There are now nine COVID 19 vaccines in use worldwide.
You have probably heard that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine recently got good peer-reviewed ratings.
Stay tuned for a brief discussions of the vaccines already out there, and a couple which are likely to be approved in the future.
Here is a quick guide, Quick guide: COVID-19 vaccines in use and how they work | Fox News to the vaccines and how they work:
"...The vaccine developed by Pfizer and German biotechnology company BioNTech is 95% effective at preventing COVID-19, a large study found."
"...The vaccine developed by U.S. biotech company Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) also uses mRNA as its base and is estimated to be 94.5% effective at preventing COVID-19."
"...The vaccine developed by Oxford University and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is estimated to be about 70% effective at preventing COVID-19 — that said, in clinical trials, adjusting the dose seemed to boost this efficacy. "
"...Sinopharm, the state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group, and the Beijing Institute of Biological Products developed a vaccine from an inactivated coronavirus, meaning a modified version of SARS-CoV-2 that cannot replicate."
"...The Chinese company Sinovac Biotech developed a vaccine from an inactivated version of SARS-CoV-2. The vaccine, called CoronaVac, is given in two doses 14 days apart, Live Science previously reported. China authorized the vaccine for emergency use in July."
"...The Indian company Bharat Biotech, along with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology developed a vaccine from an inactivated coronavirus, called Covaxin, the Times reported."
"...The Russia Ministry of Health's Gamaleya Research Institute developed a coronavirus vaccine candidate called Sputnik V, in reference to the world's first artificial satellite"
"...CanSino Biologics, in collaboration with the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, developed a COVID-19 vaccine using a weakened adenovirus...Late-stage clinical trials with the vaccine are still ongoing, and its efficacy is not yet known. The shot is given in a single dose."
From a WaPo article on the Sputnik V, which ".... was 92 percent effective at preventing symptomatic illness in a large clinical trial, robust protection that puts it in line with top vaccines developed in the United States and Europe, according to results published in a peer-reviewed journal Tuesday. The Russian vaccine effort has been criticized for being too rushed, elevating nationalistic competition over scientific evidence. The publication in the Lancet, a British medical journal, marks the first large-scale, peer-reviewed results to be published showing the performance of Sputnik V — despite the fact that the vaccine has been in broad use in Russia and is being rolled out to other countries. Outside experts said the data convincingly shows the vaccine works"
In addition to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines available in the United States, the AstraZenica one developed by Oxford University will soon be available. Additionally, the Johnson and Johnson one, which is one dose, is also due for approval.
There has been concern that the vaccines are not reaching the most vulnerable populations in the US, such as non-English speakers working in food industries. From this article, at least one meatpacker is offering a bonus: "JBS USA and Pilgrim’s Corp., for example, is offering a $100 bonus to its U.S. workers who receive the vaccine. The company has also been encouraging workers through flyers and other methods in their first languages. The messages stress protecting themselves and their families, and helping the community by preventing the spread of the coronavirus. “We are currently focused on achieving the highest voluntary participation rate possible and preventing barriers to getting the vaccine,” said JBS spokeswoman Nikki Richardson."
And something to look for in the future, an oral vaccine being developed by San Fransisco pharmeceutical, Vaxart. This would be given as a pill, which would be a godsend in areas which can't supply the refrigeration required by some of the available vaccines.
Just an aside, the article summarizing the nine vaccines in use was from Fox News. It appears to be accurately sourced, and not junk science. Fox is capable of producing useful information (maybe this will reach some of its vaccine and science-skeptical readership). So why does it pander to the lowest common denominator for sketchy political news?
This is all great news.
ReplyDeleteIt seems the problem now is downstream from vaccine development and manufacturing. Here is Jim Geraghty in National Review - in brief, Geraghty estimates we'd only get the higher-risk patients in the US vaccinated by May, and that assumes the stars align perfectly:
"Roughly 52 million Americans are above age 65, and about 202 million are between 18 and 65. One report estimates that 45 percent of American adults have some comorbidity that puts them at higher risk of serious complications from COVID-19. That would mean about 91 million non-senior Americans should be fairly high on the priority list before healthy adults. When you add up the seniors and those who have comorbidities, that’s nearly half the country, or almost 143 million Americans.
