I work here and was in clinic this morning. We had three eligible patients. One consented to it and is having the vaccine now. The other two declined. Not making a point, just a data point.
Seems fitting that in a place where we can't beat the virus because of people who refuse to distance and wear a piece of cloth over their face, it's possible we won't even be able to beat it with a vaccine... because of the same assholes.
1: https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2020/09/17/u-s-public-no...
50% is insane. 5% I'd be able to understand, but not 50%.
I'm hardly anti-vaxxer, but I'm going to wait this one out until a lot of people went head-first into it.
I take my vaccines like I take my software upgrades: no pre-releases of system-critical ones.
Something completely different that I just can't help thinking about this year:
I used to play Warhammer as a kid, and that game world has 4 forces of Chaos that threaten to tempt and corrupt people: Khorne was about violence and bloodshed, Slaanesh about kinky sex, Tzeentch about secret power, and Nurgle about disease and decay. I could understand the attraction of the other 3, but how Nurgle could be tempting to anyone was beyond me. Yet in our world, it looks like Nurgle is doing surprisingly well.
Plus, people are ashamed to tell cops they participated on kinky sex, because they dont want that part of their sex life public. Meaning abusers have ideal situation in a lot of ways.
My biggest concern with virus rollout is millions of doses sitting on shelves waiting for "high priority" people to get them (who refuse) while "low priority" people are still banned from getting.
Hong Kong doesn't seem to want to vaccinate most people before 2022
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/artic...
"We all expect an effective vaccine to prevent serious illness if infected. Three of the vaccine protocols—Moderna, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca—do not require that their vaccine prevent serious disease only that they prevent moderate symptoms which may be as mild as cough, or headache."
"Prevention of infection is not a criterion for success for any of these vaccines. In fact, their endpoints all require confirmed infections and all those they will include in the analysis for success, the only difference being the severity of symptoms between the vaccinated and unvaccinated."
They only did PCR testing on trial participants who reported symptoms. They did not PCR test the entire study population.
Incidence of symptomatic COVID was dramatically halted by about Day 14 after the first dose:
seems kind of wrong to me. The main difference they are hoping for is the number of cases of illness between the unvaccinated and vaccinated. If you get 100 cases in the unvaccinated group and 1 in the vaccinated it doesn't really matter if the symptoms are a bit better or worse.
I'd be surprised if it turned out that the vaccine simply dials down the symptoms, based on my understanding of vaccines, but I guess we can't rule it out yet.
What they are saying is that it is technically possible for their vaccine which is highly effective at preventing symptomatic COVID to be somehow ineffective at preventing asymptomatic COVID.
The Pfizer vaccine is the mRNA vaccine. And it doesn’t prevent you from getting sick.
But it might turn you into an asymptomatic spreader?
Oh great. Do you have sources?
This thing is going to turn us all into walking zombies. LOL.
The trial simply didn't test for the effect the vaccine has on transmission, so the theory hasn't been disproven.
My understanding is not that it doesn't, just that this hasn't been proven yet.
As soon as vaccinated people start flaunting their freedom of movement, people will clamor to line up. The vaccine's scarcity will further magnify the desire to get vaccinated.
It's natural for the initial reaction to be skepticism. Nobody wants to be first, but as soon as the first cohorts get vaccinated and the media publish their nonplussed reactions, the lines will explode and we'll have the opposite problem: me-first.
That could be a big factor. At the moment there's nothing - no vaccination certificate that lets you fly easier or something like that. But it could be a big motivator if there was.
Could you describe in more detail how the vaccines are currently being stored in your clinic?
How long does the vaccine can remain in room temperature, once taken out of clod storage.
How many doses have been allocated to your clinic and on an average how many patients do you foresee being vaccinated over a short period of time, let's say a month.
Also, are health workers also planning to get vaccinated soon, as they are on the frontline and among most vulnerable to infection.
Any other details you would like to share.
Thanks again.
Oh well, if this one doesn't work, perhaps we can try again with the Oxford vaccine heh
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-pfizer-distributi...
> In order to get around that, Pfizer has developed specially built deep-freeze "suitcases" that can be tightly sealed and shipped even in non-refrigerated trucks.
https://www.fiercepharma.com/manufacturing/pfizer-designed-n... indicates they can hold temperature for ten days.
They'll likely include seals and simple sensors to detect temperature excursions; for example, my daughter's growth hormone comes with a little piece of plastic that turns permanently pink if it's not stored at the right temperature for a few minutes.
Not that vaccines are about to be flawless. But failure will be different.
Vaccine storage and preparation
The Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has the most difficult storage requirements of all the COVID-19 vaccine candidates currently undergoing trials. Currently, it needs to be stored between -80 to -60°C and has a six-month expiry. Over time and with more data being collected this may change.(4)
The vaccine needs to be thawed (for approximately three hours in the fridge or 30 minutes at room temperature) before use and may be stored undiluted at 2–8°C for five days, or for two hours at 25°C prior to use.(4) To prepare the vaccine, it should be diluted using 0.8 mL of sodium chloride 0.9% solution for injection, marked with the date and time, and can then be stored between 2 to 25°C. It must be used within six hours or the remainder discarded.(4)
To equalise the pressure in the prepared vial, 1.8 mL of air should be withdrawn using the same syringe for preparation, after which it can be mixed by gently inverting 10 times, producing an off-white solution that is ready to be administered. The vaccines are available in packs of 195. There are five 0.3 mL doses within each vial.
In comparison, the Moderna vaccine can be stored at -20°C for up to six months, 30 days at 2 to 8°C and up to 12 hours at 25°C. Each vial contains 10 doses.
The AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine is much simpler than both options, with storage allowance of 2 to 8°C for up to six months. Once open, the vials should be used within six hours stored in a fridge or 48 hours if at room temperature. They are delivered in packs of 10 vials with each vial containing eight or 10 doses of vaccine.
It sounds like it might be a struggle to find enough people to give it to once each container is opened.