Gov. Mike DeWine Re-Imposes Statewide Mandatory Mask Mandate

  COLUMBUS, Ohio – Governor Mike DeWine made time during Wednesday night’s special broadcast to laud Pfizer and their progress on a coronavirus vaccine before effectively re-instating a mandatory mask mandate across the state. “On Monday, our country received some very promising news regarding a Coronavirus vaccine that Pfizer is developing. The first results from phase three, the final research phase on their vaccine, show it to be very effective in preventing COVID 19. That’s great news. This should give us all great hope,” said DeWine. He continued “it could be here as early as December. And we will be ready.” The rest of the address covered what the state plans to do before Ohio receives vaccine doses and reaches the governor’s desired level of immunity from significant vaccination uptake. Back in March, DeWine declared a state of emergency in Ohio and on Wednesday night he made it clear Ohio is still under an emergency and intends to extend the order – “today, I was asked by our hospital leaders to confirm that Ohio remains in a state of emergency. I’m telling you tonight it most certainly does.” On Monday, during a specially-called press conference with doctors who lead Ohio’s…

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Commentary: Was Pfizer’s Vaccine News Slow-Walked Until After the Election?

As the coronavirus pandemic swept across the globe in the spring, President Trump announced his plan to fast-track an effective vaccine that would be available by the new year.

The goal of Operation Warp Speed, launched by the White House in May, was “to produce and deliver 300 million doses of safe and effective vaccines with the initial doses available by January 2021, as part of a broader strategy to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.” Congress appropriated $10 billion to fund the ambitious program.

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U.S. Will Pay $1.95 Billion for 100 Million Doses of Coronavirus Vaccine Doses

The federal government pledged $1.95 billion for an order of up to 600 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine, which is set to enter key large-scale trials in the coming weeks. The average cost of a dose based on this deal is $3.25.

American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German partner BioNTech announced the deal in a press release Wednesday. The companies are on track to produce 100 million doses by the end of the year and potentially 1.3 billion doses by 2022.

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