The Vaccines

[James Christophers]

Listed and described in a well set out article:

tinyurl.com/n2fymtxw

[Rich80105]

On Sat, 6 Mar 2021 12:27:57 -0800 (PST), James Christophers

Post by James Christophers
tinyurl.com/n2fymtxw

Thanks for that. The money tells one side of the story; interesting
that one of the companies had a drop in share price.

The other side is effectiveness. When some recent mutations of the
virus were detected, a concern was that these variants may not be
covered (or as well covered) by existing vaccines. Many see this as
similar to the flu vaccines that need to be renewed each year, but
carry the risk that recent mutations may not be covered. They are
still worth taking, but if we get a similar situation with Covid, we
may find a vaccinated person coming into the country and spreading a
new variant, putting us back into level 3 or 4 lockdown. Hence I
suspect some caution is necessary. Other tests are being developed, in
NZ the Malaghan Institute is doing some work on both development and
of comparisons of different vaccines. See
https://www.malaghan.org.nz/infectious-diseases/covid-19/

We have the benefit of our excellent position regarding border control
and lack of internal cases; New Zealand can afford to go relatively
slowly in selecting the best vaccines for the long term - for example
we will look after Samoa, but they do not have our sort of MIQ /
hospital backup system, and lockdowns may be more difficult than here.
Early indicator tests based on small changed to temperature and heart
rate are being developed but are not yet at the stage where they can
be relied on for early detection or boder control. We are rightly
vaccinating those most at risk, but there is advantage to us in not
rushing to vaccinate, even if we could get supplies. Countries that
need a vaccine to halt current high death rates are not as fortunate;
we may be able to get better vaccines at less than $30 per person that
provide better coverage.

[James Christophers]

Post by Rich80105
On Sat, 6 Mar 2021 12:27:57 -0800 (PST), James Christophers

Post by James Christophers
tinyurl.com/n2fymtxw

Thanks for that. The money tells one side of the story; interesting
that one of the companies had a drop in share price.
The other side is effectiveness. When some recent mutations of the
virus were detected, a concern was that these variants may not be
covered (or as well covered) by existing vaccines. Many see this as
similar to the flu vaccines that need to be renewed each year, but
carry the risk that recent mutations may not be covered. They are
still worth taking, but if we get a similar situation with Covid, we
may find a vaccinated person coming into the country and spreading a
new variant, putting us back into level 3 or 4 lockdown. Hence I
suspect some caution is necessary. Other tests are being developed, in
NZ the Malaghan Institute is doing some work on both development and
of comparisons of different vaccines. See
https://www.malaghan.org.nz/infectious-diseases/covid-19/
We have the benefit of our excellent position regarding border control
and lack of internal cases; New Zealand can afford to go relatively
slowly in selecting the best vaccines for the long term - for example
we will look after Samoa, but they do not have our sort of MIQ /
hospital backup system, and lockdowns may be more difficult than here.
Early indicator tests based on small changed to temperature and heart
rate are being developed but are not yet at the stage where they can
be relied on for early detection or boder control. We are rightly
vaccinating those most at risk, but there is advantage to us in not
rushing to vaccinate, even if we could get supplies. Countries that
need a vaccine to halt current high death rates are not as fortunate;
we may be able to get better vaccines at less than $30 per person that
provide better coverage.

So now consider the present-day post-Covid-19 patient recovery scenario:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-long-term-effects/art-20490351

(note the refereneces to non-specific malaise and multi-organ damage)

In individual cases of Covid-19, it seems fair to speculate, I think, that the original Covid-19 condition, once treated, may well leave the patient with higher potential long-term morbidity than that of the original infection. Until much more is known about the more recently reported "Long Covid" syndrome and ways to tackle it, it will be some time before science has both ends of the scenario sorted, particularly since it is already known that the virus itself is highly virulent, being random and capricious in its speed and effectiveness in transfer, its ability to "hide" in, and unbeknownst to, its asymptomatic host as free-to-roam vector, and the alacrity with which it seems able to evade and mutate, seemingly whenever the fancy takes it.

A tough ask all round.