COVID-19: Vaccine and testing procedures Megathread Part 2 [Mod Warning - Post #1]

Miike · 27-01-2021 3:34pm

Vital Transformation wrote: »

Sanofi producing the EU doses for Pfizer sounds promising.

After the fumble with their efforts I think this is honorable of both Sanofi and Pfizer/BNT. This is the kind of stuff I was hoping we would see much earlier. Produce under license and everyone has a chance to win.

CrabRevolution · 27-01-2021 3:35pm

dominatinMC wrote: »

Not a direct criticism at you, but this kind of narrative is being posted here on a much too frequent basis. It's fairly straightforward, vaccines are the end game, but in order to ensure a successful vaccine rollout (and hence endgame), tougher restrictions need to be imposed in the interim before herd immunity is reached. This also alleviates the threat of a new variant emerging which could undermine the vaccine. Thankfully, current variants don't do so, but they have served as a warning that one may do so. Having the virus circulating around in an unconstrained manner increases that risk. Temporary restrictions (until herd immunity) reduces that risk. Once herd immuity is reached, normaility resumes.
However I will caveat the above by saying that if other countries do not reach herd immunity, our borders should (and most likely will) remain policed/monitored. But I'd accept that if we could get back to living out lives in this country.

It seems to me that a lot of anti-lockdown proponents have now done a 180 degree flip. Where they previously totally downplayed the virus and called all the risks negligable when demanding we should open up and stop precautions, they're now playing up the prospect of the vaccines being useless and variants causing new outbreaks etc.

I take it they're aching for governments to just give up and let the virus spread freely, but the vaccines are a threat to the prospect of this.

Van.Bosch · 27-01-2021 3:46pm

Is it possible AZ signed and agreement with the Uk saying UK plants would supply the UK but also signed one with the EU saying they would supply EU with doses from EU and uK factories?

Cork2021 · 27-01-2021 3:54pm

Steering board meeting at 5.30 our time! This will be interesting

https://twitter.com/skyriakideseu/status/1354441524386422787?s=21

Micky 32 · 27-01-2021 3:58pm

Gael23 wrote: »

I suppose my worry is vaccinating everyone won’t prevent against new variants which is the reason for the closed border

I can understand the worry. They are still going on and on about it in the dail today. Taoiseach-“ people should stop going on holidays” “that needs to stop”

He said: "It is prolonged suppression of the virus - when we get numbers down we need to keep them down." Comments like that imply it would be permanent.

ACitizenErased · 27-01-2021 3:58pm

https://twitter.com/DarrenEuronews/status/1354443631650865162?s=20

stephenjmcd · 27-01-2021 4:02pm

Thread.

https://twitter.com/tconnellyRTE/status/1354441026228920327?s=19

Big point - EU appear to be saying our contract lists the UK factories to also be used for EU delivery so use them

https://twitter.com/tconnellyRTE/status/1354443245326114819?s=19

stephenjmcd · 27-01-2021 4:03pm

Talk about fishing for a story

https://twitter.com/JackHoJo/status/1354443207531233281?s=19

Cork2021 · 27-01-2021 4:04pm

stephenjmcd wrote: »

Talk about fishing for a story

https://twitter.com/JackHoJo/status/1354443207531233281?s=19

No doubt there will be bites!

Gael23 · 27-01-2021 4:08pm

stephenjmcd wrote: »

Thread.

https://twitter.com/tconnellyRTE/status/1354441026228920327?s=19

Big point - EU appear to be saying our contract lists the UK factories to also be used for EU delivery so use them

https://twitter.com/tconnellyRTE/status/1354443245326114819?s=19

AstraZeneca are liable to be bled dry in the courts over this. Now looks like they broke 2 contracts

is_that_so · 27-01-2021 4:09pm

stephenjmcd wrote: »

Talk about fishing for a story

https://twitter.com/JackHoJo/status/1354443207531233281?s=19

There is a mood about the IT in this to castigate what they can. There's an economic rant, a test and trace rant and then anything else they can that's "going wrong".

titan18 · 27-01-2021 4:10pm

Where's that Michael Jackson popcorn gif when you need it.

Charles Babbage · 27-01-2021 4:12pm

Miike wrote: »

After the fumble with their efforts I think this is honorable of both Sanofi and Pfizer/BNT. This is the kind of stuff I was hoping we would see much earlier. Produce under license and everyone has a chance to win.

And since Curevac will some on board either with their own product or a licence from Biontech then vaccine production will be greatly increased by summer. So it might take 6 months to vaccinate half the population, and only 2 months to do everyone else (if they can get the people to do it). This large volume of production can then roll out through the world to any place that can handle the vaccines.

Consequently, some of the predictions for the end of vaccination are unduly pessimistic, it will not be linear.

Sanofi and Pfizer have had better public relations than AstraZeneca.

lucernarian · 27-01-2021 4:14pm

stephenjmcd wrote: »

Talk about fishing for a story

https://twitter.com/JackHoJo/status/1354443207531233281?s=19

In fairness when I posted 2 weeks ago that there was the potential for shenanigans, my concerns were dismissed and told there was nothing wrong with the plan that wasn't really a plan.

Deeper Blue · 27-01-2021 4:18pm

I see a lot of people on Twitter and a few here saying "wait for the new strain" in response to the reduction in hospitalisations in Israel.

- How do they know the new strain(s) haven't been circulating in Israel?

- There's no evidence that any strains are vaccine resistant.

