Coronavirus:

[rogruth]

I may have missed this earlier (probably) but on NBC news this evening there was a report that a cure or a vaccine or something has been
available for some time for the covid virus.. I did not understand it all. Almost sounded like the election is over so covid will be also. ?????

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I may have missed this earlier (probably) but on NBC news this evening there was a report that a cure or a vaccine or something has been
available for some time for the covid virus.. I did not understand it all. Almost sounded like the election is over so covid will be also. ?????

That story on the news was very skewed and misrepresented things. No surprise as that's what they do to get viewers watching and sell commercial time.

The DNA mapping and sequencing were done back in Feb/March, and published. I've got a copy of the paper on my computer somewhere. Glazed my eyes over in seconds.

Making the vaccine, doing the safety assessments, then doing efficacy trials takes time..............and can take years. Just making a couple of hundred doses of a drug for phase 1/2 trials can cost a few million dollars and take a year to be delivered. Getting FDA approval to start is swimming up a mountain. Been there and done that. Getting the patients and doing the trial can take more years. We closed one early due to lack of patients and gave up.

There are supposedly ~200 different vaccine efforts ongoing; 4-5 companies have already run into failures or tox issues, or other complications that we know about. We don't know what the others are really doing as there is no real requirement to make that information public. Drug development and then production generally takes years; that Pfizer rammed through so quickly is a testament to what can be done if there is adequate incentive. In their case, it's establishing their mRNA technology for drug creation and development. Their partners in this BioNTech and a Chinese company all stand to benefit as Pfizer did not take the R&D funding from the Gov't so the Gov't does not get a hook into the IP.

[rogruth]

Thanks, Rufus. You used about the same amount of time that NBC did to report to explain their report. And it is a lot easier to understand.
IMO NBC made it sound as if these developments had been hidden.

[Neil]

The vaccines are apparently the real deal. We are testing two at our institution (including the one from Pfizer). The 90% reported efficacy puts that one in the range of the most successful vaccines we have (things like measles and hepatitis B). Safety data are incomplete but there have been no safety signals of note in the first two months. Obviously safety years into the future cannot be assessed at present. Most health care workers will gladly take the vaccine is my guess. There will be other similar vaccines shortly. So that's looking like the proverbial home run given the disastrous increase in cases seen throughout the USA and Europe.

There is no antiviral cure at present, although there is some confidence that remdesivir, dexamethasone and Lilly and Regeneron's monoclonal treatments reduce hospitalization and disease worsening when given early in the disease (dexamethasone is reserved for more severe cases). But we are still awaiting a drug like Tamiflu (oseltamivir) that can stop influenza A and B in their tracks and reduce mortality. Hopefully soon, but I haven't heard of any promising results yet.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Thanks, Rufus. You used about the same amount of time that NBC did to report to explain their report. And it is a lot easier to understand.

Thanks.

IMO NBC made it sound as if these developments had been hidden.

Sensationalism to stir up folks and sell commercial time. I've found that at least 50% of the real story on medical stuff on news reports is on the cutting room floor. And, most "breakthroughs" aren't.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Safety data are incomplete but there have been no safety signals of note in the first two months. Obviously safety years into the future cannot be assessed at present.

That aspect was my 1st question when that result was announced - what's the chronic tox? Having had to due such studies in the past has sensitized me to that sort of thinking, particularly in the case of what is a new drug class.

There is no antiviral cure at present, although there is some confidence that remdesivir, dexamethasone and Lilly and Regeneron's monoclonal treatments reduce hospitalization and disease worsening when given early in the disease (dexamethasone is reserved for more severe cases).

Lilly's monoclonal seems interesting. It's very interesting to that antibody drugs are now getting approved left & right when it was such a horrific struggle to just get the trials approved the 1st 20 years of my career. We have a lot of good antibody and immunotherapy companies.

But we are still awaiting a drug like Tamiflu (oseltamivir) that can stop influenza A and B in their tracks and reduce mortality. Hopefully soon, but I haven't heard of any promising results yet.

Yes. And, I've not heard anything either; figure that every anti-viral of any kind has been screened, but no big hits have surfaced at least publicly. There was a Japanese company one that at one point seemed to have some interest, but I've not seen anything about it for many months now. Again, it could be in trials and we'd not know.

