Covid Vaccine Distribution

[audreyh1]

Do you happen to know if the current Pfizer vaccine gives SOME protection against the S. Africa variant?

Yes. How much has not been quantified AFAIK.

Here are some links https://www.marketwatch.com/story/a...-dr-fauci-says-the-research-means-11618263415
https://www.barrons.com/articles/pfizer-vaccine-covid-19-south-african-strain-51618235501

Actually this article attempts to compare:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/willia...real-world-study-from-israel/?sh=12be29e95888

 

[tmm99]

Yes. How much has not been quantified AFAIK.

Here are some links https://www.marketwatch.com/story/a...-dr-fauci-says-the-research-means-11618263415
https://www.barrons.com/articles/pfizer-vaccine-covid-19-south-african-strain-51618235501

Actually this article attempts to compare:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/willia...real-world-study-from-israel/?sh=12be29e95888

Thank you. I guess we need more time and cases to find out what's really going on. Some of the findings sounded a bit bizarre (eg. Finding more breakthrough infections of the S. Africa variant among people who have had both shots, over the unvaccinated group.)

Breakthroughs are expected, even with the original variant that the vaccine is targeting, as nobody promised us 100% efficacy. My hope is that the severity of the disease is somewhat muted even with other more pervasive/dangerous variants.

My mom tells me I got a measles vaccine shot when I was a kid. I did get measles, but mine was very mild while some of my friends became quite ill. That's what I'm hoping for. Just a mild case of COVID (if I should catch it) regardless of the variant...

 

[audreyh1]

No, I don’t think that’s bizarre. It simply suggests good protection from “wild” and B117 variant for the fully vaccinated but less protection from the South African variant.

 

[tmm99]

No, I don’t think that’s bizarre. It simply suggests good protection from “wild” and B117 variant for the fully vaccinated but less protection from the South African variant.

Oh, I must have misunderstood this statement below. It sounded as if you'll have a higher chance of catching the S. African variant by getting vaccinated than not getting vaccinated at all, but it's more about the difference in the proportion of the S. Africa variants vs. the wild variants. If that's the case, that's not exactly surprising, as the original vaccine was targeting the original/wild strain but no mutated variants. Fauci was saying months ago that creating a booster is easy and it won't take as much time as all they have to do is to swap out a piece of the mRNA code and they can also skip Phase 1, I think...

“We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African variant among people vaccinated with a second dose, compared to the unvaccinated group.

Do you happen to know the severity of the breakthroughs?

 

[explanade]

Israel study determined that a disproportionate number of breakthrough infections with Pfizer were the South Africa variant, so the vaccine is not as effective against st it and Pfizer is working on a booster for handling variants like that.

That study is a small sample size.

In most places with both the UK and other variants, the UK variant "wins" because it is more transmissible and infects more hosts.

So the prevalence of some of these other variants may remain low, as long as the UK variant is around.

Vaccines are more effective against the UK variant.

 

[audreyh1]

That study is a small sample size.

In most places with both the UK and other variants, the UK variant "wins" because it is more transmissible and infects more hosts.

So the prevalence of some of these other variants may remain low, as long as the UK variant is around.

Vaccines are more effective against the UK variant.

Yes, it was a small sample size.

And the prevalence of the South African variant was quite low at the time.

 

[audreyh1]

Oh, I must have misunderstood this statement below. It sounded as if you'll have a higher chance of catching the S. African variant by getting vaccinated than not getting vaccinated at all, but it's more about the difference in the proportion of the S. Africa variants vs. the wild variants. If that's the case, that's not exactly surprising, as the original vaccine was targeting the original/wild strain but no mutated variants. Fauci was saying months ago that creating a booster is easy and it won't take as much time as all they have to do is to swap out a piece of the mRNA code and they can also skip Phase 1, I think...



Do you happen to know the severity of the breakthroughs?

I don’t know anything more than what those articles disclose.

 

[tmm99]

I don’t know anything more than what those articles disclose.

Thanks. I'm sure we'll find out as we get more breakthrough cases.

 

[Amethyst]

You may not have had measles, but rubella, a milder form. I had both in one year, just before the vaccine came out. The measles was terrible - I retain only vague memories of scary delusions and discomfort, but my mother told me later I had an extended 105-degree fever. There was also a risk of deafness or blindness, since it is one of those viruses that can attack your nervous system.

Next to measles, rubella was a walk in the park - itchy red spots for a week, stay home from school, done.

My mom tells me I got a measles vaccine shot when I was a kid. I did get measles, but mine was very mild while some of my friends became quite ill. That's what I'm hoping for. Just a mild case of COVID (if I should catch it) regardless of the variant...

 

[Sunset]

Agreed, I think it’s premature to worry about lack of vaccine takers. More of an outreach program is needed, and make it way easier to get vaccinated.

Some people don't seem to know how to find it.

Two of my neighbors told me they had not gotten the vaccine yet as couldn't find where.

So yesterday when I got notified of another vaccination site, I checked saw it had lots of openings, and immediately gave them the website to go sign up.

As a side note, I was in the ICU yesterday visiting, and it looked so normal, with just mask wearing.
I was surprised to hear there were Covid patients in some of the rooms.

The nurse laughed when I said it didn't look very "Covidy".
Each room was negative pressurized and I had all my shots plus my mask on so I felt safe.

 

[audreyh1]

Some people don't seem to know how to find it.

Two of my neighbors told me they had not gotten the vaccine yet as couldn't find where.

So yesterday when I got notified of another vaccination site, I checked saw it had lots of openings, and immediately gave them the website to go sign up.

