POLITICO: White House cited drug companies’ objections in overruling FDA’s vaccine standards
“A White House decision to halt release of new standards for emergency authorization of a Covid-19 vaccine came after officials close to President Donald Trump told the FDA that the pharmaceutical industry had objected to the tougher requirements, according to three people with knowledge of the situation. The White House cited the private-sector opposition as a chief reason for blocking the guidelines, which aim to hold companies’ vaccines to a higher bar for safety and effectiveness and would likely push any authorization beyond Election Day, they said…” (Cancryn, 10/5).

Washington Post: CDC says airborne transmission plays a role in coronavirus spread in a long-awaited update after a website error last month
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged Monday that people can sometimes become infected with the novel coronavirus through airborne transmission, especially in enclosed spaces with inadequate ventilation. The long-awaited update to the agency web page explaining how the virus spreads represents an official acknowledgment of growing evidence that under certain conditions, people farther than six feet apart can become infected by tiny droplets and particles that float in the air for minutes and hours, and that they play a role in the pandemic. The update follows an embarrassing incident last month when the agency removed a draft that had not gone through proper review and was posted in error…” (Sun/Guarino, 10/5).

Additional coverage of the White House’s overruling of FDA guidance and the CDC’s update on the airborne transmission of the coronavirus is available from The Hill and New York Times.