COVID-19: Vaccine/antidote and testing procedures Megathread [Mod Warning - Post #1]

Hector Savage

hmmm wrote: »

Unusually bullish statements from the Pfizer CEO. They've now caught Moderna by entering phase 3 testing on the same day, and I expect with their greater experience in running trials like these they will be out of testing much faster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgs5iCUg48c

Good news either way ... I like it ..

Bit cynical

Obviously there won't be a September vaccine unless we're talking about September, 2021, but whenever a vaccine arrives I think I hope decent immunity tests are available by then that not merely detect antibodies but test for all forms of immune response. That means that if you already test positive for immunity you don't need to risk the vaccine.

hmmm

Moderna to price its vaccine around $50 to $60 (2 doses)

Pfizer is aiming at about $40 for 2 doses

Oxford is lower still I believe.

https://news.yahoo.com/moderna-pitches-virus-vaccine-around-205744994.html

Thierry12

Bit cynical wrote: »

Obviously there won't be a September vaccine unless we're talking about September, 2021, but whenever a vaccine arrives I think I hope decent immunity tests are available by then that not merely detect antibodies but test for all forms of immune response. That means that if you already test positive for immunity you don't need to risk the vaccine.

If it works out well for the Russians, rest will follow quick.

Hope it works out for them and we will have vaccines this year from pharma giants

hmmm

2700 passengers, some sick, were allowed leave the Ruby Princess cruise ship because a border-control officer misinterpreted a negative flu result as being negative for Covid. Quite incredible.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-30/border-force-ruby-princess-coronavirus-test-bungle/12505072

hmmm

Single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine gives strong results in monkeys
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2607-z

Single dose is important. Great to see the heavyweights delivering vaccines showing good initial results. The big gorilla in the corner are Merck who have been very quiet, but are definitely working on a vaccine. I still think it will be mid-next year before most people see a vaccine, and that's if everything goes well.

hmmm

Inovio vaccine results are also looking strong - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.28.225649v1

Interesting line - "Several months after vaccination, animals were challenged with SARS-CoV-2 resulting in rapid recall of anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein T and B cell responses."

ACitizenErased

hmmm wrote: »

2700 passengers, some sick, were allowed leave the Ruby Princess cruise ship because a border-control officer misinterpreted a negative flu result as being negative for Covid. Quite incredible.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-30/border-force-ruby-princess-coronavirus-test-bungle/12505072

Fantastic video about this incident
https://youtu.be/4-iCCaBSNyg

Gael23

Oxford seem to be on track for early in 2021 I thought

seanb85

Gael23 wrote: »

Oxford seem to be on track for early in 2021 I thought

This will probably be just for high risk and healthcare workers if it happens. The coordination effort and manufacturing that will be required to mass vaccinate to end the pandemic will take a year at least. Hopefully this will start in the first half of 2021 but long way to go.

Hmmzis

hmmm wrote: »

Single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine gives strong results in monkeys
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2607-z

Single dose is important. Great to see the heavyweights delivering vaccines showing good initial results. The big gorilla in the corner are Merck who have been very quiet, but are definitely working on a vaccine. I still think it will be mid-next year before most people see a vaccine, and that's if everything goes well.

That was such a good read, proper paper!
They were certainly not messing around, 7 candidates, all challenged, lots of monkeys, lots of excellent data collected and pretty awesome vaccine candidate found.

The PP.S variant basically gave the monkeys sterilising protection with the single jab. That is impressive!
In particular I'm fond of the graph illustrating the lung viral titer post challenge - can't get a flatter line of nothingness than that.

And again, adding some stability to the S protein (two proline additions and deletion of the furin cleavage site) gives the immune system a much better target to work with, as illustrated by the 4x better nAB titers than covalescent serum.

Hmmzis

hmmm wrote: »

Inovio vaccine results are also looking strong - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.28.225649v1

Interesting line - "Several months after vaccination, animals were challenged with SARS-CoV-2 resulting in rapid recall of anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike protein T and B cell responses."

Had a close look, twice. Nope. It's only partially protective, not sure what went wrong there, but the nAB titers look very low from the get go and after challenge the viral loads were quite substantial. Also, the viral challenge was well on the low side.

They did gey the T cells and B cells going, but they could do better on the neutralisation front. I think it just needs a higher dose, but from reading on DNA vaccines, the delivery mechanism can be tricky as well. Maybe the divery part didn't work too well in monkeys? I hope Derek Lowe comments on this one, would appreciate some more insights here.

hmmm

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-vaccine/trump-planning-for-u-s-rollout-of-coronavirus-vaccine-falling-short-officials-warn-idUSKCN24W1ON

If anything, this crisis has shown us how important it is to have competent people in power.

"There won't be enough vaccine for all 330 million Americans right away, so the government also has a role in deciding who gets it first, and in educating a vaccine-wary here public about its potential life saving merits.

Right now, it is unclear who in Washington is in charge of oversight, much less any critical details, some state health officials and members of Congress told Reuters."

mean gene

Gael23 wrote: »

Oxford seem to be on track for early in 2021 I thought

why are some media reporting september 2020

FutureTeashock

hmmm wrote: »

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-vaccine/trump-planning-for-u-s-rollout-of-coronavirus-vaccine-falling-short-officials-warn-idUSKCN24W1ON

If anything, this crisis has shown us how important it is to have competent people in power.

