Is another vaccine dose needed, and should it be a “booster” or a third dose of the primary series (for vaccines whose primary series is current two doses)?
Eric Topol and Michael Mina are screaming, yet not being heard. It’s all too bad.
Based on a large body of data, I lobbied the CDC this week to count confirmed prior Covid as equivalent to 1-dose of vaccine, which would reduce waste, unnecessary side-effects, and provide the same access to activities as 2-doses, no Covid.
I got nowhere.
The immune response for Prior Covid plus 1-dose vaccine (hybrid immunity) has not been beaten or matched by any 2-dose vaccine or mix/match combination to date.
And testing. Why can’t we get testing right? That should be an important part of our pandemic exit strategy.
there have been hundreds, if not thousands, of scientists (and even some of us on cc) recommending that the feds count those with confirmed COVID when reporting vaccinated status (towards herd immunity), but for the obvious reasons they have declined.
The feds can’t report it because not all the states are.
Unfortunately only those who were tested can prove they had Covid and take advantage of having that infection count as their first vaccine dose, assuming they can produce the results of the test. There are hundreds of thousands that had Covid, either asymptomatically or symptomatically, but weren’t tested so they’re still in the vaccine lane if they want to show they’ve been “fully” vaccinated.
Sorry @Mwfan1921 didn’t mean to reply to you directly.
or, don’t you mean that the feds have chose to not require it to be reported by the states.
Interesting story describing two people’s experience with long COVID.
Sorry if it has been posted before.
This Twitter thread (from Utah’s governor) has some details from Intermountain Healthcare (IHC, the largest hospital system in Utah):
Over 90% of hospitalized people who were vaccinated were over 50 and had significant co-morbidities (average of 5.8 other conditions).
40% of hospitalized people who were unvaccinated were under 50 and a similar proportion had no co-morbidities (average of 1.8 other conditions).
Page about Pfizer’s research on variants.
However, it does not say whether Pfizer is developing a vaccine specifically against the Delta variant, or when that may become available if it is. It does say that “The variants are so far neutralized by the vaccine, but Pfizer is working on an updated vaccine to prepare for the day when one could be needed. It picked Beta, the variant with the greatest reduction in virus neutralization in the assay, as the prototype.”
news from israel. not everyone receiving the 3rd dose is prevented from hospitlization and dying , but now those who are dying are trending to the unvaccinated. Also the booster brings vaccine efficiency back up to 90’s
From the article:
According to a Channel 13 news report, those who have received a third dose are 96% protected from being infected with COVID-19, starting a week after receiving the shot. The report claimed that those who have just two doses are currently just 42% protected from infection.
As of Sunday evening, there were 84,218 active coronavirus cases in Israel, with 1,096 hospitalized, including 677 in serious condition and 157 on ventilators. The number of those seriously ill has trended slightly downward over the past week, from a peak of 753 last Sunday.
At least 11 people died on Sunday morning and afternoon, 27 people died on Saturday and 29 on Friday. According to the Ynet news site, more than half of the 122 Israelis who died of the coronavirus over the past five days — since the beginning of September — were unvaccinated. The report stated that 65 of them were completely unvaccinated, 42 were vaccinated but did not receive a booster shot, and 15 of them also had a third dose.
By Sunday evening, 2,622,010 Israelis — 28% of the total population — have already received a third booster dose. More than six million — 65% of the population — have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
Another new type of vaccine, based on DNA:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02385-x
ZyCoV-D has been approved in India for emergency use. Trials found it to be 67% effective. Note that these trials were conducted when the Delta variant was most common.
I’m really glad to see this type of research making progress - what makes one more/less likely to have issues with Covid?
If they can get the info and do something with the info, it would be so helpful.
Sometime in the past, these researchers were college kids heading out with a dream. Now they might be able to truly help the world.
Progress on the therapeutic front as well. Since Covid appears to be with us for the foreseeable future I sincerely hope pharma is dedicating significant time to R&D of therapeutics as well as vaccines.
Saw somewhere that less than 1% of patients now being hospitalized with COVID are vaccinated. A strong statistic for the vaccines working,
Page about observations of people who have very strong immunity after getting COVID-19 and subsequent vaccination. Mentions that their antibodies neutralize more coronaviruses and variants than just the ones they were infected with or vaccinated against.
The page also has the following: “Now, of course, there are so many remaining questions. For example, what if you catch COVID-19 after you’re vaccinated? Or can a person who hasn’t been infected with the coronavirus mount a “superhuman” response if the person receives a third dose of a vaccine as a booster?”
A UAMS research team has identified a potential cause of long-lasting symptoms experienced by COVID-19 patients, often referred to as long-haulers. The findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE.
At the heart of the team’s findings is an antibody that shows up weeks after an initial infection and attacks and disrupts a key regulator of the immune system, said lead researcher John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chief of the Division of Nephrology in the UAMS College of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine.
As many as 30% of COVID-19 patients experience lingering fatigue, brain fog and shortness of breath. The cause of long COVID-19 has eluded scientists, but the UAMS team’s discovery sheds important new light on the molecular-level mechanisms behind it.
“Everything that we’ve found is consistent with this antibody as the instigator of long COVID, so it’s an exciting development that merits further study,” Arthur said.
The antibody creates problems for the immune system by attacking the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). The ACE2 enzyme helps regulate the body’s response to the virus by metabolizing a peptide that activates the immune system. The attacking antibody interferes with ACE2’s work, which makes the antibody a prime suspect for the long-lasting illness.