OT: Vaccine For COVID-19

[Randy B. Singer]

Sorry if this is off topic, but this is such a good article that I felt that I'd like to share...


I think this is an extremely interesting, authoritative, and readable article about how fast a vaccine for COVID-19 can be developed:

Can a Vaccine for Covid-19 Be Developed in Record Time?

Can a Vaccine for Covid-19 Be Developed in Record Time? - The New York Times

 

[toMACsh]

As long as the shortcuts they are taking don't end up doing harm...
There are good reasons for developing such things carefully.

Another thing that amazes me is discovering that existing drugs can help people with COVID-19 recover.
How do they no which ones to try?

 

[iggibar]

In order to graduate, my research thesis was on “Stem Cell Therapy in Subjects with Myocardial Infarction and Time Dependency on Efficacy.” I pretty much got everything required to test and run a true scientific study. It teaches you A LOTTT! If the focus of the vaccine creation is to develop something as fast as possible that works in treating patients with Covid, it is certainly possible. However, it is NOT possible to develop a drug while also knowing the side effects within the same time.

It’s either you develop the drug fast to cure something without worry of side effects,
Or you take longer time to develop a drug to understand the aide effects.
It’s impossible to have both.

I believe what is being researched now is how current possibilities behave compared to other drugs from recent SARS drugs, and trying to at least understand short-term side effects.


Sent from my iPhone using Mac-Forums

 

[Lifeisabeach]

As long as the shortcuts they are taking don't end up doing harm...
There are good reasons for developing such things carefully.

Another thing that amazes me is discovering that existing drugs can help people with COVID-19 recover.
How do they no which ones to try?

Partly they look for what's effective for similar viral infections. In some cases, they took something that was being trialed for one type of virus and pivoted to see how it works for COVID. The most promising example of that latter situation is Remdesivir, which was developed to treat Ebola and while it didn't pan out well for treating Ebola cases, it is helping with a segment of COVID cases.

Right now, the industry is pretty much throwing "poo" at the wall to see what sticks. I'm not even joking here. My wife works for one of the companies that manages clinical trials for the pharmaceuticals and as I understand it, they have all ceased research on everything else to focus strictly on COVID. Her team alone is managing about a dozen trials. All the pharmaceuticals are poring over their portfolios to see what is a potential candidate to try; what combination of drugs should be tried together; what new ones could be developed; etc. it's also putting an incredible strain just on the resources in setting up the trials because of all the competition and naturally a relatively limited pool of patients to get into the trials (yes, there are a lot of infected people, but enough for a few hundred different trials? That have very specific criteria beyond being "simply" infected?).

One thing I can also say is that she's been stating the 12-18 month timeline as best case scenario before it was even well known in the news. She knows the processes and what's being cut out to expedite this. But again, best case... it all depends on if anything actually pans out. Early success in a small group DOES NOT mean you'll see the same level of success once trialed in a larger pool. It's really important we come to terms with this because COVID is going to be here with limited treatment options for some time to come. Winter is going to be beyond miserable with flu season on top of this.

 

[Brian1230]

I will get the vaccine when it is available, not because I am at all consernd about getting COVID, it is just a virus like hiv, and being gay, and ONLY willing to date guys 25-30 years younger, I never took precautions for hiv so why would I care about a respiratory virus? I will get it because my boyfriend wants me to, I don't even get routine physical examinations ever, because they are a waste of my time. we argue about me getting a physical constantly, even if he pays for it. not important to me.

also covid-19 is the coronavirus, and coronavirus is the same virus as the flu, so they likely just modified a flu vaccine, which I get for him, again, I don't care to get any vaccine for myself ever.

 

[IWT]

I’ve been very touched by some of the comments made by my fellow members.

As you might expect, I’ve kept abreast of developments as they appeared in the literature. I do not class myself as an expert in SARS-CoV-2, but I have read and studied around 350 published articles in respected Journals and others such as Scientific American and Neuroscience, hopefully with a skeptical and focussed mind.

