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Covid vaccine: First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90% protection

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Covid vaccine: First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90% protection

#461

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we can eradicate it by contact tracing. With 90% efficiency it will be extremely tough for the virus to spread. For any new cases you simply test everyone in the vicinity of the infected person. But I don't think even that will be necessary. 90% efficiency reduces R so much, it will probably die out on its own. The real problem is mutations that are not covered by the vaccine. If it mutates as efficiently as…

Flu has a unique capability to recombine that allows it to mutate more readily than other viruses. Hoping that the more simple coronavirus will be less fortunate. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigenic_shift

Ability to recombine is not unique to the flu. SARS-CoV-2 is suspected to have been formed through a recombination event in vivo. [1] Mutation rates can also be manipulated through selective pressure e.g. vaccine-based herd immunity. For example, a vaccine-resistant polio virus has recently emerged. [2]

[1] https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/27/eabb9153 [2] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141104111408.h...

Re: Covid vaccine: First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90% protection

#462

So why shouldn't I buy stock??

If you rely on other people telling you what to do; don't.

Oh well let's not benefit from others brains knowledge, experience and computing power, let's instead think in isolation and cultivate our blind spot bias

Re: Covid vaccine: First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90% protection

#463
post #257

> The data released by Pfizer Monday was delivered in a news release, not a peer-reviewed medical journal. It is not conclusive evidence that the vaccine is safe and effective, and the initial finding of more than 90 percent efficacy could change as the trial goes on. The title is quite sensationalistic for such preliminary results. Especially when they have only been reviewed by an "outside panel of experts" [1] who…

It's a highly formalized clinical trial, it would be nonsensical to misrepresent or exaggerate the results. The preliminary analysis is based on 94 cases; not a huge number, but totally reasonable to draw conclusions from.

My point was the validation and peer-review. There are many possible confounding factors, including isolation and mask use.

Also I might have misread the protocol, since I'm no medical scientist, but wasn't the efficacy of the vaccine measured only in a 1 month timespan? Are we even sure the effects are long lasting?

I just don't want to get the hopes too high too soon. The crash after a positivity high can be quite bad. Reuters is even live streaming Wall Street because of this announcement!

Re: Covid vaccine: First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90% protection

#464
post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How dangerous did you assess it to be?

Vast majority of the cases are asymptomatic or only have mild symptoms.

Stalin loved statistics because he could make arguments like that and not seem like one of the most evil men to ever have lived.

Re: Covid vaccine: First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90% protection

#465
post #439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but is this safe long term Is getting COVID safe long term? There are plenty of viruses that cause issues in the long term. HIV causes AIDS, HPV and Hepatitis cause cancers years later. We have no clue on the long term effects of SARS-Cov-2, other than that it causes COVID-19 in the short term. It's a choice between the pest and the cholera at this point.

> Is getting COVID safe long term? For most people yes edit: so the whole world is studying this virus 24/7 for almost a year and nobody detected anything, yet you think it might give us aids v2 ? Feel free to link any study that hints to anything remotely going in that direction because I couldn't find anything at all.

Citation needed

Re: Covid vaccine: First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90% protection

#466
post #5

At the time of writing (2020-11-09 12:04 UTC) the article uses "90% of people" and "90% protection" interchangeably. I assume it means "90% of individuals achieve immunity", rather than "individuals achieve 90% immunity". EDIT: See child comment re: Pfizer press release. EDIT 2: See [1] for said press release, which has more detailed information than the BBC article. [1] https://investors.pfizer.com/investor-news/pre…

[deleted]

Re: Covid vaccine: First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90% protection

#467

Good: + ~90% of individuals achieve immunity. + no significant side-effects. Not so good: - two doses needed, 3 weeks apart, immunity after one month from first dose. Slow rollout. - -80C storage and transport needed. Challenging, but doable in developed countries, but still may slow down mass rollout. Not feasible in many developing countries. I still wonder about long-term immunity. Anyone can share any insight?

How does this compare to the chinese vaccine?

It's already in use around the world[1], but I haven't heard of how many people gain immunity thanks to it in percentage, nor if that one also requires multiple jabs.

1. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/3/uae-pm-and-dubai-ru...

Re: Covid vaccine: First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90% protection

#468

I'm feeling a deep-seated wave of relief that I never thought possible. Like waking up from a year-long nightmare. Thank God.

>I'm feeling a deep-seated wave of relief that I never thought possible. Like waking up from a year-long nightmare. Thank God. Moderna is also only weeks behind Pfizer/Biontech here with a very similar technology and manufacturing capability of hundreds of millions of doses. We'll be seeing the first EUA's by December, and shots in the arm before the end of the year. Pretty incredible that we can just science our way…

>We'll be seeing the first EUA's by December, and shots in the arm before the end of the year

What makes you say that? That's quite fast, no?

Re: Covid vaccine: First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90% protection

#470

I'm feeling a deep-seated wave of relief that I never thought possible. Like waking up from a year-long nightmare. Thank God.

>I'm feeling a deep-seated wave of relief that I never thought possible. Like waking up from a year-long nightmare. Thank God. Moderna is also only weeks behind Pfizer/Biontech here with a very similar technology and manufacturing capability of hundreds of millions of doses. We'll be seeing the first EUA's by December, and shots in the arm before the end of the year. Pretty incredible that we can just science our way…

thank god Biden was elected, otherwise this news would have been thrown in the trash.
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