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

Hmmzis

Speaking of vaccines, here is some very preliminary data on the J&J phase 1/2 trial:

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.23.20199604v1.full.pdf+html

The older hypertensive folks might have a bit of trouble with it, it's a few cases but still, those people will have to be monitored very closely in phase 3. The other adverse events seem to be in line with what Oxford reported from their phase 1/2 and a bit milder than Moderna's.

On the antibody and T cell front it looks quite good, in or about the same league as ChAdOx1 and BioNTech/Pfizer (assays can vary so comparisons can be wildly inaccurate). Both Th1(CD4+) and cytotoxic (CD8+) T cells were found in almost all of the participants.

Just looking at the data presented there it looks to me that if J&J got near sterilizing protection in macaques with this it wouldn't surprise me if the other front runners could get that as well. The differences being more the vaccine doses and challenge viral doses chosen for each NHP trial (with Oxford maybe going overboard there just a bit with the challenge doses). With that said, phase 3 data will tell us how that correlates to humans and real life situations.

Here is a good summary of most of them:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2798-3

is_that_so

Again not vaccine related but maybe better in this thread than the main one. Proper research into the virus "hanging" in the air and how different environments can affect it.

It is the question scientists around the world are trying to answer: how long can the coronavirus survive in the tiny aerosol particles we exhale? In a high-security lab near Bristol, entered through a series of airlock doors, scientists may be weeks from finding out.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/uk-scientists-begin-study-of-how-long-covid-can-survive-in-the-air

mandrake04

Duke of Url wrote: »

Yeah and only an average 2.7 million people died a month with a World population of 1.8 Billion

Different time, majority of deaths were caused more by secondary bacterial pneumonia and this was 10 years before Penicillin. Probably wouldn't be as deadly today.

astrofool

Cordell wrote: »

No, they are only rubberstamped by their governments, which proved multiple times that they cannot be trusted. There is no data to show that they "appear to work" other than official claims that they work.

If the disease had a higher fatality rate, we'd all be taking them already, the (relatively) low fatality rate buys us the time to test properly.

ACitizenErased

Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine produces strong immune response in early trial
https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-johnson-johnson-vacci-idUSKCN26G2YC

TonyMaloney

ACitizenErased wrote: »

Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine produces strong immune response in early trial
https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-johnson-johnson-vacci-idUSKCN26G2YC

No more tears

ACitizenErased

FINALLY an observational study about Vitamin D.

Vitamin D reduces infection and impact of COVID-19, studies find
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-vitamin-d-reduces-infection-and-impact-of-covid-19-studies-find-12081132

Study link: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0239799

sideswipe

TonyMaloney wrote: »

No more tears

Yourdeadwright....... no more beers;)

ZX7R

Biomed Lublin company have developed a tablet based on the plasma of people recoverd from the virus.
The medicine is too go to full trials in hospitals in Lublin,bytom,bialstok and warsaw at the end of the month.
The effectiveness of the medicine under laboratory tests under taken by professor
Krzysztof pirc from the malopolska center for bio technology in Krakow.
Results were total eradication of the virus

is_that_so

Some research into possible genetic issues and severity of COVID-19. It may have implications for treatments.

Two new studies offer an explanation for why COVID-19 cases can be so variable. A subset of patients has mutations in key immunity genes; other patients have auto-antibodies that target the same components of the immune system. Both circumstances could contribute to severe forms of the disease.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200924141529.htm

CruelSummer

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-half-a-million-sharks-could-be-killed-for-vaccine-experts-warn-12083167

hmmm

CruelSummer wrote: »

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-half-a-million-sharks-could-be-killed-for-vaccine-experts-warn-12083167

Sounds like good news for vaccines - thanks for posting!

"To avoid threatening shark populations, scientists are testing an alternative to squalene - a synthetic version made from fermented sugar cane."

astrofool

CruelSummer wrote: »

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-half-a-million-sharks-could-be-killed-for-vaccine-experts-warn-12083167

Hidden down the bottom is that we harvest 3m sharks a year already, which is something I didn't know (I'm guessing we have shark farms somewhere).

charlie14

astrofool wrote: »

Hidden down the bottom is that we harvest 3m sharks a year already, which is something I didn't know (I'm guessing we have shark farms somewhere).

