Good news from Public Health England. See tweet below. Preliminary findings indicate 81% protection against the B.1.6172 variant, one of 3 circulating in India and other places. The study doesn’t parse out the differences in efficacy between the vaccines. It’s also higher efficacy than even the CEO of BioNTech claimed a few days ago. So, we need to await more data. Nevertheless, anything close to 80% protection would be fantastic. https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1396015144233222144
Recently there was this medical expert interviewed on WCVB Ch. 5 news who stated that the vaccines overall have proven even more effective than the original clinical trials, if that makes sense. Sounds like good news on this end of the blog for a change, Joshua?
Yes, the vaccines have proven very effective in the real world; especially against severe disease. While they lose some effectiveness against some of the variants, the latest manuscript – the one I referred to in the post above – is a good sign. If the vaccines are truly 80% effective against the worst variant thus far, we’re in a much more comfortable position moving forward.
Interesting article. Thank you. When I was laid off when the company where I worked for 31 years (and met Mac) and before I began my own business, I nannied for a rabbi. Her husband was a patent attorney. I had some fascinating discussions with both
I certainly respect patents and patent attorneys. But, I’m not happy when patents are extended seemingly ad infinitum. And, I have some question marks about patents provided to companies that had 100% of their R&D funded through the government (eg, Moderna).
I agree
India appears to have turned the corner, albeit with still very high case, hospitalization, and death levels.
Europe continues to see steady improvement, though they’re very concerned about the B.1.617 variant (in spite of the news that vaccines still work fairly well against it). Effective midnight German time (so right now), Germany has closed its border to the UK, only allowing German citizens to enter.
It’s going to be an interesting summer in which I think we’ll see lots of similar moves by individual countries. This will have an impact on travel, no doubt.
My hope is that the case increase in the UK comes to a halt soon, the vaccines are proven to be efficacious against all variants, and that this facilitates travel moving forward. But, we’ll have to wait and see.
Globally still far too many cases every day – 660k. But worldwide daily cases are in decline. The U.S. sits at just under 30k per day and is in decline.
Positivity rate in MA below 1%.
Yes. This is very good news. Across New England it’s mostly at or under 1%, with RI being the exception. Nationwide it’s under 3%.
Public Health England study breaks out the efficacy percentages against the B.1.617 (`Indian’) variant:
– Pfizer 88%
– Astra Zeneca 60%
Notably, Pfizer/BioNTech CEOs, including the inventor of the vaccine, believe the efficacy is in the 70% range.
This is clearly work in progress. The percentages are better than many expected. I’m sure there will be more follow-up.
Pfizer continues to be the Rolls Royce of vaccines, with Moderna a close second, a Mercedes
J&J is a fairly distant third though still good, a Toyota Camry, if you will
AZ is fourth, a Toyota Yaris
The others are Yugo’s, alas.
Thanks Joshua. Far better news than the other day.
Thank you also, Dave!
All good news. My kids got pfeizer. I had moderna but I don’t think it is far enough behind to worry
And hey. I love my Camrys 😉
My daughter just shared this with me. It gave me too many feelings to describe. How did we get to where we are. I barely remember when we were all working together for this. Hopefully, the link works
Good news from Public Health England. See tweet below. Preliminary findings indicate 81% protection against the B.1.6172 variant, one of 3 circulating in India and other places. The study doesn’t parse out the differences in efficacy between the vaccines. It’s also higher efficacy than even the CEO of BioNTech claimed a few days ago. So, we need to await more data. Nevertheless, anything close to 80% protection would be fantastic.
https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1396015144233222144
Recently there was this medical expert interviewed on WCVB Ch. 5 news who stated that the vaccines overall have proven even more effective than the original clinical trials, if that makes sense. Sounds like good news on this end of the blog for a change, Joshua?
Yes, the vaccines have proven very effective in the real world; especially against severe disease. While they lose some effectiveness against some of the variants, the latest manuscript – the one I referred to in the post above – is a good sign. If the vaccines are truly 80% effective against the worst variant thus far, we’re in a much more comfortable position moving forward.
That is huge. Thanks, Joshua
We’re all familiar with the patent discussion surrounding the Covid-19 vaccines. Well, patents aren’t limited to vaccines, of course. They’re given for all kinds of products, and for good reason. However, companies often try to extend patents way beyond the expiration date, and that’s problematic. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2021/05/22/blockbuster-biologic-enbrel-will-continue-as-a-monopoly-for-another-8-years/?sh=4e190f37a53d
Interesting article. Thank you. When I was laid off when the company where I worked for 31 years (and met Mac) and before I began my own business, I nannied for a rabbi. Her husband was a patent attorney. I had some fascinating discussions with both
I certainly respect patents and patent attorneys. But, I’m not happy when patents are extended seemingly ad infinitum. And, I have some question marks about patents provided to companies that had 100% of their R&D funded through the government (eg, Moderna).
I agree
India appears to have turned the corner, albeit with still very high case, hospitalization, and death levels.
Europe continues to see steady improvement, though they’re very concerned about the B.1.617 variant (in spite of the news that vaccines still work fairly well against it). Effective midnight German time (so right now), Germany has closed its border to the UK, only allowing German citizens to enter.
It’s going to be an interesting summer in which I think we’ll see lots of similar moves by individual countries. This will have an impact on travel, no doubt.
My hope is that the case increase in the UK comes to a halt soon, the vaccines are proven to be efficacious against all variants, and that this facilitates travel moving forward. But, we’ll have to wait and see.
Globally still far too many cases every day – 660k. But worldwide daily cases are in decline. The U.S. sits at just under 30k per day and is in decline.
Positivity rate in MA below 1%.
Yes. This is very good news. Across New England it’s mostly at or under 1%, with RI being the exception. Nationwide it’s under 3%.
Public Health England study breaks out the efficacy percentages against the B.1.617 (`Indian’) variant:
– Pfizer 88%
– Astra Zeneca 60%
Notably, Pfizer/BioNTech CEOs, including the inventor of the vaccine, believe the efficacy is in the 70% range.
This is clearly work in progress. The percentages are better than many expected. I’m sure there will be more follow-up.
Pfizer continues to be the Rolls Royce of vaccines, with Moderna a close second, a Mercedes
J&J is a fairly distant third though still good, a Toyota Camry, if you will
AZ is fourth, a Toyota Yaris
The others are Yugo’s, alas.
Thanks Joshua. Far better news than the other day.
Thank you also, Dave!
All good news. My kids got pfeizer. I had moderna but I don’t think it is far enough behind to worry
And hey. I love my Camrys 😉
My daughter just shared this with me. It gave me too many feelings to describe. How did we get to where we are. I barely remember when we were all working together for this. Hopefully, the link works
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeWA23wC/
C-19 for 5-23 is ready.