"The United States has administered 32.8 million doses so far — and remember that the vaccines being used right now require two doses. Almost 2 percent of Americans have received both doses so far, according to the Bloomberg chart; a bit above 8 percent of Americans have received one dose.
"Six million Americans are vaccinated; another 24 million need their second dose. That leaves 113 million Americans who are elderly or in another higher-risk category who need to get vaccinated, and who haven’t received any shot.
"Nationally, we’re administering about 1.3 million doses per day. If we maintain this pace, we will have at least one shot in those 113 million Americans in another 86 days (April 29) — and that assumes the pace is maintained on weekends and holidays. (The good news is that the pace on weekends is now only a slight dip from the weekday pace.)
"The national pace could increase; we hit 1.7 million vaccinations on January 28, and 1.6 million the following two days. If we could maintain a 1.7 million-per-day pace, the 113 million higher-risk Americans would all have at least one shot by April 10.
"But that figure doesn’t include getting the second shot into the 24 million who have gotten one shot. And for those who will need one of the two-shot regimens, they may get their second shot a few weeks later — which is why the vaccination of the highest-risk Americans would really be complete closer to the end of May."
https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/hard-truths-about-the-covid-vaccine-timetable/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MJ_20210203&utm_term=Jolt-Smart
Further complicating this is many elderly candidates are not particularly tech-savvy. In Cook County, IL, where I live, a person who qualifies under the current "phase" of vaccination has to first sign up on a county health department website to receive an eligibility number. Then s/he has to get herself/himself scheduled at one of the sites offering the vaccine. Finally, s/he has to do another round of scheduling to get the second shot a few weeks later.
All of this signing up and scheduling only can be done online. This is beyond the capability of my parents, who are in their 80s and don't find the Internet intuitive (even when sites and forms are well-designed, and sometimes they aren't). My siblings and I are trying to help them. But at present, the demand far outstrips the supply of time slots for vaccines. It's shaping up to be a slow slog to get to herd immunity.
I know it seems like a slow slog, but considering we started out on ground zero about a year ago, we've come a long ways.
DeleteI know what you mean about the elderly. My dad has said he doesn't want the vaccine. I think he is worried about possible side effects, since he has had some scary anaphylactic episodes in the past. But those were from food allergies, rather than drugs. Since he is homebound, and only sees family members, if they get vaccinated, it should protect him. But they won't be able too fore a while yet.
Argh, spelling should be "to for".
DeletePeople aged 65-75 are now eligible in PA and that's me. But the doses aren't available. Perhaps Biden's plan to ship doses directly to 6500 pharmacies may help.
ReplyDeleteSystemic racism is already obvious in that white people are significantly ahead of blacks and Latinos in vaccines administered. They are the people who are more frequently infected since their jobs more frequently require physical presence.
I don't get the idea that minorities are being turned away or discriminated against on purpose for the vaccines. Some of them may not trust the government, or the medical community, with good cause in some instances. There may also be a language barrier with people who are not fluent English speakers. I am interested to see how it turns out with the meatpacking employees in the article cited above where the company is offering a financial incentive and putting out materials in the first languages of the employees.
DeleteI have read that about 95% of people in the US now have cell phones. It seems like they could utilize that to make it easy to get people signed up for vaccinations, and to put out information about times and places for availability.
Katherine, I agree that it's more de facto than intentional.
DeleteKatherine, I am with you. I don't claim there is no such thing as systemic racism, but I don't think there is a generally-accepted definition of the term, and disparity of outcomes does not mean there are racist intentions.
DeleteI do think that the disparity in vaccination rates needs to be examined to understand the cause(s). Then appropriate measures can be taken.
