Possible vaccines/treatment(s) for Coronavirus

[LDC]

GP friend been told to make plans for a roll-out of a vaccine to their patients later this year. Plans in case it happens and everything is ready to go, rather than it being a certainty. Looking promising though. I've got my second dose of the Novavax trial end of this week, it's a protein sub-unit based one rather than the RNA based one by Pfizer and BioNTech. I think no RNA vaccines have been approved for human use before, so this would be the first ever.

 

[Supine]

GP friend been told to make plans for a roll-out of a vaccine to their patients later this year. Plans in case it happens and everything is ready to go, rather than it being a certainty. Looking promising though. I've got my second dose of the Novavax trial end of this week, it's a protein sub-unit based one rather than the RNA based one by Pfizer and BioNTech. I think no RNA vaccines have been approved for human use before, so this would be the first ever.

Can people have multiple vaccine types used on them?

 

[teuchter]

. I think no RNA vaccines have been approved for human use before, so this would be the first ever.

No doubt the anti-vaxxers will be onto this.

 

[Teaboy]

No doubt the anti-vaxxers will be onto this.

The vaccine could be a glass of water and that lot would be onto it.

 

[Pickman's model]

Can people have multiple vaccine types used on them?

like measles, mumps and rubella you mean?

 

[LDC]

Can people have multiple vaccine types used on them?

MMR different vaccines given together though, I wondered about the multiple vaccines for the same disease thing too.

I asked the question in my Novavax trial 'induction/intro' thing about what would happen if a vaccine for this virus becomes available, will I be able to have it being on this trial or might having had this impact having the other vaccine in any way. The answer was a bit vague, but seems that it would be fine, but I'd have to leave this trial and then they can tell me if I've had the placebo/vaccine, which they don't do for a year otherwise.

I also asked if I wanted another vaccine (say for international travel) if that would be OK, or would I have to leave the trial too. They weren't able to give me a clear answer about that.

 

[LDC]

No doubt the anti-vaxxers will be onto this.

Wait til they see who's funding them.

 

[Chilli.s]

Skillz

Covid vaccine: First 'milestone' vaccine offers 90% protection

The vaccine is a "significant step" forward for getting life back to normal, but challenges remain.

www.bbc.co.uk

best news in months

 

[cupid_stunt]

Wait til they see who's funding them.

Bill Gates?

 

[Badgers]

Is it cynical (given the recent contract awarding and press manipulation) to be wary of this?

 

[cupid_stunt]

Trump is going to go apeshit that this was announced so soon after the election rather than before, what with Pfizer being an American company.

 

[LDC]

Bill Gates?

Funding for the Novavax is Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), US Department of Defense, and Gates Foundation.
Funding for the Pfizer and BioNTech is unknown I think.... (cue 'The X Files' theme tune...)

 

[Cloo]

I think even if this is effective, in terms of getting it out etc it's probably too late to make a difference to this winter, although maybe it could open things up a tad sooner in the spring? But lots of ifs on getting it out there, still.

 

[LDC]

Is it cynical (given the recent contract awarding and press manipulation) to be wary of this?

I think the vaccine development etc. is very separate to all that stuff and I'd take it as good generally, but I think any news on any positive vaccine development is going to be jumped on by the media so I'd be skeptical it'll be as quick as they say/hope. My understanding is any vaccine will be given in phases; healthcare (and maybe key workers) and vulnerable groups first, then basically working the way down age categories. I think anything for majority of the general population is likely to be late winter (Feb 2021) or later realistically.

 

[cupid_stunt]

I think the vaccine development etc. is very separate to all that stuff and I'd take it as good generally, but I think any news on vaccine development is going to be jumped on by the media so I'd be skeptical it'll be as quick as they say/hope. My understanding is any vaccine will be given in phases; healthcare (and maybe key workers) and vulnerable groups first, then basically working the way down age categories. I think anything for majority of the general population is likely to be late winter (Feb 2021) or later realistically.

Yep. taking at least 6-9 months to totally roll out.

 

[platinumsage]

Worth noting that unlike most countries, the UK has only ordered enough vaccine for half the population. So you’ll have no chance of getting this Pfizer vaccine if you’re aged under 50 without a specified high-risk health condition (or a health/care worker). This applies to all vaccines the UK government have ordered except the Oxford vaccine which they ordered more of before deciding on this policy.

 

[Winot]

This was encouraging.

 

[Tankus]

Is it cynical (given the recent contract awarding and press manipulation) to be wary of this?

A press release rather than a peer reviewed paper ?

 

[Wilf]

BIG NEWS ALERT (if true)

https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/breaking-news/covid-vaccine-des-set-to-be-announced-imminently-for-december-start/

I'm slightly confused by that story, does it mean the vaccine now has regulatory approval?

