Coronavirus (COVID-19) Discussion Thread

[curl-6]

Hiku said:

SvennoJ said:

LurkerJ said:

Good news, but it's still preliminary data.

"The company did not provide more details about those cases, and cautioned the initial protection rate might change by the time the study ends."

Soucy says its unclear whether it protects against asymptomatic cases because only those with symptoms were tested in the trial.

Dr. Gerald Evans, an infectious disease expert with Queen's University, is skeptical of the 90 per cent efficacy rate, since he expects trial participants would have been told to continue with other safety measures -- like keeping two metres distance from others and wearing masks -- after receiving their vaccine.

"It could be that those in the vaccine group were better at following the rules and that's why they didn't get COVID," Evans said. A full breakdown of participants in the trial would be helpful to see, he added.

While Soucy expects Pfizer's vaccine to gain approval soon, actually rolling it out will take time.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he hopes to see a vaccine rollout in Canada early next year. But he noted some of the initial doses will require special handling that could complicate distribution efforts.

The Pfizer vaccine specifically needs to be stored at an ultra-low temperature. It's also dispensed in two doses, which requires people go back to a pharmacy or doctor's office to receive a second shot weeks after the first.

So keep social distancing and keep wearing masks, since this will still go on well into next year and possibly 2022. The good news, another 10 candidates are in stage 3, plus this certainly looks promising.

I figured they would be injected with Covid? Because there are people who volunteer for that.

But I'm also skeptical about this 90% rate for a different reason.
Did they state how long this lasts? Because a few months ago we heard that several researchers had observed a sharp decline in anti bodies after a few months. Would drop by 70-90% in 2-3 months.

So if that's the case here, and it's only effective for a month or two, it's going to be near useless I imagine.

It's not as cut and dried as that; antibodies naturally diminish over time as they're no longer needed once an infection is cleared; what's more important to lasting immunity are Memory T Cells and B Cells as these last much much longer and 'remember' past pathogens so that a fast and effective immune response can be mounted if it is ever encountered again.

It's still not quite clear how long Acquired Immunity lasts for COVID, including after vaccination, but there is some evidence for lasting and durable immunity thanks to these memory cells.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200908/Memory-B-cells-indicate-durable-immunity-in-COVID-19.aspx

Last edited by curl-6 - on 09 November 2020