Moderna CEO cautions that COVID vaccine is "not a silver bullet" to end pandemic "[The vaccine] is not a silver bullet. What we need is we need surveillance to be stronger, we need public health measures," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said on Thursday. Newsweek

Stéphane Bancel, the CEO of the pharmaceutical company Moderna, warned on Thursday that a COVID-19 vaccine is not "a silver bullet," to end the pandemic, and advised people to continue wearing masks and follow public health guidelines.

Pfizer, BioNTech seek emergency use of COVID-19 shots in US Pfizer formally asked U.S. regulators Friday to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as next month and... AP NEWS

Pfizer formally asked U.S. regulators Friday to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as next month and eventually an end to the pandemic -- but not until after a long, hard winter.

Health experts clash over use of certain drugs for COVID-19 Health officials around the world are clashing over the use of certain drugs for COVID-19, leading to different treatment options for patients depending on where they live. On Friday, a... AP NEWS

Health officials around the world are clashing over the use of certain drugs for COVID-19, leading to different treatment options for patients depending on where they live.

Southern Europe rues exodus of doctors, nurses as coronavirus surges Thirty-year-old Pep Iglesies emigrated to Canada from Spain in August for a new job that is much like his old one – taking care of coronavirus patients and working as a cardiologist. Joan Faus, Angelo Amante U.S.

BARCELONA/ROME (Reuters) - Thirty-year-old Pep Iglesies emigrated to Canada from Spain in August for a new job that is much like his old one – taking care of coronavirus patients and working as a cardiologist.

Noting that the virus had sickened over 3.6 million people and killed more than 76,000 in the region over the past nine months, al-Mandhari warned “the lives of as many people — if not more — are at stake,” urging action to “prevent this tragic premonition from becoming a reality.”

More than 60% of all new infections in the past week were reported from Iran, Jordan and Morocco, he said. Cases are also up in Pakistan and Lebanon, which went under lockdown earlier this week. Jordan, Tunisia and Lebanon have reported the biggest single-day death spikes from the region.

Worst off in the region has been Iran, where infections have soared in recent months, filling up hospitals and driving up the death toll. Iran shattered its single-day death toll six times in the last two weeks, bringing the total count of fatalities past 43,400 — the highest in the Middle East. ...