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Post by catmom on Mar 24, 2021 17:36:24 GMT
Apparently the US has 30 million Astra Zeneca doses stored, waiting for the approval. Of those, 4 million doses have been loaned to Canada and Mexico (1.5M to Canada; 2.5M to Mexico). On the one hand, thank you. Truly. On the other hand... Canada and Mexico are presumably receiving the vaccine because we're neighbours and trading partners and represent of the greatest risk of spreading the virus to US citizens. So it's not entirely altruistic. And it leaves 26 million doses in warehouses when many countries are in quite desperate need. And for some perspective on that number: the 30 million doses sitting in US warehouses is more than the number of doses that AZ has so far supplied to the EU, despite having contracted for over 100 million doses. Ooph. Really? That's rough.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Mar 26, 2021 21:36:55 GMT
And for some perspective on that number: the 30 million doses sitting in US warehouses is more than the number of doses that AZ has so far supplied to the EU, despite having contracted for over 100 million doses. Ooph. Really? That's rough. 180 million doses were contracted by the EU for the second semester of this year alone. It's a major international incident over here.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Mar 26, 2021 21:42:13 GMT
An update on the AstraZeneca thrombosis issue from France: the ANSM (national agency for medication safety) confirms the rare occurrence of thrombosis due to AstraZeneca vaccination (29 confirmed so far in metropolitan France). They mention several types of thrombosis, 9 of the 29 being deep vein thrombosis (cerebral and digestive). 2 have passed away. Again, this shouldn't scare people away from the AZ vaccine but it's good to know and to learn to monitor the symptoms + inform medical personel on how to properly treat these rare cases to avoid further worsening the condition and possibly thus making it lethal.
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Post by gar on Mar 26, 2021 22:08:28 GMT
Again, this shouldn't scare people away from the AZ vaccine but it's good to know and to learn to monitor the symptoms + inform medical personel on how to properly treat these rare cases to avoid further worsening the condition and possibly thus making it lethal. I agree with you. They have also updated their efficacy findings now. BBC"The Anglo-Swedish firm has now adjusted the efficacy rate of its vaccine from 79% to 76%. Further data from the US trial showed efficacy among the over 65s rose from 80% to 85%."
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2021 16:56:10 GMT
Bumping for update from Canada.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Mar 30, 2021 17:06:03 GMT
AstraZeneca no longer given to under 60 in Berlin and Munich after 29 cases of thrombosis were recorded after taking the AZ shot. 9 died.
ETA: All but 2 of those 29 cases were women. Age spread: 20-63.
ETA2: AZ no longer administered to those under 60 in all of Germany as of tonight.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2021 17:38:41 GMT
Again, this shouldn't scare people away from the AZ vaccine but it's good to know and to learn to monitor the symptoms + inform medical personel on how to properly treat these rare cases to avoid further worsening the condition and possibly thus making it lethal. I agree with you. They have also updated their efficacy findings now. BBC"The Anglo-Swedish firm has now adjusted the efficacy rate of its vaccine from 79% to 76%. Further data from the US trial showed efficacy among the over 65s rose from 80% to 85%." There's more behind this disputed efficacy story that no one seems to be reporting on . The NIAID reported that the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) had “expressed concern” that AstraZeneca may have included “outdated information” from their clinical trial in the United States. This, they explain, might have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data.
Dr. Peter English, a retired consultant in communicable disease control says: “There is a single sentence behind this story: ‘The DSMB expressed concern that AstraZeneca may have included outdated information from that trial, which may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data.’ I find this problematic in various ways. It reads like a sentence from the conclusions of a paper but one that has been presented out of context, without any explanation of the reasons for drawing the conclusion or of what they think the consequences might be.”
He continues: “If you present data, stating the period in which the data were collected, how can the data be ‘outdated’[?] The AstraZeneca press release did say it was on ‘interim’ data. There may be more recent data, but that would not normally outdate or invalidate the interim results.”
Dr. English calls the National Institutes of Health (NIH) communication “shamefully bad” and worries that it might increase vaccine hesitancy.
