SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Trials

[Snaggy]

Do you think it's important (or pointless) to donate blood/plasma right now? I have A/B- blood, so my vampire food is real handy to have around a hospital usually. I don't know if the need is greater or lesser right now.

Oh I’m AB+. We’re third rate donors but we are the easiest to find an organ for or transfuse. Being rh negative doesn’t matter for plasma. They can freeze plasma for a few years even.

I think there might be some demand for convalescent plasma unless the trials fizzle. The demand hasn’t really ramped up yet and as a patient, you do have to get into the Mayo Clinic trials to get the plasma. I don’t know what qualifiers/excluders exist. Plasma can always be used for something else though

I don’t know for sure, but I think that fewer people are getting red cell infusions at the moment, since a lot of potentially bloody surgery is being postponed, like hip replacement and bariatric stuff

 

[Dr_SLO]

The race for coronavirus vaccines: a graphical guide

Nature, one of the top tier scientific journals, has a nice article on the different types of SRAS-CoV-2 vaccines being developed; The race for coronavirus vaccines: a graphical guide.

 

[Dr_SLO]

There's been a lot of chatter about vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 in the last few weeks. Nothing has been particularly remarkable thus far as would be expected. However, there are decisions being made about what vaccines are to be fast tracked as part of Operation Warp Speed. In the latest episode of TWiV 634: 1000 hours of the sunlight of TWiV there is a good discussion about the state of current vaccines being considered. You can get straight into the discussion at time stamp 24:19. There's about 30 minutes of discussion.

One of the interesting links provided was to a useful document from the FDA, Development and Licensure of Vaccines to Prevent COVID-19, which is a guidance to assist sponsors in the clinical development and licensure of vaccines for the prevention of COVID-19. The FDA are not pulling any punches with their regulation surrounding any potential vaccines, somewhat refreshing in this era of rush to first past the post.

 

[Climber]

Good to see that they've backed off from political expediency over sound scientific practices.

Let's hope that profit doesn't win over sound statistical analysis over the next 6+ months.

 

[bojangle]

CNN: Operation Warp Speed leader says he expects coronavirus vaccine to be highly effective, 'in the 90%' range.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/health/operation-warp-speed-moncef-slaoui/index.html

 

[Climber]

Looks like Big Pharma is being consistent....sharing medical details with investors, not the medical or science community.

This has always been about profit, for them, as usual.

Vaccine-makers keep safety details quiet, alarming scientists

The morning after the world learned that a closely watched clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine had been halted last week over safety concerns, the company’s chief executive disclosed that a person given the vaccine had experienced serious neurological symptoms.

But the remarks were not public. Instead, the chief executive, Pascal Soriot of AstraZeneca, spoke at a closed meeting organized by J.P. Morgan, the investment bank.

AstraZeneca said Saturday that an outside panel had cleared its trial in Britain to begin again, but the company still has not given any details about the patient’s medical condition, nor has it released a transcript of Soriot’s remarks to investors, which were reported by the news outlet STAT and later confirmed by an analyst for J.P. Morgan.

 

[budman]

That sucks. :thumbdown

 

[rothmans]

Looks like Big Pharma is being consistent....sharing medical details with investors, not the medical or science community.

This has always been about profit, for them, as usual.
]

Agreed, but if we get that vaccine this can all be over. Then again the CDC guy said something like masks may work better than the vaccine:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/16/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-masks-health-experts/index.html

"I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine, because the immunogenicity may be 70%. And if I don't get an immune response, the vaccine is not going to protect me. This face mask will," Redfield told lawmakers during public testimony, adding that the American public has not yet embraced the use of masks to a level that could effectively control the outbreak.

I gotta say that is strange because I see everyone wearing masks everywhere.

It's just a mask.

It's just two weeks.

It's just non-essential businesses.

It's just to keep from overwhelming the hospitals.

It's just until cases go down more.

It's just to keep others from being scared.

It's just for a few more weeks.

It's just communion or singing. You can still meet.

It's just until we get a vaccine.

