SAN ANTONIO – As the moratorium on jury trials keeps being extended in Bexar County, so does the time it takes to get a case to trial, pushing some defendants to argue that they are not getting their constitutionally guaranteed right to a speedy trial. Ruben Loredo, 56, is facing a felony charge and four misdemeanor charges in Bexar County for alleging violating protective orders. “I’ve been waiting for a long time.”Judges divided on extension of jury trial moratorium in Bexar CountyThat wait became even longer last March when a moratorium on jury trials was ordered due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19. Roe said his only other option is to agree to a bench trial before a judge rather than a jury trial. Jury service resumption in Bexar County gets closer look

SAN ANTONIO – Opposition to conduct virtual civil jury trials in Bexar County to address the backlog of court cases due to the COVID-19 pandemic is growing. Another attempt at conducting a virtual civil jury trial is scheduled for November 9th, Local Administrative Judge Ron Rangel said Wednesday. In September, a trial failed when all parties could not agree to the proceeding, as is mandated by a Texas Supreme Court order allowing virtual civil jury trials. The president of the local American Board of Trial Advocates says 90% of the group’s membership opposes virtual civil jury trials. “Most of our membership thinks that it would be very difficult to get a true measure of justice from a virtual jury panel.”

SAN ANTONIO – The race for a COVID-19 vaccine continues as the pandemic rages on throughout the nation and globe. In Bexar County, two-thirds of likely voters who participated in the Bexar Facts-KSAT-San Antonio Report Poll say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available, but only half would get it if one is available before the year ends. Trials are currently underway for a COVID-19 vaccine around the world, including San Antonio. According to CNN, early results from a clinical trial show Johnson and Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine produced a strong immune response among participants. Also on KSAT.com:What we know about COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials in San AntonioScreening underway for COVID-19 vaccine trialPush to bring coronavirus vaccines to the poor faces trouble

CNN A South Dakota company expects to start human trials next month for a Covid-19 antibody treatment derived from the plasma of cows. That way, the animals produce disease-fighting human antibodies to Covid-19, which are then turned into a drug to attack the virus. The cows are now producing human antibodies to the coronavirus. "We put in the genes for the human immune system into mice so that these mice have pretty much exactly a human immune system." Scientists extract the most powerful human antibodies from the mice and then clone them, theoretically in unlimited amounts.

It is the first trial of a Covid-19 antibody cocktail in the United States. To make what's called monoclonal antibodies for an antibody cocktail, scientists comb through thousands of antibodies to figure out which ones fight the novel coronavirus most effectively. An antibody treatment is not a vaccine and does not provide permanent protection. More antibody treatments in trialsRegeneron is not the first company to get a Covid-19 antibody therapy into human trials. Eli Lilly and AbCellera started testing their antibody treatment in humans June 1.