Systemic racism plays a role in this African Americans, Latinos and many immigrants are more often poor, and often less educated than whites. It’s caused a challenge with schooling right now. Poor kids often live in homes without computers or subscriptions to internet. The parents often don’t speak English even if they have some basic computer literacy, which many do not. They face many of the same challenges in registering for the vaccine that elderly do, but with less support from family. The health officials are most likely not deliberately making it harder for them, but the system is a challenge to many minorities. This is a form of systemic racism.
DeleteAnne, I'm sure you're right about those factors. I also think it's likely that minority communities have less medical care available (fewer hospitals, clinics and pharmacies) so possibly it is harder to get to the places giving the vaccinations.
DeleteIf the disparity is not deliberate, I don't know how it can be deemed racist. How can racism exist without intent? I think it's more likely that these disparities exist *despite* the intentions of public health and government authorities. In fact, we know that these authorities have made efforts to ensure that these disparities don't come about (and those efforts may still bear fruit; it's still early in the vaccination game).
Here is a more blatant example of systemic racism. Link to story at end.
DeleteJim, you have mentioned that your own suburban community is almost all white. Does that raise any questions in your mind about hidden racism in your local real estate industry? My community has many minorities but most are Asian, Indian subcontinent and middle eastern. Not many African Americans and I do wonder a bit about that these days. The DC.area has a large population of educated African American professionals but my community doesn’t reflect this, proportionately.
https://projects.newsday.com/long-island/real-estate-agents-investigation/
That is one possible area of outreach for churches aand charities, to help people who need assistance navigating the sign up for the vaccine, either because they don't have access to wifi or it's too confusing.
DeleteJim, I wrote a long explanation but the system ate it. All I have time to say now is that systemic racism is very real and impacts the lives of minorities, especially African Americans, in ways both direct and indirect.
DeleteAnne - that Newsday investigative piece is mind-blowing - and depressing.
DeleteIf you had asked me five years ago whether real estate agents steer clients in my community, I would have pooh-pooh'd it. Now, after four years of Trump and his base, I don't know what to think anymore of my fellow Americans.
I've only bought a house once, some 30 or so years ago. Now you've got me wondering whether I was steered in some way. I don't know if we were typical buyers, but we came to the realtor already knowing what town we wanted to live in. So we sort of limited her flexibility to steer us around the suburbs. Our town doesn't really have minority neighborhoods; the only segregation is by income level and housing stock (apartments vs. single family homes; traditional-scale homes vs. McMansions; etc.).
I didn't make it all the way through the Newsday article. I expect the real estate agents individually are motivated mostly by the desire to get a sale - and obviously will bend or break the fair-housing laws to make that happen. If that was all there was to it, I might argue that, as bad as it is, it doesn't really constitute systemic racism; to my way of thinking, that word "systemic" signifies that there is intentional design baked into it.
But ... I read far enough to see that the real estate training also was investigated, and found to be inadequate. So now we have a confluence of (a) individual agents who don't observe fair housing requirements and (b) a training system which apparently doesn't provide the necessary training about fair housing requirements. To my way of thinking, the addition of the training layer gets us a lot closer to what I'd think of as systemic racism.
If there is evidence that real estate company managers are encouraging or rewarding the agents to violate fair housing requirements - that would be the really damning finding. ("That buyer is Puerto Rican, show her listings of this town or neighbrohood".) At that point, I would wholeheartedly agree that the situation on Long Island constitutes systemic racism.
Hi Anne - I do think there is such a thing as systemic racism, but I'm skeptical that it's as widespread as some other folks apparently do. I've blogged here in the past about one example which strikes me as truly systemic: the shooting of Black teen Laquan McDonald by a white cop in Chicago in 2014. In that incident:
Delete* The white cop shot the black kid some 16 times, emptying his gun into the kid's body as he lay in the street
* The other cops present at the incident tailored their incident reports to whitewash their fellow cop who shot the kid
* The Chicago Police Department's leadership remained determinedly incurious despite this incident which cried out for a transparent investigation
* Mayor Emanuel's administration suppressed existence of a damning videotape of the shooting until after a mayoral election, in which Emanuel was re-elected; it's not at all clear that he would have been re-elected had the tape been made public prior to the election.
