Just food for thought. Breakthroughs-by-news-release is NOT the goal, and makes responsible scientists wary. Not happy about Pfizer writing a news release instead of having a journal publish their data so outside eyes can review it. And the sample they pulled for the initial look is really small (98 patients). So yes, good news—but be aware of these factors. Pfizer didn’t take Warp Speed money, which may help the credibility of this vaccine if this data holds up, but for them to say they are apolitical is kind of funny. They relied on the genome info that government provided, to start with.
Big Pharma is a business. Don’t forget that. Fearful that not taking Warp Speed money means they will charge, and it’s a two-dose Vx.
How sick do students get? I didn’t know anyone who had Covid until October. In the last three weeks I’m aware of three people and two of them are teenagers. One of them is 17 and was very ill for about a week. She still feels very weak and has trouble doing every day tasks. This is a very healthy young woman who is on the high school swim team. It’s scary.
Patriot League to play league only basketball starting Jan 2. Limited travel and opponents.
No one has that data. It’s just not going to be available unless the individual families release it. Cases and deaths are a different story. That’s public (or, should be.) That’s why we know only part of the story.
I’d look for a different pediatrician tbh.
The vaccine news is literally the biggest news for humanity ever. Today, take a break from quibbling about little things, we have a MASSIVE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL, rejoice!
(Obviously as this is the school & coronavirus thread, to tie it to school, with 90% effectiveness vs the hoped for 60%+, this completely changes how school in fall 2021 can look. If it was just 60%, we would have probably still had masks and SD in the fall but with everyone back to school, etc. I am now hopeful that fall 2021 can actually be basically normal. Hallelujah).
Also, the 94 cases is beyond statistically significant—that’s why this is big news. An OUTSIDE body looked at the data (Pfizer still hasn’t seen it) and said there was OVER 90% effectiveness with no safety concerns. So for example, that might means that 92 of the 94 participants who got covid were in the placebo arm, and only 2 of the 94 had the vaccine. They had 44,000 trial participants. The 94 is NOT a small number—-this kind of overwhelming response (ie ~92 vs 2) is BEYOND statistically significant. Rest assured, this is FANTASTIC news. It will be a job to communicate and get people on the program, but it will get done and people will learn that the process was very valid, very safe. Please appreciate that we just received MONUMENTAL news. Enjoy!! Pop champagne!!
Also, because of the platform Pfizer used (messenger RNA), it can easily be adapted for potential future mutations, etc, so even if boosters are needed in the future, this particular type of vaccine is well-equipped to handle it. Our kids of all ages have to get through the coming months, but we will have normal school again (and all other aspects of life). PHEW.
From the epidemiological standpoint there might not be much difference between 90% of people getting a 50% effective vaccine and 50% of people getting a 90% effective vaccine.
Full disclosure: I am not an epidemiologist 
Exactly. Moderna’s vaccine is also mRNA-based and we should know their result soon.
This goes well beyond coronavirus. Cancer vaccines and even targeted and individually tailored treatments based on mRNA technology are now within the realm of possible.
Despite the current dark clouds this really is the best time to be alive.
@iluvnaples Purdue has a severity tracker on The dash board. Majority of cases have been asymptomatic. No current hospitalizations. Five total since August 1. No breakdown of those were staff or students. No fatalities. Of course we don’t know about the long term impacts which is what many worry about
Pitt has also experienced a rise in cases recently. They report 40 confirmed cases since Friday and are blaming Halloween parties. They are now tightening up again on the restrictions that they had recently relaxed.
Well some doctors and nurses may not want to get the vaccine (not sure why) but I would bet if employed by hospitals or teaching hospitals, etc, they will be required to get the vaccine. I expect the same with incoming and returning college students.
This potential vaccine gives me much hope for S21 to attend OOS on a campus and maybe in a classroom. I’d be jumping for joy for a week if so.
So as a doctor but not front line one, I will wait a bit is my attitude now. Everything has been very rushed to this point. More data and larger sample size is better. But will see. That’s my attitude now.
