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EU Commission to end AstraZeneca and J&J vaccine contracts at expiry

reuters.com

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Re: EU Commission to end AstraZeneca and J&J vaccine contracts at expiry

#11

Post by skrause »

Pick-A-Hill2019 wrote: post #2

Seems rather short sighted in my opinion given that the current scientific consensus is that Covid will become a seasonal thing as it mutates which means that booster shots will probably be needed. Given that amount of R&D funds that the two companies have put in I would imagine they would be reluctant to join in efforts to produce a vaccination for future variations.

The EU Commission has just started negotiations with BioNTech-Pfizer for 1.8 billion additional vaccine doses in 2021-2023: https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1382306561008230400

They're simply betting on mRNA only, so AstraZeneca and J&J won't be needed anymore.

Re: EU Commission to end AstraZeneca and J&J vaccine contracts at expiry

#12

Post by inglor_cz »

Pick-A-Hill2019 wrote: post #2

Seems rather short sighted in my opinion given that the current scientific consensus is that Covid will become a seasonal thing as it mutates which means that booster shots will probably be needed. Given that amount of R&D funds that the two companies have put in I would imagine they would be reluctant to join in efforts to produce a vaccination for future variations.

If Covid becomes a seasonal thing (very possible), we will need more efficient treatments, too. For everyone who cannot either get the vaccine at all or didn't manage to get the booster shot on time.

Fortunately it seems lately that some treatments do provide relief to people who are already sick:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00650-7

https://www.dw.com/en/asthma-drug-brings-hope-for-covid-19-t...

Re: EU Commission to end AstraZeneca and J&J vaccine contracts at expiry

#13

Post by refraincomment »

refraincomment wrote: post #9
refraincomment wrote: post #7

Good. But at the same time it should be possible to buy through private channels. So we can circumvent and get rid of the terribly inefficient bureaucrats.

As usual, advocating for personal freedom gets you downvoted. It's such a funny pattern.

What a bunch of retards you are :)

Re: EU Commission to end AstraZeneca and J&J vaccine contracts at expiry

#14

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

lampe3 wrote: post #3
Pick-A-Hill2019 wrote: post #2

Seems rather short sighted in my opinion given that the current scientific consensus is that Covid will become a seasonal thing as it mutates which means that booster shots will probably be needed. Given that amount of R&D funds that the two companies have put in I would imagine they would be reluctant to join in efforts to produce a vaccination for future variations.

short sighted is the mantra in a lot of EU Politics... In Germany politicians don't think longer then the next TV/Internet shit storm cycle...

It's not reserved to German politicians but the EU democracy apparatus as a whole is broken to the core without any better alternative.

Politicians aren't incentivized to optimize for doing what's right for their constituencies or the greater good but instead they say whatever gets them (re)elected then do whatever their lobby friends who contribute to the party's fund tell them to do, while putting a positive spin on this for the great unwashed.

We have no system in place that holds politicians accountable for the damage they do throughout their careers.

Even when they are forced to resign due to various scandals, they often end up as "consultants" at the businesses they helped get rich with tax-payer money.

Re: EU Commission to end AstraZeneca and J&J vaccine contracts at expiry

#15

Post by maxerickson »

Pick-A-Hill2019 wrote: post #2

Seems rather short sighted in my opinion given that the current scientific consensus is that Covid will become a seasonal thing as it mutates which means that booster shots will probably be needed. Given that amount of R&D funds that the two companies have put in I would imagine they would be reluctant to join in efforts to produce a vaccination for future variations.

We don't yet have a clear picture of how necessary booster shots will be.

Each mutation that impacts antibody reactivity also has a chance to impact infectiousness, and the proteins targeted by the vaccines are large enough that it isn't trivial to predict the outcome.

So we might need to do boosters, or we might be fine with the vaccines we have now.

Re: EU Commission to end AstraZeneca and J&J vaccine contracts at expiry

#16

Post by rsynnott »

Pick-A-Hill2019 wrote: post #2

Seems rather short sighted in my opinion given that the current scientific consensus is that Covid will become a seasonal thing as it mutates which means that booster shots will probably be needed. Given that amount of R&D funds that the two companies have put in I would imagine they would be reluctant to join in efforts to produce a vaccination for future variations.

Presumably the mRNA makers will have ramped production enough that it won't matter by the time anyone needs a booster.

Re: EU Commission to end AstraZeneca and J&J vaccine contracts at expiry

#17

Post by akmarinov »

refraincomment wrote: post #7

Good. But at the same time it should be possible to buy through private channels. So we can circumvent and get rid of the terribly inefficient bureaucrats.

Once given full approval and not just emergency use, they can sell directly to the people.

Re: EU Commission to end AstraZeneca and J&J vaccine contracts at expiry

#19

Post by Daho0n »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #14
lampe3 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

short sighted is the mantra in a lot of EU Politics... In Germany politicians don't think longer then the next TV/Internet shit storm cycle...

It's not reserved to German politicians but the EU democracy apparatus as a whole is broken to the core without any better alternative. Politicians aren't incentivized to optimize for doing what's right for their constituencies or the greater good but instead they say whatever gets them (re)elected then do whatever their lobby friends who contribute to the party's fund tell them to do, while putting a positive spin o…

It's like this everywhere except in those countries without democratic elections. It's a big part of democracy.

Edit: Changed 'with' to 'without'. Woops.

Re: EU Commission to end AstraZeneca and J&J vaccine contracts at expiry

#20

Post by maxerickson »

rsynnott wrote: post #16
Pick-A-Hill2019 wrote: post #2

Seems rather short sighted in my opinion given that the current scientific consensus is that Covid will become a seasonal thing as it mutates which means that booster shots will probably be needed. Given that amount of R&D funds that the two companies have put in I would imagine they would be reluctant to join in efforts to produce a vaccination for future variations.

Presumably the mRNA makers will have ramped production enough that it won't matter by the time anyone needs a booster.

That doesn't appear to be the case, even if you limit it to "enough for rich countries".

Pfizer is predicting that they will be able to produce 250 million doses month by the end of the year, so I guess they are getting there (depending on how long a period is acceptable).

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