Good news part 7

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

For all your vaccine news, treatment development stories and other positive things to make you feel there is hope for the future!
Good news only please!

Useful websites we are referring to a lot:

Government daily statistics

Worldometer for international case number comparisons

Covid Messenger for local authority figures, thanks to LittleOwl for all her hard work!

OurWorldInData international vaccination figures

Omnicalculator vaccine queue calculator NB Please don’t take this too seriously- it depends what vaccine delivery speed and uptake you estimate so it’s not written in stone.

@IncludeWomenInTheSequel - that all sounds reassuring, thank you 😊

Israel seems to be leading the way in as much as they are 2 weeks past
the second jab so useful evidence will shortly come to light.
However, as with all international comparisons care needs to be taken.
Over a quarter of their population is under 18 whereas in most of Europe
we have an ageing population so it will be interesting to see what happens

Thank you everyone - my god, this thread is a bloody lifesaver!

I also want to point out, as I've since realised, the Dr John Campbell vid I was talking about was yesterdays. Today's felt a lot more positive!

Phew as I’m half way through it and was worried he was going to announce something terrible so stopped watching!!!!

regarding the whole 'new strains' thing I am forcing myself not to get too worked up for two main reasons

1. viruses mutate ALL THE TIME and those that create the vaccines know this. So they're designed to a. deal with mutations and b. be easily tweaked as has been explained upthread.
2. we only know the specific details about the specific mutations because we in the UK and some other places are so hot on the genomic sequencing. In many countries there is none at all so there's no way do we have a full picture of all the mutating that's happening so there seems to be a disproportionate amount of panicking about certain strains. Given that evidence suggests vaccine will be effective to some degree against most if not all of them, it seems like unnecessary noise to me.

And it mutates less than influenza.....and we seem to manage to vaccinate against that every year

@JemimaPyjamas

Thank you everyone - my god, this thread is a bloody lifesaver!

I also want to point out, as I've since realised, the Dr John Campbell vid I was talking about was yesterdays. Today's felt a lot more positive!

Who is he?

Oh the other thing the immunology woman said was that

a) Britain invested a lot in pandemic planning and vaccine research in David Cameron's era which put us ahead of other nations, and
b) that we got really lucky and it was an 'easy' virus to create a vaccine for, as Coronaviruses are not new.

She's worked her whole life on a vaccine for Malaria and they're still nowhere near being able to create one - funny to think this is one of the better scenarios isn't it!

My good news - tomorrow is my birthday.
Bad news - I feel OLD!

And my age doesn't end with a 5 or a 0 (like Tombola!) so i don't get bumped up a group for vaccination!

@Inastatus France are thinking of delaying the gap between doses to 6 weeks (as per WHO emergency recommendations). The AZ vaccine has some evidence to show a longer gap works. However, we are the only country in the world doing a 12-week gap, against the advice of Pfizer and the WHO. I hope to god our scientists have extrapolated something from the data (that, by the way, no other scientific body in the world has found) and is not under pressure from the government to push this strategy. I think the rollout of the vaccines in the UK has been nothing short of remarkable and is in no small measure due to the organisational skills of our wonderful NHS (imagine if Serco and Dido had been in charge...) but I think the messaging about the number of people having been ‘vaccinated’ is dangerous when, in fact, the vast majority have only received their first dose. Everyone needs a 2nd dose, that’s how the drugs were developed, regardless of what the gap between doses is. If the government push the agenda that the longer the gap the better, some may not bother getting their 2nd jab. FWIW, my DH had his first Pfizer jab a week ago and was given a manufacturer’s explanation note with it explaining the 2nd dose had to be administered 21 days later and that he wouldn’t be fully vaccinated until 7 days after his 2nd dose. Meanwhile his surgery couldn’t give him a date for his 2nd dose.

Thank goodness I found this, feeling very low today and this has perked me up 🙂

@Cafeconleche - yes, thanks I realise France is thinking of 6 rather than 12 and that we are unique in this approach. I’m hoping our scientists will be monitoring the situation carefully within the UK and also looking at the evidence from other countries.

Here is some good news from Israel. New critically ill 60+ years old (the age group that for which vaccinations commenced in Israel around 6 weeks ago) down ~9%, vs. a rise of 28% in 40-50 age group

twitter.com/segal_eran/status/1353371400892002304

Link doesn't work!

Thanks for the info from the immunologists, interesting that we've got good tools for vaccine research but didn't prioritise strengthening our health service at the same time!

[quote Inastatus]@midgebabe - thanks.
@BBCONEANDTWO - interesting that France is thinking about it too, thank you.[/quote]
Having just spoken to my German friend, rumour is that they too will be moving to longer waits. They have run out of vaccine, have reduced deliveries promised, and have the stock sitting the warehouse for the second doses, whilst their daily infection figures increase. They can't afford to keep them for second doses, and chances are they will release them for first doses.

@Frazzled2207

regarding the whole 'new strains' thing I am forcing myself not to get too worked up for two main reasons

1. viruses mutate ALL THE TIME and those that create the vaccines know this. So they're designed to a. deal with mutations and b. be easily tweaked as has been explained upthread.
2. we only know the specific details about the specific mutations because we in the UK and some other places are so hot on the genomic sequencing. In many countries there is none at all so there's no way do we have a full picture of all the mutating that's happening so there seems to be a disproportionate amount of panicking about certain strains. Given that evidence suggests vaccine will be effective to some degree against most if not all of them, it seems like unnecessary noise to me.

"New strains" are this year's long Covid.

Not saying they don't exist or that they aren't potentially problematic, but as you say, they are entirely to be expected, and always have been. But whenever anyone expresses any optimism, the response is either 'But they don't know if the vaccines will prevent transmission' or 'The vaccines may not be effective against the new variant'. As if the best scientists in the world aren't onto that and aren't planning for all possibilities.

against the advice of Pfizer and the WHO

Pfizer's is a fair point, but never forget the WHO advised against closing borders, wearing masks, and insisted the virus wasn't transmitted via aerosols until very recently. I take their advice with a pinch of salt!

@BigWoollyJumpers

against the advice of Pfizer and the WHO

Pfizer's is a fair point, but never forget the WHO advised against closing borders, wearing masks, and insisted the virus wasn't transmitted via aerosols until very recently. I take their advice with a pinch of salt!

Pfizer are never going to recommend anything other than what the vaccine has been tested for. That doesn't mean it may not be the best choice in an emergency situation like this.

@2fallsagain

www.youtube.com/channel/UCF9IOB2TExg3QIBupFtBDxg

He explains what's going on, behind the headlines and the press conferences. 'Reassuring but realistic' should be his strapline!

Thanks for this thread and all the helpful contributions. I have PMDD and my freelance anxiety has grabbed ahold of the new variants fear mongering. Great to see the links and contacts with scientists because I’m absolutely not a scientist and everything mad can sound plausible!

@Frazzled2207
I saw on the pharmacy's facebook page that they were looking for volunteers, may be worth doing the same for any of your local pharmacy's. Or you've nothing to lose by giving them a call, good luck!

@IcedPurple - I like your way of thinking.
I bloody love this thread.

Mad can sound plausible - That pretty much some up half the threads started on the covid section

More numbers on hospitalisations in Israel

www.timesofisrael.com/israel-sees-60-drop-in-hospitalizations-for-over-60s-in-weeks-after-vaccination/