Does all that add up to "systemic racism"? I've argued in the past that it does; the incident combined cruelty, collaboration, negligence and corruption. Perhaps, at the very, very least, we can describe it as a pervasive problem and a dysfunctional police / political culture. Maybe I'm just setting the bar too high, and we should just call it systemic racism. When it's one person, it's not systemic. When it's a lot of people and a dysfunctional culture, that's different - it becomes what Catholic social teaching describes as a structure of sin.
The problem is not simply the supply of vaccine. But any standard we are doing very well at producing many different vaccines in record time.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that we let the virus get out of control because of our unwillingness to slow down the economy. That means that we have a lot of mutations out there. The more the virus multiplies the more mutations there are. The more mutations the better the chances the virus has of developing strains resistance to our present vaccines.
The number of new cases of the virus have steadily declined in the past 24 days. My straight line projections based on the first 14 days, which have continued to hold up now for 24days, says that we will get down to 65,000 cases per day (what were doing last July 20th) by March 4th, and then down to 29,000 cases per day ( what we were doing last May 20th) on April 18th.
If this rate of decline holds up we will be down to 10,000 new cases a day by May 17th. At that point we could begin to do contact tracing to eliminate the virus. If we don’t however, it will take until August 16th to get down under 1000 cases a day and until November 15th to get to under 100 cases a day.
There are three problems with this projection. The first is that as the new cases go down, governors are going to relax measures. Already after two weeks of decline, Governor DeWine is relaxing rules on bars and restaurants letting them stay open. That will slow down the rate of decline.
The second is the problem of variants. As more pressure is put on the virus by the vaccine, variants resistant to the vaccine will be the one’s likely to survive and multiply further slowing down getting rid of the virus.
The third problem is a false security after getting the vaccine. While the probably of getting Covid may only be 5%, it is still a high probably if thousands, or even of hundreds of people in your area have the virus.
We also know the virus is highly transmittable before one gets symptoms, so it may be able to transmitted by people who have taken the vaccine, i.e. in the period before one’s immune response take place and before one begins to feel sick. So we will have to wear masks, practice social distancing, and maintain our bubbles for quite some time after we have been given the virus.
Back on July 25 at the summer peak of 65,000 cases a day we begin a decline at a constant rate that reached a low of 31000 new cases a day on September 11th. If we had been able to keep up that rate of decline we would have been down 15000 new cases per day on Election day, and have been In sight of being able to do contract tracing and isolation to whip the virus without the vaccine!
As long as the virus is around those of us who are vulnerable cannot really resume normal life without masks, social distancing, and maintaining bubbles. I suspect that may not happen until summer 2022.
One encouraging thing I have read about people who have been vaccinated, but get COVID anyway. Their cases tend to be mild, and there have been few if any deaths. So they do get some protection, even if it isn't complete.
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ReplyDeleteSt. Blaise's feast today. "Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness." A good prayer for help against COVID. Our priest did it as a general blessing this evening at Mass. This year it was easier on the priest and deacons. Normally they would have done individual blessings on the feast day and at all the weekend Masses. Father preached on St. Ansgar, though, since it's his feast day also.
ReplyDeleteInteresting story in the WaPo about Pfizer wangling approval to sell six doses of vax per vial vs. the usual five + overfill. This increased their sales by 20 percent and provided 20 percent more vax.
ReplyDeleteWin-win, except that to suck up every last drop of vax, vaccine distribution centers need a certain type of syringe, which seems to be in short supply.
Search for "Pfizer spent months working to extract sixth dose from vials as vaccine production shortfalls loomed" as link will take you to a paywall.