“For me, this further announcement by the DSMB in response to the [AstraZeneca] release yesterday highlights the importance of data being provided at the same time as summaries being made public. Naturally, the news yesterday was taken in good faith, and the issues raised by the DSMB may be a mere technicality, yet this won’t be clear until we have full disclosure,” explains Dr. Stephen Griffin, associate professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. He shares Dr. English’s concerns about vaccine uptake.
“[W]e must ensure that issues such as this are dealt with appropriately and that idle speculation is not seized upon by groups seeking to undermine faith in vaccination programs.”
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Post by sleepingbooty on Apr 2, 2021 16:00:38 GMT
The Netherlands have just announced they are suspending AstraZeneca vaccination for those under 60 due to their own observation of cases of thrombosis in younger people after AZ vaccination. This seems to be a problem all around Europe now.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2021 16:59:32 GMT
Germany's vaccine commission, known as STIKO, recommended on Thursday that people under 60-years old who have had a first shot of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should receive a different product for their second dose. Earlier in the week, Germany said only people aged 60 and over should be administered the AstraZeneca vaccine due to the rare but severe occurrence of thromboembolic side effects. It said it would make a separate recommendation later on younger people who had already received a first shot. In an updated recommendation on its website, STIKO said there was no scientific evidence on the safety of a mixed series of vaccines. "Until the appropriate data is available, STIKO recommends for people under 60 years old that instead of the second AstraZeneca dose, a dose of an mRNA-vaccine should be given 12 weeks after the first vaccine," STIKO said. Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccinations include those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. finance.yahoo.com/news/german-experts-under-60s-not-194025698.html
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Post by sleepingbooty on Apr 2, 2021 17:09:23 GMT
seasidemermaid France has also fully suspended AZ vaccination for people - women and men - under 55. Those who had already gotten a first shot of AZ before suspension a couple of weeks ago are not being administered a second dose here either. They'll have to wait for a mRNA vaccine appointment or the Janssen vaccine once it rolls out later in April.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2021 17:31:56 GMT
The J&J vaccine plant in the US just had to discard 15M doses. Glad they have to destroy them, but why trust a facility that had a history of violations in the first place? Company producing J&J vaccine had history of violations. The company at the center of quality problems that led Johnson & Johnson to discard 15 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine has a string of citations from U.S. health officials for quality control problems. Emergent BioSolutions, a little-known company vital to the vaccine supply chain, was a key to Johnson & Johnson’s plan to deliver 100 million doses of its single-shot vaccine to the United States by the end of May. But the Food and Drug Administration repeatedly has cited Emergent for problems such as poorly trained employees, cracked vials and problems managing mold and other contamination around one of its facilities, according to records obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act. The records cover inspections at Emergent facilities since 2017. Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday that a batch of vaccine made by Emergent at its Baltimore factory, known as Bayview, cannot be used because it did not meet quality standards. It was unclear how the problem would affect future deliveries of J&J’s vaccine. The company said in a statement it was still planning to deliver 100 million doses by the end of June and was “aiming to deliver those doses by the end of May.” “Human errors do happen,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said Thursday in an interview on CBS’ “This Morning.” “You have checks and balances. ... That’s the reason why the good news is that it did get picked up. As I mentioned, that’s the reason nothing from that plant has gone into anyone that we’ve administered to.” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that none of the J&J vaccine doses on the market are affected and the company was on track to deliver 24 million doses in April and 100 million doses by the end of May. “These are doses that the U.S. government has purchased, but we also have plenty of doses from Pfizer and Moderna, regardless, Psaki said.” apnews.com/article/virus-vaccine-johnson-and-johnson-emergent-biosolutions-d9edd171f8013e17c0be8b13a6db7fed
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Post by gar on Apr 2, 2021 18:05:35 GMT
That’s concerning. I hope they can get to the bottom of it. Problems with one of the vaccines isn’t what the world needs now.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2021 18:14:30 GMT
The Netherlands have just announced they are suspending AstraZeneca vaccination for those under 60 due to their own observation of cases of thrombosis in younger people after AZ vaccination. This seems to be a problem all around Europe now. In the meantime France and Germany were in negotiations on Tuesday night with Vladimir Putin to supply the Russian Covid-19 vaccine to the EU according to reports from The Guardian. LINKIt seems that the EU is in a mess as far as their vaccine roll out is going.