"There won't be enough vaccine for all 330 million Americans right away, so the government also has a role in deciding who gets it first, and in educating a vaccine-wary here public about its potential life saving merits.

Right now, it is unclear who in Washington is in charge of oversight, much less any critical details, some state health officials and members of Congress told Reuters."

A large percentage of Americans don't want the vaccine, so that solves that issue.

Thierry12

FutureTeashock wrote: »

A large percentage of Americans don't want the vaccine, so that solves that issue.

Is it not a bit like the flu vaccine anyway?

Old and vulnerable, health care workers etc get to get it.

Do teenagers and young adults need to get it?

seanb85

Thierry12 wrote: »

Is it not a bit like the flu vaccine anyway?

Old and vulnerable, health care workers etc get to get it.

Do teenagers and young adults need to get it?

Yep, it is unlikely a vaccine will prove to be 100% effective so to protect the vulnerable a sufficient percentage of the population will need to be inoculated, if enough of the population take it you can get the reproductive number firmly below 1 which will end the pandemic.

is_that_so

mean gene wrote: »

why are some media reporting september 2020

It's down to the degree of confidence and talking up individual vaccines. September seems way too soon, early 2021 more realistic.

Marhay70

Thierry12 wrote: »

Is it not a bit like the flu vaccine anyway?

Old and vulnerable, health care workers etc get to get it.

Do teenagers and young adults need to get it?

From what I can gather, everybody should get it. Listening to one of the experts on radio today, even young, asymptomatic cases have been presenting with lung lesions at this early stage of the virus' evolution. I dread to think what the situation will be like in twenty years if it is not drastically curtailed.

FutureTeashock

Marhay70 wrote: »

From what I can gather, everybody should get it. Listening to one of the experts on radio today, even young, asymptomatic cases have been presenting with lung lesions at this early stage of the virus' evolution. I dread to think what the situation will be like in twenty years if it is not drastically curtailed.

Zero percent chance of everyone taking the rushed vaccine.

They would be lucky to net 70% of the population.

Marhay70

FutureTeashock wrote: »

Zero percent chance of everyone taking the rushed vaccine.

They would be lucky to net 70% of the population.

That would be good enough for starters.

FutureTeashock

Marhay70 wrote: »

That would be good enough for starters.

Great news! Those who want to take the vaccine will do so; those who oppose won't.

This is the perfect outcome for all concerned.

hmmm

Merck, a bit of a sleeping giant in all this, making news today on both vaccines and treatments. A "tortoise and a hare" approach as one of the articles says.

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/merck-via-its-themis-buy-to-move-first-covid-19-vaccine-into-clinical-development-q3
https://www.trialsitenews.com/merck-positioning-to-take-the-lead-u-s-covid-19-antiviral-market-from-remdesivir-eidd-2801/

mean gene

Hopefully this thread will be at the top of the forum going forward it's been on page 2 for the last few months now its creeping into mid table on page 1. May its climb continue to the top

hmmm

EU has purchased 300mn Sanofi vaccine doses.
https://www.france24.com/en/20200731-eu-reserves-300-mn-doses-of-potential-sanofi-virus-vaccine

Add this to the previous Oxford/Astra Zeneca deal.

"The EU announced Friday that it had struck a deal with French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi for 300 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm which negotiated the agreement, said it would allow all 27 member countries to purchase the vaccine once it was proven to be safe and effective."

"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc was doing everything it could to help find a vaccine.

"We are in advanced discussions with several other companies," she said in a statement, adding that Europe was investing in a "diversified portfolio of promising vaccines"."

Santy2015

hmmm wrote: »

EU has purchased 300mn Sanofi vaccine doses.
https://www.france24.com/en/20200731-eu-reserves-300-mn-doses-of-potential-sanofi-virus-vaccine

Add this to the previous Oxford/Astra Zeneca deal.

"The EU announced Friday that it had struck a deal with French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi for 300 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine.

The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm which negotiated the agreement, said it would allow all 27 member countries to purchase the vaccine once it was proven to be safe and effective."

"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc was doing everything it could to help find a vaccine.

"We are in advanced discussions with several other companies," she said in a statement, adding that Europe was investing in a "diversified portfolio of promising vaccines"."

Excellent news! We need to have options and the EU is making sure of that.
Check this thread every hour nearly to see if anything new has come up. Thanks to Hmmm and Hmmzis for all the updates!

ACitizenErased

Thank Christ we live in the EU.

bennyineire

ACitizenErased wrote: »

Thank Christ we live in the EU.

Thank the E.U. we are in the E.U., I'm pretty sure Christ had nothing to do with it seeing as he died around 1,980 years ago :pac:

LiquidZeb

is_that_so wrote: »

It's down to the degree of confidence and talking up individual vaccines. September seems way too soon, early 2021 more realistic.

I think Brazil get their first 15m doses of the Oxford vaccine in December.

alwald

How are we looking, based on what we know on both the virus and the progress on various vaccines, to completely get rid of and eradicate this virus from the world?