I’ve also been involved in a modest way with COVID-19 patients. Infectious diseases was my main interest whilst in gainful practice.

I appreciate member iggibar’s comments and agree with LIAB’s commentary and confirm that “they (pharmacuetuical companies) have all ceased research on everything else to focus strictly on COVID.” This has been to the detriment of Malaria, Tuberculosis and the MMR vaccine, to name a few. That is not unexpected, but the harm from such endeavours has resulted in an explosion of these and other diseases.

At a hospital level - I speak as a UK citizen - the cessation of cancer therapy, cancer screening, the cancellation of outpatients and routine treatments/surgery has left its mark on our society.

@Brian1230,

I acknowledge with kindness and respect, your post about your private life. I would comment that not all viruses are alike and the risk factors associated with each tends to be rather different. And from that, the precautions one needs to take vary with the virus. HIV is not in the same ballpark as SARS-CoV-2 in terms of transmissibility and the latter is not the same as influenza at all.

Vaccination is a personal matter for the individual, but one should consider the others in our family, neighbourhood, and those we encounter in our daily meanderings. They too benefit from our vaccination.

I trust that everyone will see this a a personal contribution and in no way is it intended to offend or preach.

Ian

 

[chscag]

I trust that everyone will see this a a personal contribution and in no way is it intended to offend or preach.

Thanks for your contribution Ian. As someone who is a physician and knowledgeable, I respect your opinion.

It appears that medical personnel here in the US are receiving the first dose of the vaccine. My Sister in Law who is a nurse practitioner at a large Dallas hospital has already received hers.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Thanks for your contribution Ian. As someone who is a physician and knowledgeable, I respect your opinion.

It appears that medical personnel here in the US are receiving the first dose of the vaccine. My Sister in Law who is a nurse practitioner at a large Dallas hospital has already received hers.

I got in on the first round and my second dose will be administered tomorrow. I'm fortunate to have managed to avoid contracting COVID thus far, largely due to diligence in everything I do. It's not been easy, and even going forward I will still continue due diligence.

If anyone is having concerns about the vaccines, please follow the science and the standing medical advice and not succumb to fears of the unknown. The only real questions for development were whether or not a vaccine could be made to promote an immune system response and what the dosages would be, and they got those answers in the phase 3 trials. Ideally they'd have continued trials for an extended period to prove/confirm it's safe for a wider range of people with certain conditions, but we don't have the luxury of that time and the reality is that there's nothing mysterious about any of these vaccines. They know what's in them and they know how they affect the body. There's literally no mystery here. There's one component in both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that is known to cause allergic reactions in very rare cases (it's commonly found in laxatives) and very likely is the culprit behind the highly publicized reactions that have occurred. But the rate of reactions is a fraction of a fraction of the total given. Pretty much every vaccine and medication out there has "someone" allergic to it. We are complex, diverse people and it's HARD to make something 100% safe for literally everyone. These vaccines are the ONLY way back to anything close to normal living again, short of letting the virus run rampant and letting it take whoever it will. It's so incredibly important that everyone get it when they can, if not for their own selves, then for the sake of those around you. Just because "you" may be low risk or unconcerned for yourself doesn't mean you won't contract it and pass it to someone it can and will kill. It's happening every day, every hour, right now. This is bigger than our own selves.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

As a side note here... I re-read my earlier post and noted how flu season on top of this would make things worse. Now THAT is actually something worth talking about! Australia went through their flu season a few months ago and their flu rate was a fraction of the cases compared to previous years. As for myself, for the past several years I've gotten sick with flu-like symptoms typically twice each season despite the flu shot. I usually get something shortly after the flu shot and again typically in January/February. This season? Nothing more than a runny nose a couple times. While there's still time for me to come down with "something" given my track record, it's looking increasingly unlikely. Masks and careful hand hygiene practices WORK! It's something I've known fundamentally, but until this past year never fully appreciated, masks especially since that's really the biggest change for me in my work and daily life.

 

[Slydude]

I think this thread has served its intended purpose for now. Closing the thread,