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Post by sueg on Apr 2, 2021 18:16:51 GMT
That’s concerning. I hope they can get to the bottom of it. Problems with one of the vaccines isn’t what the world needs now. Apart from the supply issue it causes, it is also just one more thing that will sow doubt in people's minds over vaccine safety.
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Post by sueg on Apr 2, 2021 18:18:59 GMT
Germany's vaccine commission, known as STIKO, recommended on Thursday that people under 60-years old who have had a first shot of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should receive a different product for their second dose. Earlier in the week, Germany said only people aged 60 and over should be administered the AstraZeneca vaccine due to the rare but severe occurrence of thromboembolic side effects. It said it would make a separate recommendation later on younger people who had already received a first shot. In an updated recommendation on its website, STIKO said there was no scientific evidence on the safety of a mixed series of vaccines. "Until the appropriate data is available, STIKO recommends for people under 60 years old that instead of the second AstraZeneca dose, a dose of an mRNA-vaccine should be given 12 weeks after the first vaccine," STIKO said. Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccinations include those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. finance.yahoo.com/news/german-experts-under-60s-not-194025698.htmlI am really unsure as to where I stand now. I have had one does of AZ and my second is scheduled for mid-June. I am not yet 60, but will be by the time that appointment comes around.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Apr 2, 2021 18:31:37 GMT
In the meantime France and Germany were in negotiations on Tuesday night with Vladimir Putin to supply the Russian Covid-19 vaccine to the EU according to reports from The Guardian. Actually, no, they are advocating for the European Commission to consider doing a multi-country joint purchase. Some EU states have already purchased these on their own. Some are interested in doing a joint purchase in the near future. The vaccine roll-out in the EU is significantly delayed but nowhere near in tatters. Production in France for Moderna has just begun. BioNTech and Janssen will start manufacturing in France this month. It's the delay that hurts but the amount of doses for the second and third trimesters will be good. I just hope we can do right by also continuing to export vaccines to needy countries while vaccinating our own populations. It's important to look beyond "us first" for a safe way out of the pandemic. This is a global race against variants that cannot be won by focusing on one's own nation or continent first while variants elsewhere keep popping up. The Tanzania variant that was just discovered is alarming with the number of mutations observed. This could turn all the efforts into years and years of battling increasingly more dangerous variants if the Western countries act too selfishly now. The AstraZeneca debacle has made the mRNA vaccines that much more desirable in France from what I can tell. Most people who were hesitant about this new tech are now wanting it and hoping they can get one. It's a good sign for the acceptance of mRNA technology for battling cancer in the future in one way. Silver linings, you've got to take them where you can.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2021 19:18:10 GMT
In the meantime France and Germany were in negotiations on Tuesday night with Vladimir Putin to supply the Russian Covid-19 vaccine to the EU according to reports from The Guardian. Actually, no, they are advocating for the European Commission to consider doing a multi-country joint purchase. Some EU states have already purchased these on their own. Some are interested in doing a joint purchase in the near future. The vaccine roll-out in the EU is significantly delayed but nowhere near in tatters. Production in France for Moderna has just begun. BioNTech and Janssen will start manufacturing in France this month. It's the delay that hurts but the amount of doses for the second and third trimesters will be good. I just hope we can do right by also continuing to export vaccines to needy countries while vaccinating our own populations. It's important to look beyond "us first" for a safe way out of the pandemic. This is a global race against variants that cannot be won by focusing on one's own nation or continent first while variants elsewhere keep popping up. The Tanzania variant that was just discovered is alarming with the number of mutations observed. This could turn all the efforts into years and years of battling increasingly more dangerous variants if the Western countries act too selfishly now. The AstraZeneca debacle has made the mRNA vaccines that much more desirable in France from what I can tell. Most people who were hesitant about this new tech are now wanting it and hoping they can get one. It's a good sign for the acceptance of mRNA technology for battling cancer in the future in one way. Silver linings, you've got to take them where you can. I agree and it's sad that Italy blocked the export of the Australian order a few weeks ago. Contrary to what some at the commission are saying we in the UK are not blocking any exports be it the vaccine or the components needed to manufacture it. We import the Pfizer from Belgium but only because we do not have a Pfizer manufacturing plant in this country. We have two AZ manufacturing plants here of our own and a separate packaging plant. Unfortunately there are many inaccurate reporting coming out of the EU and I can't help but think that politics are involved in it all. The UK invested £21MILLION into a Dutch Helix AstraZeneca vaccine factory at the beginning of April last year. At the time the Netherlands refused to invest. Yet when The EU were threatening to ban the export of AZ from the EU Thierry Breton vowed zero AZ would come to Britain until the company ups deliveries to the EU conveniently forgetting that the UK had made this substantial investment to the production plant. Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, is also producing the AstraZeneca vaccine for dozens of poor and middle-income countries.
