Vaccine discussion - What research is out there? (title edited at OP's request)

[GoneCrazy]

A new variant:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56233038

And the most used vaccine here is AstraZeneca Oxford. Our elderly and most vulnerable seem to have been vaccinated with the least effective of the vaccines.

Will we be able to control the risk of the variants?

We need to support the world in upping its speed of vaccination. At what point should we be really giving our excess vaccine to other countries for the greater good?!

If other countries are not vaccinated at the same time what is the point of us being ahead if we let in new variants?

Just a few of the million questions I have around vaccines and our programme.

No. We don’t have enough of the other vaccines yet, so people have been very effectively vaccinated against the current threat. If necessary people can have a booster to protect against new variants.

No.

There are 6 cases in the whole country. The difference between the 2 vaccines against this variant isn’t known yet. Lighten up.

Yes the booster - are these made easily?

6 cases we are aware of - with one person missing.

Where do you get the 'least effective of the vaccines"? The new data from the Scottish and now UK studies show the AZ vaccine actually may be slightly better in protecting the older age group. The data for how any of the vaccines fare against new mutations is for obvious reasons just not as good.

There is no reason to assume that any of the vaccines will fail to give some protection to new mutations at this point. If we reduce hospitalisations and deaths we are doing very well.

There is also no point giving vaccines to countries that don't have the infrastructure to deliver them at this point. They need to be in people's arms rather than in fridges (see all the unused and unwanted AZ vaccine currently in Europe).

I don't see anywhere on that article suggests one vaccine is better than another against either SA or Brazil variant.

www.statnews.com/2021/02/05/what-scientists-know-variants-covid-19-vaccines/

The more people are vaccinated the fewer cases there will be meaning the virus has less chance to mutate into a new variant. All the current vaccines are a good thing and all will help bring this pandemic under control

This article is linked in the original BBC article

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55534727

@Iamanunsafebuilding no point in us being the only vaccinated country though

Vaccines are being adapted to deal with variants and likely that we are going to need a yearly jab. Better for people to have Oxford one than nothing. More efficient to deliver and much cheaper.

Why do you think the vaccine most used here is the AZ one? I'm pretty sure I saw a graph the other day (can't find it now) which showed that more Pfizer than AZ had been administered.

What do you mean by 'least effective'? The recent study in Scotland, one of the few to actually compare vaccines on like-for-like criteria found AZ was more effective than Pfizer

www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n523

Any vaccine is much better than no vaccine at all

We need to support the world in upping its speed of vaccination. At what point should we be really giving our excess vaccine to other countries for the greater good?!

How about, 'when we've actually got an excess'? It's being used as fast as it's made.

Looking at the BBC article Pfizer and others have better results against the variant

No - against all known variants, all the current vaccines provide excellent protection against serious illness which is the primary concern.

Variants will always emerge - the greatest risk is when you have a large vaccinated population in close contact with a large infected population which is why it's critical that case numbers continue to fall while the vaccination program takes place.

When a new variant emerges abroad, we get more notice of it before it becomes a major problem - if we can get a large % of the UK population innoculated BEFORE a vaccine resistant strain emerges then we will be in a good place no matter what happens abroad.

In an ideal world, everyone is vaccinated and the virus is eradicated, but that's not likely to happen. We do need to try to eradicate it from the UK though and provided that the vaccine uptake, particularly in children, is good, this shouldn't be that difficult to do. At that stage we can keep an eye on new variants emerging elsewhere and issue vaccine boosters accordingly.

Thank you @notrub that is reassuring

Jesus Christ -

• All of the vaccines work. There is less data on AZ right now. They will all have strengths and weaknesses.
• The key thing right now is that the vaccines work well enough to keep people out of hospital so the NHS doesn't fall over and we can get back to normal. They do all work well enough for this.
• The point of a mass vaccination programme is also that the vast majority of the population are protected so the virus cannot spread
• There will be yearly boosters to deal with variants.
• We should all be thanking our lucky stars we live somewhere with a vaccine programme

Why. Is. All. This. Too. Hard. For. So. Many. People. To. Understand.

No I don’t think so, I trust our scientists, I think the vaccines are working but we will need an annual vaccination program.

So far, the AZ vaccine has been shown to be protective against death and severe illness from the virus, whatever the strain. What it doesn't do so well (in the case of the SA strain anyway) is protect against asymptomatic or moderate illness. When I looked up the definition of moderate illness by the scientific definition, I was reassured that it would be what I would call a fairly mild illness.

Get a grip OP.

In my area it went every other (Groups 1 and 3 Pfizer, Groups 2 and 4 AZ). So not all of the "most vulnerable" have had AZ.

As it happens I'm in group 4 and so had the AZ. Of course there's a possibility that it won't work as well against new variants, but that's the risk we take.

I have a flu vaccine every year, some years the prevalent strain isn't included in the vaccine. One year I caught flu after having the vaccine and it led to double pneumonia. But the other 15+ years that I've had the flu vaccine I haven't caught the flu. I'll still keep having the flu vaccine every year despite knowing that there is a chance I could still get flu.

In the same way I am delighted to have had the first dose of the AZ vaccine. Yes, I could still get Covid-19, but the chances of becoming seriously ill are less than if I hadn't had the vaccine.

Thanks guys just health anxiety for those who a vulnerable in my family

There is data that Pfizer is less effective on obese people coming from Italy. I think on the whole these vaccines will work but you will get snippets of news coming through.

There are questions about Pfizer effectiveness data coming through from Italy.

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/28/pfizer-vaccine-less-effective-obesity-study