Dogfish may be included in that 3m ?

is_that_so

astrofool wrote: »

Hidden down the bottom is that we harvest 3m sharks a year already, which is something I didn't know (I'm guessing we have shark farms somewhere).

2017 article from SA about it - actually backing it.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/harvesting-sharks-could-be-key-to-saving-them

4068ac1elhodqr

astrofool wrote: »

Hidden down the bottom is that we harvest 3m sharks a year already, which is something I didn't know (I'm guessing we have shark farms somewhere).

We?
Not sure about that number outside of Iceland {traditional} Japan {cultural or a side effect of whale hunting, mass fishing} and China (mostly medicinal folklore as lucky dried sprinkles), it would be a rare novelty item anywhere else.

Shark meat while tastey once in a blue moon, and has a higher Mercury content than the average cod n' chips, thanks to bioaccumulation. Other toxins may be present e.g. arsenic and lead.

Squalene (used in vaccines, as adjuvants) is commercially extracted shark-liver oil. There is some mixed opinion on it's effectiveness and longer term effects.

hmmm

This thread is super:
https://twitter.com/florian_krammer/status/1310372301314101250

Pauliedragon

I have what seems to be a cold. My GP says I've no need for a covid test as my symtoms aren't enough but my boss says he wants to see a negative test to let me back. How do you go about a private test? How much do they cost? I'm in Cork by the way.

User1998

Tell your GP your symptoms have worsened and have become more covid-like and you’ll get tested

NegativeCreep

https://m.independent.ie/world-news/coronavirus/nasal-spray-could-give-96pc-protection-from-coronavirus-39567304.html

Might’ve already been posted but this would be great!

ShineOn7

NegativeCreep wrote: »

https://m.independent.ie/world-news/coronavirus/nasal-spray-could-give-96pc-protection-from-coronavirus-39567304.html

Might’ve already been posted but this would be great!

To give people context

Nasal spray could give 96pc protection from coronavirus

We need more of this. Treatments will squash this long before the carrot on a stick vaccine

Stark

Sounds like it's only been tested in rodents/ferrets? Vaccines are already in phase 3 human trials.

Edit: Says here it'll be 4 months before it progresses to human clinical trials https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/preventative-nasal-spray-shown-to-reduce-viral-replication-by-up-to-96-in-covid-19-challenge-study-879335575.html . Should have a few vaccines approved for at least emergency use by then.

Beasty

Threads merged

Beasty

Pauliedragon wrote: »

I have what seems to be a cold. My GP says I've no need for a covid test as my symtoms aren't enough but my boss says he wants to see a negative test to let me back. How do you go about a private test? How much do they cost? I'm in Cork by the way.

I would be asking my employer to sort it out.

hmmm

https://www.statnews.com/2020/09/28/operation-warp-speed-vast-military-involvement/

Fascinating article. I know some might be put off by the thoughts of the military being involved, but there is probably no other organisation in the US which has the logistics capability of the military in terms of scaling up production and distribution.

"Operation Warp Speed’s central goal is to develop, produce, and distribute 300 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by January — and the military is intimately involved, according to Paul Mango, HHS’ deputy chief of staff for policy. It has already helped prop up more than two dozen vaccine manufacturing facilities — flying in equipment and raw materials from all over the world. "

"SiO2 Materials Science, an Auburn, Ala.-based company that is making vials for the effort, used its status as an Operation Warp Speed grantee to force a vendor to cut production time from 75 days to just seven."

mr zulu

What do posters think of this treatment
https://bgr.com/2020/09/26/coronavirus-cure-icam-protocol-florida/

MerlinSouthDub

mr zulu wrote: »

What do posters think of this treatment
https://bgr.com/2020/09/26/coronavirus-cure-icam-protocol-florida/

There have been countless stories about supposedly effective treatments. I only believe treatments that have been proven to work via a randomised placebo controlled trial.

Call me Al

User1998 wrote: »

Tell your GP your symptoms have worsened and have become more covid-like and you’ll get tested

You're to isolate for 14 days if you're tested due to being symptomatic. I can't see an employer being ok with that if it's a cold. Maybe a private test is the only option..

Call me Al

Call me Al wrote: »

You're to isolate for 14 days if you're tested due to being symptomatic. I can't see an employer being ok with that if it's a cold. Maybe a private test is the only option..