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Post by gar on Apr 2, 2021 19:31:37 GMT
Germany's vaccine commission, known as STIKO, recommended on Thursday that people under 60-years old who have had a first shot of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine should receive a different product for their second dose. Earlier in the week, Germany said only people aged 60 and over should be administered the AstraZeneca vaccine due to the rare but severe occurrence of thromboembolic side effects. It said it would make a separate recommendation later on younger people who had already received a first shot. In an updated recommendation on its website, STIKO said there was no scientific evidence on the safety of a mixed series of vaccines. "Until the appropriate data is available, STIKO recommends for people under 60 years old that instead of the second AstraZeneca dose, a dose of an mRNA-vaccine should be given 12 weeks after the first vaccine," STIKO said. Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccinations include those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. finance.yahoo.com/news/german-experts-under-60s-not-194025698.htmlI am really unsure as to where I stand now. I have had one does of AZ and my second is scheduled for mid-June. I am not yet 60, but will be by the time that appointment comes around. I’m in the exact same boat, except I am 60 a couple of months later than you. I will be watching to see what’s recommended for second doses.
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Post by hookturnian on Apr 8, 2021 10:20:16 GMT
Update from Australia AstraZeneca to be used for over 50s, and Pfizer for those under 50. Under 50s who have had a first dose of AZ can receive a second AZ dose.
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Post by gar on Apr 8, 2021 11:21:30 GMT
The UK have also said that under 30s will be offered an alternative vaccine when it comes to their turn. I understand that the risks are still vanishingly small but it seems a wise move to make adjustments as new information is discovered. I hope it doesn’t put people off being vaccinated...taking the contraceptive pill carries a higher risk for younger women than the vaccine does so I hope people think it through.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2021 11:41:52 GMT
Update from Australia AstraZeneca to be used for over 50s, and Pfizer for those under 50. Under 50s who have had a first dose of AZ can receive a second AZ dose. In the UK is over 30's. What the regulators pointed out yesterday was that the vaccine is safe but the advice is given out of caution rather than serious concerns and is all about the balance of risk between Covid and the vaccine. Over 20 million doses have been given out in the UK up to the 31st March. Ranging in age between 18 and 80 + Out of that there have been 79 reports of blood disorders of which 19 people died. 3 of those 19 were under 30. The 79 varied in ages between 18 and 79 years old. 51 were women and 28 were male. There is still not enough data or proof that the vaccine itself caused any of these deaths but they've happened and in the meantime caution needs to be taken until such data is available. The risk therefore is 4 per million which for any vaccine is pretty low. The risk of long term complications, hospitalizations and death if far far higher catching Covid over the age of 30 and grows exponentially the older you get. The risk lessens substantially for that age group if they have been vaccinated even with just one dose. The data is there to confirm this in the UK because so many have already received the vaccine. Our numbers of hospitalizations and deaths have dramatically reduced. The same risk between the vaccine and Covid is more balanced in the under 30's. They've also paused the 12 to 18 years trial of the AZ vaccine until more data is available. Again, it's about the balance of risk. As in Australia, the ones that have had the first dose with no adverse affects ( except what was already expected) are still advised to still have. the second. All vaccines and all medication has some risk to someone somewhere. What needs to be remembered is whether receiving vaccines/medication is riskier than the illness itself.
