Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) (SARS-CoV-2) [2020]

I don't get the sense that you will get to go to the local pharmacy and choose the vaccine you want.

For instance, the reported efficacy numbers are much higher for Pfizer and Moderna than Astra Zeneca.

Everyone is going to ask for the first two if they had a choice.

But supplies are very limited. And the one vaccine which is expected to have the most supply is the Astra Zeneca one, which has a cloud over it because of the weird half-dose/full dose results being greater than two full doses. I've also heard that the confidence interval on the full 2 dose trial may be as low as 30% efficacy.

In any event, it appears they will offer vaccines first to health care workers, which also include people who work at hospitals just as janitors and cafe workers. After that, presumably they will contact people by age and comorbidities. It won't be the old people trying to queue up or anything like that.
 
wco81 said:
For instance, the reported efficacy numbers are much higher for Pfizer and Moderna than Astra Zeneca.
Click to expand...
Ah ok, I thought you meant between Pfizer and Moderna only. I imagine in a world governed by capitalism, it will be down to whatever deals have been made between insurance companies, pharmacies and the source pharmaceutical companies.
 
Derek Lowe reviews the data which the FDA released on the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

He focuses mostly on safety and efficacy, with plans to do head-to-head comparisons of immunogenicity vs. other vaccines -- comparative responses of the vaccines in antibody and T cell response -- at a later time when similar data are released for other vaccines.

He notes that 10-14 days after the first shot, this vaccine is reaching about 50% efficacy, as shown in the chart. He also opines on whether the vaccine would reduce transmission of the data, pending longer-term data:

So it looks like the vaccine has a very strong protective effect, and that’s the first thing you’d want to know. But there are many other things we don’t know yet. What, for example, is its effect on transmission of the disease? We should be seeing more on that early next year, but based on these figures, it seems very likely that this vaccination would cut down the transmission rate sharply. But that has to be proven; there are plenty of things that have seemed very likely over the years in drug development that haven’t worked out. Even at this point in the pandemic, we don’t have solid numbers about the correlation between just what sort of viral load a person is carrying and their infectiousness to others. Think about how you’d try to design such a study and you can see why the data are lacking! We also don’t know the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing asymptomatic infections, because this trial was based on symptoms, not on constant PCR testing of its participants, which is the only way you’d accumulate such data. The stronger knockdown of severe cases makes one think that asymptomatic cases might be similarly decreased, but you could also imagine that you would take what would be “normal” symptomatic cases and knock them back to being real-but-asymptomatic ones. A priori, you can’t be sure what the real situation is. That question is tied up with the transmission one, of course. We also don’t know what the duration of protection is, for the very simple reason that time just has to keep on tickin’, tickin’, into the future, (S. Miller et al.) for us to have any data on that. There’s no other way; we can’t estimate these things. That we will certainly have data on – eventually.
Click to expand...

https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeli.../the-fda-weighs-its-first-coronavirus-vaccine
 
Also, a couple of NHS workers have suffered a severe allergic reaction to the Pfizer vaccine. Sounds as though they were ready for it (epipens at the ready and so forth) as they both had long-standing problems with severe allergy, but it's something to consider. It might end up that people with serious allergy problems are given a potentially less efficacious vaccine (AstraZeneca, perhaps?) if it was to reduce the risk of side-effects!

Also, the UAE has announced that the Chinese Sinopharm inactivated virus vaccine appears to be 85% efficacious from the substantial trial they have been running. We'll have to wait to see if the Russian Sputnik V data is reliable or not, though I'd imagine this will be a pretty effective vaccine as well.

All good news as far as the viability of the vaccines goes. Various different technologies all seem to work quite well to a decent degree. Now, they just need to manufacture enough of them all to really shut the pandemic down. Too much to hope that we can reduce the risk to the degree that just a handful of people die a day in most countries by the middle of 2021? I'm talking about the wealthier countries first, of course. As is the way of the world, the vaccines will end up trickling down to poorer countries over a longer period.

A real pity that they've screwed up the AZ vaccine trials so doubt of the level of efficacy remains because that's the only thing that's stopping it from being a cheap and probably good enough choice right away. The best thing to do is set up new trials immediately and test the half plus full dose in a wider cohort as fast as possible. The virus is running rife in so many places that it should surely be possible to test efficacy relatively quickly if the correct sites are chosen?
 
^^
Yeah but it's UAE.

Would be a lot more meaningful if the EU or the US was involved in that trial. Why are the Chinese having UAE run a trial for them?

