All About Vaccines

[PaulBullion]

I think the Captain is right about the signing of the ultimate supply contacts, the EU one was signed fractionally before the UK one.

But...equally...the UK Government/ Oxford university/ Astra Zeneca relationship BEFORE it got to that formal stage was far closer and more co-operative than the EU/ Astra Zeneca one. And the two contracts do have different wording, they are not identical.

I agree with you that Astra Zeneca do not have anything to gain by peeing off the EU...I find notion that they are not using their best endeavours to help a massive customer is a wee bit bizarre. I’ll be interested in ultimate resolution of court case, and if I had to place a bet, I think I’d be betting that AZ will be relatively unscathed.

Maybe it's good old fashioned corruption and Boris greased some palms.

Lord knows he needed a win.

[JackDaw]

Maybe it's good old fashioned corruption and Boris greased some palms.

Lord knows he needed a win.

It strikes me that would be an unusually useful thing for Boris to do...

It’s maybe too cynical of me, but my guess is he’s more likely to accept a bribe than give one.

[Tami]

Biden announces first plans for 80 million COVID-19 vaccine doses going overseas

President Joe Biden announced on Thursday the first details of the U.S. sending 80 million COVID-19 vaccines overseas to combat the ongoing global pandemic.

"Today, we’re providing more detail on how we will allocate the first 25 million of those vaccines to lay the ground for increased global coverage and to address real and potential surges, high burdens of disease, and the needs of the most vulnerable countries," Biden said in a statement.

"At least 75 percent of these doses—nearly 19 million—will be shared through COVAX, including approximately 6 million doses for Latin America and the Caribbean, approximately 7 million for South and Southeast Asia, and approximately 5 million for Africa, working in coordination with the African Union and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The remaining doses, just over 6 million, will be shared directly with countries experiencing surges, those in crisis, and other partners and neighbors, including Canada, Mexico, India, and the Republic of Korea," he said.

[babyblob]

I admit when I first heard about Dewine's plane to give away a million bucks to 5 people who have had their shots I was a little annoyed. I thought the tax payer money could be spent better else where and this was a waste.

Today I am eating my words. The vaccination rates have skyrocketed even more so among the young people. And the giving away a full ride to a state college is such a great thing to help some people who could not afford school on their own and help them get a good education and start into adulthood debt free.

[Tami]

A New Type Of COVID-19 Vaccine Could Debut Soon

The first protein subunit COVID-19 vaccine to become available will likely come from the biotech company, Novavax. In contrast to the three vaccines already authorized in the U.S., it contains the spike protein itself — no need to make it, it's already made — along with an adjuvant that enhances the immune system's response, to make the vaccine even more protective.

Protein subunit vaccines made this way have been around for a while. There are vaccines on the market for hepatitis B and pertussis based on this technology.

A large test of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine's effectiveness, conducted in tens of thousands of volunteers in the United States and Mexico, is about to wrap up. Dr. Gregory Glenn, president of research and development for Novavax, told an audience at a recent webinar hosted by the International Society for Vaccines that "we anticipate filing for authorization in the U.K., U.S. and Europe in the third quarter."

To make the virus protein, Novavax uses giant vats of cells grown in the lab. But there's another way to make the protein: Get plants in a greenhouse to do it.

That's the approach being used by the Canadian biotech firm Medicago.

The plants used are related to the tobacco plant, and have been modified to contain the genetic instructions to make the viral protein.

The plants do something very valuable — they make a lipid shell that surrounds a bunch of the viral proteins, with the proteins sticking out.

"The plant will assemble the protein in a shape and form that is looking like the virus," says Nathalie Landry, Medicago's executive vice president for scientific and medical affairs. "So, if you look at an image of it, it looks like a virus, but it cannot induce any disease. But when [it's] injected as a vaccine your body will raise a good immune response."

Early studies suggest Medicago's candidate vaccine does just that, and the company is confident enough in those findings that it's already begun a large study in people that could involve as many as 30,000 volunteers in 11 countries.

[CJStriker]

[Kieran_Frost]

It was two weeks ago today that I got my second shot (Pfizer). According to the CDC, that means I'm fully vaccinated, however, I plan to continue wearing masks in public, at least through the summer, for two reasons. One: an overabundance of caution since not everyone has been vaccinated; two: after over a year, I've gotten used to wearing masks in public, and I'm a sucker for routine.

I've had my first jab, and will still be wearing my mask even after the second dose when I'm anywhere with people (so shops, underground, even walking in the streets in London). Not just to be safe, but also I've not caught a cold since this all started. Washing hands everytime after coming back from the shops and wearing a mask is good for all kinds of things. And like you, I've gotten used to it. So why not be safe?

[Scott Taylor]

Its true. I have not been sick for well over a year. And I've especially loved the way stores are cleaning the surfaces around registers, on shopping carts. etc. Should have been doing that all along, if you ask me!

Not sure I will continue to wear a mask, but I can guarantee that I will have one with me.

[Tami]

The secret about masks is that they are most useful if people who are sick wear them around others. if you come down with a cold or something similar, then from now on wear a mask. That will keep others from getting sick. If they, in turn, do the same, there will be fewer people getting sick.

[Jim Kelly]

Living in a community where there are a lot of people with roots in China, I've seen many people wearing masks for a very long time. Before the pandemic, I thought that was more an affectation than a serious desire to avoid infections. But the pandemic has totally changed my mind. They were right, I was wrong.

However, someone has to make glasses that don't fog up or masks that don't cause glasses to fog up. In Vancouver's climate, my glasses fog up easily outside when I wear a mask. So I've taken to wearing my contact lenses when I go outside. But I don't like wearing contacts all the time--I get headaches.

Got my second shot of Astra-Zeneca today--almost exactly two months after the first shot. I wonder if I'll be sick tomorrow or if my anti-bodies are so tough now it will be a cake walk.

[Tami]

Living in a community where there are a lot of people with roots in China, I've seen many people wearing masks for a very long time. Before the pandemic, I thought that was more an affectation than a serious desire to avoid infections. But the pandemic has totally changed my mind. They were right, I was wrong.

However, someone has to make glasses that don't fog up or masks that don't cause glasses to fog up. In Vancouver's climate, my glasses fog up easily outside when I wear a mask. So I've taken to wearing my contact lenses when I go outside. But I don't like wearing contacts all the time--I get headaches.

Got my second shot of Astra-Zeneca today--almost exactly two months after the first shot. I wonder if I'll be sick tomorrow or if my anti-bodies are so tough now it will be a cake walk.

Either way, you are vaccinated and protected. Welcome to the club.

[mugiwara]

I've had my first jab, and will still be wearing my mask even after the second dose when I'm anywhere with people (so shops, underground, even walking in the streets in London). Not just to be safe, but also I've not caught a cold since this all started. Washing hands everytime after coming back from the shops and wearing a mask is good for all kinds of things. And like you, I've gotten used to it. So why not be safe?

Ha! I'm with you. I have pollen allergy and the other day, I spent one hour in nature with all that white pollen **** flying around. I kept my mask all the time.
Not. A. Single. Sneeze.

[Amadeus Arkham]

[Amadeus Arkham]

*deleted post*

[Kirby101]

Republicans have chosen a peculiar hill to die on.

But not surprising from a Party that is largely anti-science.