Meantime, as mutated COVID variants that are more contagious and lethal, why in God's name do we still have a shortage of N95, KF94, and KN95 masks? Even hospitals are still short of this stuff, and civilians like us are double masking by putting inserts of questionable value made in China into the pockets of our cloth masks.
FWIW, this is also the feast day of St. Werburh of Chester, abbess and administrator, may God preserve her holy memory. Her most colorful miracle was resurrecting a goose that her steward had surreptitiously killed and eaten after she had cut a deal with its flock not to feed off the wheat in her fields.
In its late medieval incarnations, the story is quite comic. But my guess is that, early on, the story might have been more emblematic of St. Werburh's spreading the Holy Spirit far and wide. In Anglo-Saxon and Irish iconography, the Holy Spirit is not a dove but a goose. Sts. Hilda and Brigid are often shown with geese.
Jean, that is really interesting about St. Werburh - didn't know about her before. The universal Roman calendar has St. Blaise and St. Ansgar today. I alternate from year to year; this year it's St. Ansgar for me.
DeleteAnsgar away.
DeleteSt. Werburh was one of those "saints by popular acclaim" from the early Middle Ages and the subject of my master's thesis. So I have a soft spot for her and the Roman Catholic congregation in Chester, with whom I have corresponded.
During the Dissolution, St. Werburh's remains were likely secretly buried somewhere on the grounds of the cathedral so they could not be desecrated. Many of her relics were destroyed, including a girdle that had been used by women having difficult pregnancies.
Part of her original tomb was restored to the cathedral, and images of her have been tucked into various parts of the Cathedral.
The monastery she founded in Chester did not have a good reputation during the run up to the Reformation due to corrupt administration by the later abbots. People in the time of Henry 7th were constantly complaining about the monastery seizing their property claiming it was part of the original monastic charter, claiming that they owed the monastery rent on their own homes, and sending thug monks around to break legs and extort money.
St. Werburh would have been appalled, and it is good to know that the people of Chester have not forgotten her even as the bad abbots of yore have faded into ignominy.
Certainly more than you asked for or likely want to know.
Interesting about St. Werbuhr. I had not heard of her.
DeleteToday is also my mother’s birthday. St. Blaise day.
ReplyDeleteWe changed our mailing address to Los Angeles at the end of November, so are considered current residents of the city. Little did we realize that this would also qualify us for the vaccine here, given to 65 and older. We both got dose 1 almost two weeks ago. They stamped the vaccine card on the back with the date for dose 2 and said they would send a text/email reminder five days in advance. We are to go to the same location - which was a park. We waited in a line for more than an hour. But in California a it’s not a problem. Good weather, We count ourselves fortunate to have already gotten dose 1. We really don’t know when we will be back in Maryland and we’re grateful we were considered eligible here because of living with our son for now. Doing a lot of childcare and I’m exhausted! Don’t know how I did it with three all those years ago.mour grandchildren here are 6 years and 11 months today. It’s really hard for our son and his wife to work and supervise virtual first grade and care for an infant without help. But we enjoy the time with the kids and we can keep them outside in the back yard most of the time. I enjoy sitting in the sun while watching them.
We may be here for quite a while. We installed a security system connected to an alarm company before we headed west because of not knowing how many months we will be gone. Still a little nervous about not being home for so long. Fortunately good neighbors also keeping an eye on our house for us too.
Anne, that is wonderful that you and your husband have received a vaccine already. I'm now considered eligible, as an essential worker, because of the ministry I do with homeless people (they're considered a vulnerable population so shelter workers are classified as essential, and the stuff I do falls under that category, as it's a lot of face-to-face interaction.) So now I need to hunt up a schedule with some openings. Lots of seniors around here are despairing, but some people are finding them: Illinois is setting vaccination records nearly every day now. Whatever the chokepoints are in the distribution, I think they'll solve them as time goes on.
DeleteAnne, that's great you were able to get the first dose!
