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

reuters.com

31–40 of 209 posts

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

#31
post #26

Does anyone know how reusable the mRNA infrastructure is in the future for other mRNA based solutions or is this stuff more one-off for COVID?

It should be fully reusable for similar applications.

The mRNA production is basically 1:1 capacity. If a different application needed a different lipid some of the stuff might not be suitable.

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

#32
post #5

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.

Ending a contract would encourage them to do more R&D for more future contracts. Don't subsidize drugs/vaccines that don't work. There are 100+ vaccines being worked on. We're fine.

> Don't subsidize drugs/vaccines that don't work.

Both AZ and J&J have been proven effective. They clearly work. It might not be politically expedient for the EU Commission to emphasize that fact, but it is true nevertheless.

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

#33
post #26

Does anyone know how reusable the mRNA infrastructure is in the future for other mRNA based solutions or is this stuff more one-off for COVID?

It’s pretty much the holy grail for vaccines. It delivers the spike protein via mRNA and the hardest part is the delivery which they’re ironing out with nanolipids (also Moderna biggest IP) during this COVID run. Though I’m an engineer so take everything at face value.

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

#34

The EU Commission is disputing this report, according to German news.

I don't doubt it, but a link would be good?

https://www.handelsblatt.com/dpa/konjunktur/wirtschaft-hande...

> Entsprechende Berichte seien falsch, sagte ein EU-Beamter. Es sei viel zu früh, darüber jetzt zu entscheiden.

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

#35
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…

I don't disagree but how is that a feature of EU democracy and not democracy in general?

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

#36
Probably every drug has risks, many higher than the 1:1,000,000 reported for AZ/J&J. It's always a balance between the risk untreated vs. treated - many cancer drugs will kill you, but slower than they kill the cancer. Contraceptives have various issues, but their "social good" is deemed worthwhile.

I've read that they are doing gene analysis to try and determine why these cases appear - is it gender, age, cross-reactions with other meds, ...? And recall that some of these conditions appear without obvious causes. If they're due to an overly aggressive immune response, recall that the cytokine storm caused by covid in such cases is what attacks the lungs (why immunosuppressants are used as treatments).

And nobody understands Long Covid.

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

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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Bureaucracy, and scarcity. Personal freedom to buy it would be great if there were more than plenty for everyone, but right now they should be given to those who have a much higher risk of severe complications and/or death. Not even the US allows private selling right now.

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

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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You must be delusional. What's preventing you from being vaccinated is the scarcity of vaccines, and those being allocated to the people that need them most, instead of those that pay the most. If they were sold on the free market the price would rise rapidly above the current price, as demand outnumbers supply by at least an order of magnitude.

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

#40
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…

That statement can be applied to a lot of countries outside of the EU, it is not an EU specific problem. It represents a challenge for western democracies that appeared with the recent waves of populist movements (Trump, Brexit, 5 Stars, etc.)
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