Coronavirus Updates

[Luisa Land]

Global stock markets surge after Pfizer Covid vaccine news

FTSE 100 jumps as Pfizer and BioNTech report coronavirus vaccine is 90% effective

www.theguardian.com

on the background that the successful development of a corona vaccine also means a huge economic success, i find it very funny that the address of the german company BioNTech, which is developing the vaccine together with the u.s. company Pfizer, is

An der Goldgrube
(At the gold mine)
Mainz
Germany

 

[Free]

 

[Beebo Brink]

Pence breaks silence to take credit for Pfizer vaccine - and drugs company immediately denies Trump involved

Pfizer has clarified that the US government was not involved in their development of a Covid-19 vaccine

www.independent.co.uk

 

[danielravennest]

Pence breaks silence to take credit for Pfizer vaccine - and drugs company immediately denies Trump involved

Pfizer has clarified that the US government was not involved in their development of a Covid-19 vaccine

www.independent.co.uk

Did he make the announcement in a parking lot between a sex store and a crematorium?

 

[Sovereignty]

 

[Essence Lumin]

With North Dakota hospitals at 100% capacity, Burgum announces COVID-positive nurses can stay at work

In an attempt to alleviate some of the staffing concerns, Burgum announced that the state health officer has amended an order that will allow health care workers with asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 to continue working in hospitals' COVID-19 units. The Republican governor said hospital…

www.grandforksherald.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Covid vaccine: 'No decision' on under 50s vaccine plan

Uncertainty about how the Covid vaccines work mean there is no plan for younger people yet.

www.bbc.co.uk

ETA

Speed trumps efficacy in UK's Covid vaccine rollouts, says adviser

Jonathan Van-Tam says less effective vaccine may be used if that is what is available

www.theguardian.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I don't see the decision to give speed of delivery more weight than efficacy as necessarily a bad one.

It's not an either/or decision, after all. If the Oxford/AstraZeneca is -- say -- 70% effective, as compared to the 90% efficacy rate claimed for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, but is available in large quantities considerably sooner than Pfizer's, then I'd certainly rather be offered the 70% effective one now rather than the 90% effective one six months later.

They can always switch to the more efficacious vaccine when it becomes available, or offer it to particularly high-risk groups or in areas where the infection rate is particularly high.

 

[Casey Pelous]

There are huge numbers of people in the US who are simply not going to get vaccinated because they are either anti-vaxxers or hard-core Trumpsuckers who have some line of "reasoning" like, "I ain't havin' the Democrat gummint stick nothin' in mah body for a made up Libtard hoax." That will be alleviated somewhat if employers start requiring proof-of-COVID-vaccination, if that even turns out to be legal, but there are still huge numbers of resisters. Heck, I'm delaying getting my annual flu shot because I figure the FDA is completely corrupt and incompetent at this point. Basically, I'm saying, "Y'all go head ... I'll watch."

As I understand it, measles requires 95% of the population be vaccinated in order to protect the remaining 5%. Polio is about 80%. I'm not sure if the difference is in the effectiveness of the respective vaccines or something inherent in the viruses/diseases, but I can't imagine COVID's threshold will turn out to be dramatically lower. Our chances of achieving herd immunity on this deal, even with a 90% effective vaccine, look to be nil.

 

[Sovereignty]

The Pfizer vaccine has cold storage requirements that will make it harder to distribute in remote areas. In the US and UK, that will impact farming communities and other very rural settings. In global distribution, there will be many more places where lack of cold storage limits Pfizer's vaccine. We need more than one to get as many people as possible vaccinated quickly.

They already transport semen around to farms at the necessary temperature. Not an issue in the US and UK.

 

[Sovereignty]

They can always switch to the more efficacious vaccine when it becomes available, or offer it to particularly high-risk groups or in areas where the infection rate is particularly high.

If a less efficacious vaccine is replaced by one better, they'd have to revaccinate most everyone to get the benefit. There could be safety concerns, so another RCT would be needed.

 

[Sovereignty]

But scaling that up will be difficult. I've worked with Select Sires and seen their shipping process. The tanks are large and expensive, and there are not millions of extras sitting around. And they are time sensitive. They use liquid nitrogen and/or dry ice, which does not have fine control of temperature for long shipping.