DeleteAnd great you are able to help with the grandkids. LOL about the energy levels at that age. Wish we could bottle some of it and save it for later.
I am envious of CA good weather. More snow to shovel here this morning.
Jim, I hope you are able to get your first dose soon. We need to be more organized about it in most places but I think we're getting there. It's been since polio days since we had to roll it out on this scale. And it was different then. I remember getting the Sabin vaccine on a sugar cube as a child, we all just lined up at the high school gym.
Bless your heart for helping with the homeless ministry.
Katherine - I remember the sugar cubes, too! I am surprised that they didn't just, er, "pass through" those who consumed them. Wish there were more vaccines which could be taken by eating a lump of sugar!
DeleteI was kind of a bratty kid sometimes. Got in trouble with my Mom for telling my brothers that the sugar cubes had "chimp spit" on them. (I had heard that they developed the vaccine using chimpanzee cells, don't know if that's true or not.)
DeleteMy OR nurse friend just got his second Moderna shot. First one gave him nothing but a sore spot at the injection site. After this one yesterday morning, he spent a grueling day at work with no problems. Today he called out sick. Aches, headache, fatigue, 100 fever, sore throat, arms really hurt. But he's happy he got the vaccine.
DeleteI don't have any personal experience yet. What I have heard from other people is that younger people experience more side effects than older ones, and people who have already had the disease have more trouble with them. Maybe their immune systems are more amped up?
DeleteI was talking to my doctor about it, he had already had both shots. He is (I'm guessing) in his sixties somewhere. Said he didn't have anything but a sore arm; recommended that we sign up with the health department site, which we did. On the other hand, my niece who is a physicians assistant in a pulmonology clinic, had the disease last fall. She is 32, and got the shots recently. Was sick for a couple days with the second one, similar to Stanley's friend.
We get dose 2 of Moderna in two weeks.the first was just the mildly sore arm. I’m much more worried about the second, but the side effects pass and then we can feel a bit safer. I have read that the side effects kick in after 24 hours and last one or two days usually. Much as your friend experienced, Stanley. How old is he? I have read the same things Katherine mentioned- that younger people often have more severe side effects than older. We are definitely in the older category!
DeleteStill will wear masks and limit the excursions until the country shows signs of getting past the pandemic.
Anne, He is 58. He actually did a grueling 10 hour shift afterwards, combining mental and physical work. But this morning, 18 hours after the shot, he was decked. Whatever is available to me, I'll take it when available.
DeleteMaybe it's a good idea to plan to take it easy afterwards, if you can.
DeleteMy friend has no fever now but still feels like he went a few rounds. I know people who did not have this bad reaction to the Moderna. Plan for the worst. Hope for the best.
DeleteThanks for the info, Stanley. We are hoping for the Johnson&Johnson one-and-done vax, but I think you just have to take what's on offer. Seems to be playing out the way Tom B. predicted.
DeleteI am so glad to hear nurses and other essential workers are getting this.
Since our infection rate has dipped below 5 percent, I went into a local grocery store for the first time since March in hopes of stretching myself out of my isolation mentality for a bit. Only one woman was wandering around with her bare face hanging out, and the deli lady said, "You need a mask, and we have one back here for you." The woman attached one ear loop. The deli lady was undeterred, "You have to put it around both ears and pull it up, hon." The lady then pulled it to below her nose. "Over your nose, hon, see, like this." God bless that deli lady for not losing it. I was ready to slap that Karen with a hard salami stick.
I went shopping at a time when it isn't busy. I like cooking and grocery shopping, and I confess I got a little overwhelmed and choked up in the bakery area. I hope to go back next month if infection rates remain low. The rest of the time, I use the Kroger pick-up.
We are now playing vaccine roulette with three possible vaccination sites: the tri-county health department, our hospital system, and a local chain pharmacy. Each has different criteria for the 1B group, which, in Michigan, should include anybody 65 and over.