[HONDO74]

In all the media buzz about Pfizer and their testing it on thousands of volunteers. For those that were given a shot, Were they then exposed to the virus to see if it actually works ??

[Rufus T. Firefly]

In all the media buzz about Pfizer and their testing it on thousands of volunteers. For those that were given a shot, Were they then exposed to the virus to see if it actually works ??

Not all were given the vaccine; some were given placebo. I don't know the details of the study design. Seems unlikely that the volunteers given placebo would be exposed to the virus as that would violate all sorts of regulations and laws.

This is part of the problem of such announcements - we only get a very select snippet that only raises more questions.

[HONDO74]

California hits one million cases as outbreaks grow across US
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54935700

Following Texas, California became the second state to hit one million Covid cases on Thursday as regions across the country face growing outbreaks.

The US reported another record high of 153,496 new infections the same day, according to Johns Hopkins University, as well as 919 deaths.

Daily cases have been in the hundreds of thousands for the last 10 days and over 67,000 are currently in hospital.

The nation has seen over 10.5 million cases and 242,000 deaths thus far.

California and Texas - which reached the grim million-case milestone on 10 November - now both have viral caseloads that surpass other countries, including Mexico and Germany.

The surges have prompted local officials to hit pause on reopening efforts in several states.

Eleven counties in California were told to reverse some reopening measures.

Southern California is the worst hit part of the state, with substantial outbreaks. In Los Angeles, there are more than 330,000 infections.

San Diego, Sacramento and Los Angeles counties are among the areas now on the lowest tier of California's reopening plan. Indoor dining and indoor religious services are prohibited.

As the state's positivity rate - the percentage of positive tests in the population - is now at 3.6%, California Governor Gavin Newsom urged people to wear masks and distance, saying: "Your actions could literally save lives."

[rogruth]

Indoor dining is closed but are restaurants open for outdoor dining?
Not all parts of the country can do that.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Indoor dining is closed but are restaurants open for outdoor dining?
Not all parts of the country can do that.

True. Bit brisk......and not entirely practical soon around here. I'm not going to want to be dining wearing a heavy coat outside in the dark........

[robert.]

It’s probably game for Nj restaurants. They need to be closed by 10pm and can reopen 5am. On the morning news they interviewed several owners. Most said. We’ll go to thanksgiving. In order to honor our catering orders.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

In order to honor our catering orders.

Might be able to keep that aspect of their businesses going longer.....

[chuck]

Might be able to keep that aspect of their businesses going longer.....

Not sure how many people will want to cook for Christmas and New Years especially if they can order out a nice meal for pickup or delivery.

It won't be as much fun with zoom meetings subbing for real gatherings but it is still better than trying to run a virtual wake/funeral a few weeks later if you don't.

BTW, I agree with Neil's assessment regarding the spread via "private" parties. While most people in public spaces are observant of mask and social distancing, I am seeing more and more cases of "group" gatherings at private homes with no safety protocols. Neighbor behind us was hosting a gathering last weekend. I was starting to feel bad about using the blower/vacuum/lawn mower as it was probably disturbing them. Then I realized what was going on and figured out they were pretty disturbed all ready. No masks, no distancing, group bigger than 10. I have no idea if they washed their hands . Entire group was 60+ years old. Dumb de dumb dumb DUMB!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Might be able to keep that aspect of their businesses going longer.....

Not sure how many people will want to cook for Christmas and New Years especially if they can order out a nice meal for pickup or delivery.

I'll cook, but it will be only for 3.

It won't be as much fun with zoom meetings subbing for real gatherings but it is still better than trying to run a virtual wake/funeral a few weeks later if you don't.

Zoom beats nothing. I'm in 3-4 a week and 1-3 on Webex or Freeconferencecall.

BTW, I agree with Neil's assessment regarding the spread via "private" parties. While most people in public spaces are observant of mask and social distancing, I am seeing more and more cases of "group" gatherings at private homes with no safety protocols. Neighbor behind us was hosting a gathering last weekend. I was starting to feel bad about using the blower/vacuum/lawn mower as it was probably disturbing them. Then I realized what was going on and figured out they were pretty disturbed all ready. No masks, no distancing, group bigger than 10. I have no idea if they washed their hands . Entire group was 60+ years old. Dumb de dumb dumb DUMB!