The Vaccine Thread

[holliscx]

Not to take anything away from the rest of your points, but couldn't you replace the word "pharmaceutical" with ANY other industry?

Come on now attorneys and altruism go hand in hand

[Too Tall]

I'll take whatever is offered to me when my group is asked to step to the plate. What could go wrong?

[Paul Jacobs]

BBC News, "Today it was announced the Covid-19 vaccine could be rolled out as early as next week. - with NHS staff among the first to get it."

Since November I am no longer NHS staff but I am relaxed about that and am happy to wait my turn but I will have it as soon as I am offered it.

[Octave]

Disclaimer: I work for "little" pharma. We're not a big company but we are public and currently working on at least one COVID drug. My job is writing and revising applications for drug approval, trial approval, and documents that drug investigators use to run clinical trials. I know the ins-and-outs of the FDA (and Health Canada) review and approval processes more intimately than I'd like, and I've also been in the same position since prior to the pandemic, so I have had a front-row seat as things have changed (or not).


The suspicion that rushed approval means cut corners is understandable but, from my perspective, misinformed. There are many routes to get drugs approved, and they each hold a certain level of priority in the eyes of the FDA. The review process itself does not actually take that long, but there is a queue of sorts and everyone fights to get to the front. COVID flipped everything on its head and forced the review process to be rejiggered a bit for COVID-specific drugs (including vaccines, of course), but it has not made this process less stringent or less effective. These drugs are under as much or more scrutiny than any other drug you've ever seen or taken.

Will I take the vaccine when it is available to my demographic (young, childless, work from home, very rural, no prior health risks)? Yes. Will I continue to look very closely at the data surrounding them to watch for evidence of potential adverse events? Yes. Is the danger of dying from COVID or spending the potentially rest of my days suffering from long-term health consequences (these are very, very real) a bigger threat than possible side effects from a vaccine? Almost certainly yes, but as with everyone else, I'll be watching as the findings thus far are scaled from tens of thousands to tens of millions.

My only message to those who will not take the vaccine is that I hope you will reconsider your position with an eye for how this impacts those around you. Diseases cannot be eradicated by a vaccine, no matter how effective, without compliance. Reaching herd immunity to Sars-Cov-2 as a result of natural infections over the course of the disease is not a viable option, as >70% of the population will have to acquire and recover from the disease, and this is assuming we find that long-term immunity is achieved from antibodies produced after infection, which is a) an unknown and b) appears to vary widely by several factors including age, sex, and severity of symptoms. Even with a 95% effective vaccine, herd immunity still will not occur without more than 75% of the population taking it. If you choose to not participate, you put those around you at risk and prolong the life of this virus by untold years. I sincerely hope that those who are currently hesitant or opposed will come to understand that the risks associated with taking a novel vaccine must be weighed against the known threat of this virus circulating indefinitely.

[gregl]

One of my father's cousins is a virologist and advisor to the WHO. I just heard through the family grapevine that he advises to get the vaccine as soon as you are eligible. I'll be getting my shot as soon as it's available to me.

Greg

[gt6267a]

I'm planning to take it. It also true that by the time I am eligible, any concerns about rushing anything will be completely overcome by an enormous phase 4 trial. Short of waiting a decade to see very long term effects, I should think near term problems will be well known by then.

[davids]

The 30% saying "no" don't have much to say.

Curious to hear from them.

[Clean39T]

The 30% saying "no" don't have much to say.

Curious to hear from them.

I voted "no" mostly on semantics. I'm not going to push anyone out of the way to take it or even be first in line when my tranche is released, but by the time it gets to me (see info above) I imagine I'll view it as safe enough to go ahead and do it, after weighing all known risk factors. If I had more exposure risk, confounding factors, or shedding/vector risk, it'd be a different story.

[monadnocky]

Can we re-phrase the poll question? I see people here will take the vaccine, but want to ensure that those who need it first, get it first, and I think that is obfuscating the poll numbers.... perhaps change "as soon as it is made available" to "as soon as it is made available for your risk group" or something similar?

[rwsaunders]

Will it be available in a sugar cube?

[beeatnik]

Vaccine Thread current poll results: 28 yes, 11 no
Covid19 Thread current poll results: 86 expect to get covid19, 47 do not, 3 confirmed positives

[Too Tall]

Can we re-phrase the poll question? I see people here will take the vaccine, but want to ensure that those who need it first, get it first, and I think that is obfuscating the poll numbers.... perhaps change "as soon as it is made available" to "as soon as it is made available for your risk group" or something similar?

Fair point.

[Too Tall]

Will it be available in a sugar cube?

Perhaps a drop directly on the eye?

RW either you are aging yourself or ran into a guy named Orin who had really big pupils at a G.Dead concert.

[Drew]

Come on now attorneys and altruism go hand in hand

I just laughed beer out of my nose.

[rwsaunders]

Sister Andrew Marie lined us up outside the School Nurse's office in a neat and tidy line; no cleats and no bell bottoms; and she made sure that each and every one of us fully consumed our sugar cube and properly disposed of the Dixie cup.

Perhaps a drop directly on the eye?

RW either you are aging yourself or ran into a guy named Orin who had really big pupils at a G.Dead concert.

[Will Neide]

As soon as it's available I plan to get it.

[caleb]

My only message to those who will not take the vaccine is that I hope you will reconsider your position with an eye for how this impacts those around you. Diseases cannot be eradicated by a vaccine, no matter how effective, without compliance. Reaching herd immunity to Sars-Cov-2 as a result of natural infections over the course of the disease is not a viable option, as >70% of the population will have to acquire and recover from the disease, and this is assuming we find that long-term immunity is achieved from antibodies produced after infection, which is a) an unknown and b) appears to vary widely by several factors including age, sex, and severity of symptoms. Even with a 95% effective vaccine, herd immunity still will not occur without more than 75% of the population taking it. If you choose to not participate, you put those around you at risk and prolong the life of this virus by untold years. I sincerely hope that those who are currently hesitant or opposed will come to understand that the risks associated with taking a novel vaccine must be weighed against the known threat of this virus circulating indefinitely.

Part of the irony of the anti-vax "movement" is that their efforts to convince others not to get vaccinated undermine their own free riding on herd immunity.

[aingeru]

The 30% saying "no" don't have much to say.

Curious to hear from them.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/07/31/...-i-so-worried/

[davids]

https://www.statnews.com/2020/07/31/...-i-so-worried/

Thanks.

I also noticed that this article was from July 31. Dr. Kinch is probably getting ready to join the queue at this point: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...oronavirus-q-a

[ides1056]

I went to Walmart today and got two: flu and shingles.

Feeling a bit of a buzz.