COVID-19: Live Updates for Thursday, May 21

Rolling updates on the latest developments and headlines from around the world on the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Gina Lee and Peter Nurse

(10:23 PM ET) Moderna’s chairman defends company’s vaccine trial data

Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) Chairman Noubar Afeyan defended his company’s data for its possible COVID-19 vaccine after some vaccine experts said that there was insufficient data to prove the vaccine’s efficacy.

Afeya said that his company would never put out data on the vaccine that looked different from “the reality.”

Moderna raised hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine when it reported on Monday that all 45 patients enrolled in the phase one trials developed binding antibodies after two doses. In addition, eight patients in the trial produced neutralizing antibodies, the key to immunizing against the virus. Data for the remainder patients is due to be released later.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation on Wednesday that could lead to Chinese companies such as Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) being barred from listing on U.S. stock exchanges.

(10:11 PM ET) Mask-cleaning machines purchased by the Trump administration may damage masks

The process used by mask-cleaning machines purchased by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to sanitize masks could damage the masks and prevent their re-use.

The machines were purchased by President Donald Trump’s administration for around $600 million after the FDA was pressured to waive certain regulations.

Although the machines have the capacity for up to 20 treatments, scientists and nurses who used them said that the machines began to degrade after two or three treatments, thereby putting them at risk.

(10:08) Greece to gradually allow overseas flights in from July 1

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the country will gradually resume direct flights from overseas into the country’s tourist destinations to gradually restart from July 1 to restart the country’s crucial tourism sector. Seasonal hotels will reopen on June 15, restaurants will reopen on May 25 and the ban on traveling to islands for non-residents will also be lifted.

(10 PM ET) Brazil reports yet another day of record cases

Brazil had another record day of cases as it reported 19,951 new confirmed cases over the past 24 hours. The country loosened protocols for the use of chloroquine on Wednesday.

Chile extended its quarantine measures in Santiago by a week, and Spain’s parliament extended the country’s state of emergency by another two weeks.

Turkey declared #MissonAccomplished as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s communications director Fahrettin Altun tweeted that the county’s COVID-19 outbreak has been contained.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will decide later in the day whether to lift the state of emergency in Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo. Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba and Hokkaido will remain under the state of emergency.

Global cases are fast approaching 5 million as of May 21, Johns Hopkins University data said.

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