Coronavirus

[Angua]

Originally Posted by Mr K

They finally got round to the young people

A drop of the dodgy AZN stuff for me, I am a shareholder so they need my support

A lot of younger people (teens & early 20s) were queuing for the AZ jab at my GPs yesterday. They seem to be focusing on young carers and those with underlying conditions.

Originally Posted by pip08456

We don't need to.

https://www.reuters.com/article/heal...-idUSKCN2AV0A2

Meanwhile.

About that...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56438629

India shortfall behind UK vaccine supply delay

An expected reduction in the UK's Covid vaccine supply next month is due to a delay in the delivery of five million Oxford-AstraZeneca doses from India. The shipment - produced by the Serum Institute of India - has been held up by four weeks, the BBC has been told. The Department of Health is insisting it is still on track to offer a first dose to all adults by the end of July - however the NHS in England has since been told not to offer jabs to younger age groups throughout April. The Serum Institute, the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines which has agreed to supply 10 million doses for the UK, has delivered half of those and it will "try to supply more later, based on the current situation and the requirement for the government immunisation programme in India".

Sounds like they are prioritising internal customers over their contract with us...

[jonbxx]

Originally Posted by nomadking

I don't know whether it's still the case, but it should be pointed out to the EU that a key component of the Pfizer vaccine is produced in the UK. They are dependent on us.
Link

And vice versa. Lots of raw materials used in the AZ vaccine production are EU sourced.

The big wrinkle in the whole thing is the US Defence Production Act and Operation Warp Speed stopping export of raw materials from the US if they might be needed for vaccine production domestically. It's causing some real headaches in the industry out side of the US

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by jonbxx

And vice versa. Lots of raw materials used in the AZ vaccine production are EU sourced.

And whilst everybody talks about supply and demand, it is exactly what the EU want everybody to do. The issues the EU are having is nothing to do with supply, they have enough vaccines. Their issue is deployment, not supply.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by Pierre

And whilst everybody talks about supply and demand, it is exactly what the EU want everybody to do. The issues the EU are having is nothing to do with supply, they have enough vaccines. Their issue is deployment, not supply.

Is it?

Last I checked although it was a few weeks ago the total numbers of vaccines not administered (Vs delivered) in Germany was about 4 or 5 days worth (and some of these are likely to be being held back for second doses).

I'd be surprised if we didn't have a few days stock lying around somewhere.

[jonbxx]

Originally Posted by Pierre

And whilst everybody talks about supply and demand, it is exactly what the EU want everybody to do. The issues the EU are having is nothing to do with supply, they have enough vaccines. Their issue is deployment, not supply.

Oh there are definitely issues in raw material supply. One of the biggies bizarrely are big sterile bags.

This link from the FT might work or hit a paywall. If it hits a paywall, Google 'Shortage of giant plastic bags threatens global vaccines rollout'

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by jonbxx

Oh there are definitely issues in raw material supply. One of the biggies bizarrely are big sterile bags.

This link from the FT might work or hit a paywall. If it hits a paywall, Google 'Shortage of giant plastic bags threatens global vaccines rollout'

1. China will win again!

2. Who wanted to get rid of plastic?

[jonbxx]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

1. China will win again!

2. Who wanted to get rid of plastic?

Oh yes, the whole biopharmaceutical industry is going over to single use plastics just at the time when everyone else is going away from them

Not recyclable either....

* there are some very good reasons why single use plastics are the way forward including higher productivity, lower water use and carbon footprint especially if you look at energy from waste power stations. It's not a good look though...

Originally Posted by Pierre

And whilst everybody talks about supply and demand, it is exactly what the EU want everybody to do. The issues the EU are having is nothing to do with supply, they have enough vaccines. Their issue is deployment, not supply.

I did not think the corrupted EU could sink any lower, but it’s new leadership in the form of Ursula and she’s the sober one compared to drunken Juncker, EU citizens should definitely voter her out, oh wait...

[Hom3r]

This morning I booked my Covid-19 vaccination, only took a few minutes, its local and 9:20am Monday.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-56440055

The government is expecting deliveries of Moderna vaccines within the coming weeks, he tells MPs.

He says those who are awaiting second doses will not see a delay because of any supply issues.

In terms of vaccinating children, and the autumn vaccination programme, "neither of these are certain" and clinical trials are ongoing. It is not yet clear what kind of autumn booster programme for vaccination will be needed, he states.

Interesting point on today’s BBC 1pm News - part of the reasoning behind Germany being cautious about the AZ/O vaccine (waiting for the EMA review) was that the blood clotting issue was specifically about a rare form of blood clotting on the brain, which for the number of people who had the vaccine should have been 1, and was in fact 7.

I’ll look for a link.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-h...e-says-german/

Link between cerebral blood clots and AstraZeneca vaccine 'not implausible', says German regulator

Number of a certain type of blood clot was 'statistically significantly higher' than the expected figure, the regulator said.

As of March 15, seven people in Germany had suffered a severe cerebral venous thrombosis, known as thrombocytopenia, between four and 16 days of receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab. Three of these people have since died.

According to a statistical analysis carried out by the regulator just one person would have been expected to suffer this event out of the 1.6 million people in Germany who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine.

"The number of these cases after vaccination with [the AstraZeneca vaccine] is statistically significantly higher than the number of cerebral venous thromboses that normally occur in the unvaccinated population,” the report states.

"All experts agreed unanimously that a pattern could be discerned here and that a connection between the reported above-mentioned diseases and the vaccination with Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca was not implausible,” it added.

Cerebral venous thrombosis is much rarer than the deep vein thromboses or pulmonary embolisms reported by Denmark, Norway and Austria last week. It can lead to swelling in the brain and haemorrhage. The seven people - six of whom were women - who suffered the condition were aged between 20 and 50.

Non-paywall version from Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/article/heal...-idUSL8N2LE66B

[pip08456]

Ah, using statistics which can prove anything you want. Forget science, just use statistics.

Statistics are what the efficacy of the vaccine and impact of side-effects are based on, so I’m not sure what your point is?

[jonbxx]

Originally Posted by pip08456

Ah, using statistics which can prove anything you want. Forget science, just use statistics.

You would love quantum mechanics then. Plenty of statistics there!

On the raw materials shortage, it looks like the US exports ban on those big plastic bags and filters might be the cause of the delays - https://economictimes.indiatimes.com...4.cms?from=mdr