COVID-19: Vaccine and testing procedures Megathread Part 3 - Read OP

SusanC10

JTMan wrote: »

The government have said, that based on projected supplies, that 82% of those aged 16+ will be able to get a vaccine by 30 June. Leo has said there might be "surprises" (CureVac etc) that might quicken that up. Also, 6% do not want a vaccine and 15% are unsure, so 82% might be close to the full scope of those interested. Hence, I would have thought that we could move to 12-15 year olds by 1 July at the latest, assuming the EMA have approved Pfizer-Biontech for 12-15 year olds by then which it seems they will have.

I would be very happy if my Husband, 2 kids and I were all vaccinated by the end of the Summer.

odyssey06

Strazdas wrote: »

I'm hearing that the much reported vaccine hesitancy in France and Germany is dropping rapidly - it seems that now the numbers are up around 10m in each country, people are realising it is probably very much in their interest to be vaccinated (it was much easier to be vaccine hesitant when very few people had had one).

Its probably too early to call it... the vaccine eager group are comjng fwd so its a question of will that continue or will they run out of eager sooner than say here.

eoinbn

JTMan wrote: »

The government have said, that based on projected supplies, that 82% of those aged 16+ will be able to get a vaccine by 30 June. Leo has said there might be "surprises" (CureVac etc) that might quicken that up. Also, 6% do not want a vaccine and 15% are unsure, so 82% might be close to the full scope of those interested. Hence, I would have thought that we could move to 12-15 year olds by 1 July at the latest, assuming the EMA have approved Pfizer-Biontech for 12-15 year olds by then which it seems they will have.

We might be due to get enough vaccines to vaccinate 82% by the end of June, but that doesn't mean we will have vaccinated 82% by the end of June. We had 1.1m doses 10 days ago but have just passed 1m vaccinations.
We have also got some very unwelcome curve balls in the last week. I can see us following other countries in limiting AZ to older age groups. This will slow our program, especially in June when we are due to be vaccinating the younger age groups. If J&J is also linked with these rare clots(very early to know if there is any link), then our June target would likely become an end of July target.

Strazdas

JTMan wrote: »

The government have said, that based on projected supplies, that 82% of those aged 16+ will be able to get a vaccine by 30 June. Leo has said there might be "surprises" (CureVac etc) that might quicken that up. Also, 6% do not want a vaccine and 15% are unsure, so 82% might be close to the full scope of those interested. Hence, I would have thought that we could move to 12-15 year olds by 1 July at the latest, assuming the EMA have approved Pfizer-Biontech for 12-15 year olds by then which it seems they will have.

As I mentioned in the comment on France and Germany, even that number may shrink. It's very easy to say in a poll you won't get a vaccine when relatively few people have had one, but once we start heading up towards 80% it becomes a whole new ball game.

Scuid Mhór

sd1999 wrote: »

I was talking to my GP last week and he initially said that they would be doing over-70s for now. I then mentioned that the HSE site said GPs would be doing Cohort 4 & 7 to which he replied that he couldn't officially commit to that as the contracts had not been confirmed at that point but that they would be towards the end of the week as it seems they have been. They just had to cover themselves by saying they had no info on Cohort 4 & 7 and were only doing over-70s until the contract was official in case something went wrong but he basically said 'yeah we'll be doing those cohorts'.

So it’s game on from Monday 19?

IRISHSPORTSGUY

Belgium receive 80k Moderna today
https://covid-vaccinatie.be/en/doses-delivered

About 35k for us?

smurfjed

From a country that has an electronic app. This is enough to grant access to malls, cinemas, large events and best of all, to avoid quarantine after foreign travel.

hmmm

France and Germany are going to offer mRNA second doses to some groups who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine:
https://www.ft.com/content/db295bb9-d1fe-47f8-bc0f-eb40dfaf545f

Interesting, I'm not sure there is much in the way of data on how effective or safe this approach is?

sd1999

Scuid Mhór wrote: »

So it’s game on from Monday 19?

Well they’re starting next week according to the RTE article. Cohort 7 are due to start on 3rd May according to the HSE site.

nibtrix

bodhrandude wrote: »

Same, and I'm registered with a GP, where I get regular monthly prescriptions for two inhalers. They told me the same story that they were just vaccinating over 70s. Was given this number 012408787 (Dublin Vaccination hotline) which didn't yield much results either.