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Post by sueg on Apr 8, 2021 11:52:55 GMT
taking the contraceptive pill carries a higher risk for younger women than the vaccine does so I hope people think it through. This is very much my thinking. I was quite happy taking the pill for over 25 years, and probably didn't think twice about the risk of blood clots. Obviously, this is gaining a lot of attention due to it being new, and so many people being vaccinated in a short time frame, but there still needs to be perspective about the risks vs benefits.
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Post by hookturnian on Apr 8, 2021 13:06:37 GMT
Isn't it amazing how women are expected to routinely take on risks and responsibilities that are deemed too dangerous or onerous for men.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2021 16:44:52 GMT
AstraZeneca woes grow as Australia, Philippines, African Union curb COVID shots The vaccine - developed with Oxford University and considered a frontrunner in the global vaccine race - has been plagued by safety concerns and supply problems since Phase III trial results were published in December, with Indonesia the latest country forced to seek doses from other vaccine developers. The Philippines suspended the use of AstraZeneca shots for people below 60 after Europe’s regulator said on Wednesday it found rare cases of blood clots among some adult recipients although the vaccine’s advantages still outweighed its risks. Australia recommended people under 50 should get Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in preference to AstraZeneca’s, a policy shift that it warned would hold up its inoculation campaign. The African Union is exploring options with Johnson & Johnson having dropped plans to buy AstraZeneca’s vaccine from India’s Serum Institute, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters. AstraZeneca’s shot is sold at cost, for a few dollars a dose. It is by far the cheapest and most high-volume launched so far, and has none of the extreme refrigeration requirements of some other COVID-19 vaccines, making it likely to be the mainstay of many vaccination programmes in the developing world. But more than a dozen countries have at one time suspended or partially suspended use of the shot, first on concerns about efficacy in older people, and now on worries about rare side effects in younger people. That, coupled with production setbacks, will delay the rollout of vaccines across the globe as governments scramble to find alternatives to tame the pandemic which has killed more than 3 million. ‘EXTREMELY RARE’ Italy joined France, the Netherlands, Germany and others in recommending a minimum age for recipients of AstraZeneca’s shot on Wednesday and Britain said people under 30 should get an alternative. South Korea also suspended use of the vaccine in people under 60 this week, while approving Johnson & Johnson’s shot. AstraZeneca has said it is working with the British and European regulators to list possible brain blood clots as “an extremely rare potential side-effect”. South Africa also paused AstraZeneca vaccinations last month because of a small trial showing the shot offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by the dominant local coronavirus variant. AstraZeneca is grappling with production issues that have led to shortfalls of its shot in several countries. Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Thursday the country was in talks with China on getting as many as 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to plug a gap in deliveries after delays in the arrivals of AstraZeneca shots. India has put a temporary hold on all major exports of AstraZeneca’s shot made by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest vaccine-maker, as domestic infections rise. That has affected supplies to the GAVI/WHO-backed global COVAX vaccine-sharing facility through which 64 poorer countries are supposed to get doses from the SII, the programme’s procurement and distributing partner UNICEF told Reuters last month. Britain is slowing its vaccine rollout due to a shipment delay from India and is at loggerheads with the EU over exports. Australia has also blamed delays in its immunisation campaign on supply issues in Europe. AstraZeneca has cited reduced yields at a European factory behind the supply shortfall to the European Union. www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-astrazeneca-idUSKBN2BV2BA
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2021 16:52:52 GMT
