vaccine

[rogruth]

Rufus,
I believe you. But that is not what we or the general population wants to hear.
We need it now and nothing else will do. We don't wait on anything. I'm paraphrasing a grand daughter in law.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Rufus,
I believe you. But that is not what we or the general population wants to hear.
We need it now and nothing else will do. We don't wait on anything. I'm paraphrasing a grand daughter in law.

And that's exactly what the next problem is going to be -- everybody demanding theirs now, now, now....and all of the unrealistic promises that have not been kept all year long come home now.

[E7]

Here's the 64 dollar question: Is the vaccine a cure or a preventative? If it's a cure, give it to those with one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel. Screw the red tape.

Or do you need to have a BUNCH of money to get cured?

[Neil]

Vaccine is unlikely to help patients who are already infected, so that is not going to be done. Takes about 10 days for a robust antibody response to occur and by then the patient is usually getting better or on the way into trouble. Inducing additional antibody with a vaccine probably won't matter unless the patient is newly infected. We do give vaccines (rabies for example) for patients newly infected with other viruses, so this may be a future strategy to consider. Right now the goal is get 70-80% of the population vaccinated to develop so-called herd immunity. Hopefully that will be done by summer and make a big difference in the number of infections with symptoms and the number of hospitalizations/deaths, but we won't know until we get there.

[HONDO74]

Covid: First round of US vaccinations to begin on Monday
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55289726

The US public will start receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from Monday after it was authorised for emergency use, officials say.

The first three million doses of the vaccine would be shipped "across all states" this weekend, said Gen Gustave Perna, who is overseeing distribution.

The vaccine offers up to 95% protection against Covid-19 and was deemed safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

During a news conference on Saturday, Gen Perna - speaking for the US government's vaccination campaign Operation Warp Speed - said doses of the vaccine would be packed into shipping containers for transportation "within the next 24 hours".

"Expect 145 sites across the states to receive the vaccine on Monday, another 425 sites on Tuesday, and the final 66 sites on Wednesday," he said, adding that next week's distribution would complete the initial delivery of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and cover about three million people.

Gen Perna told reporters he was "100% confident" that the doses "needed to defeat the enemy Covid" would be transported safely.

He warned, however, that while it had been a week of progress, "we are not done until every American has access to a vaccine".

The Pfizer vaccine has already received regulatory approval in the UK, Canada, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Like those countries, US health authorities are expected to prioritise health workers and care home residents for the first doses.

More Americans outside the highest-priority groups are likely to be able to get the vaccine in January, with general availability expected by April.

On Thursday, medical experts advising the FDA recommended the emergency-use authorisation. A 23-member panel concluded the vaccine's benefits outweighed its risks.

Emergency use, the FDA said, was not the same as full approval, which would require Pfizer to file a separate application to secure.

US media reported that Mr Hahn had earlier been told to approve the vaccine for emergency use by Friday or quit.

Mr Hahn, however, said the reports were "untrue" and stressed that the agency had not compromised safety in its testing.

[E7]

Vaccine is unlikely to help patients who are already infected, so that is not going to be done.

So give the stuff to a couple of subjects with the virus and see what happens. What the H*ll do you have to lose?

[Neil]

Not my call or my specialty/patients. I'm sure someone will eventually get around to doing so if they have not already done so. Just requires an institutional review board's approval and the subject's consent.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Vaccine is unlikely to help patients who are already infected, so that is not going to be done.

So give the stuff to a couple of subjects with the virus and see what happens. What the H*ll do you have to lose?

Well, if there's a serious adverse reaction as a result, like sudden rapid death, you could lose use of the vaccine completely.....

[E7]

And that's exactly what the next problem is going to be -- everybody demanding theirs now, now, now....and all of the unrealistic promises that have not been kept all year long come home now.

Interesting that you feel you can speak for everybody. I'm in no particular hurry. I'll keep wearing a mask when I go out, and staying away from crowds, and social distancing. I'm retired, don't have to go out to work. Give the stuff to those that need to mix with people. First subjects would be health care people who have to come in contact with those infected. Common sense.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

And that's exactly what the next problem is going to be -- everybody demanding theirs now, now, now....and all of the unrealistic promises that have not been kept all year long come home now.

Interesting that you feel you can speak for everybody.

It's called a general observation. You make broad generalizations all the time.

I'm in no particular hurry. I'll keep wearing a mask when I go out, and staying away from crowds, and social distancing. I'm retired, don't have to go out to work. Give the stuff to those that need to mix with people. First subjects would be health care people who have to come in contact with those infected. Common sense.

Good for you - showing some good judgement. Next county to your west has too many people (like all employees...) at grocery stores w/o masks. Too bad others can't follow your good example.

[Neil]

I should add that at the moment with vaccine supply constrained, no doses will be going for anything other than actual intended use, as contrasted with experimental use. The exception might be a clinical trial in children since they were excluded from the initial trials.

Once supply is no longer the limiting factor, other uses may be tried, such as vaccinating those newly infected. A viral specific oral treatment is sorely needed, like the ones we have for influenza.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I should add that at the moment with vaccine supply constrained, no doses will be going for anything other than actual intended use, as contrasted with experimental use. The exception might be a clinical trial in children since they were excluded from the initial trials.

Pretty sure that Pfizer is already running trials in under 16 year olds with the intention of going down to 3 year olds

Once supply is no longer the limiting factor, other uses may be tried, such as vaccinating those newly infected. A viral specific oral treatment is sorely needed, like the ones we have for influenza.

Yes, and will likely take a lot longer to develop de novo if nothing off the shelf or in the repositories shows good activity.

[robert.]

It’s shocking how people and the media think. One tenth of a percent of the population will get the first doses. I doubt that will cover all our hospital worker. People are singing in the streets it’s over. This will be a very dark winter.

[rogruth]

It’s shocking how people and the media think. One tenth of a percent of the population will get the first doses. I doubt that will cover all our hospital worker. People are singing in the streets it’s over. This will be a very dark winter.

My wife wanted to know when we could stop wearing masks. I told her maybe never at our age.
How long did it take for everyone to get the polio vaccine? And there were less people then.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

It’s shocking how people and the media think. One tenth of a percent of the population will get the first doses. I doubt that will cover all our hospital worker. People are singing in the streets it’s over. This will be a very dark winter.

My wife wanted to know when we could stop wearing masks. I told her maybe never at our age.
How long did it take for everyone to get the polio vaccine? And there were less people then.

Bit of misinformation there - contract is to deliver 100 million does in the 1st quarter of 2021.

While you are home you don't have to where anything at all, Roger!

But, going out into the public probably most of next year to be safe - at least into the 3rd quarter of 2021.

Of course, that all presumes that everything works perfectly fine, something bad fails to materialize, and/or levels of stupidity do not go up a quantum unit or 3.