Coronavirus Impact III

[Liam Hall]

But only 2700 trial participants got the half dose followed by full dose regimen that tested 90% effective. 8800 got two full doses that proved only 62% effective, so there's a question mark there. Of course, if it is proven way more effective on 75% of the dosage that would be an additional boon.

The boffins are doing a press conference right now. They are reassuringly academic and clearly uncomfortable in front of the cameras (that's how I like my boffins to be). Quick take; fast approval due to a rolling approval process (they've been tracking the data for months). This thing is safe for most of us.

The half-dose regimen has not been approved as it is still unproven. They say delaying the second vaccine increases efficacy to 80%.

First dose alone is 70% effective. But no one in the trials who contracted Covid actually got seriously ill which means they can role out the first dose and delay the second dose meaning they can vaccinate all the vulnerable patients by end of Feb.

Still need to social distance/wear masks etc as no evidence yet those measures can be relaxed.

BTW the editor of the Lancet said, 70-75% of the population will need to be vaccinated for herd immunity.

[lambert]

Very strange disease. I have a close relative, morbidly obese, severe asthma, other health issues, mid fifties, got it and very mild symptoms (more tired than usual, nothing else). It’s been a few months and was back to work once the quarantine ( 2 weeks or so) and multiple negative tests. So far so good, thank goodness. Crazy how random it is.

[Batutta]

Very strange disease. I have a close relative, morbidly obese, severe asthma, other health issues, mid fifties, got it and very mild symptoms (more tired than usual, nothing else). It’s been a few months and was back to work once the quarantine ( 2 weeks or so) and multiple negative tests. So far so good, thank goodness. Crazy how random it is.

My guess is that if he has severe asthma (as I do), he is on strong steroids which is one of the treatments for Covid-19, so it probably kept his disease under control long enough for his immune system to mount a proper defense.

[lambert]

I hadn’t thought of that Batutta, also blood type might be a slight factor also (O pos) but I don’t have any answers, just questions like most.

[Batutta]

Well it's a theory that I don't want to test out personally, but Idris Elba is an asthmatic on inhaled steroids and he also had a pretty mild Covid infection early in the pandemic. Inhaled steroids suppress the inflammatory response of the lungs, which in Covid causes fluid build up and scarring of lung tissue. In severe cases people just drown in their own lung fluids.

[Run&Gun]

They are fortunately making strides in treatments and care. My Mom’s friend’s son got to come home from the hospital just before Christmas after being there for many weeks being treated for COVID. His doctors told him if he had contracted it earlier back in the spring/summer he would have died.

[DLD]

Steroids are often used as the anti-inflammatory drugs for patients with the respiratory problems and Covid's main complication is body's own inflammatory reaction to the infection (rather than the infection itself). So, it's indeed a probable cause of quick healing.

[Jim Arthurs]

The small Colorado town I went to school (K-12) is ground zero for the first case of the Covid 19 UK Variant in the US. The nursing home (mentioned as the physical ground zero) housed at one time or another, my Great Grandmother, Grandmother, Aunt and my Father before their death.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/u...s-variant.html

The one thing that has given me some comfort all these fall months is the Simla School bus (Go Cubs!) passing my ranch property's security camera every morning at 7:20AM just like it has since the last time I rode it as a senior in 1983.

[DLD]

Dawn Wells, of the "Gilligan Island" fame, passed away from Covid at 82. She'd been in a nursing home/assisted living facility for several years.

[ahalpert]

The boffins are doing a press conference right now. They are reassuringly academic and clearly uncomfortable in front of the cameras (that's how I like my boffins to be). Quick take; fast approval due to a rolling approval process (they've been tracking the data for months). This thing is safe for most of us.

The half-dose regimen has not been approved as it is still unproven. They say delaying the second vaccine increases efficacy to 80%.

First dose alone is 70% effective. But no one in the trials who contracted Covid actually got seriously ill which means they can role out the first dose and delay the second dose meaning they can vaccinate all the vulnerable patients by end of Feb.

Still need to social distance/wear masks etc as no evidence yet those measures can be relaxed.

BTW the editor of the Lancet said, 70-75% of the population will need to be vaccinated for herd immunity.

I had to look up "boffins"

Screenshot_20201231-023045_Chrome.jpg

Your boffins say 75%. My boffins are saying possibly 85%+. Who really knows. And as you said about virus data being a moving target - if there really is a more contagious variant afoot, I would expect that to raise the threshold for herd immunity

Sounds like unequivocally good news about AstraZeneca re:delaying 2nd dose. It would be good if they do achieve parity with efficacy of pfizer/moderna because that would eliminate preference for one over the other on the part of patients (like me). I havent read any red flags raised over its safety, only over if the half-dose results were a red herring or not