Current Affairs Coronavirus Thread - Serious stuff !!!

[Moomin]

Yes, there would be. If we were seeing a lot of people who had their first doses dying, there would be a lot of press about it. It's a story, a new angle and one which would give credence to the stories which have been on major news sites.

We haven't really tested an idea. They've seen how grim it is and thought that the best way to suppress the virus - based on previous vaccines - is to get more people with more protection early on than less people with full protection.

We know other countries are doing it, we just are the ones who decided to push it to what seems the very extreme - but other countries haven't seen as many deaths as we have.

Don't be banging on about media bias, I can't be arsed. The last four articles I've seen in this thread are ones - quite fairly - bashing the government. It isn't a thing, neither side are ever happy and they're always convinced the media are against them.

You get some journos, some sites, yes, with a clear bias either way, but by and large the big organisations just report the news. You can look for anything to back up an argument. One of the most decisive is Peston, yet people on the right hate him, people on the left hate him, and people who are centrists seem to hate him too. Maybe he's just a prat, but it doesn't make him biased.

It's like people moaning about Captain Tom. "HE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO FUND THE NHS!!!"

He didn't 'fund the NHS'. He decided to do a nice thing and it caught on and people decided to donate. The NHS would have got by fine without the money he raised but the money he did raise went towards the NHS Charities Trust and that's great. If he hadn't had done it, the NHS or government or PHE wouldn't have been out asking for war veterans to walk around their gardens for a week. I saw someone whinging the other day that him going into hospital with covid was a headline in the paper, because there's been 100k deaths. It baffles me.

EDIT: Apologies, that media rant was less aimed at you, general thing. Should also note that the captain Tom thing was on Twitter - so my bad for even taking notice of it.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Pfizer BioNTech vaccine likely to be effective against B1.1.7 strain of SARS-CoV-2

The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine BNT162b2 is likely to be effective against the B1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2, even though its efficacy is modestly affected, say

www.cam.ac.uk

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

Really encouraging news


Great work by all involved, not least the volunteers who agreed to some pretty uncomfortable testing routines with no certainty of any personal benefits.

Don't think UK is signed up to purchase the Sputnik vaccine, being reported as they are similar in design there is a small trial planned to combine with AZ to improve its efficacy. And it's another that recommends 21 days between dosing....

DEFINE_ME

www.thelancet.com

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Oxford coronavirus vaccine shows sustained protection of 76% during the 3-month interval until the second dose | University of Oxford

Analyses reveal single standard dose efficacy from day 22 to day 90 post vaccination of 76% with protection not falling in this three-month periodAfter the second dose vaccine efficacy from two standard doses is 82.4% with the 3-month interval being used in the UK. (82.4% effective, with a 95%...

www.ox.ac.uk

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

Nice to hear none other than the BMJ saying what I've been saying for a year about how the Boris' govt has NOT been following science but is simply being opportunistic to embezzle the nation's wealth. The BMJ ffs!

This government HAS to go (to prison).

Top medical journal slams UK 'state corruption' and 'suppression of science'

THE BMJ has published a damning attack on the UK Government, saying “science is being suppressed for political and financial gain” in the mould…

www.thenational.scot

Johnson and his chums are in court not that you would you know!

The Government is in court today "first hearing". Being forced to publish it's procurement processes on how it's spent our money.

They cannot evade scrutiny in the courts | Good Law Project

The UK now has the highest COVID-19 death rate per capita of anywhere in the world. As we try and make sense of how we got our response so wretchedly wrong, just how significant will Government’s abandonment of transparency and proper process prove to be? The purpose of procurement law is to...

goodlawproject.org

 

[tsubaki]

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Okay, that's the first page results of a search for 'uk vaccine spacing'.

That's obviously without going into detail or using other key terms. If you put 'vaccine spacing risks' I'm sure there's a lot more articles.

If - and I hope we don't because it means the risk has paid off, and that means lives are saved (bloody hell, my grandparents have had Pfizer!) - we had started to see or will start to see a big chunk of people getting ill in the coming weeks, then there'll be stories about it.

Fortunately, the majority of people who will have had the vaccine will still be shielding and whatever people think of the restrictions, we aren't all milling around like the Tier 2 areas were before Xmas. It should help. We'll have to see. But I'm pretty sure once/if evidence becomes clear the plan has backfired, then it'll be all over the news.

... and yet if you search for “Pfizer second dose” you get a story on Sky:

COVID-19: Delaying second dose of Pfizer jab may leave elderly at risk of catching South African variant, study suggests

Lab tests showed that one dose of the vaccine may not stimulate the immune system to produce enough antibodies to kill the virus.

news.sky.com

Even though that’s been out for 15 hours, that’s the only outlet that I can find who reported it. “Yes, but it’s not peer reviewed!” I hear you cry - but the positive AZ one that’s been mentioned above hasn’t yet been either, according to this:

Single dose of AstraZeneca vaccine could cut transmission by 67%

One jab could also offer protection of up to 76% for up to 12 weeks, a new study shows

www.theguardian.com

I thought I might get better results searching for the name of the scientist quoted, one Dami Collier - and it worked, with stories found from goradio, the peninsular (of Qatar) and a medical site reporting it. No mainstream U.K. outlets though.

