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

is_that_so

Frank Bullitt wrote: »

This.

Seems to me that there is maybe an unrealistic amount of focus put on the vaccine, whereas effective treatments, with the vaccine and masks would add up to a better combo for reducing cases and serious illness.

Not really, vaccines offer protection. This is to help those already sick. Yeah, they would but that still takes time and they need to go through trials as well. They have been looking at quite a lot of possible drug candidates to repurpose. By the end of the year we may well have a wide range of further options.

Gael23

New testing method in China https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/anal-swab-china-coronavirus/2021/01/27/cc284f56-6054-11eb-a177-7765f29a9524_story.html

hynesie08

Frank Bullitt wrote: »

This.

Seems to me that there is maybe an unrealistic amount of focus put on the vaccine, whereas effective treatments, with the vaccine and masks would add up to a better combo for reducing cases and serious illness.

Originally I remember the talk being of vaccines, inhalers and antihistamines, catching it at every possible stage, but maybe the results of the vaccine trials caused a change of plan.

lbj666

Gael23 wrote: »

New testing method in China https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/anal-swab-china-coronavirus/2021/01/27/cc284f56-6054-11eb-a177-7765f29a9524_story.html

I am gonna beat everyone else by saying, just when you think things couldnt get any worse:D

Roger_007

Gael23 wrote: »

New testing method in China https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/anal-swab-china-coronavirus/2021/01/27/cc284f56-6054-11eb-a177-7765f29a9524_story.html

Would a sample of used toilet paper suffice as a swab?

lbj666

Roger_007 wrote: »

Would a sample of used toilet paper suffice as a swab?

How do they know it's yours?

Just imagine driving through the Aviva bare arse out the window

Roger_007

lbj666 wrote: »

How do they know it's yours?

Just imagine driving through the Aviva bare arse out the window

It wouldn’t be the first time such a thing happened!

NeuralNetwork

Not sure if this was already mentioned back up the thread, but Sanofi is going to come on board with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine to boost capacity.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/europe/sanofi-vaccine-doses-intl/index.html

namloc1980

NeuralNetwork wrote: »

Not sure if this was already mentioned back up the thread, but Sanofi is going to come on board with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine to boost capacity.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/27/europe/sanofi-vaccine-doses-intl/index.html

Good news on the Pfizer front. AstraZenica are a joke at this stage.

YFlyer

Wonder if ones 2nd (booster) jab was a different vaccine to the 1st jab. Would it effect its efficacy significantly?

Water John

At this point the AZ CEO says the two UK factories supply the UK and the two in Belgium and Germany supply the EU. The EU say they believe that the majority of their supply was actually to come from the UK.
Whilst the UK plants had teething problems too early on, its the Belgium factory that's below par ATM.

titan18

Water John wrote: »

At this point the AZ CEO says the two UK factories supply the UK and the two in Belgium and Germany supply the EU. The EU say they believe that the majority of their supply was actually to come from the UK.
Whilst the UK plants had teething problems too early on, its the Belgium factory that's below par ATM.

Would be fine except they already sent vaccines from Belgium to the UK so we should get those back at the least.

Water John

Maybe a way to resolve it is to have all the vulnerable people in the EU and the UK vaccinated first, before general distribution to groups further down the list. That certainly would be the moral solution.

Cole

Delays aside, it seems that the Astrazeneca vaccine is the one that Group 3 - people aged 70 and older - will start getting via their GP in February.

Now I realise that the reported Astrazeneca efficacy is considered good enough, but with all the Astrazeneca issues (delays, confusing efficacy data etc.) and with others having higher efficacy, why wouldn't my elderly parents not just sit tight at home and wait for a few months until there are potentially other vaccines (e.g. Johnson & Johnson) in the system?

Frank Bullitt

https://twitter.com/newschambers/status/1354508353314107400

Heating up.

Gael23

Any news out of the AstraZeneca meeting?

odyssey06

Water John wrote: »

Maybe a way to resolve it is to have all the vulnerable people in the EU and the UK vaccinated first, before general distribution to groups further down the list. That certainly would be the moral solution.

Interesting proposal but not even clear if AZ vaccine will be approved for vulnerable by EMA...

Charles Babbage

odyssey06 wrote: »

Interesting proposal but not even clear if AZ vaccine will be approved for vulnerable by EMA...

Even they only approve it for younger people there are many health care workers, teachers etc who could benefit from it before April.

Water John

Don't think if EMA clearance for AZ is in doubt.

lucernarian

Charles Babbage wrote: »

Even they only approve it for younger people there are many health care workers, teachers etc who could benefit from it before April.

And the hundreds of thousands of that age with risk factors

dartboardio

has anyone used boots covid testing service? were the results back within 24 hours?

Professor Moriarty

dartboardio wrote: »

has anyone used boots covid testing service? were the results back within 24 hours?

Not personally but yes and yes.

Tyrone212

dartboardio wrote: »

has anyone used boots covid testing service? were the results back within 24 hours?

My friend used them. Pretty sure it was 24 hours. He said they don't test you if you have symptoms or think you have covid.

dartboardio

Tyrone212 wrote: »

My friend used them. Pretty sure it was 24 hours. He said they don't test you if you have symptoms or think you have covid.

Thanks! Yeah that's fine, it's just a test required for entering a country that needs a negative test to enter.

afatbollix

dartboardio wrote: »

Thanks! Yeah that's fine, it's just a test required for entering a country that needs a negative test to enter.

Careful now RTE will be at the airport demanding to know why you're leaving :rolleyes:

dartboardio

afatbollix wrote: »

Careful now RTE will be at the airport demanding to know why you're leaving :rolleyes:

I would do some laughing if they did :pac: money should be spent elsewhere

Tyrone212

dartboardio wrote: »

Thanks! Yeah that's fine, it's just a test required for entering a country that needs a negative test to enter.

Safe journey.

froog

Sputnik V has it's own website and social media accounts. just saying.

https://sputnikvaccine.com/

Micky 32

Maybe a hint of positivity from MM? Not sure if the comment was about restrictions in general or for travelling or both.

“He said the country would reopen in time, but that there would be a sustained containment of the virus and that it was important to get a critical mass of the population vaccinated.”

markodaly

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/vaccine-20-moderna-and-other-companies-plan-tweaks-would-protect-against-new

Decent article posted here some pages back.
This bit is key.

But other researchers say the plethora of recent changes is a warning sign that the coronavirus may have more surprises in store—and that the world needs to administer existing vaccines as fast as possible. “I think we need to stop the virus from replicating however we can,” Ho says. “Otherwise, it will keep accumulating more mutations.

Hence the rush to control the borders.

Confirms my suspicion that a booster type of vaccine will be inevitable next year.
I guess only then will we actually get back to normal, late on 2022.

This year appears to be a write off though.