SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Thank you. The 'usual suspects' were there but I didn't see the Russian vaccine:
Russia coronavirus: Reality bites for Putin's Sputnik V vaccine, as concerns over efficacy and safety linger - CNN

It sounds like the Russians may be shorting some of the normal testing steps. Regardless, masks and distance remains the best technique today.

Bob Wilson

 

fda approves eli lilly's banlanivimab antibody treatment for those over 12 years old with mild to moderate symptoms.

 

My question about the potential vaccine that has to be stored at like -70° is do they thaw it at all before injecting you? That would be one cold shot. Woof!

 

-70°C storage requirement is due to inherent RNA molecule stability issue. At higher temperature RNase (enzyme that break down RNA molecule) can degrade the integrity of the RNA based vaccine. They have to be stored and handled at the lowest possible temperature to minimize degradation but I don't believe it can be injectable at that temperature. I don't know what type of media they are in and what type of delivery method would be used for the vaccine, but yeah, it has to be thawed before administering to people.

Edit: According to this article, Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine must be stored and transported at or below -70°C (-94 degrees Fahrenheit) and once thawed it remains stable for only 24 hours in a refrigerator. This limits the distribution and administration of the vaccine to only centralized location which will make the large population vaccination very impractical. Compared to Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, Moderna's vaccine if it can be successfully developed needs to be stored and transported at -20°C (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) and can be kept in a refrigerator below 46 degrees for up to seven days. This makes Moderna's vaccine much more amenable to wider distribution and administration.

 

Means infections prevented. This was from phase 3 randomized double blinded placebo controlled trials. Some got the vaccine, others got sterile saline.

About 80% of people are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic from COVID infection. So what we need to learn next is does this decrease infection risk 90%+ across the board to include moderate to severe cases such as those who get hospitalized, artificially ventilated, and/or those who would otherwise die? If that is the case, this is extremely encouraging.

Pfizer says an independent data monitoring board looked at 94 infections, but haven't explained any of the aforementioned details AFAIK.

 

By my reading of their press release yesterday, I think it is across the board. Those enrolled are tested regularly for infection, regardless of the severity of symptoms.

Also, the efficacy was quoted as ‘at least 90%...’

-70°C is usually quoted as meaning liquid nitrogen storage in our labs. Staff need to be trained up on the safety procedures and operating policies.

 

Their press release also says that their planned endpoint was when they reached 164 cases. They have 94 now, so I would expect them to continue and stick to their plan for completion.

 

On a separate note, here is an interesting article passed on via our Royal College of Physicians, exploring the concept of fake news and science denials by using the understanding we have of certain rare conditions in which these mindsets are characteristic.

It is a quick and interesting read. Capgras syndrome occurs in a type of dementia and causes the patient to have the false belief that their loved one has been replaced by an imposter. The neurological pathways are reasonably well understood and the lack of reliable sensory data reaching the appropriate part of the brain is the simplistic explanation.

This may offer a useful insight when considering how the public view COVID-19. If we receive wrong, insufficient, indigestible or conflicting information we will not be able to process it, and false beliefs will occur as the brain seeks other sources of data.

We recently had a Prime Minister’s press conference explaining the need to go back into a second ‘lockdown’ where several complicated graphs and charts were shown. If the audience is not used to rapidly assessing and understanding this kind of material, then this is the kind of situation which will lead the brain to seek messages that are simpler, more reassuring and those that deny the existence of a threat.

Perhaps obvious, but how the message is delivered is as important as the recipient’s ability to receive it...

Science Denial and COVID Conspiracy Theories: Potential Neurological Mechanisms and Possible Responses | Dementia and Cognitive Impairment | JAMA | JAMA Network

 

If you can find data, please post. I have asked other colleagues and they also noted they have come across no subgroup reporting. That is to say, no report to say (yet) a 90%+ reduction of COVID hospitalizations, patients put on ventilators, or deaths in the treatments arm.

If the 90%+ reduction is almost entirely relegated to the mildly symptomatic to asymptomatic subgroups, that would be disappointing. If it carries well into the moderate to severe disease categories, that is a very big game changer.

 

Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of –320°F (–196°C). I think the storage for RNA is OK in regular ultra low temperature freezer also known as Harris Freezer that can sustain -80°C.

 

Yeah and it has to go in the butt too.

 

That one is also a two shot version. Double Woof.

 

Yep, that is the target temp.
And they don't KNOW yet that is even really needed.
That is one of the additional tests that will be short-circuited because of the rush.
And yes, they have to "thaw it out" before administering it.

 

I believe that by march 2021, we should have 3 vaccines approved, various ways to distbribute it, and a much lower spead of this thing. I believe in humanity. I believe we are smarter than the virus. I believe we will succeed.

 

The evening news reported that Tennesse counties without mask ordinances have 2x the COVID-19 rate.

Bob Wilson

 

it means the pfizer ceo sold 62% of his stock on the news release