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

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

Where do Carer’s fall in the list? Not employed carers but family members that have had to take on the role?

My case - 40 something with no medical conditions caring for 83 yr old whose housebound with numerous medical conditions.

Water John wrote: »

Vaccine reduces virus transmission by between 75 and 90%:
Pfizer vaccine greatly reduces Covid transmission, Israeli studies find
Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine greatly reduces virus transmission, two Israeli studies have found, shedding light on one of the biggest questions of the global effort to quash the pandemic.

Reuters reports:

Data analysis in a study by the Israeli Health Ministry and Pfizer Inc found the Pfizer vaccine developed with Germany’s BioNTech reduces infection, including in asymptomatic cases, by 89.4% and in syptomatic cases by 93.7%.

Findings of the pre-published study, not yet peer-reviewed, but based on a national database that is one of the world’s most advanced, were first reported by the Israeli news site Ynet late on Thursday and were obtained by Reuters on Friday.

Pfizer declined to comment and the Israeli Health Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

A separate study by Israel’s Sheba Medical Center published on Friday in The Lancet medical journal found that among 7,214 hospital staff who received their first dose in January, there was an 85% reduction in symptomatic Covid-19 within 15 to 28 days with an overall reduction of infections, including asymptomatic cases detected by testing, of 75%.

More research is needed to draw a definitive conclusion, but the studies are among the first to suggest a vaccine may stop the spread of the novel coronavirus and not just prevent people getting ill.

Michal Linial, a professor of molecular biology and bioinformatics at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, said the findings were a big step towards answering one of the most important questions in combating the pandemic.

“Whether it is 75 or 90 percent reduction doesn’t matter - it is a big drop in transmission,” Linial said. “It means that not only is the individual vaccinated protected, the inoculation also provides protection to his or her surroundings.”

ACitizenErased wrote: »

That's fantastic

ACitizenErased wrote: »

"AstraZeneca has confirmed 100% protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death in their primary analysis of Phase III trials more than 22 days after the first dose. The trials were done in the UK, Brazil AND South Africa."
https://twitter.com/sailorrooscout/status/1362529400592474113?s=20

JTMan wrote: »

BioNTech/Pfizer Covid vaccine no longer needs ultra-cold storage. Shot can be kept at normal medical freezer temperatures of minus 15C to minus 25C for up to two weeks, compared with the previous required storage conditions of between minus 60C and minus 80C.

More from the FT here (paywall).

Pfizer wrote:

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today announced the submission of new data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) demonstrating the stability of their COVID-19 vaccine when stored at -25°C to-15°C (-13°F to 5°F), temperatures more commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers and refrigerators.

The data have been submitted to the FDA to support a proposed update to the U.S. Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) Prescribing Information, which would allow for vaccine vials to be stored at these temperatures for a total of two weeks as an alternative or complement to storage in an ultra-low temperature freezer.

The FDA submission includes stability data generated on batches manufactured over the past nine months of COVID-19 vaccine development, from the batches that supplied the earliest clinical trials through the commercial scale batches currently in production. These data also will be submitted to global regulatory agencies within the next few weeks.

“We have been continuously performing stability studies to support the production of the vaccine at commercial scale, with the goal of making the vaccine as accessible as possible for healthcare providers and people across the U.S. and around the world,” said Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer. “We appreciate our ongoing collaboration with the FDA and CDC as we work to ensure our vaccine can be shipped and stored under increasingly flexible conditions. If approved, this new storage option would offer pharmacies and vaccination centers greater flexibility in how they manage their vaccine supply.”

“Our top priority was to quickly develop a safe and effective vaccine and make it available to the most vulnerable people in the world in order to save lives. At the same time, we have continuously collected data that could enable storage at around -20°C. The data submitted may facilitate the handling of our vaccine in pharmacies and provide vaccination centers an even greater flexibility,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO and Co-founder of BioNTech. “We will continue to leverage our expertise to develop potential new formulations that could make our vaccine even easier to transport and use.”

Currently, the labels for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, including the EUA label in the U.S., state that the vaccine must be stored in an ultra-cold freezer at temperatures between -80ºC and -60ºC (-112ºF to ‑76ºF). It can remain stored at these temperatures for up to 6 months.

The vaccines are shipped in a specially-designed thermal container that can be used as temporary storage for a total of up to 30 days by refilling with dry ice every five days. Before mixing with a saline diluent, the vaccine may also be refrigerated for up to five days at standard refrigerator temperature, between 2⁰C and 8⁰C (36⁰F and 46⁰F). If approved, the option to store at -25°C to -15°C (-13°F to 5°F) for two weeks would be in addition to this five-day option to store at standard refrigerator temperature.

The vaccine is administered at room temperature by medical staff.As additional stability data are obtained, Pfizer and BioNTech anticipate the shelf life and/or expiration date could be extended, and alternate short-term temperature storage may be considered.

The vaccine, which is based on BioNTech proprietary mRNA technology, was developed by both BioNTech and Pfizer. BioNTech is the Marketing Authorization Holder in the European Union, and the holder of emergency use authorizations or equivalent in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and other countries in advance of a planned application for full marketing authorizations in these countries.

titan18 wrote: »

How much overseas aid comes from the richer countries to poorer? Considering tax take is through the floor in a lot of the richer countries cos of covid, strong argument that more of them will die if we can't get our economies going again to provide that aid.

32 EU countries, many of them smaller, have had more deaths than Zimbabwe (country in that article), so why should we not prioritise ourselves when it's having a larger effect here

lbj666 wrote: »

Can someone please show this to the Germans and the healthcare unions.

greendom wrote: »

Was at my GP practice yesterday - pretty big one in the area and they still hadn't received their covid vaccine. Sorry I'm late to this thread but is it true that Covid will only be delivered with standard vaccinations and this means every 2 weeks. It all seems a little laid back, especially when you compare it to the frenzied (and effective) approach in the UK

is_that_so wrote: »

As above and this week is a test run with very small number of GPs involved so many wouldn't have got any anyway.

Gael23 wrote: »

When they say it cuts transmission by that much does that mean an unvaccinated person is at less risk of catching it from someone who is vaccinated?

greendom wrote: »

This one was expecting a batch.

Are there plans to supercharge delivery when supply becomes more plentiful, or will they continue to use the established supply chain? Is there an infrastructure being put in place to allow for mass vaccinations?