“severe asthma (continuous or repeated use of systemic corticosteroids)” is cohort 7, so unless you have another condition that puts you in cohort 4 you may be waiting a while for them to get back to you.

ddarcy

hmmm wrote: »

France and Germany are going to offer mRNA second doses to some groups who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine:
https://www.ft.com/content/db295bb9-d1fe-47f8-bc0f-eb40dfaf545f

Interesting, I'm not sure there is much in the way of data on how effective or safe this approach is?

The UK has been running trials with this. They are still ongoing, but with the rolling review there may be enough evidence to do so. Also Astra is 69-76% effective after one dose (on par with Johnson and Johnson) and 76% after 2. So really no reason to get the second dose. Their BS 90% number which was shown to not be replicable in more rigorous clinical trials is the whole basis for two doses in Europe. Really the EMA has some explaining to do.

ddarcy

nibtrix wrote: »

“severe asthma (continuous or repeated use of systemic corticosteroids)” is cohort 7, so unless you have another condition that puts you in cohort 4 you may be waiting a while for them to get back to you.

It’s a bit of a lottery with GPs. Depending on how many patients they have in cohorts 1-6, they may be given enough doses to start cohorts 7+. Or else they go to waste.

Strazdas

ddarcy wrote: »

The UK has been running trials with this. They are still ongoing, but with the rolling review there may be enough evidence to do so. Also Astra is 69-76% effective after one dose (on par with Johnson and Johnson) and 76% after 2. So really no reason to get the second dose. Their BS 90% number which was shown to not be replicable in more rigorous clinical trials is the whole basis for two doses in Europe. Really the EMA has some explaining to do.

Is receiving a single dose AZ pretty much the same thing as the single dose J & J?

Godot.

The AZ deliveries for next week aren't going to make a big dent anyway. So we get 12,500 instead of 25,000 and we get the other 12,500 soon anyway? Nothing to get too annoyed over.
Pfizer are gonna be the big work horse, so I'm more interested in their figures.

ddarcy

Strazdas wrote: »

Is receiving a single dose AZ pretty much the same thing as the single dose J & J?

They are both the same types of vaccines. From the submissions I’ve read I’d say there is no need for a second dose (but that’s my personal opinion). Pfizer and moderna pulled off a blinder with the 90% efficacy so AstraZenica had to do some marketing to try and up the percent. Any vaccine with 60% up until the new mRNA vaccines came were considered gold standard. That is why Oxford/AstraZenica were so thrilled with the initial results.

trellheim

smurfjed wrote: »

From a country that has an electronic app. This is enough to grant access to malls, cinemas, large events and best of all, to avoid quarantine after foreign travel.

There's already Irish companies here that are offering and selling these as commercial apps to other countries. The tech is not an issue.

ddarcy

Godot. wrote: »

The AZ deliveries for next week aren't going to make a big dent anyway. So we get 12,500 instead of 25,000 and we get the other 12,500 soon anyway? Nothing to get too annoyed over.
Pfizer are gonna be the big work horse, so I'm more interested in their figures.

Pfizer is doing Bioequivalency tests from their Michigan plant right now. If successful, all US doses will come from there. They hope to be getting that going up to the levels the Belgian plant currently produces in a few weeks time. This means they will no longer need what is made in Belgium and that will free up for others to take. So there could be a massive ramp up with Pfizer by the end of the month (I’d go so far to say they will be able to outdeliver what Astra has promised in total in a very short timeframe).

Cluedo Monopoly

I am sure ye vaccine obsessed folks have seen this before but I thought I'd post it anyway.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/08/health/coronavirus-mrna-kariko.html

Kati Kariko Helped Shield the World From the Coronavirus.

Collaborating with devoted colleagues, Dr. Kariko laid the groundwork for the mRNA vaccines turning the tide of the pandemic.

SusanC10

ddarcy wrote: »

Pfizer is doing Bioequivalency tests from their Michigan plant right now. If successful, all US doses will come from there. They hope to be getting that going up to the levels the Belgian plant currently produces in a few weeks time. This means they will no longer need what is made in Belgium and that will free up for others to take. So there could be a massive ramp up with Pfizer by the end of the month (I’d go so far to say they will be able to outdeliver what Astra has promised in total in a very short timeframe).

That would be very good news.

Strazdas

ddarcy wrote: »

Pfizer is doing Bioequivalency tests from their Michigan plant right now. If successful, all US doses will come from there. They hope to be getting that going up to the levels the Belgian plant currently produces in a few weeks time. This means they will no longer need what is made in Belgium and that will free up for others to take. So there could be a massive ramp up with Pfizer by the end of the month (I’d go so far to say they will be able to outdeliver what Astra has promised in total in a very short timeframe).