The US and UK deal with the cold storage problem for other drugs already. It definitely is a problem elsewhere.

ETA: ... though the volume of product could be an issue. Difficult to scale up for a one time (?) problem.

 

[Sovereignty]

With the press release info, we have no idea if the vaccine prevents infection. For instance, there is the possibility of people continuing to get SARS-CoV-2 upper respiratory infections that do not cause symptoms but are still infectious. That would make herd immunity meaningless.

 

[Sid]

The Pfizer vaccine has cold storage requirements that will make it harder to distribute in remote areas. In the US and UK, that will impact farming communities and other very rural settings. In global distribution, there will be many more places where lack of cold storage limits Pfizer's vaccine. We need more than one to get as many people as possible vaccinated quickly.

How do they handle insulin or fresh meat there?
You only need a few fridges and a truck with cooling facilities to transport the stuff.

 

[Sid]

The vaccine has to be cooled, not frozen.

 

[Luisa Land]

yes, the vaccine must be stored and transported refrigerated. If I am correctly informed to -70 degrees (minus 70).
This is a condition that is probably difficult for the average doctor's practice, I read. This is one reason why central vaccination centers are planned here in Germany the other reason is that the medical practices would quickly be overtaxed because of the rush


.the public television knows more details
"For example, handling the Biontech/Pfizer vaccine is likely to be a logistical challenge. The vials have to be transported frozen at around minus 70 degrees to the vaccination center. According to Pfizer, a special thermo case has been developed for the storage of vaccine doses. In it, the vaccine doses could be stored with dry ice for up to ten days at a temperature of around minus 75 degrees Celsius. The thermo case is as big as a suitcase and weighs more than 30 kilos when fully loaded. Small, portable ultra-low temperature freezers could be purchased at the vaccination centers, which could extend the shelf life to up to six months, according to the news agency dpa.


However, as soon as the general conditions allow, vaccines could later also be distributed locally via the medical profession and pharmacies, according to the Ministry of Health."

Coronavirus: Wo und wie geimpft werden könnte

Ein Corona-Impfstoff ist in Deutschland noch nicht zugelassen, aber die Vorbereitungen für Impfungen werden konkreter. Wo Impfzentren entstehen sollen, wie die Impfstoffe gelagert werden und wer das alles bezahlen soll - ein Überblick.

www.tagesschau.de

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 

[Innula Zenovka]

If a less efficacious vaccine is replaced by one better, they'd have to revaccinate most everyone to get the benefit. There could be safety concerns, so another RCT would be needed.

I don't know about needing to, or even it it would be desirable -- I was thinking more of the number of lives likely to be lost because the first n vaccinations carried out over however many months were with a vaccine with (say) 70% efficacy before switching to the more efficacious vaccine for the as-yet-unvaccinated cohort when it becomes more readily available vs the number lost by vaccinating everyone with 90% efficacious vaccine but in far lower numbers, at least initially.

Better protection for fewer people?

Of particular relevance in this calculation, I think, is that in the UK, at least, the vaccine (whichever one it is) will be given first to the most vulnerable patients, starting with residents in long-term nursing homes and other residential care, and then to other particular groups in order of their vulnerability.

 

[Essence Lumin]

yes, the vaccine must be stored and transported refrigerated. If I am correctly informed to -70 degrees (minus 70).

Yes, -70C or -94F, very cold.

 

[Sid]

Wow, - 70 is a huge problem anywhere.
Normal freezers go to around - 20C

 

[danielravennest]

How do you get frozen meat to Chitokoloki Mission, Zambia?

(a) They get their meat fresh, on the hoof

(b) There are on the order of 100 COVID vaccines and other treatments in development. These are just the first two. It's highly likely something more suitable for developing countries will come along.

(c) -70C is dry ice temperatures. There are plenty of containers and sources of dry ice. I experimented with it on a camping trip once, buying slabs of dry ice and putting them in a regular camping cooler. Took about 2 days to evaporate, which isn't any longer than regular ice. That just proves you need a better insulated container, like the ones street vendors use for ice cream.