This is a great idea! But why it would be any faster than a vaccine. We already have vaccines, the slowness is testing them. Wouldn’t this method need just as much testing?
Because it is a natural virus. You don’t need approval from the FDA to be infected with a natural virus.
But to deploy this at scale, you need to
1. Prove it works (is there data that provides lasting immunity to all other strains?)
2. Prove it is safe (e.g. is it mild/asymptomatic across all populations?)
Both of those things take time to fully vet. What's the difference between rolling the dice with a live strain vs. one of the half dozen vaccines already in development?
Because it is a natural virus. You don’t need approval from the FDA to be infected with a natural virus.
But to deploy this at scale, you need to 1. Prove it works (is there data that provides lasting immunity to all other strains?) 2. Prove it is safe (e.g. is it mild/asymptomatic across all populations?) Both of those things take time to fully vet. What's the difference between rolling the dice with a live strain vs. one of the half dozen vaccines already in development?
First get this validated by a medical authority. Find the best one you can. Next, send your idea and medical validation to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. You're not contacting Bill, you're contacting his foundation. Their doctors will look at your idea and can present it to Bill on the next scheduled call.
No one should contact that terrorist eugenics organization. They're diabolical.
Did you get the email we sent you? It contained a repost invite for https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22798626 . I worry that it might have gone into a spam hole. (I apologize for hijacking the thread. By the way, invited reposts are related to the re-upping system described here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11662380 )
Hi Dan I have only just got up (it is early morning here in Australia) so I haven’t had a chance to check my work emails yet.
Do you happen to know someone who knows someone that someone like Bill will take seriously? I did apply to the fast grant program, but I suspect it got thrown in the bin as I am industry not academia these days.
Edit. Just checked and no email even in my junk mail folder :(
Because it is a natural virus. You don’t need approval from the FDA to be infected with a natural virus.
But to deploy this at scale, you need to 1. Prove it works (is there data that provides lasting immunity to all other strains?) 2. Prove it is safe (e.g. is it mild/asymptomatic across all populations?) Both of those things take time to fully vet. What's the difference between rolling the dice with a live strain vs. one of the half dozen vaccines already in development?
No you don’t ;)
If you are stuck in the “every approach has to be tested to conventional FDA standards” then yes. If you are able to look outside the box for a little then you will realise that you don’t. This is not a problem that is going to be solved by old thinking.
But to deploy this at scale, you need to 1. Prove it works (is there data that provides lasting immunity to all other strains?) 2. Prove it is safe (e.g. is it mild/asymptomatic across all populations?) Both of those things take time to fully vet. What's the difference between rolling the dice with a live strain vs. one of the half dozen vaccines already in development?
Here is the post for those who don’t want to follow the link. Like nearly everyone on the planet I am worried about COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) appears to be killing between 1% to 3.5% of the people it infects and has a R0 (i.e. how many new people each person infected goes onto infect) of between 2.5 to 3.9. Left to run wild, the virus will likely kill tens of millions of people worldwide.…
> The major risk is the virus we think is safe is not 100% safe. IANAD, but IMHO you cannot just sequence the virus in asymptomatic people - you have to sequence a randomized, sizable % of the whole positive population, including mild or severe cases, and the dead too. Only then you'll be able to "paint a picture" of the different strains' effects on humans and slap some confidence data to each identified strain. You…
That was my thought as well - basically, how do you know if the strain doesn't kill if you don't check for severe and lethal cases linked to the same strain? I understand the part about looking for specific mutations, and assuming they would indicate the "usual" complications with the deadlier strains would not be present, but mutations are not exactly predictable, right? If they don't cause the sympthoms of the current deadly strain - they may be causing something else completely, which could be as deadly a little bit later down the line - isn't this a reasonble concern, @danieltillett?
Why Bill Gates? Or why start with him? Get a grant from anywhere reputable. You need to work your way up the ladder through a ton of hard work. I don't mean that's how the system should work, but each rung of the ladder will be a signal to the next rung that your idea is worth the opportunity cost of not considering a competing idea. Waiting for Gates or another almost god-like figure can be an excuse to avoid hard w…
Have you looked into my background? I know all about how the how the system works. I am not looking to avoid hard work. As for why Bill Gates I specifically said I am looking for people with the clout to make this happens - while I am sure Bill would understand my proposal so would lots of other smart people. I don’t wish to be snarky, but yes you have misunderstood my proposal.
Sorry, no I didn't look at your background at all. My comment was basically reflexive because people are constantly trying to skip the middle steps of getting the attention of super high profile people when I see those incremental steps as the only reason the system can continue to function. But there also has to be ways of escaping the system when very good or novel ideas come around. Like maybe yours.
Wish you the best in your efforts and please don't let comments like mine dissuade you from any possible route to helping get us out of this mess.