My guess is that vaccine won't be looked at for awhile by the EU and US. All the Western vaccines would have to have huge pitfalls or strike out first.
 
I'd imagine the UAE were doing the trial for themselves as much as the Chinese. Not as if they are short of a bob or two to spend on vaccines and I expect this was the best chance to get a likely effective one at the earliest possible time.

Pretty certain that they'll be first in the list to get the vaccine as a result of providing the location to have the trial run.
 
Today I and my daughter had the trial´s third medical and lab exams.
Everything is fine and looks like I had a second shot light reaction last month.
My Garmin Watch records was usefull !
The doctors are very happy with the trial´s results up to now.

We continue reporting everyweek using the trial´s app.
We have 3 more trial´s exams until 2022.
 
Superspreader Santa Claus Blamed for Giving COVID-19 to 75 Belgian Nursing Home Residents

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...an-nursing-home-residents-reports/ar-BB1bUROF

A superspreader Santa Claus has reportedly given a gift that no one wants—COVID-19—to at least 75 residents and staff of a nursing home in Mol in Antwerp, Belgium after a goodwill visit last week.

Authorities say the son of one of the residents dressed up as Sinterklaas, or Santa Claus, to spread holiday cheer to the 169 locked down residents of the Hemelrjck Home. But a few days later, first 57 and now 75 staff and elderly residents have tested positive for the potentially deadly virus, according to The Brussels Times.

“It was made with the best intent, but it went wrong,” Wim Caeyers, the town mayor said of the unfortunate event. “It is a very black day for the care home.”

Now health workers are trying to mitigate the spread so it doesn’t pass to the other residents. “It is a very great mental strain to bear for the man that played Saint Nicholas, as well as for the organizers and the staff,” Caeyers told a local TV channel. “It will be all hands on deck during the coming week.”

The allegedly infected Santa did wear a mask during the initial visit, but photos posted on social media by family members show that he took it off for the camera. “Initially they said that the rules had been followed,” Caeyers said. “But then straight away you receive photos from the families of residents where you can see that this wasn’t the case.”
 
It'll be well into 2022 I think as it'll take time for hundreds of millions to get both shots starting in the Fall, and then a few more weeks to be effective.
 
Couple Who Played Santa and Mrs. Claus Test Positive for COVID-19 After Taking Photos with Children

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/c...otos-with-children/ar-BB1bVWA4?ocid=Peregrine

Two people who recently played Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus at a holiday celebration in Georgia have tested positive for COVID-19, possibly exposing dozens to the novel coronavirus.

The unidentified pair were diagnosed with coronavirus on Saturday, two days after appearing in a Christmas parade in Ludowici and taking photos with roughly 50 children following a tree-lighting ceremony, according to officials.

Robert Parker, the chairman of the Long County Board of Commissioners, said in a statement on its website that the duo "were not displaying any symptoms at the time of the event."

"While this event was not put on by the City of Ludowici or the Long County Board of Commissioners, it was well attended by our public officials and I believe I speak for the majority of them in saying that we still stand by the decision of the Chamber to move forward with these holiday traditions and to bring some sense of normalcy to these trying times," he said.

Parker added that his own kids took photos with Santa and said "no children were forced to attend the events and that choice was left solely in the hands of their parent."

"I have personally known both 'Santa' and 'Mrs. Claus' my entire life and I can assure everyone that they would have never knowingly done anything to place any children in danger," he continued. "They have both filled these roles for many years, and bringing joy to children during the holidays is one of the most important parts of their lives."

---------------------

Stupid just so Stupid. Trying to bring normalcy back when things are not normal results in what will probably go down as a super spreading event.

Oh and the brush off that it's on the parent's if their kids get infected.
 
It's remarkable that there are still so many people around who haven't apparently got past the idea that, because they don't have any symptoms, they can't be infected. Just what have these people been doing during 2020? Of course, they'll probably be OK and so would any children who happened to become infected, but the problems occur downstream as the virus makes its way to the older members of families.
 
Not looking for sympathy, but this has been going on for almost a week for me now and it's one thing to see commercials about it but it's quite another when it's you doing it with your father. My dad was hospitalized around a week or 10 days ago, and he ain't gonna get better and come home is all I was told. Also that I couldn't visit or talk to him by phone. Me being me had seen this coming in March and me and him went out and had an afternoon of discussions about what we'd want to talk to each other about if one of us died during covid and we hashed things out pretty well then and I am damned glad we did it now even though I thought it sounded stupid at that time, because worse case just became reality and I'm just super glad he survived through yesterday or I'd forever have to remember that my dad died on my daughter's 21st birthday. So you know how much this sucks, here's a brief excerpt of an e-mail I just sent my brother regarding the situation. (And me and my brother bloody hate each others guts, but I had to make sure he knew about our dad. It's only right. I dialed him in to it as soon as I learned.)