 

[bimble]

look at the optimism of this - Zoom's share price just dropped off a cliff with everyone imagining back to normal any day now

 

[Supine]

I'm slightly confused by that story, does it mean the vaccine now has regulatory approval?

No. But they want to get ready to vaccinate as soon as it passes.

 

[LDC]

I'm slightly confused by that story, does it mean the vaccine now has regulatory approval?

No, none have yet for use in the UK.

 

[lizzieloo]

And this might loom larger in the collective memory of older people in the USA because of the absolute disaster they had with the rushed 1976 vaccine for the 'flu pandemic that never was'.

Have you got a link about that? Don't want to derail this thread.

 

[Wilf]

No, none have yet for use in the UK.

Cheers. Suppose I'm just wondering about the nods and winks that must have been given for these plans to be put in place. Realise this is ultimately about sales and market positioning, but some of the drug companies must have access to preliminary data and a real sense of whether their vaccine is working.

 

[elbows]

Have you got a link about that? Don't want to derail this thread.

Swine flu 'debacle' of 1976 is recalled

Swine flu 'debacle' of 1976 is recalled

www.latimes.com

WHO | Swine flu of 1976: lessons from the past

www.who.int

The Public Health Legacy of the 1976 Swine Flu Outbreak

Is it responsible for some Americans' hesitancy to embrace vaccines?

www.discovermagazine.com

The relevance to the current situation is mostly only on the 'older peoples in the USAs perceptions' front, since the big mistake in 1976 was acting against a pandemic that never actually ended up happening. Which also meant the there was no upside to balance the number of cases where the vaccine caused health problems and deaths against.

I would expect that the US 1976 experience is one of many reasons why 'the pandemic isnt real' sentiments got so much traction there this time around.

 

[Wilf]

If we are about to get a functioning vaccine, I'm really pleased for the elderly, those in care homes and those who have been shielding for months (in practice, regardless of government categories). For a lot of those people, their lives have been really shitty for the last 6 months. Won't be 'there's your injection, life goes back to normal' thing, but light at the end of the tunnel, a chance to meet up with family and friends (assuming everything falls into place, the vaccine carries on working, doesn't cause significant side effects...).

One thing I'm already into thinking is 'which one will I get', as will other people. I'd guess I'll be in something like the 3rd/4th wave as a pure guesstimate as I'll be 60 by the time this happens and have a couple of medical conditions. Might be offered a vaccine say July onwards, who knows, by which time there will be reasonable evidence as to which works best. Don't want to get into that shit Little Britain sketch, but there could be an element of 'I don't want that one, I want that one' (not me so much, I like to think I'll be happy to go with any reasonable virus that is offered, but there will be refuseniks and campaigns, quite separately from the army of conspiraloons).

 

[elbows]

I am neutral when it comes to optimism or pessimism regarding Covid-19 vaccines. I probably wont have much to say on the subject for some time yet, since my approach in this area is one of caution, and I also have a low ability to cope with all the hype and optimism which is inevitable right now, and is especially inevitable while the country is under increased restrictions. This isnt due to skepticism about the vaccines, just the timescale and how far ahead of the game some people will run with good news.

For example, this is the sort of detail that enables me to somewhat ground myself in the face of giddy vaccine news days. The bit about 8 people could have been better worded.

The interim analysis looks at how many of those who got infected with Covid-19 had had the new vaccine and how many had the placebo. So far, 94 people have become infected with Covid-19 – this is three times more than the company originally planned, but since the analysis shows that 90% had not received the vaccine, it implies that no more than eight people had received it.

To confirm its efficacy rate, Pfizer said it will continue the trial until there are 164 Covid-19 cases among participants in vaccinated and non-vaccinated groups. Given the recent spike in US infection rates, that number could be reached by early December, Pfizer said.

The data is yet to be peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal. Pfizer said it would do so once it had results from the entire trial.

41m ago 14:00

 

[elbows]

Worth noting that unlike most countries, the UK has only ordered enough vaccine for half the population. So you’ll have no chance of getting this Pfizer vaccine if you’re aged under 50 without a specified high-risk health condition (or a health/care worker). This applies to all vaccines the UK government have ordered except the Oxford vaccine which they ordered more of before deciding on this policy.

And I believe the vaccine in the news today requires 2 doses, so the 30 million orders will only cover 15 million people.

 

[Teaboy]

I'm 42 and don't have any other conditions which are relevant to the virus. I know I'll be somewhere towards the back of the vaccine queue and I'm pretty relaxed by that. Its just the prospect that we may be able to get back to some semblance of normal which I'm buoyed by.

 

[Supine]

To manage expectations - only 94 patients caught covid so far in the study. They need 164 to release results. With small numbers like these the 90% result is very open to big changes when the next data set is analysed. It'll only take a few extra cases to knock the number down. Good start though.