Coronavirus

[tweetiepooh]

Was thinking over the weekend that an issue at the moment is that in the first lockdown the situation was novel, the weather was good and generally people thought that it was a brief intermission in normal life. Many folk got paid (and I know of a case because of the way it works got more money than working as prior years were good).

Now the weather is nasty, we see businesses folding, the days are darker (but lengthening) there is likely greater infection just due to time of year, more deaths maybe due to other respiratory illnesses around and morale is down which also affects how the body responds to disease.

Even the NZ model that they are fortunate that they can implement seems to have potential issues if you get false negatives. If the infected person remains asymptomatic they could spread things nicely before it's recognised.

I think the hope is that once the more vulnerable are vaccinated and that vaccine prevents infection (at best) or reduces symptoms to the "cold/flu" level then it becomes (to us) an endemic condition like cold/flu. Repeated infections even of variants would hopefully get to faster immune responses etc. Vaccinate where needed but generally it may work and hospitalisations are reduced down to "manageable".

[papa smurf]

EU vaccine farce: Eurocrats go to war with maker of Oxford jab – legal action threatened
BRUSSELS boss Ursula von der Leyen has clashed vaccine-maker AstraZeneca after it announced delays to the European Union's supply.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/polit...-von-der-Leyen

[Sephiroth]

The Guvmin appears silent on vaccine delays to the UK.

I dislike this secrecy and lack of transparency.

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

The Guvmin appears silent on vaccine delays to the UK.

I dislike this secrecy and lack of transparency.

Possibly because supplies to the UK aren't under threat? The Oxford/AZ vaccine is made in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands but mostly in the UK. It appears the hold up is in the Belgian facility. It may be that this is where AZ anticipated fulfilling EU requirements from, and that may in turn have been a decision influenced by when the EU was likely to require its supply. Let's not forget to date the bungling European Medicines Agency has not even managed to issue approval for the vaccine.

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by Chris

Possibly because supplies to the UK aren't under threat? The Oxford/AZ vaccine is made in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands but mostly in the UK. It appears the hold up is in the Belgian facility. It may be that this is where AZ anticipated fulfilling EU requirements from, and that may in turn have been a decision influenced by when the EU was likely to require its supply. Let's not forget to date the bungling European Medicines Agency has not even managed to issue approval for the vaccine.

While we're discussing EU provision there is this.

Spanish MEP Domenec Ruiz Devesa has started a petition calling on the European Commission to ensure that the EU flag is emblazoned across all coronavirus vaccine deliveries throughout Europe. In a letter to his fellow MEPs, the Spaniard writes: "You may have noticed that in most, if not all of the images available on vaccine delivery to Member States, the EU logo is wholly absent from all the logistics, including planes, trucks, boxes, etc.
This is inconsistent with the role played by the EU, whether in terms of vaccine authorization, funding for vaccine research, the set-up of central procurement, funding for delivery," he says, calling it "a major missed opportunity in terms of communication and social media."

Also here's his letter to Von der Leyden.

https://www.docdroid.net/wzzsgFd/let...vaccines-1-pdf

[heero_yuy]

So putting the EU flag on things takes precedence over getting the vaccine to where its needed.

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

So putting the EU flag on things takes precedence over getting the vaccine to where its needed.

It's the bureaucracy that heals not the vaccine

The vaccines are made by private companies not the EU. So why should that horrible flag be on everything.

[TheDaddy]

There's a report about to break in Germany claiming Astra Oxford vaccine is only 8% effective in over 65's

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

There's a report about to break in Germany claiming Astra Oxford vaccine is only 8% effective in over 65's

Here is the report.

https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/...0-e2ac77f6609f

The corona vaccine from the manufacturer AstraZeneca apparently has little effectiveness in older people. As the "Handelsblatt" reports, citing government circles, the vaccine is only expected to be effective at eight percent in those over 65 years of age.

The "Bild" newspaper, however, also citing government circles, reports that the vaccine should only receive approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for people under 65 years of age.

According to the “Handelsblatt” report, the Federal Ministry of Health is already checking whether the sequence of vaccinations, which is staggered according to age, needs to be adjusted. A statement by the ministry on the possible consequences of the low effectiveness on the government's vaccination plan is not available, according to »Handelsblatt«.