AstraZeneca Vaccine Fails To Protect Against The South African Variant, Says Study Two doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine were found to have only a 10.4% efficacy against mild-to-moderate infections caused by the B.1.351 South Africa variant, according to a phase 1b-2 clinical trial published on Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. This is a cause for grave concern as the South African variants share similar mutations to the other variants leaving those vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine potentially exposed to multiple variants. This new finding should force a rapid acceleration of second-generation vaccines and encourage further research into the possibility of a pancoronavirus vaccine. The trial evaluated the safety and the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine in HIV-negative adults aged between 18 to 64 years old with a median age of 30 years old. The trial was conducted between June 24 and November 9, 2020 in South Africa using a multisite, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled approach. Out of the trial’s 750 vaccine recipients, 19 (2.5%) developed mild to moderate COVID-19 more than 14 days after the second dose, compared with 23 of 717 placebo recipients (3.2%). Of the 42 total cases of Covid-19, 39 (93%) were caused by the B.1.351 South Africa variant. These results demonstrated that the AstraZeneca vaccine was only 10.4% effective against the B.1.351 South Africa variant. It is important to note that there were still no cases of hospitalization for severe Covid-19 or deaths observed in the study. Yet the authors did caution that the relatively young median age of participants (30 years) likely influenced the lack of severe Covid-19 cases. The South African B.1.351 shares similar mutations with several other variants. Mutations to positions 417 (K417N), 484 (E484K), and 501 (N501Y) are all located in the receptor-binding domain. This structure is the part of the spike protein that attaches to the ACE2 receptor of the human cell. The K417N and E484K mutations have been seen in the Brazilian and Japanese variants, and N501Y has additionally been seen in the UK variant. External to the spike protein, there are a set of three deletions in non-structural protein six which also appear in the Brazilian, Japanese, UK, Nigerian, and New York variants. NSP6 is a structural transmembrane protein and these deletions additionally may assist in neutralization escape. NSP2 also carries a common mutation: T85I. This mutation appears in the California variant, the New York variant, and a number of other US variants. While NSP2 has no known function, the pervasiveness of the mutation is notable at the very least. In NSP12, mutation P323L is pervasive in nearly every variant. This protein is the polymerase, which controls viral replication. While it may not aid immune-escape, this mutation certainly aids increased transmissibility of the South African variant and others. Suffice to say, despite these variants carrying unique sets of mutations, individual changes are shared across lineages that may aid to the neutralization escape the South African variant demonstrates. As these variants threaten to become the dominant source of coronavirus cases globally, we urgently need second generation vaccines that provide greater protection against the variants if we are going to prevent another wave of infections and return to a level of normalcy. The UK B.1.351 variant and NYC variant B.1.5.26 are now responsible for over 51% of New York Covid-19 cases. Updates to the AstraZeneca and other Covid-19 vaccines that target the B.1351 variant and others are currently underway. President Biden needs to invoke the power of Operation Warp Speed to rapidly accelerate the development of these vaccines and the logistics involved for rollout within the year. Other countries who are relying on the AstraZeneca vaccine to vaccine the bulk of their population need to do the same, as we have painfully learned no one will be completely protected from Covid-19 until we all are. While we await these updated vaccines, those who have the opportunity should still accept the current AstraZeneca vaccine in order to protect themselves against the risk of hospitalization and death. In a prior column for Forbes, I wrote about promising research into a pancoronavirus vaccine that protects all variants. This is the long-term goal we should be working towards, if such a vaccine were to come to fruition would no longer need to revise the Covid-19 vaccines each year. www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/03/17/astrazeneca-vaccine-fails-to-protect-against-the-south-african-variant/?sh=2cef73f6526e
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2021 18:01:32 GMT
AstraZeneca woes grow as Australia, Philippines, African Union curb COVID shots The vaccine - developed with Oxford University and considered a frontrunner in the global vaccine race - has been plagued by safety concerns and supply problems since Phase III trial results were published in December, with Indonesia the latest country forced to seek doses from other vaccine developers. The Philippines suspended the use of AstraZeneca shots for people below 60 after Europe’s regulator said on Wednesday it found rare cases of blood clots among some adult recipients although the vaccine’s advantages still outweighed its risks. Australia recommended people under 50 should get Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in preference to AstraZeneca’s, a policy shift that it warned would hold up its inoculation campaign. The African Union is exploring options with Johnson & Johnson having dropped plans to buy AstraZeneca’s vaccine from India’s Serum Institute, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters.