- It's been stated that the current vaccines work on the new strains.

cameramonkey · 27-01-2021 4:26pm

ACitizenErased wrote: »

https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1354434727550312451?s=20

Interesting clash coming up. The way the UK is and with their abysmal record on covid I would imagine they will break out the battleships(if they have any) and give it to Johnny foreigner. This is just up the Brits street, the plucky underdog standing up to the Frog and Boche.

is_that_so · 27-01-2021 4:32pm

lucernarian wrote: »

In fairness when I posted 2 weeks ago that there was the potential for shenanigans, my concerns were dismissed and told there was nothing wrong with the plan that wasn't really a plan.

Two weeks ago there was a primary focus on care homes. You could see that from the relatively static HCW total of in and around 70K.

lucernarian · 27-01-2021 4:36pm

is_that_so wrote: »

Two weeks ago there was a primary focus on care homes. You could see that from the relatively static HCW total of in and around 70K.

There was disproportionately more healthcare workers who got the jab than there were nursing home residents and staff at various points. "Primary focus" sounds a bit waffley tbh. Whatever was prioritised in the most important early phase of this liquid "plan" was done so with mistakes and oversights that the HSE rightly deserved criticism for.

lucernarian · 27-01-2021 4:39pm

cameramonkey wrote: »

Interesting clash coming up. The way the UK is and with their abysmal record on covid I would imagine they will break out the battleships(if they have any) and give it to Johnny foreigner. This is just up the Brits street, the plucky underdog standing up to the Frog and Boche.

Rather mixed record but not the worst - the highest genome sampling frequency of the world over 2020, earliest approved vaccine administered. But I don't think UK handling of measures to do with Covid-19 are the topic of discussion here, so I'll say no more.

is_that_so · 27-01-2021 4:42pm

lucernarian wrote: »

There was disproportionately more healthcare workers who got the jab than there were nursing home residents and staff at various points. "Primary focus" sounds a bit waffley tbh. Whatever was prioritised in the most important early phase of this liquid "plan" was done so with mistakes and oversights that the HSE rightly deserved criticism for.

I just pointed to HCWs totals and how they stayed at about the same level over a few weeks, yet vaccinations went on apace. That and both Reid and Donnelly saying they were planning to finish care homes by 24 January is a fairly good indicator what they were targeting.

lucernarian · 27-01-2021 4:49pm

is_that_so wrote: »

I just pointed to HCWs totals and how they stayed at about the same level over a few weeks, yet vaccinations went on apace. That and both Reid and Donnelly saying they were planning to finish care homes by 24 January is a fairly good indicator what they were targeting.

It seems likely that "HCWs" are counting "doses administered in hospitals" while "nursing homes" are doses administered in nursing homes - there are more frontline workers in a nursing home than there are patients in most cases. So a lot of FCWs are actually vaccinated through that different process now and during the period you mention. I don't think the split in numbers provided by the HSE is all that reliable

plodder · 27-01-2021 4:55pm

https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2021/0127/1193418-pfizer-doses/

Supply crunch for the low dead space syringes as they were considered a niche product. So, we could see the yield from the Pfizer vials going back to five again.

Maybe in fairness to them they should be paid per dose obtained, but without any guarantee that we get 6 from any particular one.

is_that_so · 27-01-2021 5:11pm

Madrid health authorities have suspended vaccination against Covid-19 this week and next as they are running out of doses. They have already vaccinated 180,000 people since the campaign started.

JDD · 27-01-2021 5:15pm

is_that_so wrote: »

Madrid health authorities have suspended vaccination against Covid-19 this week and next as they are running out of doses. They have already vaccinated 180,000 people since the campaign started.

Is there any issue with the vaccine working if there's a longer than three weeks space of time between the first dose and the second dose? Or do they have all second doses ringfenced so that they can keep to the three week schedule?

is_that_so · 27-01-2021 5:20pm

JDD wrote: »

Is there any issue with the vaccine working if there's a longer than three weeks space of time between the first dose and the second dose? Or do they have all second doses ringfenced so that they can keep to the three week schedule?

There seems to be some flexibility, the UK are going out to 12 weeks with AZ, but Spain are just following the manufacture guidelines. We are holding a buffer as well.

Gael23 · 27-01-2021 5:25pm

Is the EU meeting with AstraZeneca today?

Melanchthon · 27-01-2021 5:27pm

Gael23 wrote: »

Is the EU meeting with AstraZeneca today?

6.30 pm I think

27-01-2021 5:34pm

Will the UK supply even be enough to help at the moment? As far as I know they are producing about 1.5 to 2 million doses a week. The EU first quarter shortfall is around 70m doses.

is_that_so · 27-01-2021 6:02pm

Don't know if this has been posted but looks an interesting treatment.

On Monday an international team of researchers published the first verified scientific data on the effectiveness of a new treatment that could become the most potent antiviral drug against the coronavirus: plitidepsin

https://english.elpais.com/science_tech/2021-01-26/antiviral-drug-made-in-spain-is-100-times-more-potent-than-current-coronavirus-treatment.html

Here's the study

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/01/22/science.abf4058

lawred2 · 27-01-2021 6:08pm

is_that_so wrote: »

Don't know if this has been posted but looks an interesting treatment.

https://english.elpais.com/science_tech/2021-01-26/antiviral-drug-made-in-spain-is-100-times-more-potent-than-current-coronavirus-treatment.html

Here's the study

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/01/22/science.abf4058

Great stuff.. Fight it on all fronts