Coronavirus

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by Chris

The Grauniad reports that what the EU has had since summer is a “potential purchase agreement” for Moderna’s vaccine.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-covid-vaccine

That’s somewhat less concrete than the firm pre-order HMG has placed with Pfizer. The government has cited higher cost, potential supply chain issues in Europe, and Moderna’s refusal to sign any actual supply contracts outside the USA as reasons for concentrating on Pfizer. It also quite reasonably points out that it therefore has an RNA vaccine in its portfolio. Pfizer’s cooperation with BioNTech on this project also means there will initially be two European manufacturing bases for it so there’s no chance of the US government slapping an export ban on the product to give their own population priority.

Seeing as the US has a deal already in place for upto 500m doses and has handed over $1billion to build a plant and another $1.5billion for the initial 100m doses, they obviously have early access rights, just as the UK has early access rights on other vaccines. Moderna is looking to build up manufacturing in Europe.

[tweetiepooh]

Would be good to know how vaccine is going to be supplied to poorer nations (and even the poor in some nations without general health cover).

Medicine should be supplied based on need not ability to pay especially with a pandemic where we have to get rid of the virus pretty much everywhere.

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by tweetiepooh

Would be good to know how vaccine is going to be supplied to poorer nations (and even the poor in some nations without general health cover).

Medicine should be supplied based on need not ability to pay especially with a pandemic where we have to get rid of the virus pretty much everywhere.

There is an organisation aiming to do that

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/ga...-amc-explained

[jfman]

Originally Posted by tweetiepooh

Would be good to know how vaccine is going to be supplied to poorer nations (and even the poor in some nations without general health cover).

Medicine should be supplied based on need not ability to pay especially with a pandemic where we have to get rid of the virus pretty much everywhere.

The cynical capitalist would argue that as it's unlikely the virus will be eradicated completely that it's not cost effective to plough that much resource into the healthcare systems of poorer countries.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by jfman

The cynical capitalist would argue that as it's unlikely the virus will be eradicated completely that it's not cost effective to plough that much resource into the healthcare systems of poorer countries.

Depends what can be exploited from those poorer countries.

[BenMcr]

As I said above, it's what the Covax scheme is trying to help with at least in part

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...chinas-support

Eventually, the Covax initiative aims to give 20% of each country’s most vulnerable population a vaccine. When introducing the agreement in September, WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the scheme would ensure vaccines for “some people in all countries and not all people in some countries”.

[jonbxx]

Originally Posted by jfman

The cynical capitalist would argue that as it's unlikely the virus will be eradicated completely that it's not cost effective to plough that much resource into the healthcare systems of poorer countries.

Vaccines in particular are bad business as a good one is needed once per lifetime. The prices of vaccines have been sneaking up because of this.

Most of central Scotland is going into level 4 restrictions this weekend. That’s fairly similar to the restrictions presently in force across England.

Getting bored of COVID now.

There was a song our kids used to sing at school, Cowboy Christmas ... Mrs and I keep catching each other singing COVID Christmas

Yippee ay oh kay yay, COVID Christmas is the best!

Etc ...

BREAKING: Police instructed to cease handing out £10,000 fines for breaches of COVID-19 regulations with immediate effect.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by Mick

BREAKING: Police instructed to cease handing out £10,000 fines for breaches of COVID-19 regulations with immediate effect.

Be interesting to find out what's went wrong here.

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Mick

BREAKING: Police instructed to cease handing out £10,000 fines for breaches of COVID-19 regulations with immediate effect.

COVID-19: Police to stop issuing £10,000 'super fines' over concerns they can be challenged in court
The National Police Chiefs' Council is recommending officers issue a court summons rather than a straight fixed penalty notice.


https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-...court-12134839

Any fixed penalty can either be accepted or refused by the one given it. If you refuse to accept it you get a court hearing instead. If I was handed one for £10k there’s no way I’d just take it, there’s nothing to lose by going to court.

[Taf]

So now it's illegal to leave Scotland from some areas.

Time to build another wall I think....