No - you isolate until you get a negative result and have had no symptoms for 48 hours

Hmmzis

NegativeCreep wrote: »

https://m.independent.ie/world-news/coronavirus/nasal-spray-could-give-96pc-protection-from-coronavirus-39567304.html

Might’ve already been posted but this would be great!

Here is the pre-print for it:

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.25.309914v1.full.pdf

The sample sizes are bit small and the point values are quite a bit all over the shop, but there is an effect and it's not small. A higher n would be needed to get to the bottom of the dose response curve, it looks like too much of the compound might not be all that great as the 2x100ug group seems to do the worst of the treatment groups (maybe just down to that one single ferret that seems to have done no better than the controls overall, day 7 looks like a relapse for that animal).

is_that_so

This may have been posted on the main thread but potentially exciting news for real mass testing!

Tests for Covid-19 that show on-the-spot results in 15 to 30 minutes are about to be rolled out across the world, potentially saving many thousands of lives and slowing the pandemic in both poor and rich countries.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/28/covid-19-tests-that-give-results-in-minutes-to-be-rolled-out-across-world

ACitizenErased

FDA aren't too keen on the UK's challenge trial approach, surprisingly
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/28/fda-vaccine-guidance-may-not-be-released-422648

funnydoggy

is_that_so wrote: »

This may have been posted on the main thread but potentially exciting news for real mass testing!



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/28/covid-19-tests-that-give-results-in-minutes-to-be-rolled-out-across-world

Would be great.


Imagine showing up for your workshift 30 minutes before you start for a test. Fantastic!

Diarmuid

Good bit on the BBC Science Hour Podcast this week about vaccines. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cszkx6

Interestingly I never knew that some vaccines stop the disease progressing in a person but that same person can still transmit the disease, while others stop the progression and the transmission

funnydoggy

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2798-3.epdf?sharing_token=uEUn7jqOpl9pPZd5hQH-ydRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PNa0tpUm38tEAOEu3ocLlP6tjVQGYR4DvBAUmCP3KKUBOfiH60azV6GvChsQTBRqzQ6nm4sz3nKdXUsZRVCOB34QAtDoLaJnFGDViTWMvQG0A4EEbyyCuc_-4P3_t7ayQ%3D

It is highly likely that the AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer vaccine candidates, which are along the furthest in the US and Europe, all show sufficient efficacy and will be licensed if sufficiently safe. However, it may also be that these vaccines will later on be replaced by vaccines that show similar efficacy but have reactogenicity profiles that are more tolerable. In addition, it is hard to predict how availability and production capacity will shape the global landscape of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. While likely not being licensed in the US and Europe, it is very likely that AdV5-based and inactivated vaccines produced in China, as well as different vaccine candidates produced in India and elsewhere will play a major role to satisfy the global demand for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Despite all the challenges discussed here, we are in the process of developing vaccines as countermeasure against COVID-19 at record speed and it is certainly possible that vaccines with safety and efficacy proven in Phase III trials might already enter the market in 2020.

Diarmuid

Diarmuid wrote: »

Good bit on the BBC Science Hour Podcast this week about vaccines. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cszkx6

Interestingly I never knew that some vaccines stop the disease progressing in a person but that same person can still transmit the disease, while others stop the progression and the transmission

Some vaccines can actually make you infectious for a short period, you should avoid contact with people with poor immune function after them.

PopePalpatine

Deleted User wrote: »

Some vaccines can actually make you infectious for a short period, you should avoid contact with people with poor immune function after them.

If that's the case for the Covid-19 vaccine, I wonder how many will have their post-vaccination seshes scuppered.

PopePalpatine

PopePalpatine wrote: »

If that's the case for the Covid-19 vaccine, I wonder how many will have their post-vaccination seshes scuppered.

Think it's only live vaccines that can do this and it's very rare. None of the covid candidates I know of are going that route.

ACitizenErased

Deleted User wrote: »

Think it's only live vaccines that can do this and it's very rare. None of the covid candidates I know of are going that route.

The Chinese one is inactivated as far as I know.

Pauliedragon

I have to go for a test and spoke to a few people who have been and they said they got no results and that the only people contacted are the positive tests. Surely this can't be true. I need proof of a negative test for work. Anybody heard of this?

Hmmzis

ACitizenErased wrote: »

The Chinese one is inactivated as far as I know.

