PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The latest mitigation efforts are set to end on Monday, but restaurant owners aren’t optimistic they will get the go ahead to reopen indoor dining. Heading into the slowest month for this industry, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership has started a new program that is helping both the restaurants and people in need. READ MORE: Police Issue 3 Notices Of Violation To Pittsburgh Establishments During COVID-19 Compliance Checks “The hardest part about being downtown is it’s not really a neighborhood, a lot of people are staying at home, working from home and they are going to places in their neighborhood and not a lot of people are passing through downtown anymore,” said Amy Kluczkowski who’s a managing partner at Harris Grill. Harris Grill is one of a dozen restaurants that are part of the Community Takeout Program. “Our organization is collecting dollars. We will be paying on a weekly basis for restaurants to make meals,” said Jeremy Waldrup who’s the President/CEO of Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. It’s a collaboration with 412 Food Rescue. Once the meals are made at each restaurant, volunteers deliver them to neighbors in need. “Food insecurity is projected to increase 61 percent over the next several months as people continue to experience additional hardships and challenges,” Waldrup said. READ MORE: Franklin Park YMCA Installs Butler Co. Company's Virus-Killing Copper Material Invention With limited dollars to spend, only about a dozen restaurants got into the program. Harris Grill makes about 200 meals every Thursday. “It helps us be able to go through product, it helps us continue to have employees and it gives us something to be hopeful for,” Kluczkowski said. But there are even more restaurants wanting to join, that’s where the public’s help is needed. “For us, it’s imperative to try to get those dollars to give to these restaurants out there making these meals to do the right thing in our community,” Waldrup ...
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FDA approves storing Pfizer vaccine at standard freezer temperature
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved storing Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at standard freezer temperatures, helping ease storage requirements that could make delivery of the vaccine easier. The Pfizer vaccine had previously been required to be stored in ultra-cold freezers at minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit to minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit. That posed a challenge for distribution of the vaccine in places like rural areas or lower income countries that do not have widespread ultra-cold storage capability. The new move will allow the vaccine to be stored at “conventional temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers for a period of up to two weeks.” ADVERTISEMENT “This alternative temperature for transportation and storage of the undiluted vials is significant and allows the vials to be transported and stored under more flexible conditions,” Peter Marks, a top FDA vaccine official, said in a statement. “The alternative temperature for transportation and storage will help ease the burden of procuring ultra-low cold storage equipment for vaccination sites and should help to get vaccine to more sites,” he added. Pfizer had applied to the FDA for the less-stringent storage requirements last week, after it conducted studies on safe storage temperatures. In addition, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, which could be authorized by the FDA as soon as this weekend, has been eagerly awaited not only because it will add to the U.S. vaccine supply, but because it does not require ultra-cold storage. Johnson & Johnson's vaccine is also only one shot, while the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have a two-dose regimen. Tags Pfizer johnson & johnson FDA Vaccine coronavirus vaccine COVID-19   ...
One dose of Pfizer vaccine offers significant protection for those who have had COVID: studies
Two new British studies published late Thursday found that a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine may offer significant protection for people who have already been infected with COVID-19. The studies, published in the weekly peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet, provide further evidence for increased calls among experts to give only one dose to individuals that are already carrying antibodies against the virus. “This could potentially accelerate vaccine rollout,” r esearchers at University College London and Public Health England said in one of the studies . “With increasing variants (UK, South Africa, Brazil), wider coverage without compromising vaccine-induced immunity could help reduce variant emergence.” ADVERTISEMENT The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the two inoculations currently approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), require two doses administered weeks apart. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which an FDA panel this week found was safe and effective, only requires one dose. The University College and Public Health England researchers analyzed data among 51 health workers in London who have agreed to routine antibody and infection tests since March. The researchers found that among roughly half of the workers who had been infected, a single dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine increased their antibody levels “more than 140-fold from peak pre-vaccine levels.” In the second study , researchers at Imperial College London measured antibody responses among 72 health workers vaccinated in late December. A third of the workers showed signs of being previously infected, and among those people, one vaccine dose had “very strong” antibody responses and “very strong T-cell responses.” ADVERTISEMENT The studies provide some of the strongest evidence in favor of administering a single dose of the coronavirus vaccine for the approximately 28.4 million people ...
Beyond Meat strikes deal with McDonald’s, Yum
Plant-based meat alternative company Beyond Meat on Thursday announced two new multiyear partnerships with McDonald’s and Yum Brands fast-food chains KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. The meat alternative company unveiled the agreements in separate press releases. The global partnership with McDonald’s is set to last three years, with Beyond Meat becoming the fast-food restaurant’s “preferred supplier for the patty in the McPlant®, a new plant-based burger being tested in select McDonald’s markets globally.” Additionally, Beyond Meat said that it will work with McDonald’s to develop other plant-based menu items, including alternatives for chicken, pork and egg. ADVERTISEMENT In another press release , Beyond Meat said its agreement with Yum Brands will help create “craveable and innovative plant-based protein menu items that can only be found at KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell over the next several years.” Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, said in statements Thursday that the McDonald’s partnership is “an exciting milestone for Beyond Meat,” adding that the company “will combine the power of Beyond Meat’s rapid and relentless approach to innovation with the strength of McDonald’s global brand to introduce craveable, new plant-based menu items that consumers will love.” Brown said that Beyond Meat was “honored to enter into a global strategic partnership with Yum! Brands, one of the world's largest restaurant companies.” “We look forward to expanding our work with the teams at Yum's iconic KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands to together bring truly delicious plant-based product innovation to consumers," he added. McDonald’s executive vice president and chief supply chain officer Francesca DeBiase said its partnership with Beyond Meat is “all about giving customers more choices when they visit McDonald’s.” Chris Turner, CFO for Yum Brands, said that it had recently run consumer tests with Beyond Meat and, given the positive ...
FDA panel endorses Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine
A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel on Friday endorsed Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine and recommended the agency grant emergency authorization, moving the nation's third vaccine one step closer to getting into Americans' arms. The panel voted 22-0 that the benefits outweigh the risks for adults age 18 and older. FDA could give the green light to the single-dose vaccine as early as Saturday. ADVERTISEMENT Vaccinations will begin once a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) panel recommends the vaccine and the CDC accepts that recommendation. The CDC panel is scheduled to meet Sunday. "We are at the precipice of having another vaccine in our toolbox," CDC Director Rochelle Walensky Rochelle Walensky New COVID-19 cases among nursing home residents fell 80 percent in a month Poll: Majority say teachers should be vaccinated before reopening schools New Yorkers should double mask until at least June, de Blasio says MORE said Friday. "Having an additional safe and effective vaccine will help protect more people faster." The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is different from the other two already on the market and could be a potential game changer. It is administered in a single dose, and does not need to be frozen when shipped and stored. “We need vaccines that are effective and well-tolerated. And importantly, ones that are simple to deploy,” said Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic’s vaccine research group, who spoke to the panel as part of Johnson & Johnson’s presentation. The vaccine was 66 percent effective in protecting any cases of moderate to severe illness. It was 85 percent effective against severe cases of COVID-19 and completely prevented hospitalizations and death four weeks after inoculation. The endorsement from the FDA panel of experts comes as federal officials are warning about the effect of recent highly contagious variants of the coronavirus, ...