The tri-county health department is following the 65 and up guidelines set by the state. However, their last vaccination clinic was January 28, and their site suggests they are getting out of the vax biz because they are already overburdened with testing and reporting.
The hospital system is only giving vaccines to those 70+ for now, so you have to sign into your patient portal to see if the "Get a vaccine" button is live on your chart.
The pharmacy chain is giving priority to those over 65 with pre-existing conditions. However, they do ask if you are a regular customer (I use a different pharmacy), and because the system is not transparent, it is unclear whether they reward their customers by doing them first. They do seem much better organized and will alert you by text when they have vax.
No one knows how Biden's National Guard effort will affect state vax efforts. I think they are starting up in California, and will gradually ramp up with time.
Sorry for going on and on. I am trying to record what's going on, and maybe save reports about this in my family history book.
Jean, information sharing is good in these times especially in a group in which everybody's head is screwed on. I'm signed in with two health care networks and keep checking the supermarket pharmacy website. Glad you got out a bit. Hang in there.
DeleteI don't know why, but the people wearing a mask with their nose exposed make me more irritated than the ones not wearing one at all.
DeleteWe registered with the district health department and the county site. They're supposed to phone or email us. I don't know if we need to keep checking the pharmcies?
They talked about getting the Nat'l Guard to help. I just remember when my husband was in the guard. Some of his cohorts weren't the brightest bulbs in the box. I don't know if I would have wanted some of those guys giving me shots.
The Nat Guard does have trained medical personnel, often regular nurses and medics who want the extra Weekend Warrior pay. Since most in the National Guard have regular jobs, I wonder if we'll just be siphoning medical people out of hospitals and civilian clinics for guard duty to help with the vax effort.
DeleteAlso many unanswered questions about the home COVID test, most importantly: How will we get accurate case counts if people are doing this at home? And will the tests pick up all current and future mutations?
My guess is that the home tests aren't sensitive enough to pick up if it's a variant or not. I think the main purpose would be for those who are worried if their symptoms are a cold or allergy, or actually Covid.
DeleteOne of our friends was quite sick and had every symptom of Covid, but tested negative three times. I wondered if he might have had a variant, and the test wasn't picking it up. Fortunately he has recovered.
My hope is that the Pandemic Preparedness Office will be reinstated. JAMA was calling for this last summer. A lot will depend on how much Biden can restore some semblance of trust in government by not undermining sound medical info and showing that the feds can be nimble about getting vaccines to people. https://jamanetwork.com/channels/health-forum/fullarticle/2768321
ReplyDeleteFor Katherine -
ReplyDelete‘I Am Blown Away’: Strangers Are Helping Strangers Get Vaccinated
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/nyregion/coronavirus-nyc-vaccinations.html?referringSource=articleShare
That's an inspiring story!
DeleteThat is the plan. But I have been doing the lion’s share of baby care and I think the parents might have to take over for a day or two. I’m exhausted from it and that’s without feeling sick from the shot. Apparently only a couple of days for most people. I hope.
ReplyDeleteIt’s hard to take care of the kids because I would be doing things a bit differently than my son and his wife. But as the grandmother I just have to bite my tongue. They are pretty hard on the 6 year old at times.
It’s been tough - all in a small house with two adults trying to work and a first grader at home 24/7. No breaks for anyone and no friends for the 6 year old to play with. For almost a years now. So I can see how patience wears thin for parents. LA schools probably won’t reopen until May. Thank God for the California climate because I mostly watch the kids outdoors. Easier for me, for parents working indoors, and for the children. How do New York parents living in high rises with you g children survive?
I feel for you, keeping up with kids can be exhausting. I think it's actually easier when they are little babies and not as mobile. At least you always know where they are then. Good that they can spend a lot of time outside.
DeleteI don't know how my daughter in law does it, she does day care at home. It's challenging enough kerping track of your own.
She was 11 months old a couple of days ago, and has been walking for more than a month. She’s very mobile - with no understanding of potential danger and too young to explain things to. The adults are on constant hazard alert!
