A local family is rallying support after their second son was diagnosed with a rare genetic brain disorder.

READ: Health officials testify science, integrity will guide COVID-19 vaccine process“My first thought was no, no, this is crazy. That was Brooks' reaction when her husband, Dave Gomez, told her he wanted to sign up for Phase 3 Moderna Vaccine Trial. “It was, I don’t want to say scary, or really nervous, but it’s, ‘You’re getting this injection,’ you don’t know,” Gomez said. The vaccine trails also need people of color to participate, communities that have been severely impacted by COVID-19. I don’t want my friends to get sick,” Brooks said.

Researchers in England say they have the first evidence that a drug can improve COVID-19 survival: A steroid called dexamethasone reduced deaths by up to one third in severely ill hospitalized patients. The study is a large, strict test that randomly assigned 2,104 patients to get the drug and compared them with 4,321 patients getting only usual care. It reduced deaths by 35% in patients who needed treatment with breathing machines and by 20% in those only needing supplemental oxygen. "The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education.

(AP) – An experimental vaccine against the coronavirus showed encouraging results in very early testing, triggering hoped-for immune responses in eight healthy, middle-aged volunteers, its maker announced Monday. The kind of detailed antibody results needed to assess responses are only available on eight volunteers so far. Worldwide, about a dozen vaccine candidates are in the first stages of testing or nearing it. Health officials have said that if all goes well, studies of a potential vaccine might wrap up by very late this year or early next year. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education.