It's amazing what being shielded from prosecution does for a company's ability to innovate!
Pfizer and Biontech provide update on Omicron variant
161–170 of 717 posts
Re: Pfizer and Biontech provide update on Omicron variant
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a good question. If you Google it, the first page of results has articles reporting different reductions depending on the study, number of doses, and manufacturer. The range of results from a quick glance at a few of the articles is between 11% and 71% reduced transmission.
Thanks I will check it out. Would love to understand how those square up with the many studies that discuss natural immunity and the low to non-existent reinfection/transmission rates there. I know so many people who recovered from covid (jabbed and unjabbed), are healthy now, and don't see a need for a jab/booster.
I got the first two shots because it seemed advisable and I was willing to roll the dice on a novel mRNA treatment due to this HN post [1]. However, I'm confused and frustrated about the messaging on the 3rd. It's either only for people 65 and older, or for everyone if you can get it, or it's mandatory to complete your vaccination, or it's going to be a seasonal thing like the flu vaccine depending on the source. For me, it's worth pausing until the messaging stabilizes -- Omicron being universally reported as relatively mild really undermines the message that continuous boosters are necessary.
Re: Pfizer and Biontech provide update on Omicron variant
#163Product manufacturer recommends use of its product. Surprise!
Unclear why the cynicism is warranted here. They’re not just making a guess, they performed an experiment that is inline with a comparable experiment from non affiliated SA scientists to yield these results. Should they not run this type of experiment and make a useful and true recommendation to the public? Would that be a better more pure scenario for you?
> They’re not just making a guess, they performed an experiment that is inline with a comparable experiment from non affiliated SA scientists to yield these results.
Are you really sure they would have published anything if it had proven negative? A rhetorical question, of course.
There's some things called business incentives and conflicts of interest in the world.
Re: Pfizer and Biontech provide update on Omicron variant
#164Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not really normalcy if one still has to be concerned about catching covid and/or passing it on to vulnerable relatives though.
You don’t have to be concerned. Another commenter brought up that the death rate per 100k is in the range of 1.1 (vaccinated) to ~5 (unvaccinated). Car accidents are >10/100k/yr.
5/100k deaths among unvaccinated can’t possibly be right, can it? There have been 790k Covid deaths so far in the US out of a population of 330 million, which is over 200/100k.
Re: Pfizer and Biontech provide update on Omicron variant
#165Why haven’t they updated the vaccine? I thought one of the major benefits of this technology was the ease with which you can modify them.
They can definitely update the vaccine but it's not easy as 1 2 3 then good to go.
Re: Pfizer and Biontech provide update on Omicron variant
#166Why haven’t they updated the vaccine? I thought one of the major benefits of this technology was the ease with which you can modify them.
I thin an appropriate analogy to your question is the question "Why haven't you written your masterpiece novel? I thought one of the major benefits of a computer is the ease with which you can write and publish anything."
Re: Pfizer and Biontech provide update on Omicron variant
#167I have a few relatives in the medical field (all vaxxed and boosted) that have explained the booster shot is just more of the same stuff - they haven't had time to make a new recipe.. so isn't this just the same study all over again? i.e 2 shots had high protection in the beginning and waned over time. Can we expect the same from the booster shot?
There are studies that show, that you do not have much protection against an infection half a year after your second dose. This is true for all available vaccines in the western world. You probably still have protection against a severe outcome, but not against getting infected and thus spreading the virus.
A third dose, even of the same stuff, will again increase your amount of antibodies and therefore lessen the chance of an infection in the first place. Using a different vaccine as third dose seems to offer even more protection.
Re: Pfizer and Biontech provide update on Omicron variant
#168Now they want us to take the vax every 9 months forever.
The pharmacorps have become our landlords.
Which is the whole point of course.
Re: Pfizer and Biontech provide update on Omicron variant
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
Personally I think the path is countries which have a high vaccination level need to stop implementing restrictions whilst making mitigations such as increasing healthcare capacity (which they should have done 18 months ago but many didn't), paying for rapid testing, enabling PTO for people who think they are sick, sensible mask mandates, etc... These countries need to lead the way to accepting we've waited for vacci…
None of what you described is a path to normalcy. We've been doing it for over a year. Look at Australia, they have concentration camps. Vaccines don't really stop the spread of the virus, neither do they stop you from getting infected, they just reduce the symptoms and the odds of death. Which is still great, but it's not stopping the virus. We need next level meds, real vaccines.
> Vaccines don't really stop the spread of the virus
Technically correct, they don't stop the spread, but they significantly reduce it.
It's kinda logical, isn't it? The virus must win over your antibodies to replicate. Currently breakthrough infections happen 1-2% of the time in the vaccinated, so even if there are 10x as many asymptomatic, unreported cases, the protective effect is still huge. This is really important to keep R In addition, the 90% reduced chance of hospitalisation is of great help to the healthcare system.
Re: Pfizer and Biontech provide update on Omicron variant
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not the same. They are not giving advice or recommendations, they are reporting the results of a study. That's the beauty of a good scientific study: you do not have to trust the author. In fact don't, the more people try to find errors the better.
Note: you're replying to someone who recirculates propaganda from antivaxers like Alex Berenson. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29322688
Alex Berenson, unlike Pfizer, has nothing to gain from taking the journalistic stance he holds. In fact he was banned from Twitter for it.
In your mind, an independent/skeptical/critical journalist is a propagandist, and Pfizer is a neutral public health authority? Time to wake up.