vaccine

[HONDO74]

Fauci apologises for saying UK 'rushed' vaccine
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55177948

Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, has apologised for remarks that seemed to criticise the UK's vaccine approval process.

"I have a great deal of confidence in what the UK does both scientifically and from a regulator standpoint," Dr Fauci told the BBC on Thursday.

The UK on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer vaccine for the coronavirus.

It has defended the rapid approval and said the jab is safe and effective.

Dr Fauci on Wednesday had told Fox News that the UK did not review the vaccine "as carefully" as US health regulators, although he implied that the US would quickly also be in a position to approve a vaccine. "We'll be there. We'll be there very soon," he added.

Covid: UK vaccination programme getting under way
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55218679

The first people in the UK are set to receive a coronavirus jab on what has been dubbed "V-Day", as a mass vaccination programme begins.

[HONDO74]

Covid: Biden vows 100m vaccinations for US in first 100 days
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55238092

US President-elect Joe Biden has set a goal of 100 million Covid vaccinations in his first 100 days in office.

He said his first months in office would not end the outbreak and gave few details on rollout strategy but he said he would change the course of Covid-19.

Introducing his health team for when he takes office on 20 January, he urged Americans to "mask up for 100 days".

On Tuesday, a report paved the way for a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be approved and rolled out for Americans.

President Donald Trump meanwhile attended a summit at the White House of his Covid vaccination programme called Operation Warp Speed and hailed the expected approval of vaccines.

Operation Warp Speed was approved by Trump back in March 2020

The Trump administration hopes to vaccinate as many as 24 million people by mid-January.

The president also signed an executive order aimed at ensuring that Americans had first priority in receiving doses - a move that appeared to follow his longstanding America First policy.

But how it will affect contracts that US companies have already signed with other countries remains unclear.

Mr Trump's administration did sign up for an initial 100 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine but a member of the Pfizer board said the chance to buy more was turned down a number of times and more than the 100 million might not be available until June.

[Chris Webster]

A lot of news outlets are reporting this story:

President Donald Trump ran his 2016 presidential campaign on the promise that he was an expert dealmaker, a political outsider whose expertise lay in the business realm. Yet curiously, the self-described dealmaker-in-chief passed up the chance to purchase millions of doses of Pfizer/BioNTech's novel coronavirus vaccine, a decision that will slow the rate at which Americans can access the vaccine.

The company made several efforts to convince Trump to purchase more than the 100 million doses of the company's vaccine candidate that it had reserved over the summer for $1.95 billion, according to The New York Times. Yet Trump turned down the offers, which gave other nations like the United Kingdom the opportunity to lock them down first. After Pfizer and BioNTech announced last month that they had seen success in developing their vaccine candidate, and submitted an emergency use authorization request to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Trump administration began talks with the company for more of its vaccine. Yet the company is not sure it can deliver more than the initial 100 million promised doses before the summer of 2021.

Yesterday, the Georgia Governor did a press conference in which he said it will be many months before average citizens can get the immunization. I'm guessing that means July -- at the earliest!-- before I can get it, and it'll be another month (August) before I would get the second dose, and then I'll have to wait two more weeks until the antibodies are fully effective... so it appears that it will be September, at the earliest, before things can get back to normal.

[Neil]

Apparently good antibody levels are seen within 10 days of the first dose. Suspect dose 2 is largely superfluous. Good news.

[HONDO74]

Covid-19 vaccine: Allergy warning over new jab
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55244122

People with a history of significant allergic reactions should not have the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid jab, regulators say.

It came after two NHS workers had allergic reactions on Tuesday.

The advice applies to those who have had reactions to medicines, food or vaccines, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said.

The two people had a reaction shortly after having the new jab, had treatment and are both fine now.

They are understood to have had an anaphylactoid reaction, which tends to involve a skin rash, breathlessness and sometimes a drop in blood pressure. This is not the same as anaphylaxis which can be fatal.

Both NHS workers have a history of serious allergies and carry adrenaline pens around with them.

Professor Stephen Powis, medical director for the NHS in England, said both individuals were recovering well.

He said this was "common with new vaccines", describing it as a precautionary measure.

Dr June Raine, head of the MHRA, said it was only right to take this step now that "we've had this experience".

Reactions like this are uncommon, but do happen with other vaccines, including the annual flu jab.

Several thousand people were vaccinated on Tuesday in hospital clinics on the first day of the UK rollout of the new Covid jab.

Prof Peter Openshaw, an expert in immunology at Imperial College London, said: "The fact that we know so soon about these two allergic reactions and that the regulator has acted on this to issue precautionary advice shows that this monitoring system is working well."

[gregj410]

I'm guessing that means July -- at the earliest!-- before I can get it, and it'll be another month (August) before I would get the second dose, and then I'll have to wait two more weeks until the antibodies are fully effective... so it appears that it will be September, at the earliest, before things can get back to normal.