The way that the entire US programme has accelerated has been phenomenal. They are vaccinating at twice the daily rate per capita as the UK and have already given 180m doses.

ddarcy

Strazdas wrote: »

The way that the entire US programme has accelerated has been phenomenal. They are vaccinating at twice the daily rate per capita as the UK and have already given 180m doses.

They’ve raised expectations from 1 billion to 2.5 billion. So that’s ~20% of the worlds population by the end of this year. This will mostly be first works countries, but with novovax looking to get approval for early next month and curevax we should be in a really good place by June.

hmmm

hmmm wrote: »

France and Germany are going to offer mRNA second doses to some groups who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine:
https://www.ft.com/content/db295bb9-d1fe-47f8-bc0f-eb40dfaf545f

Interesting, I'm not sure there is much in the way of data on how effective or safe this approach is?

It's fine. Again things are woolly, medicine isn't binary. At the end of the day the vaccines are produced to create an immune response. Once the response they cause is similar enough then it's fine.

bodhrandude

nibtrix wrote: »

“severe asthma (continuous or repeated use of systemic corticosteroids)” is cohort 7, so unless you have another condition that puts you in cohort 4 you may be waiting a while for them to get back to you.

I'm currently being tested for Alpha-1 which would put me in 'extreme risk' category, I'm just awaiting results for this.

eoinbn

ddarcy wrote: »

Pfizer is doing Bioequivalency tests from their Michigan plant right now. If successful, all US doses will come from there. They hope to be getting that going up to the levels the Belgian plant currently produces in a few weeks time. This means they will no longer need what is made in Belgium and that will free up for others to take. So there could be a massive ramp up with Pfizer by the end of the month (I’d go so far to say they will be able to outdeliver what Astra has promised in total in a very short timeframe).

The Puurs plant doesn't export to the US. There will be a big ramp up in the second half of April but that will come from the BioNtech plant in Marburg. Once fully operational the plant will be able to produce 2.7m doses per day.

Maxface

I take the winter jab through work, I have no issue with a vaccine. I want and will take whatever but I have a reluctance to take the AZ jab, if that makes me a anti vaccine person then so be it. It looks like from here that there is many more that are happy to take any jab, much more than AZ will ever provide, surely then there is more of that than can be provided. For others like myself, that are happy to get a vaccine but not AZ, surely there should be an alternative? Not anti vaccine but with concerns?

ddarcy

eoinbn wrote: »

The Puurs plant doesn't export to the US. There will be a big ramp up in the second half of April but that will come from the BioNtech plant in Marburg. Once fully operational the plant will be able to produce 2.7m doses per day.

The initial rollout came from Belgium to the US. Pfizer is starting production in another Michigan plant in the US. It’s to be up and running in a few weeks (or so my shareholder info says). The US was still importing from Belgium as well (smaller amounts), but with EU assistance is stopping that full stop going forward. The US gave them grants for additional site in the US. The other big thing from this is that since it has FDA approval, the excess doses can now be shipped from the YS elsewhere.

Astra won’t be used in the US, but they have a ton of it already produced (20 million so far),once approved other countries can get it. If it’s not approved it will have to be destroyed and the aftermath won’t be pretty.

ixoy

Maxface wrote: »

For others like myself, that are happy to get a vaccine but not AZ, surely there should be an alternative?

It's a little tricky though - we've got limited quantities of all vaccines. There's certainly not enough Pfizer, Moderna, J&J quantities to cover the difference if a lot of people rejected AZ. And yeah, sure I'd have preference myself (and is anyone's AZ ?) but ..

Let's say then you, and others, are prepared to wait longer for your ideal vaccine - how long? Weeks? A month? More? The longer the gap is, depending on the number of people, the higher risk you give not just to yourself but to others who aren't vaccinated or can't be. The goal's to get a critical threshold vaccinated, to achieve a herd immunity, as soon as we can. It's not just so we can open up - although obviously that's a big element and important for a variety of reasons - but to be able to do it with a degree of reassurance.
It may not happen but I'd hate to see all these timelines delayed and vaccines unused because of a small potential risk.

snowcat

snowcat wrote: »

We are 3 months in from giving vaccines. What is going to pop up 6 9 months down the line. Anyway good to see the large scale human trial has found the early blood clot issues.

The issue occurs within days. Anyone who has had the vaccine more than a week ago has nothing to worry about

Russman

cameramonkey wrote: »

what age is he?

Sorry, just seeing this now, he’s 76

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

The issue occurs within days. Anyone who has had the vaccine more than a week ago has nothing to worry about

It's presenting between 4 to 20 days after vaccination actually.