A final result on the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine is not yet possible, according to the newspaper. In the clinical studies of the pharmaceutical company, older people were apparently relatively poorly represented. The British approval authority MHRA had already noted that meaningful results on the effectiveness of the vaccine could not be determined in these studies.

AstraZeneca is already under pressure because it apparently cannot meet the contractually agreed delivery quantities of the vaccine to the EU. The British-Swedish group announced on Friday that after the approval of its vaccine - which is due to take place this week - it will only deliver 31 million doses instead of 80 by the end of March.

That’s odd. If there wasn’t sufficient data to make that determination from the clinical trials, where is the data coming from now? Far too few people have had even one dose, and not for long enough. At best this can only be an inference from trial data the manufacturer itself has already said should not be used in that way.

Of course there’s absolutely no chance there’s any sour grapes in Germany over the way the UK has ignored (and thoroughly humiliated) the EU vaccination programme and is now implementing a comprehensive programme of its own, using a vaccine largely designed and manufactured in the UK.

[nomadking]

Less than 2 weeks ago, the Germans were praising its effectiveness.

[1andrew1]

I don't think it's constructive to try and point score here between nations. That approach fails anyway as all the companies concerned contain a wealth of international talent. Astra Zeneca is an Anglo-Swedish company headed up since 2012 by Pascal Soriot, a Frenchman.

---------- Post added at 21:22 ---------- Previous post was at 21:19 ----------

Originally Posted by nomadking

Less than 2 weeks ago, the Germans were praising its effectiveness.

Has it been approved for use in Germany?

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Chris

That’s odd. If there wasn’t sufficient data to make that determination from the clinical trials, where is the data coming from now? Far too few people have had even one dose, and not for long enough. At best this can only be an inference from trial data the manufacturer itself has already said should not be used in that way.

Of course there’s absolutely no chance there’s any sour grapes in Germany over the way the UK has ignored (and thoroughly humiliated) the EU vaccination programme and is now implementing a comprehensive programme of its own, using a vaccine largely designed and manufactured in the UK.

We haven’t approved or secured enough doses of the vaccine................so let’s discredit the vaccine, so our ineptitude looks more like oversight.

It may work short term, but if the vaccine works, it works. The rest of the world will prove them wrong.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I don't think it's constructive to try and point score here between nations. That approach fails anyway as all the companies concerned contain a wealth of international talent. Astra Zeneca is an Anglo-Swedish company headed up since 2012 by Pascal Soriot, a Frenchman.

---------- Post added at 21:22 ---------- Previous post was at 21:19 ----------


Has it been approved for use in Germany?

Jan 14

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The head of Germany's vaccine regulator on Thursday described the success rate of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine as excellent, after some Australian scientists voiced scepticism about its efficacy.
Speaking during an online press briefing, the president of Germany's Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), Klaus Cichutek, said there had been some debate over the best usage pattern for the vaccine.
"Still, the efficacy remains outstanding and excellent," he said, citing data.
The AstraZeneca shot, co-developed with Oxford University, was shown in a trial to have efficacy of at least 62%, with Britain's healthcare regulator identifying an efficacy of 80% under a certain administration pattern.

Link

German Health Minister Jens Spahn has said the European Union should monitor its vaccine supply by requiring licensing for vaccine exports, arguing that the EU has sunk hundreds of millions of euros into establishing production capacities in advance.
"It would be a good idea if companies had to obtain a license to export vaccines so that we could monitor which vaccine leaves the EU after having been produced or bottled in Europe," Spahn said in an interview with DW on Monday.
"It is not a matter of being first, it is a matter of being fair," he added.
...
Spahn's comments came as the European Commission said it will require pharmaceutical companies producing COVID-19 vaccines in the EU to register in advance any exports of doses to third countries.
The register is expected to be put into effect this week, and will keep track of which EU producers make vaccine exports and how many doses they ship outside of the bloc.
Under the plan, vaccine makers would also need a license to export doses made in the EU.

The UK ordered doses, long before the EU got its act together. First come, first served.