Inactivated vaccines do not contain live virus, the ones with a live virus in them are called "live attenuated". One of the polio vaccines is like that and it can happen that the attenuated virus is shed enough to get to another person, it's not the norm though.

What happens with other vaccines that do not provide sterilizing protection is that the wild type infection can still cause some shedding to happen (like with the inactivated polio vaccine).

Gael23

Hmmzis wrote: »

Inactivated vaccines do not contain live virus, the ones with a live virus in them are called "live attenuated". One of the polio vaccines is like that and it can happen that the attenuated virus is shed enough to get to another person, it's not the norm though.

What happens with other vaccines that do not provide sterilizing protection is that the wild type infection can still cause some shedding to happen (like with the inactivated polio vaccine).

I have an autoimmune disease so I cannot take a live vaccine

Charles Babbage

is_that_so wrote: »

This may have been posted on the main thread but potentially exciting news for real mass testing!



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/28/covid-19-tests-that-give-results-in-minutes-to-be-rolled-out-across-world

Mass testing could bring this malady under control without a vaccine.



Meanwhile though, the Bill Gates foundation is ramping up vaccine production capability in advance. Fair play. I'll bet he pays more tax than Trump too.

https://twitter.com/i/events/1310894158094061568

is_that_so

A company claim research story linked to on the Sweden thread. Apparently good results in animals but a long way off human trials yet.


https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/nasal-spray-can-reduce-covid-19-growth-study-australian-biotech-company-ena-respiratory-1726280-2020-09-28

com1

Pauliedragon wrote: »

I have to go for a test and spoke to a few people who have been and they said they got no results and that the only people contacted are the positive tests. Surely this can't be true. I need proof of a negative test for work. Anybody heard of this?

They ring you if you’re positive and text you if they dont find the virus (I wont say negative)

Pauliedragon

com1 wrote: »

They ring you if you’re positive and text you if they dont find the virus (I wont say negative)

Cheers. I should explained myself better. What I meant was I'll need a hard copy for my boss before he lets me back (he's a dinosaur) he barely knows what a text is. HSE don't seem to have any system where you can print results.

Van.Bosch

Pauliedragon wrote: »

Cheers. I should explained myself better. What I meant was I'll need a hard copy for my boss before he lets me back (he's a dinosaur) he barely knows what a text is. HSE don't seem to have any system where you can print results.

Why does he need to see it, if it’s “no Covid detected” you just need to restrict movements for 14 days if you were a close contact or you’re good to go if you were symptomatic and have been 48 hours without symptoms.

Happydays2020

hmmm wrote: »

I've read that most people are at their most infectious 2 days before symptoms, and 3-5 days afterwards. Would you know where in that scale one of those quick tests would detect the presence of the virus?

And the same for any scenario beyond full lock down. It is a risk based approach which is further mitigated by enhanced hygiene standards and mask wearing.

dominatinMC

A bit dismayed by the news this evening and the reporting of Paul Reid's assessment that "Covid will be with us for a very long time - irrespective of a vaccine". He is insisting that behavioural changes across society will be needed for a long time (didn't quantify this) even with a vaccine. To which it begs the question, why the hell do we need a vaccine if things can't go back to normal? I know the vaccine isn't a "silver bullet" but my understanding was that it would suppress the virus to such an extent that things could, indeed, go back to normal. We get it, the virus will always be with us, but if it's not rampaging through society, I fail to see why we can't go back to normal.

Santy2015

dominatinMC wrote: »

A bit dismayed by the news this evening and the reporting of Paul Reid's assessment that "Covid will be with us for a very long time - irrespective of a vaccine". He is insisting that behavioural changes across society will be needed for a long time (didn't quantify this) even with a vaccine. To which it begs the question, why the hell do we need a vaccine if things can't go back to normal? I know the vaccine isn't a "silver bullet" but my understanding was that it would suppress the virus to such an extent that things could, indeed, go back to normal. We get it, the virus will always be with us, but if it's not rampaging through society, I fail to see why we can't go back to normal.

Their media training comes in there. Dampening expectations. They know all going well we’ll have 2/4 vaccines approved within the next 6 months and hopefully before that for emergency use.
Yeah certainly won’t be the silver bullet, it will become endemic like influenza but hopefully will burn itself out.