COVID-19 — Coronavirus

[Len Rum]

No surprise the Americans are putting obstacles in the way , it’s way cheaper and can be stored in a regular fridge , they won’t want a cheaper and easy to distribute competitor getting a free run .

I agree but IF the latest info posted that there were no over 55s in the small 90% efficacy sample is correct then this is cause for concern.
We have to wait and see.
I'm not surprised at push back from the Yanks but it appears they may have been given an excuse.

 

[give it to gordon]

Tier 3 very high for me :( ( kent )

Getting really fed up with this. But having read what tier 3 is less of a lockdown than now ! I dont understand what's going on. We are at the highest level yet more shops, pubs ( by serving food )etc can open into tier 3. Confused.

So are we above or below tier 3 in this lockdown ?

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

Lockdown taking its toll, both physically and mentally. If you think I'm a miserable bastard normally then you'd pathologically hate this version.

 

[Elbow beards]

It's amazing how this virus, that knows no bounds, is aware of the North South divide and only affects us great unwashed Northern grunts. And leaves those fine upstanding southern gentry alone.

 

[Manc in London]

Az just announced they are doing a further international trial on the 0.5 then 1 dose of theie vaccine

presumably sample size wasnt enough

I should hope so based on comments from some of those who have looked at the data.

Reading that stuff about the vaccine yesterday was deflating, to say the least.

 

[give it to gordon]

It's amazing how this virus, that knows no bounds, is aware of the North South divide and only affects us great unwashed Northern grunts. And leaves those fine upstanding southern gentry along.

Not forget us great unwashed in Kent ;)

I know the answer kent is full of knobheads

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

It’s been in a rolling review with mhra so i’d be suprised if it’s a total showstopper. Maybe some people will get the 60% effective dose in the mean time.

The US though you do get the feeling they want the more expensive one, the trial was stopped over there for a lot longer than it needed to be.

maybe theirs is just better? I don't know why, if the UK rushed to get Oxford out if approved over here, you'd go and have that when you could potentially wait for a more effective one from elsewhere, particularly when there doesn't appear to be any confirmation that if you wanted to take a more effective one later it would still work.

 

[Magicpole]

If you are struggling, you can call for free on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org.

A statement from Samaritans said: "There's no doubt that these uncertain and challenging times have affected the way we go about our daily lives.
"As social restrictions and uncertainty continues, it is essential that we look after our own mental health and others by continuing to check in on one another and sharing how we are feeling, whether it's with a friend, family member or a confidential helpline like Samaritans."

I worked for them a few years back, until one I day I phoned in sick and the cunts talked me out if it.

 

[Healdplace]

Greater Manchester highlights. 7 of the 10 boroughs under 100 today. A couple of boroughs up but most down.

Under 46% of the NW total - lowest in weeks - so pro rata GM did better today than the region as a whole.

Total in GM today 853 - third sub 1000 number in last 4 days.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Prof Sharrock (a couple of weeks ago) suggested the vaccine would be rolled out by the Summer.
I'm guessing here, but perhaps their hand was played to get some positivity out very quickly given the Moderna/pfizer results (and mRNA method)?
There's clearly tremendous pressure here so it's hard to judge at the moment.

Timeline:

1. There is a preset number of cases at which the study will be unblinded.

2. Only an independent committee can see the numbers - they make the call when the preset conditions is met. They'll meet on a regular basis, probably weekly, through the trial.

3. The study team analyse the dataset. This is "as fast as possible", normally a few days, maybe quicker here.

4. A public announcement must be made as fast as possible - normally within a day or two - its illegal for the company to sit on share price sensitive results.

There's no room in this to manipulate when the announcement is made, beyond a few hours or a day or two at most.

My guess on what happened:
Committee met Friday, weekly update from study. Sufficient cases had come in, so order given to unblind. Team worked all hours through the weekend to analyse dataset and agree conclusions. Presented to CEO Sunday evening. Press release first thing Monday.

All event driven significant trials are run in this kind of way.