MARCH 21, 2020 Mirror-SpeTHE ARMENIAN ctator Volume LXXXX, NO. 35, Issue 4628 $ 2.00 NEWS The First English Language Armenian Weekly in the United States Since 1932 INBRIEF Editor’s Note: Heading Armenia Institutes State of Emergency, Into Uncertain Times WATERTOWN — Fellow world citizens and read- Restricts Gatherings, Media Coverage ers of the Armenian Mirror-Spectator, we, like you, are trying to cope with the unprecedented state of YREEVAN (RFE/RL) — Armenia institut- There will also be sweeping restrictions to buy more food and essentials than they emergency facing us now. ed a state of emergency in response to the on what media can report about the novel need, assuring the public that Armenia has We don’t know what the coming days will bring. rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak, ban- coronavirus. “Information about people no shortage of supplies. What is clear is that the situation in our state will ning gatherings of more than 20 people and suspected of carrying the virus or informa- In a live broadcast on Facebook on the get more difficult before we break out of the yoke first full day of a 30-day of fear coronavirus has spread around the world. state of emergency As you see with this issue, the number of pages declared last night to slow has been reduced from 20 to 16. All events in the and contain the further near future have been cancelled. All are rightly con- spread of the novel coron- cerned with keeping their families and themselves avirus (COVID-19), safe from this modern-day terror. So much is up in Pashinyan ascribed rising the air, including working outside homes. food prices to panic buy- Going forward, we will probably reduce the num- ing. ber of pages even further, as we will concentrate on Reports of major getting information out to you either online instances of panic buying (www.mirrorspectator.com) or by print. in supermarkets across We wish you and your loved ones health and Armenia first appeared in patience at this difficult time. media on Monday within hours after the Pashinyan TCA Coronavirus government announced a set of limitations, includ- Announcement ing a ban on public gath- erings and the possibility WATERTOWN — The Central Board of the of restricting people’s Tekeyan Cultural Association of the United States travel due to epidemiolog- and Canada has been closely following the dramat- Medical personnel take the temperature of a resident near Vagharshapat. ical conditions. ic developments concerning the spread of the coro- Gegham Gevorgyan, navirus named COVID-19. It is a serious situation chairman of the State warranting caution without panic. restricting media coverage of the disease. tion about their examinations, the number Commission for the Protection of The Central Board realizes that while many The 28-day state of emergency was issued of cases [of the disease], any content that Economic Competition, also confirmed aspects of this new virus are still not fully known, it at a cabinet meeting on the afternoon of can raise panic, will be banned,” said that Armenia is provided with the neces- appears that its spread throughout our communi- March 16. It heavily restricts any public Justice Minister Rustam Badasyan. “Only sary amount of food. He said that mainly ties in North America is unavoidable over the next gatherings including protests, religious information from official sources can be groceries have been in great demand in few months. Conditions vary, however, in different events, concerts, weddings and funerals. It published, including on the internet, with a recent days. regions. Consequently, we recommend that our also forbade the entry of foreigners who link to the source.” As for the level of prices, the head of the chapters follow the directives of their local govern- had been in countries heavily affected by As of March 16, Armenia had recorded anti-trust body said: “I think that apart ments and use common sense in planning activities COVID-19 and gave the authorities broad 78 cases of coronavirus. from the monitoring of prices it is also and programs. power to implement other restrictions as Pashinyan and other senior government important to ensure uninterrupted supply We strongly recommend that all chapters and needed. officials on March 17 called on citizens not see EMERGENCY, page 2 centers postpone or cancel group activities in order to avoid endangering the health of participants, especially the elderly and vulnerable. In particular, programs that imply traveling must be postponed until further notice. Some chapters have already Trial of Coronavirus Vaccine Made by Moderna Begins in Seattle taken the initiative to do so. In the meantime, we ask that our Tekeyan cen- ters and buildings be frequently disinfected and By Denise Grady meetings and other organizational business be con- 7 Questions for Moderna Chairman Afeyan ducted via internet or phone as opposed to in per- son as much as possible in order to slow down the SEATTLE (New York Times) — The first CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (CivilNet) — As dozens of research groups around the potential spread of the virus. Any third party rent- testing in humans of an experimental vac- world race to create the first vaccine for COVID-19, in late February, Moderna, a ing our premises must show compliance with the cine for the new coronavirus began on Massachusetts-based biotechnolo- local authorities’ directives. Monday, March 16, the National Institute of gy company, announced that it We appreciate your attentiveness to this matter. Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced. By Syuzanna Petrosyan had shipped the first batch of its If you have any questions, do not hesitate to consult The main goal of this first set of tests is clinic-bound vaccine, called mRNA- with our headquarters in Watertown, MA. to find out if the vaccine is safe. If it is, later 1273, to the US National Institute March 12, 2020 studies will determine how well it works. of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for use in a planned Phase I study. (See story The trial was “launched in record speed,” on this page.) Dr. Anthony Fauci, the institute’s director, The vaccine will be tested on 45 healthy patients at the Kaiser Permanente said in a statement. Health Research Institute in Seattle. Such rapid development of a potential Moderna’s researchers were the first to create trial-ready vaccines using mRNA vaccine is unprecedented, and it was possi- technology. The company uses messenger RNA (mRNA), a form of genetic mate- INSIDE ble because researchers were able to use rial, to deliver instructions to a person’s cells. From this information, cells make what they already knew about related coro- requisite antibodies to protect against virus- naviruses that had caused other diseases es. Alternatively, the instructions can also be outbreaks, SARS and MERS. utilized to instruct cells to produce proteins Vegan Armenian Despite the rapid progress, even if the vac- that are missing in particular diseases. cine is proved safe and effective against the To understand the work behind Moderna’s virus, it will not be available for at least a year. early success, CivilNet spoke with the compa- Cookbook The tests, which are being conducted at ny’s co-founder and chairman Dr. Noubar Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Afeyan, a member of the MIT Board of Page 10 Research Institute in Seattle, use a vaccine Trustees, and a biotech entrepreneur. Afeyan is made by Moderna Inc. a philanthropist, most recently as a co-founder Seattle was chosen as a test site before of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. the United States had any known coron- Syuzanna Petrosyan: In the case that INDEX avirus cases, not because of the outbreak testing is successful, what is a realistic time- that erupted there. Washington State has line for approval and availability of the vac- Arts and Living . 9 been hard hit by the virus, with more than Armenia . 2 cine? And, in times of crises such as this, Community News. 4 670 cases to date. are procedures accelerated? Dr. Noubar Afeyan Editorial . 14 Moderna (whose chairman is Dr. Noubar see AFEYAN, page 16 International . 3 Afeyan) uses genetic material — messenger see VACCINE, page 16 2 S ATURDAY, M ARCH 2 1 , 2 0 2 0 T HE A RMENIAN M IRROR -S PECTATOR ARMENIA News From Armenia Armenia Institutes State of Emergency, Restricts Gatherings, Media Coverage Opera House to Show Performances on EMERGENCY, from page 1 ease. His wife also had recently met with Brazil’s first lady, who was of stocks to exclude shortages. I assure you that at this moment feared to have been exposed to the disease. The couple self-quar- Facebook we have no such problem.” antined in the resort area of Lake Sevan for several days pending Pashinyan also assured the public about a stable situation in the results of the test, which came back negative. YEREVAN (Panorama.am) — The Yerevan Opera the financial market. “[The financial market is strong] especial- The prime minister also had earlier suspended the campaign House will show its opera and ballet performances ly after our results last year when our international reserves for a referendum on dissolving the constitutional court, which and concerts on Facebook starting Tuesday, March reached a record level, and the Central Bank purchased and has become Pashinyan’s top political priority. He had initially 17. stocked an unprecedentedly large amount of foreign currency. announced that he would take leave from his job to campaign “You can stay home and watch Karen So, we will have no problems,” the head of the Armenian gov- full-time on the referendum, but on March 12 announced that Khachaturian’s brilliant ballet ‘Cipollino’ on March ernment said.