Maybe if Trumps in charge. Even Obama said to never underestimate Joe’s ability to **** things up.

[HONDO74]

Anyone want to take a CHANCE on a Chinese vaccine

Sinovac: What do we know about China's Covid-19 vaccine?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55212787

As the global race to produce a Covid-19 vaccine continues, China appears to have made huge strides, with one of its vaccine front-runners, Sinovac, already making its way abroad.

Shipments of Beijing-based biopharmaceutical company Sinovac's Covid-19 vaccine CoronaVac have arrived in Indonesia in preparation for a mass vaccination campaign, with another 1.8m doses due to arrive by January.

But the vaccine is yet to finish its late-stage trials, which begs the question: what exactly do we know about this Chinese vaccine?

CoronaVac is an inactivated vaccine, which works by using killed viral particles to expose the body's immune system to the virus without risking a serious disease response.

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are mRNA vaccines - which means part of the coronavirus' genetic code is injected into the body, triggering the body to begin making viral proteins, but not the whole virus, which is enough to train the immune system to attack.

"CoronaVac is a more traditional method [of vaccine] that is successfully used in many well known vaccines like rabies," Associate Prof Luo Dahai of the Nanyang Technological University told the BBC.

"mRNA vaccines are a new type of vaccine and there is [currently] no successful example [of them] being used in the population," Prof Luo adds.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

"mRNA vaccines are a new type of vaccine and there is [currently] no successful example [of them] being used in the population," Prof Luo adds.

Other than the clinical trial data, that's probably true.

BTW, there was a Chinese mod-mRNA vaccine that was co-developed with a Chinese company and Pfizer with BioNTech.

[HONDO74]

Covid vaccine: US experts recommend Pfizer vaccine approval
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55265477

Medical experts advising the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have recommended emergency approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.

The decision comes after a 23-member panel met to determine whether the drug's benefits outweigh the risks.

The Pfizer vaccine has already been approved for the public in the UK, Canada, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The drug still needs to be formally approved by the FDA's vaccine chief, which is expected in the coming days.

The recommendation comes a day after the US recorded more than 3,000 deaths in the latest 24-hour period - the highest total in a single day anywhere in the world.

Alex Azar, the US health secretary, said on Wednesday that after the FDA meeting, "we could then have a vaccine within days, and be administering it to the most vulnerable by next week".

Operation Warp Speed, the federal government's vaccine distribution programme, has said that vaccine deliveries will begin within 24 hours of approval.

Pfizer plans to have 6.4 million doses ready for the US in its first rollout round in late December. Because two shots are required per person, that is enough for three million people, out of a total US population of 330 million.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Pfizer plans to have 6.4 million doses ready for the US in its first rollout round in late December. Because two shots are required per person, that is enough for three million people, out of a total US population of 330 million.

Even after subtracting out everyone under 16 and those in other at risk categories, seems a little short on supply.

[rogruth]

I saw a bit that the vaccine would be moved in some sort of guarded transport to distribution points.
I could ask why think I know why.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I saw a bit that the vaccine would be moved in some sort of guarded transport to distribution points.
I could ask why think I know why.

Yes...........

[HONDO74]

Australian vaccine abandoned over false HIV response
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-55269381

A promising Australian candidate for a coronavirus vaccine has been abandoned after trial participants returned false HIV positive results.

Australia had previously agreed to buy 51 million doses of the vaccine being developed by Australian firm CSL and the University of Queensland (UQ).

The government said orders of other vaccines would now fill the shortfall.

CSL and UQ stressed that the positive results were false - meaning trial participants' health was not at risk.

The Australian government said it had now entered an agreement for the Novavax vaccine, and upped its existing order of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

The UK was the first to begin rolling out a vaccine from Pfizer this week.

Vaccine co-lead Paul Young described the decision as "devastating" after 11 months of "living and breathing this project".

"While this is a tough decision to take, the urgent need for a vaccine has to be everyone's priority," he said.

Other medical experts have also praised the "realistic" decision to abandon the UQ vaccine, saying it reflects the reality of vaccine development.

"In general, about 90% of vaccines never make it to market. As a global community, we have been spoilt with the unprecedented swiftness and success with which the development of Covid-19 vaccines have taken place," said infectious diseases expert Sanjaya Senanayake from the Australian National University.

[robert.]

If they can vaccinate 3 million people a month. 36 million a year. That takes us to 2028. To get the job done

[Rufus T. Firefly]

"In general, about 90% of vaccines never make it to market. As a global community, we have been spoilt with the unprecedented swiftness and success with which the development of Covid-19 vaccines have taken place," said infectious diseases expert Sanjaya Senanayake from the Australian National University.

90% failure rate may be optimistic.