It is absolutely crazy to me that some would not want the vaccine. I hope that colleges require it along with the others currently required to live in the dorm or work in a classroom. My mom volunteers in a hospital and a flu shot has always been required (or you take the months of November -April off) but it amazes me that only 40-60% of the population get that vaccine. I would expect the same with the covid vaccine. Many parents/students watching every college number on covid have still have not gotten the flu vaccine. There is a reason we got this far so fast with the covid vaccine and it was a lot of companies willing to spend a lot of money. I say everyone who does not want the vaccine can stay in their house for the next 5 years and continue with their online class.
Here is an interesting article from the Vassar paper about schools like Brown, Yale and Williams signing a pledge regarding COVID impacts on the admissions process, it includes information on whether schools are thinking of allowing SAT and ACT scores to be optional permanently :
https://miscellanynews.org/2020/10/07/news/how-covid-19-is-changing-the-college-admissions-process/
Presumably, colleges’ institutional research departments will be tracking the “natural experiment” of test-optional (or test-blind in some cases) admissions to see how well the students do, and whether or how much non-use of SAT/ACT affects prediction of college academic success.
@TheVulcan well, 90% of people getting a 90% effective vaccine sounds even better to me. 
To borrow a commonly misattributed to Abraham Lincoln phrase, you can vaccinate some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not vaccinate all of the people all of the time.
I’ve come to bear some good news …NOT!!! Here’s part of the message we received from RIT today. My son also said beginning today they all switched to remote learning until the week of Thanksgiving when students go home. SMH
Dear RIT community,
This past weekend we continued to experience a rise of COVID-19. Rates of infection have increased to the point where we must elevate our COVID Alert Level to Orange. This will prompt changes in the way we operate for the remainder of the semester. Please review the Orange mitigation strategies below and on the RIT Ready website, as they have changed since the alert levels were originally developed.
The virus’s prevalence continues to elevate on campus, in the surrounding area, and across the nation. Monroe County set new COVID-19 infection records over the last three consecutive days. The largest portion of new infections being reported yesterday were people in their 20s.
On campus, we are moving several students from a residence hall into quarantine to stem the spread. This cluster was identified through wastewater sampling and subsequent surveillance testing. If we are to finish the semester with in-person classes, we must adhere more closely to all protocols.
What RIT dashboard looks like:
New Positive Cases From Past 14 Days = 29 Students, 5 Employees
Total Positive Cases Since August 19
(First Day of Classes) = 51 Students, 7 Employees
Quarantine*
Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick.
- Numbers do not include students in travel quarantine. 63 On campus 59 Off campus Isolation
Isolation separates sick people with a contagious disease from people who are not sick.
10 On campus
11 Off campus
Number of Tests Administered by Student Health Center = 8622*
Tests to date
- In addition, RIT implements an early surveillance program that includes wastewater testing twice a week. To date, these samples cover nearly 6,500 individuals.
Quarantine/Isolation Bed Availability On-campus = 57% Beds available
As of Nov 7, Monroe county has a 3.4% positive rate on a 7-day rolling ave.
the letter I saw said that classes are still happening in person . “We have learned a lot in the past few months about how the virus is spreading on our campus and in the community. This has allowed us to tailor our efforts to those that will prove most effective. The new Orange mitigation strategies are designed to counter the spread. We are not shifting learning to fully online because we have seen no evidence of virus transmission in a classroom setting. The Monroe County Health Commissioner agrees with this assessment and he has confirmed similar findings in other academic settings. We are also not asking staff to shift to remote operations, as we have not seen transmission occurring within our employee work places. Rather, we have seen viral transmission occurring in social settings, between small groups of people, when masks have been removed.” @kpopmomrunner
Oh maybe its a case to case basis for the remote classes. My son is at the College of Art and Design. For him all his classes were switched to remote. Thanks for the correction.
I think the northern colleges that pushed the start of their Spring semester to February or later will be glad they did.