Then though I remembered how absurd it is to google search news reports to see if something is happening or not. I resolved to instead look at what the experts, the people who developed the thing. They said:

BioNTech warns ‘no data’ to support UK plan to space out Covid shots

German manufacturer says vaccine was only tested on basis of two doses 21 days apart

www.ft.com

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

... and yet if you search for “Pfizer second dose” you get a story on Sky:

COVID-19: Delaying second dose of Pfizer jab may leave elderly at risk of catching South African variant, study suggests

Lab tests showed that one dose of the vaccine may not stimulate the immune system to produce enough antibodies to kill the virus.

news.sky.com

Even though that’s been out for 15 hours, that’s the only outlet that I can find who reported it. “Yes, but it’s not peer reviewed!” I hear you cry - but the positive AZ one that’s been mentioned above hasn’t yet been either, according to this:

Single dose of AstraZeneca vaccine could cut transmission by 67%

One jab could also offer protection of up to 76% for up to 12 weeks, a new study shows

www.theguardian.com

I thought I might get better results searching for the name of the scientist quoted, one Dami Collier - and it worked, with stories found from goradio, the peninsular (of Qatar) and a medical site reporting it. No mainstream U.K. outlets though.

Then though I remembered how absurd it is to google search news reports to see if something is happening or not. I resolved to instead look at what the experts, the people who developed the thing. They said:

BioNTech warns ‘no data’ to support UK plan to space out Covid shots

German manufacturer says vaccine was only tested on basis of two doses 21 days apart

www.ft.com

Aye tis why we have 108,013 COVID dead within 28 days and 112,660 with COVID on death certificates. a government happy to play politics with the science and it's supporters happily dance it's tune.

Official UK Coronavirus Dashboard

GOV.UK Coronavirus dashboard

coronavirus.data.gov.uk

 

[AUXLEN]

Me Mam and Dad have their first injection this week (they are in their 70s), 2nd is in April.

 

[Billy Dean]

What's everyone's thoughts on the Sputnik V vaccine? The Lancet seems happy with it although from what I can tell are using data supplied to them by the Russians. It looks like the media is slowly getting us ready for it's use in the West.

 

[Mutzo Nutzo]

I'd avoid foreign travel this summer. European rollout of the vaccine is slow and I don't see it being the silver bullet we're all hoping it will be anyway.

Yup fully agree. Foreign holidays this year are very much off the menu in my household.

Im just looking forward to getting the vaccine and dropping into my local for a pint.

Small steps

 

[Mutzo Nutzo]

Tell by the response they are very concerned about this variant, they are door knocking, i suppose some "algorithm" tells them to worry as we are near point of "evolutionary turn" and "escape mutations". Rest assured we have a government that listens to "the science"...

Given that the public get to hear only the facts that the govt is prepared to release. Like an iceberg I’m guessing there is much more to this new mutation than we’re being told.

 

[grandjoeblue]

Oxford coronavirus vaccine shows sustained protection of 76% during the 3-month interval until the second dose | University of Oxford

Analyses reveal single standard dose efficacy from day 22 to day 90 post vaccination of 76% with protection not falling in this three-month periodAfter the second dose vaccine efficacy from two standard doses is 82.4% with the 3-month interval being used in the UK. (82.4% effective, with a 95%...

www.ox.ac.uk

Amazing news. AZ vaccine is incredible. By far the most viable option to save the planet.

What's everyone's thoughts on the Sputnik V vaccine? The Lancet seems happy with it although from what I can tell are using data supplied to them by the Russians. It looks like the media is slowly getting us ready for it's use in the West.

If it saves lives I couldn't care if its made in Russia, Birkenhead or Tonga. The Russians are a very well developed nation and they have always had very bright scientists.

 

[Billy Dean]

Amazing news. AZ vaccine is incredible. By far the most viable option to save the planet.

If it saves lives I couldn't care if its made in Russia, Birkenhead or Tonga. The Russians are a very well developed nation and they have always had very bright scientists.

I don't doubt the quality of their scientists. It's more the motives of the likes of Putin.

 

[grandjoeblue]

I don't doubt the quality of their scientists. It's more the motives of the likes of Putin.

Putin will want to get their country going again. I don't see why they would purposely roll out an ineffective vaccine.

If they weren't using it and they were selling it to other countries I would understand that viewpoint.

 

[davek]

Don't think UK is signed up to purchase the Sputnik vaccine, being reported as they are similar in design there is a small trial planned to combine with AZ to improve its efficacy. And it's another that recommends 21 days between dosing....

DEFINE_ME

www.thelancet.com

The "team up" with Sputnik line was trotted out prior to the new year.