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Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating, because that oh-so familiar routine of deadlines, calls, and meetings (online and in-person, for some) has predictably returned. But what can you do? The world keeps spinning. So grab a cup of stimulation and give it a little nudge in a good direction. Meanwhile, here are a few tidbits to help you along. We hope your day goes smoothly and you make your to-do list go away. And of course, do keep in touch. …

The Novavax (NVAX) Covid-19 vaccine was highly effective in preventing symptomatic infections, hospitalizations, and severe illnesses, long-awaited results from a Phase 3 trial revealed, STAT writes. The vaccine was 90% protective against laboratory-confirmed symptomatic infection. The results put this vaccine in the same efficacy ballpark as the mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech (BNTX), and by Moderna (MRNA). But Novavax still has steps it must take before it can apply for regulatory authorizations needed to roll out its vaccine.

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The head of the World Trade Organization says that trade barriers related to Covid-19 medical supplies had risen and urged member states to drop them, as it intensified efforts to reach a deal on vaccine-sharing, Reuters says. “The trend is going in the wrong direction,” WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told a virtual U.N. forum, referring to barriers on goods trade related to the pandemic. She said the number of trade restrictions was 109 at the start of the pandemic early last year, and had later fallen to 51 but had since risen again to 53.

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