Thread: COVID19 vaccine announcement is promising news

Originally Posted by tdc

It is vitally important now, I'm trying to actually help. You may want to get checked out for Stockholm Syndrome.

I'd get yourself checked out for paranoia!

While of course it is ridiculous to automatically assume every pharmaceutical company is operating purely for the benefit of Mankind, making the assumption - as you clearly have - that these "toxic evil faceless money-grabbing corporations" (or to most people "corporations") are there purely to make a fast buck and sod the collateral is both incorrect and significantly more harmful as far as I am concerned. The whole process of drug development is of course flawed, but it does tend to work (eventually!) even if the investment and material costs are enormous and there's no guarantee of success. If I invested money in such ventures (and I have) I would hope for some sort of dividend (not just literally) from the product my money as an investor has helped develop. It's called Capitalism, and when controlled by appropriate checks and balances, it's the best system we have, old chap, or at least the alternatives are too horrible to contemplate...

Originally Posted by Caroline

True - the vaccine isn't changing the genome...exactly...or potentially...

"...mRNA vaccines provide instructions for cells to start producing the “spike” protein of the new coronavirus, the protein that helps the virus get into cells. On its own, the spike protein isn’t (?) harmful. But it triggers the immune system to begin a defensive response. As Bill Gates, who has supported companies like Moderna and BioNTech through the Gates Foundation, has described it, “you essentially turn your body into its own manufacturing unit.”

In July the US Government bought up 100M doses with the option for 500M more (cost $2B for the 100M doses). EU has ordered similarly. So, it seems like the vaccine will be widely available.

One (of many) oddities is how Pfizer can claim a 90% efficacy of their vaccine candidate. They will have 2 months of data collected - 44,000 participants. I suppose we have only to believe what we are told as there is no benchmark.

Again, in the Nature News article I cited earlier:

Although the vaccine might not turn out to be quite so effective once the trial is complete and all the data have been analysed, its effectiveness is likely to stay well above 50%, says Eric Topol, a cardiologist and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California. This is the threshold that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says is required for a coronavirus vaccine to be approved for emergency use.

No one in the article is claiming that it will necessarily stay at 90% but it's simply good news from early trials. I mean, what alternative do we have? One of the scientist in the end of the article says quite well: “Right now, we need a vaccine that works,” says Krammer, even if it works for only a few months or doesn’t stop transmission. “That’s what we need in order to get half-way back to normal.”

What other choice do we have? It's especially a pressing problem in countries with many cases, like the US. In Estonia, schools are working, stores are open, and, as far as I know, even the entertainment section is open. Our biggest film festival just begun.... There has been lots of governmental work to control it and they've been rather successful. Similar regulations are probably a lot more difficult to create in big countries, who also tend to have a huge number of cases. Unless someone comes up with a super efficient medicine, vaccine seems to be by far the best way to control the virus. What is your alternative idea? The economy in countries with a severe pandemic would suffer even more if we just decided to wait.

Since it is ''Pfizer'' I wonder are there additional effects to the drug...

Originally Posted by annaw

Again, in the Nature News article I cited earlier:

Although the vaccine might not turn out to be quite so effective once the trial is complete and all the data have been analysed, its effectiveness is likely to stay well above 50%, says Eric Topol, a cardiologist and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California. This is the threshold that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says is required for a coronavirus vaccine to be approved for emergency use.

No one in the article is claiming that it will necessarily stay at 90% but it's simply good news from early trials. I mean, what alternative do we have? One of the scientist in the end of the article says quite well: “Right now, we need a vaccine that works,” says Krammer, even if it works for only a few months or doesn’t stop transmission. “That’s what we need in order to get half-way back to normal.”

What other choice do we have? It's especially a pressing problem in countries with many cases, like the US. In Estonia, schools are working, stores are open, and, as far as I know, even the entertainment section is open. Our biggest film festival just begun.... There has been lots of governmental work to control it and they've been rather successful. Similar regulations are probably a lot more difficult to create in big countries, who also tend to have a huge number of cases. Unless someone comes up with a super efficient medicine, vaccine seems to be by far the best way to control the virus. What is your alternative idea? The economy in countries with a severe pandemic would suffer even more if we just decided to wait.

Check out the historical journalism on the 1976 Swine Flu vaccine, which was rushed through. It did more damage than good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bOHYZhL0WQ&t=367s

People who want to take a vaccine, when it becomes available, should do so. I'm not sold on the idea of a vaccine.

I guess its possible that some of the jabs in the past were ''spiced'' with different diseases on purpose or accidentally but is there an agenda behind it its hard to tell...Conspiracies are a deepest rabbit hole of the ''interwebs'' on par with porn..

Originally Posted by Jacck

countries in Europe have also inept politicians and people are fatigued by the pandemic and reluctant to maintain the measures. Politics clearly does play a major role in containing the pandemic.
https://dangoodspeed.com/covid/total-cases-since-june

I tried to view that site but it is like a room full of cats on catnip. Things would not stop moving so I closed the tab.