October 21, 2020

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• In Today’s Recommendations for Industry, a recent study on the survival of SARS-CoV-2 and the influenza virus on human skin further accentuate the need for hand hygiene (aka: the importance of washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds). Read more here.

• How can assurance testing of asymptomatic workers verify your COVID-19 Protection? Join our upcoming webinar with Dr. Ben Miller next Wednesday October 28, 2020.

• OSHA is offering no-cost and confidential occupational safety and health services to small and medium-sized U.S. businesses. Especially in the age of COVID, “Consultants from state agencies or universities work with employers to identify workplace hazards, provide advice for compliance with OSHA standards, and assist in establishing and improving safety and health programs.” Find out more here.

• A CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases article has found that although 47.4% of all workers in food manufacturing and agricultural workplaces are minority workers, 83.2% of confirmed cases were from minority populations. This highlights the need for salient, adaptive, and accessible resources for workers from diverse communities.

• On Vaccines:

  • “8 Things To Know About Vaccine Planning” from CDC discusses the current status of COVID-19 vaccine plans. For starters, the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines is a top priority. While some may be ready (developed, tested, and ready-to-use) before others, the CDC is working with “partners at all levels of the government to plan for different vaccines and scenarios.” At the start, there will be a limited supply of vaccines with the supply gradually increasing. Finally, the federal government is “committed to providing free or low-cost COVID-19 vaccines.”  Read more about CDC’s commitment here.

  • In the United Kingdom, vaccines are to be tested on humans as part of the “human challenge” trials by deliberately infecting volunteers with the pathogen to understand efficacy of the developed vaccines. Read more about these upcoming human trials here.

  • The FDA posted a new “FDA Insight” podcast featuring Deputy Commissioner Anand Shah, M.D., and Dr. Peter Marks, the Director of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, discussing the upcoming Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting  Wednesday, Octoboer 22 (10AM – 5PM ET – which is open to the public. Facilitating the development of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines is a high priority for the FDA, but the agency recognizes that transparency about the safety and effectiveness data the agency will evaluate and discussion of the data with the Advisory Committee in a public forum are critical to building trust and confidence in their use by the public. To attend or listen to the webcast later, sign up on the FDA’s site.