Coronavirus Updates

[Essence Lumin]

This article doesn't specify the type of vaccine but says to expect flu like symptoms.

Covid-19 vaccine no 'walk in the park,' CDC committee told | CNN

There will be some bumps for a Covid-19 vaccine, a CDC committee of experts says. For one thing, it hurts. And if frail nursing home residents get it, some may die soon after and that will upset people - even when the vaccine is not to blame.

www.cnn.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Here's how to tackle the Covid-19 anti-vaxxers | Will Hanmer-Lloyd

Do not demonise. To optimise the vaccine rollout, all of us must show respect to those who are unsure about inoculations, says behavioural strategist Will Hanmer-Lloyd

www.theguardian.com

 

[Beebo Brink]

Hmmmm.

AstraZeneca’s best COVID vaccine result was a fluke. Experts have questions

The “how?” and “why?” are open questions—along with “what now?”...

arstechnica.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Hmmmm.

AstraZeneca’s best COVID vaccine result was a fluke. Experts have questions

The “how?” and “why?” are open questions—along with “what now?”...

arstechnica.com

Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to undergo new global trial

Share price drops as critics question claim vaccine could protect up to 90% of people

www.theguardian.com

I'm content to go along with what the UK and EU regulators decide, and what my doctor recommends.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

'The buck stops with her': the woman who makes call on UK's Covid vaccines

Head of MHRA, June Raine, has ‘devoted whole life to public health’, says former colleague

www.theguardian.com

 

[Sid]

Penicillin was discovered by a fluke too.
But I think that 1/2 and then a 1 dose vaccination with the Oxford vaccine needs a bit of extra study. The group who got this dose might have been to small and not diverse enough.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Penicillin was discovered by a fluke too.
But I think that 1/2 and then a 1 dose vaccination with the Oxford vaccine needs a bit of extra study. The group who got this dose might have been to small and not diverse enough.

I think the announcement was made rather badly.

The main facts -- here's a vaccine that's ~70% effective but, unlike the more effective vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, requires no special handling or refrigeration and is considerably cheaper to produce -- are impressive enough.

The fact it may also be as effective with the lower initial dosage, if true, is a great bonus, but it's the cherry on top, not the cake itself.

 

[Luisa Land]

Experts are seeking explanations for the better effect of a lower dose

if I am correctly informed, it was an oversight that some of the subjects received a lower dose.
The question is what proportion of all participants in the study received a lower dose.

"
Iin the journal "Nature" the following figures can be found


"The more effective ‘half-dose, full dose’ results were based on 2,741 trial participants, whereas the less efficacious arm included 8,895 volunteers. The press release did not specify in which group cases occurred." (low dose received only a small part of all, the vast majority received the full dose)

So one option could be:
"One explanation could lie in the data: the trial might not have been big enough to gauge the differences between the two regimens, in which case the differences might vanish once more cases of COVID-19 are detected, says Luk Vandenberghe, a virologist at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear institute and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

but other possibilities of explanation are also mentioned in "Nature"

Why Oxford’s positive COVID vaccine results are puzzling scientists

Preliminary data suggest that the immunization was more effective in trial participants who received a lower dose.

www.nature.com

 

[Casey Pelous]

Homeopaths to claim vindication in 3, 2......

 

[Beebo Brink]

Interesting premise:

Hildegund Ertl, a viral immunologist at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, says the results make sense in the light of some of her work on adenovirus vaccines in mice. She, too, has found that for a two-dose vaccine, a low first dose can lead to better protection than a high first dose. She thinks this is because a lower first dose leads more quickly to the establishment of ‘memory’ immune cells that are triggered by a second-dose boost. Waiting longer between the two doses could achieve the same effect.

 

[Sid]

I'm content to go along with what the UK and EU regulators decide, and what my doctor recommends.

If my doctor's office would call with the message they scheduled a corona vaccination for me, say next Friday, I would be there on time, with my sleeve rolled up already.
No questions ask about which of the vaccines it is. If the doctors there find it worth using, I'm on board.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

If my doctor's office would call with the message they scheduled a corona vaccination for me, say next Friday, I would be there on time, with my sleeve rolled up already.
No questions ask about which of the vaccines it is. If the doctors there find it worth using, I'm on board.

Spoiler: And any anti vaxxer trying to stop me

 

[Essence Lumin]

No! Nuhuh! More No! NO!