DeleteIt is amazing how we find the reserves of energy when we're younger adults. For many years I met with sleep-deprived parents of infants for baptism prep sessions. I was like them when my kids were that age. These days I can hardly make it through a day of work, in an ergonomic chair in front of a computer, without needing a nap. I can't imagine how a grandparent who raises a grandchild does it.
DeleteAnswer to Katharine about taking it say after dose 2 but in the wrong comment box.
ReplyDeleteI am paywalled out of the America site right now, but what I was able to glimpse from this article https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2021/02/05/vaccine-rollout-ethics-cutting-line-239937?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=7714&pnespid=m7dp9PxRXw6NgFjkxL8wf5.sxyrgUSRoqMbZeaVw
ReplyDeletesuggests that we are worrying too much about who is deserving and who should be priority (after the health care people and the very elderly, which most people agree on) and not enough about simply getting it done. The closer we get to 60-80% vaccinated, the better off we'll be.
How to get the vaccine to underserved communities - the churches.
ReplyDeletehttps://religionnews.com/2021/02/05/make-houses-of-worship-the-center-of-vaccine-rollout/
https://religionnews.com/2021/02/03/churches-in-working-class-los-angeles-neighborhoods-urge-leaders-to-bring-the-vaccine-to-the-people/
https://religionnews.com/2021/01/29/black-clergy-offer-churches-as-covid-19-vaccination-sites-roll-up-their-sleeves/
A couple of people have told me that South Africa has suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine because it's not sufficiently effective against the South African variant of the virus.
ReplyDeleteYes, this was reported in the Washington Post yesterday. There is some specific mutation in that strain (called the "Eeek" mutation by scientists with a mordant sense of humor) that allows the virus to dodge the antibodies triggered by the vax. The preliminary data shows that AZ is only 10 percent effective against Eeek strains.
DeleteThe AZ researchers seemed to indicate that they could tweak their vax recipe fairly quickly to address new variants. Which is great in theory, but if that means revaccinating entire countries or continents all over again, the disease is going to stay ahead of us.
I read that, too. It was certainly unwelcome news.
DeleteI'm unclear if the AZ vaccine is one shot or two. If it's one then they could add the "new improved" as a second shot, similar to the ones which already require two. It sounds like the Moderna and Pfizer work better against the variant, and are also easier to tweak.
Doesn't the AZ vaccine use a different strategy than the messenger-RNA approach used by Pfizer and Moderna? Maybe those other manufacturers' products will be less likely to be circumvented by the newer variant viruses.
DeleteIt's a two-shot deal. In the UK--don't remember if this was in the WaPo or I heard it from an acquaintance who lives there--they are stretching time between injections to 8-12 weeks. The idea is that this will allow for more people to be vaccinated without (they hope) affecting efficacy too much. I don't know if something that hits the Eeek strains could be added to the second shot.
DeleteThere is, my correspondent tells me, some politicking going on, with some European countries dragging their feet on AZ distribution because it's from the UK, which is no longer in the EU.
Politics aside, the different protocols and vax used in different countries should provide a lot of data for public health experts to work from when the next pandemic rolls around.
One of my book group members in China reports that cases are down and everything is open, everyone just has to wear a mask in public. The word is that their vax works well. But I am always a bit leery of info coming out of totalitarian states.
I do think that in 10 or 20 years, people will look back at the anti-maskers and wonder what in he'll was wrong with their brains. Though there was also an anti-mask movement during the fly pandemic of 1918. Depressingly familiar. Why did God give us memories and historians if we're too stoopid to learn: https://sfist.com/2020/04/27/history-lesson-sf-had-an-anti-mask-league-during-the-1918-flu-pandemic-who-rallied-against-face-masks/
Here is a good explanation of how the Astra Zeneca vaccine works: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/health/oxford-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine.html
DeleteSo far the lab tests on the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine indicate that they are better against the South African variant.
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