AstraZeneca’s shot is sold at cost, for a few dollars a dose. It is by far the cheapest and most high-volume launched so far, and has none of the extreme refrigeration requirements of some other COVID-19 vaccines, making it likely to be the mainstay of many vaccination programmes in the developing world. But more than a dozen countries have at one time suspended or partially suspended use of the shot, first on concerns about efficacy in older people, and now on worries about rare side effects in younger people. That, coupled with production setbacks, will delay the rollout of vaccines across the globe as governments scramble to find alternatives to tame the pandemic which has killed more than 3 million. ‘EXTREMELY RARE’ Italy joined France, the Netherlands, Germany and others in recommending a minimum age for recipients of AstraZeneca’s shot on Wednesday and Britain said people under 30 should get an alternative. South Korea also suspended use of the vaccine in people under 60 this week, while approving Johnson & Johnson’s shot. AstraZeneca has said it is working with the British and European regulators to list possible brain blood clots as “an extremely rare potential side-effect”. South Africa also paused AstraZeneca vaccinations last month because of a small trial showing the shot offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness caused by the dominant local coronavirus variant. AstraZeneca is grappling with production issues that have led to shortfalls of its shot in several countries. Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Thursday the country was in talks with China on getting as many as 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to plug a gap in deliveries after delays in the arrivals of AstraZeneca shots. India has put a temporary hold on all major exports of AstraZeneca’s shot made by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest vaccine-maker, as domestic infections rise. That has affected supplies to the GAVI/WHO-backed global COVAX vaccine-sharing facility through which 64 poorer countries are supposed to get doses from the SII, the programme’s procurement and distributing partner UNICEF told Reuters last month. Britain is slowing its vaccine rollout due to a shipment delay from India and is at loggerheads with the EU over exports. Australia has also blamed delays in its immunisation campaign on supply issues in Europe. AstraZeneca has cited reduced yields at a European factory behind the supply shortfall to the European Union. www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-astrazeneca-idUSKBN2BV2BAThe African Union dropping plans to buy the AZ from India has nothing to do with the latest news. A statement given out by the AU John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said the AU's decision had nothing to do with those findings, and reiterated his advice that the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks. He said the main reason was to avoid duplicating COVAX's efforts by the World Health Organization-backed COVAX facility, which will continue to supply AstraZeneca to Africa. He said the AU was focusing on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, citing a deal announced last week to supply Africa with up to 400 million doses. COVAX aims to deliver 600 million shots - most of them from AstraZeneca - to some 40 African countries this year, enough to vaccinate 20% of their populations. LINKAs for the UK - there is no delay in the roll out. It's all going according to plan. The original target to jab groups 1 - 9 of the original plan have been successfully carried out to date and still has until April 15th to be totally completed for anyone in those 9 group who wish to have one. The next group was, anyone between the age of 18 years and 49 and has a target date of July. There is no reason at this stage that this will not be met. At the same time we're now administrating the second jab to the people in the 1 to 9 group as originally planned.
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Post by catmom on Apr 8, 2021 18:06:04 GMT
Isn't it amazing how women are expected to routinely take on risks and responsibilities that are deemed too dangerous or onerous for men. Yup. Amazing. Also vaguely rage inducing.
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Deleted
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Apr 24, 2024 9:12:53 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2021 18:16:09 GMT
Why are you linking reports that are over 4 weeks old? Things change quickly when you are dealing with a virus and a pandemic so what one reports four weeks ago could be totally out of date today. It's highly unlikely that will happen or at least it's a very very long way off. It's impossible to scientifically predict how a virus might mutate, especially a virus that is so new to the scientists as Covid is. Heck they haven't found a flu one after all these years that doesn't need a tweak or two for the current virus year on year.
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Deleted
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Apr 24, 2024 9:12:53 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2021 18:33:42 GMT
@dottyscrapper that was the one I found supporting the Reuters article stating that South Africa is pausing the AZ vaccine and why. I haven't found any info stating that they've agreed to resume using AZ regardless of the shortage.
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Post by Basket1lady on Apr 8, 2021 19:12:07 GMT
Use of the AZ vaccine has been suspended in Belgium for those under 55. I was surprised, as statistically there is less risk with the AZ vaccine than with other medications. Maybe because it doesn’t do as well with some variants?
Unfortunately, there was supposed to be a mass vaccination here next week of NATO personnel and their families. That has all been suspended and we are being told that the Pfizer vaccine will be substituted at a later date. So for, vaccines have been VERY limited here.
US personnel and their dependents are on a separate program as the US military isn’t allowed to get the AZ vaccine since it has t been approved in the US. I received the Moderna vaccine today in the medical risk group, but DH doesn’t qualify. And he’s the one who goes to work daily!
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