J&J vaccine effectiveness reported against Delta and Beta variants in South Africa.
71% effective against hospitalization where Delta predominates, 67% versus hospitalization where Beta predominates. 91-96% effective against death.
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@mathmom Very interesting article. Thanks for sharing!
Ontario has extended the vaccine shots to those 11 3/4 years old to get more school kids vaxxed.
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This might need to be on the venting thread.
H (elementary teacher) overheard part of a conversation while unloading cars. He asked the teacher what was wrong. One child was admitted to the hospital with difficulty breathing and low O2 levels. H asked “oh wow. What was her test results?” Teacher replied “what test?” H said “uh. Covid? Difficult breathing/low O2?” Teacher responded. “I don’t know. They didn’t mention a test.” Meanwhile this conversation took place because the parent was dropping off the sibling at school.
I guess it could be RSV? But still. Our case rates jumped from the 40s to the 50s over the weekend. Sigh. H is following up with the nurse now
FDA grants full approval for Pfizer vaccine in 16+. 12-15 year old vaccine still under EUA only.
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-covid-19-vaccine
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Moderna vaccine may be more effective than Pfizer vaccine against Delta variant, according to some studies. Note that Moderna vaccine contains about three times as much mRNA per dose as Pfizer vaccine.
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Smelling odd smells for no apparent reason can also be a sign of a brain tumor.
The pattern I have been seeing in breakout cases have mimicked Jesse Jackson and wife. Members of a family coming down with it at basically the same time. So they were exposed at the same time, but in many cases not vaccinated at the same time. For example, a friend and her husband who probably got it when attending a wedding (which they travelled to and stayed overnight at a hotel for). She was vaccinated before him since she is a health care provider. When they asked around nobody else at the wedding admitted to being sick or getting sick (she thinks they just didn’t want to tell her.)
This suggests that the “waning immunity” story that so many seem to be betting so heavily on as reason to get boosters may not be the full story.
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I’m inclined to believe waning immunity depends on age and medical conditions as well as some very individual things that might be hard to account for on a public health level. Things like sleep, stress level, exercise, nutrition status, etc.
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Here is an interesting article on an antibody surveillance study in the UK:
The British government is starting an antibody surveillance program for adults who test positive for the coronavirus in order to develop a better understanding of its vaccine campaign and the immune response to different virus variants.
The program, which the U.K. Health Security Agency said would begin on Tuesday, will allow for up to 8,000 participants each day who book a P.C.R. test through the National Health Service’s “test and trace” program. However, the antibody tests, which will be free, will be sent only to those who test positive for the virus.
The information gathered will help gauge reinfection rates for those who had previously caught the virus, as well as measure breakthrough cases, and also study those who did not mount an immune response.
The British health secretary, Sajid Javid, said in a statement on Sunday that those who take part in the new public program would help “strengthen our understanding of Covid-19 as we cautiously return to a more normal life.”
[
United Kingdom Coronavirus Map and Case Count
See the latest charts and maps of coronavirus cases, deaths, hospitalizations and vaccinations in United Kingdom.
](United Kingdom Coronavirus Map and Case Count - The New York Times)
Previously, antibody tests were mostly available for only clinical or research purposes.
The Health Security Agency said that it hoped that the data collected from the initiative would improve its understanding of the protection provided by antibodies after either infection or vaccination. It said the data could also provide insight about those who do not develop an immune response.
Upon testing positive for the coronavirus, those who have opted into the new program — limited to those 18 and over — will be sent two finger-prick antibody tests. The first must be done as soon as possible after the P.C.R. result, before the body has time to generate antibodies in response to the current infection, and the second 28 days later.
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The preprint paper comparing Moderna and Pfizer - BioNTech vaccines:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.08.06.21261707v1.full-text
Note the July effectiveness, after the dominant variant switched from Alpha to Delta in June:
Summary of vaccine effectiveness in July:
| Vaccine | versus Infection | versus Hospitalization |
|---|---|---|
| Moderna | 76% | 81% |
| Pfizer - BioNTech | 42% | 75% |
The Moderna vaccine has 100 micrograms of mRNA, versus 30 micrograms for the Pfizer - BioNTech vaccine.
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In the top chart the moderna vaccine efficacy dipped below Pfizer against alpha between May and June but then increased above Pfizer once delta became dominant after June? Am I reading that correctly? If so, I wonder why moderna had such a sharp decline?
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Yes, the June vaccine effectiveness numbers look like this:
| Vaccine | versus Infection | versus Hospitalization |
|---|---|---|
| Moderna | 62% | 100% |
| Pfizer - BioNTech | 82% | 84% |
Yes, the dip in Moderna versus infection for June looks odd. June was the transition between the Alpha and Delta variants.
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Error bars? How did they measure the numbers? Were the populations of patients comparable for the two datapoints?
The confidence intervals (shown shaded) are fairly large. The paper describes how patients were selected and compared to those in the other vaccine and unvaccinated groups.
My point is that very few here will read the actual linked paper but some might freak out looking at the graphs. Please, when you present a graph, include all relevant info. Why? See my point above. 
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At this point I am skeptical of everything I see, hear or read. So many contradictory articles and studies, so many click bait headlines.
If anyone is wishing they had Moderna , there is another headline about the cardiac side effects with Moderna, today. Take your pick.
The main message here is that vaccines aren’t magic and we need to continue to be careful.
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The UK has already authorized moderna for 12-17.
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