COVID-19 — Coronavirus

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domalino said:
I prefer to give more credit to the people who created the vaccine, Oxford and BioNTech over the pharma companies who will mass produce it.
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I think the scaleup promised by AstraZeneca here - 3bn doses within a year of approval - is truly groundbreaking.

And the speed the trials were mobilised at has been remarkable too.

Both sides deserve praise IMO.
 
inbetween said:
The problem with these sort of treatments is they often attempt to kill the virus but end up killing everything else too resulting in side effects. Another problem is unless you can guarantee killing every single viral particle (impossible) then it's pointless because the key to all viruses is they can replicate within a host.

In effect a viral infection is a bucket filling with water (viral load) but as the bucket fills the rate at which it fills increases (replication). The only limiter on stopping the bucket filling is the bodies immune system but immune systems have never seen this virus before and so infections occur very easily and they hit people hard.

The Pfizer vaccine modifies the RNA of cells to make cell entry/replication more difficult by giving instructions on the protein spike of the virus. Less replication equals less viral load and the immune system deals with the rest meaning upon encountering the virus people are infected but the virus doesn't make them sick or infectious. The same thing happens with HIV treatments which target replication (and prevent eventual AIDS later down the line).

COVID-19 isn't dangerous to the vast majority of people but attacking infectivity is key in order to stop the spread to vulnerable people. Most healthy people below 60 have no need for a vaccine but they will need a vaccine if only to protect everyone else around them.
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This is not how the Pfizer vaccine works.
It introduces mRNA into the cells, it does not modify RNA.
The RNA causes the cells to produce the spike protein which in turn is recognised as foreign thus inducing an immune response.
The form of immunity should be the same as other im vaccines.
 
This is worth 10/15 mins of your time. It explains how the vaccine has been arrived at so fast, but in fact they've been preparing for this "disease X" moment for a decade.

It's also eye-opening that the usual "years to deploy a vaccine" is down to bureaucracy, filling in forms and twiddling your thumbs.

www.bbc.com

Oxford vaccine: How did they make it so quickly?

Good fortune and scientific brilliance were behind the Covid-19 vaccine being developed so quickly.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
 
RobMCFC said:
This is worth 10/15 mins of your time. It explains how the vaccine has been arrived at so fast, but in fact they've been preparing for this "disease X" moment for a decade.

It's also eye-opening that the usual "years to deploy a vaccine" is down to bureaucracy, filling in forms and twiddling your thumbs.

www.bbc.com

Oxford vaccine: How did they make it so quickly?

Good fortune and scientific brilliance were behind the Covid-19 vaccine being developed so quickly.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
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Yes I read this article this morning. A very interesting read.
 
Strange that some seem to want to downplay the effectiveness of the vaccine developed here and that we have most access to.
 
artfuldodger said:
But it’s not ‘time’ as such that’s going to prove it. It’s other people going first. So those that’s say ‘I’m going to wait and see’ are really saying ‘I’ll let someone else take the risk’. And if we all say that, then what?
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It very much is the case that time will prove it. If in say a year, or five or ten, no bad side effects come to light, then we will know for certain. Hopefully it won't happen, but that fear is in some people's minds all the same. Especially those old enough to remember what happened with thalidomide, which was likewise trialed, approved and 'safe'. (Though I fully understand the different aspects of that drug, and also the testing advancements since)

I expect that most all though, despite such fears will comply with having the vaccine. Not least because of guilt tripping, but the very likely scenario of not being able to travel, go to gigs, theatres, sports events, even pubs and shops without it, will ensure that they do.
 
RobMCFC said:
This is worth 10/15 mins of your time. It explains how the vaccine has been arrived at so fast, but in fact they've been preparing for this "disease X" moment for a decade.

It's also eye-opening that the usual "years to deploy a vaccine" is down to bureaucracy, filling in forms and twiddling your thumbs.

www.bbc.com

Oxford vaccine: How did they make it so quickly?

Good fortune and scientific brilliance were behind the Covid-19 vaccine being developed so quickly.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
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A bloody good job too. The last thig you want to roll out is an in a vaccine that hasn't been properly tested.
 
I suspect people with co-morbidies will get the mRNA virus with the rest of us getting the Oxford vaccine. It makes sence.
 
MCFCTrick said:
It very much is the case that time will prove it. If in say a year, or five or ten, no bad side effects come to light, then we will know for certain. Hopefully it won't happen, but that fear is in some people's minds all the same. Especially those old enough to remember what happened with thalidomide, which was likewise trialed, approved and 'safe'. (Though I fully understand the different aspects of that drug, and also the testing advancements since)

I expect that most all though, despite such fears will comply with having the vaccine. Not least because of guilt tripping, but the very likely scenario of not being able to travel, go to gigs, theatres, sports events, even pubs and shops without it, will ensure that they do.
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I understand that fear and at nearly 58 I remember Thalidomide in children slightly older than me. But when you say ‘if no bad side effects come to light’ you mean in the people who HAVE taken it. Personally I’ll have the vaccine (I’m on a trial so may already have done). Ive children between the ages of 18 and 32 and I don’t want them to have to live like this for a moment longer than they need to. But I might feel differently if my circumstances were different.
 
England hospital deaths:

178 - DOWN from 190 last Monday.

Always a low point as it is Sunday data but a fall is a fall.

And just 19 from NW - lowest in many weeks versus 45 last Monday.
 
Del_Bosque said:
Strange that some seem to want to downplay the effectiveness of the vaccine developed here and that we have most access to.
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I don't think anyone's trying to do that.
If your referring to the efficacy of the vaccine then as I understand it most of the sample testing was done with full/full dose which gave 62% efficacy but a much smaller sample ( half/full dose) showed 90% efficacy. The weighted average was 70%.
So I'm assuming testing on a much larger sample size on a half/full dose basis will now be carried out. This will be important for the roll out so it will be important to see what the scientists say in tonight's press conference.
 
roubaixtuesday said:
Astrazeneca share price won't depend much on this. It's being done on a not for profit basis, at least in the short term.

3 billion doses planned for next year. :-)
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That’s one in the eye for the conspiracy theorist on my FB who thinks this virus is a complete hoax that has been engineered so a few big pharma companies and Bill Gates can make a fortune off the back of it.
 
Details of the 178 England hospital deaths

Ages 20 - 39 (1), 40 - 59 (6), 60 - 79 (72), 80 + (99)

Regions aside from the 19 NW (always under reported by NW from Sunday): 59 NE & Yorks, 44 Midlands
 
England / NW hospital deaths 3 wks ago v 2 wks v today

118/29 NW v 167 / 36 NW v 190 / 45 NW v 178 / 19 today

NW % week to week: 25 v 22 v 24 v 11% today - lowest percentage yet despite the Monday low reporting.
 
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