It's just a few side effects.

It's just a bracelet.

It's just to let people know you're safe to be around.

It's just for the coronavirus vaccine.

It's just an app.

It's just to let others know who you've been in contact with.

It's just a few more months.

It’s just a video.

It’s just an email account.

It's just for protecting others from hate speech.

It's just a few people.

It's just a credit card company.

You can use cash.

It's just a few places that don't take cash.

It's just a little chip.

It’s just for medical information & paying for things.

It’s just so you can travel.

It’s just so you can get your driver’s license.

It’s just so you can vote.

It's just a statue.

It's just a building.

It's just a song.

It’s just a piece of paper.

It's just a flag.

It's just a piece of cloth.

 

[Yakoo752]

Yeah but a lot of those things are incredibly minor intrusions.

sure you can argue slippery slope but some of that is just a function of technology

 

[Butch]

The Atlantic article:
"For all that scientists have done to tame the biological world, there are still things that lie outside the realm of human knowledge. The coronavirus was one such alarming reminder, when it emerged with murky origins in late 2019 and found naive, unwitting hosts in the human body. Even as science began to unravel many of the virus’s mysteries—how it spreads, how it tricks its way into cells, how it kills—a fundamental unknown about vaccines hung over the pandemic and our collective human fate: Vaccines can stop many, but not all, viruses. Could they stop this one?

The answer, we now know, is yes. A resounding yes. Pfizer and Moderna have..."

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/11/vaccines-end-covid-19-pandemic-sight/617141/

 

[Yakoo752]

Barfer Madji (he no longer posts) is contributing to the AZ1222 study. They effectively attach a spike protein to chimpanzee adenovirus and inject it into you.

His current side effects:
Slight headache
Slight fever
Increased desire to consume bananas
Easily frustrated
Throws feces
Developed a prehensile tail

 

[mosquito]

I think he already had that tail.

He just got better with it.

 

[ctwo]

They effectively attach a spike protein to chimpanzee adenovirus and inject it into you.

Amazing. A chimpanzee virus to combat a bat virus.

 

[tuxumino]

Barfer Madji (he no longer posts) is contributing to the AZ1222 study. They effectively attach a spike protein to chimpanzee adenovirus and inject it into you.

His current side effects:
Slight headache
Slight fever
Increased desire to consume bananas
Easily frustrated
Throws feces
Developed a prehensile tail

but did he turn into a Saiyan?

 

[Climber]

After Pfizer changed their number from 90 to 95 in just a few days.

Now, AstraZeneca says they have results, though two news sources have very different percentages...

3rd major COVID-19 vaccine shown to be effective and cheaper

LONDON (AP) — Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said Monday that late-stage trials showed its coronavirus vaccine was up to 90% effective, giving public health officials hope they may soon have access to a vaccine that is cheaper and easier to distribute than some of its rivals.

The results are based on interim analysis of trials in the U.K. and Brazil of a vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca. No hospitalizations or severe cases of COVID-19 were reported in those receiving the vaccine.

AstraZeneca's Oxford coronavirus vaccine is 70% effective on average, data shows, with no safety concerns

(CNN)Drugmaker AstraZeneca announced on Monday that its experimental coronavirus vaccine has shown an average efficacy of 70% in large-scale trials -- the latest of several vaccine trials worldwide to post their results this month.

The vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, showed 90% efficacy in one dosing regimen -- when the vaccine was given as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least a month later -- and 62% efficacy in a second regimen -- when two full doses were given at least a month apart.
That averages to a 70% efficacy, AstraZeneca said.

Personally, I think the lure of $$$$$$$$$$$ is getting these companies to 'massage' the numbers for their own benefit.

 

[byke]

Supposedly AZ would be selling at cost, which of course includes their time and many businesses would be happy to operate with no "profit" right now, so who knows. Anyway, can be stored at regular fridge temps and is cheap, so that's pretty cool.

 

[Climber]

True. For many 3rd world countries the temp requirements for AZ vaccine will be significant in keeping viable.