021."
- That contradicts the timeline that Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at the Department of Health and Human Services, put forward the same day.
- Mango said the US is on track to "vaccinate every American before the end of first quarter 2021."
- Hours later, President Donald Trump contradicted Redfield, calling him "confused," and saying a shot could be available in October.
- Most experts agree that a vaccine won't be available before the election this fall.
Read the full story from Aria Bendix here>>
Moderna's CEO told us we should know if the biotech's coronavirus vaccine works in November
- Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said it's likely we'll know if Moderna's experimental coronavirus vaccine works in November.
- The timing depends in part on how effective the shot actually is at preventing disease.
- The more effective the vaccine is, the quicker a board of independent scientists will be able to conclude that it works.
- Bancel also laid out why Moderna plans to start working on a shot to prevent the seasonal flu. And he told us it could be combined with the company's coronavirus vaccine.
Read the full story from Andrew Dunn here>>
More stories we're reading:
- Here's how Lilly and 13 other top drugmakers are sprinting to develop vaccines or treatments that can halt this pandemic.(Business Insider)
- Illumina is nearing a deal to buy cancer detection company Grail (which Illumina spun out a few years ago) (Bloomberg)
- We just got the first data showing that antibody drugs could help keep COVID-19 patients out of the hospital. Here are the 9 top drugmakers racing to develop these promising coronavirus treatments. (Business Insider)
- HHS spokesman Michael Caputo is taking leave (Politico)
Back tomorrow for our weekly roundup of the week's news! Be sure to subscribe to this newsletter here in the meantime.
- Lydia