Is a mRNA based thing.
So short version means it NOT use live virus, was alive virus, dead virus, pieces of stuff from a virus, or emotionally distraught and just won't infect a cell virus.

Instead it does a thing!
The thing is does: 1) Teaches you how to make some spike protein. 2) Spike proteins can then teach you how to fight the virus.

So.. No! Nuhuh! More No! NO! This Time I'ma SERIOUS! NO!

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use mRNA. The AstraZeneca vaccine uses a vaccine platform called a viral vector. So this article says anyway.

AstraZeneca is developing what may be the most widely accessible Covid-19 vaccine

Unlike Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines, which need cold storage, it may be easier for some countries to successfully store and distribute AstraZenecas vaccine candidate.

qz.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Moses Bility at University of Pittsburgh Said Jade Amulets May Block Coronavirus and Became Science Pariah

Unlike bogus far-right conspiracy theories about COVID-19, this idea did not emerge from the digital fringe, but from a respected academic journal, resulting in a total shitshow.

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Long Covid: ‘Is this now me for ever?’

Months after coming down with the virus, Eleanor Morgan is still struggling with ‘long Covid’. What is it and how can the burden be eased?

www.theguardian.com

Very interesting discussion of the phenomenon, from several angles, including what the diagnosis means for the general practitioner and patient.

 

[Luisa Land]

There are currently ongoing media reports on vaccines against corona.
But research is also being done into the possibility of drug therapy.
For those who are interested, here is an article that reports on the efforts of some German researchers.
It is not so spectacular, because the development of such drugs is not yet as advanced as the development of vaccines. But perhaps it is interesting nonetheless.

Search for a Coronavirus Pill: Researchers Explore Promising New Therapies for COVID-19

All eyes are on coronavirus vaccines at the moment. But efforts to find successful treatments against COVID-19 are rapidly moving along as well. Initial laboratory tests have been encouraging.

www.spiegel.de

 

[Beebo Brink]

We's mentioned this before, but apparently the evidence continues to accumulate.

COVID-19 May Hurt Male Fertility

Evidence of testes damage from COVID-19 has been accumulating in a series of small autopsy studies, suggesting that the new coronavirus could have an impact on male fertility.

www.medscape.com

 

[Kathryn Elisabeth]

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use mRNA. The AstraZeneca vaccine uses a vaccine platform called a viral vector. So this article says anyway....

Yup... but not the SARS-CoV-2 virus, instead is a weakened chimp adenovirus. So being all technical (Please Don't Hit me!) is not an inactivated SARS-CoV-2.

Simple version of making viral vectors: Is pull part of the stuffs outta the adenovirus to break it from reproducing correctly in vivo, making itty-bitty 'injectors'. Then add CoV-2 Spike Protein making instructions.

So can inject your cells and learn them to make the Spike.. thus providing the protein for 'teaching' your immune system.

-- edit: error in copypaste the last line from notes--

But not use the inactivated 'bad virus', so doing much more to negate the vaccine turning evil and infectious.

 

[danielravennest]

We's mentioned this before, but apparently the evidence continues to accumulate.

COVID-19 May Hurt Male Fertility

Evidence of testes damage from COVID-19 has been accumulating in a series of small autopsy studies, suggesting that the new coronavirus could have an impact on male fertility.

www.medscape.com

Finally, something that will make the MAGA twits mask up. "COVID makes you a eunuch!"

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Covid vaccinations will begin next week, says Boris Johnson

PM announces start of mass immunisation amid row over claim Brexit helped speed up approval

www.theguardian.com

Mass immunisation against coronavirus will begin next week, Boris Johnson announced as he moved to defuse a diplomatic row over claims that Brexit was responsible for the fast-track approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

The prime minister said hopes of normal life returning in the spring had given way to “sure and certain knowledge that we will succeed” after Britain became the first country in the western world to approve a Covid vaccine.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said no corners had been cut in licensing the jab in record time, and the vaccine had been subjected to the most thorough scrutiny by experts working round the clock. The UK has bought 40m doses of the vaccine, which has been shown to have 95% efficacy.

Jonathan Van-Tam, a deputy chief medical officer for England, said the announcement of the news on Wednesday morning had made him feel “quite emotional”.

There are big logistical problems, though, getting the vaccine to high-risk patients in residential care of one sort or another, so I'm not sure how rapid the deployment will be.

They'll almost certainly have approved the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine (assuming it does get approved, of course) by the time my cohort features in the vaccination planning, so I expect that's what I will be offered when the time comes.