I just wanted to let you know you can get a message to him that he will be able to understand and how. When I found out last night I had a bit of a breakdown but tried, this morning I was successful. Me and Dad had thought this might happen at the beginning of the pandemic so we went out for an afternoon for a "last conversation" where I asked him everything I've ever wanted to know but been afraid to ask and vice-versa, and I got a chance to apologize to him for being such a shit son and thank him for being there when no one else was for me because if it wasn't for him being there for me I wouldn't be where I am now, and I wanted him to know that my daughter turned 21 yesterday and that would never have happened if he hadn't gotten me through the worst of my times.

I wouldn't have had a loving wife and family for the last 25 years if he hadn't been there for me when I really needed it and everyone else had given up on me. I really wanted him to know that because I know he blames himself for all the problems but takes no credit, well with me he deserves it and I gave it to him and am having Lisa remind him of it and to let him know it's ok to let go. We'll be ok without him, he deserves the break. :love:
Click to expand...
The nurse I was talking to was holding back tears near the beginning but was outright balling by the time I was done. I don't know exactly what I said because WTF do you say in that situation? But it was something similar to the above with a bit more detail and heart, and she promised to make sure he got the message because she thinks he needs/wants to hear it. She also told me he's dying and they're not sure what from, they don't really have time to find out since he's unsaveable and others are still able to have a life. Don't blame them one bit and I thanked her profusely for her caring for him and her kindness.

I'm not sure I've been entirely sane the last few weeks holding this one in, sorry to dump it but it had to come out sometime for me as it's def covid related I figured this would be a good spot. Give the pandemic that personal touch.

BTW-My dad is 78, smoke 3-4 packs a day for the last 62 years, drank like a fish, was a workaholic who cheated with secretaries and destroyed my family at the age of 16 for me, married the woman he cheated with on and I wished her a horrible/painful death and she died a couple years later of a nasty cancer, stood as his best man for his 3rd and final wife who was a heroin junky and horrible person and as I told my father the reason I would not let my kids be around them. Him fine as long as it was supervised, but never her. Oh, he was a pedophile too. He molested my sister. I don't want to believe that, I don't want to so badly, but I can't not believe my sister and I gotta either accept him in his entirety or not at all. :(

I also worked with him for over 2 decades at his electrical contractorship and I learned a fuck ton from him. He was our scoutmaster in boy scouts and managed to turn a 2 hour cave trip in to a 16 hour lost in a cave survival adventure that he got me and 6 other kids through. When I was homeless and had been kicked out and disowned by my mom and had no where else to go he fed me, and when I was living homeless under a bridge he used to come out at night when I was sleeping to check on me.

He wasn't the best dad, he fucked up a lot, but he was there for me in my time of need when he didn't have to be and no one else was. You don't forget that kind of shit, not ever.

So if you have the chance please tip a glass to James Edward Hayden II, (yes, my brother is JEH3), who was by no means an angel but was far from a devil and always was willing to lend a hand to a friend, neighbor, or stranger. Cant' say the world is better or worse off without him, but it's gonna be just a touch sadder and lonelier for me for a bit. :(

Oh, and covid sucks. :(
 
Mariner said:
It's remarkable that there are still so many people around who haven't apparently got past the idea that, because they don't have any symptoms, they can't be infected. Just what have these people been doing during 2020? Of course, they'll probably be OK and so would any children who happened to become infected, but the problems occur downstream as the virus makes its way to the older members of families.
Click to expand...

Everybody has heard the news. They know how it works. Its impossible not to. Don't assume its lack of information. They either don't believe the info, or disagree with the conclusion.
 
milk said:
Everybody has heard the news. They know how it works. Its impossible not to. Don't assume its lack of information. They either don't believe the info, or disagree with the conclusion.
Click to expand...
Or like my neighbor thinks "98.7% of the people who get it die, so it's only 1.3% fatal". Even if that were true that would mean 429,000 deaths in the US alone. And just because you don't die of it doesn't mean you're all well and better. Tons of people with heart and lung damage, and we have no clue about the long term health affects.

Plus people can't get their heads around big numbers except exceptionally, it's too emotionally overwhelming for some to accept so they just deny it.

I'm seeing people in my area coming around, more people wearing masks and more places requiring it enforcing it, but it's too damned little too damned late. :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top