I think there are a lot of people still who need exactly that kind of help.

Perhaps when all the pharmacies have banners outside advertising COVID vaccines like they do flu vaccines each year these folks will find a place.

 

[JoeWras]

I think there are a lot of people still who need exactly that kind of help.

Perhaps when all the pharmacies have banners outside advertising COVID vaccines like they do flu vaccines each year these folks will find a place.

Some people are waiting just for that.

But here's the problem: the world. If we have such a surplus, it can go for a while, but if the oversupply becomes chronic (say we get 1 month ahead), I suspect there will be pressure to donate or re-distribute it to other parts of the world.

 

[explanade]

Well the US has already committed $4 billion to Covax.

But if we have surplus, probably a good idea to give some or at least sell it at cost to Canada and Mexico, since they're two of the biggest trading partners and travel across those borders normally generates a lot of economic activity.

 

[gayl]

Well the US has already committed $4 billion to Covax.

But if we have surplus, probably a good idea to give some or at least sell it at cost to Canada and Mexico, since they're two of the biggest trading partners and travel across those borders normally generates a lot of economic activity.

Agreed

 

[Popeye]

Wow! Here in the opposite corner of PA it is a different story. My county borders .Philadelphia. About a week ago I scheduled an appointment for the county vaccination center. Among the four locations, the earliest spot was May 20th.

Then I got lucky this week since I kept looking. I was on the vaccine finder site and saw a bunch of spots come up for Rite-Aid pharmacy locations. I was able to grab one for me and one for my brother next week. Even using two tabs, by the time I booked them both the times were two hours apart. That’s how fast they were being booked. A few minutes later and they were all gone at multiple locations. Tell your friend to send the extras to Bucks County!

Walgreens must have heard me! They seem to have flooded the area with vaccines. Now multiple open slots in easy travel distance in the coming week. I’m going to watch and see if this supply stays constant.

If you or anyone needs to schedule in PA, go to this site

https://vaccinatepa.org/

They are actually showing how many open slots each Walgreens has each day. That’s before you create an account, answer all the questions etc. That was so frustrating before. You’d go through a bunch of screens only to find nothing available. Now I can see the store and what days have open shots. I was able to move our appointment back to Thursday and get back to back slots at a store five minutes away! All of this with no J & J out there.

 

[audreyh1]

Some people are waiting just for that.

But here's the problem: the world. If we have such a surplus, it can go for a while, but if the oversupply becomes chronic (say we get 1 month ahead), I suspect there will be pressure to donate or re-distribute it to other parts of the world.

There might be some folk motivated by use it or it’s going overseas message, LOL!

But thanks to everyone who is helping neighbors get appointments. Lot of people are doing this, so it really makes difference. Lots of word of mouth happening.

Our neighborhood Facebook group helped me a lot by people posting local vaccination opportunities, so I knew what to look for, and even got registered early, though that didn’t end up working out. I did end up using a pharmacy some neighbors had used - kept my eye open for opportunities.

 

[Amethyst]

I hope you are right. We (not just you and me, but the government too) tend to forget that some people need hand-holding. I can be that way sometimes (both in the sense of needing hand-holding, or forgetting that some people don't catch on quickly).

I think there are a lot of people still who need exactly that kind of help.

Perhaps when all the pharmacies have banners outside advertising COVID vaccines like they do flu vaccines each year these folks will find a place.

 

[JoeWras]

So I was light-heartedly joking around and posted a jpg here. I think that post and few others were deleted. But on the mobile app, the jpg still shows on the summary/title page.

So, to put the mobile-app picture back to the serious perspective, here's a linked jpg of current interest. Since this graph was compiled, the USA has added another 10% and is at 50% for at least one dose.

 

[obsessed]

So I was light-heartedly joking around and posted a jpg here. I think that post and few others were deleted. But on the mobile app, the jpg still shows on the summary/title page.

So, to put the mobile-app picture back to the serious perspective, here's a linked jpg of current interest. Since this graph was compiled, the USA has added another 10% and is at 50% for at least one dose.

Joe, good progress indeed but I believe the US is only about 40% for total population and 50% for the 18+ demographic.

 

[Koolau]

Joe, good progress indeed but I believe the US is only about 40% for total population and 50% for the 18+ demographic.

Does anyone know if the differences between countries is more about commitment to or is it availability of the vaccine? I've heard that Israel took a very pro-active stance yet the USA would seem a lock on getting as much vaccine as it wants. Trying to reconcile these (I'm probably just wrong.) YMMV

 

[disneysteve]

Does anyone know if the differences between countries is more about commitment to or is it availability of the vaccine? I've heard that Israel took a very pro-active stance yet the USA would seem a lock on getting as much vaccine as it wants. Trying to reconcile these (I'm probably just wrong.) YMMV

I have a good friend in Australia. She has said the vaccination effort there is poor. Their health service went in big on the AZ vaccine as the main one, which has had some issues. Apparently there isn't much availability of Pfizer or Moderna. Not sure about J&J.

 

[Aerides]

Does anyone know if the differences between countries is more about commitment to or is it availability of the vaccine? I've heard that Israel took a very pro-active stance yet the USA would seem a lock on getting as much vaccine as it wants. Trying to reconcile these (I'm probably just wrong.) YMMV

Great piece here on Israel's success:

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-f...aels-successful-covid-19-vaccination-program/

tl;dr, they are a great pilot country, making them very attractive to the vaccine makers. Small but with a very well supported and organized national healthcare infrastructure.

 

[Chuckanut]

Does anyone know if the differences between countries is more about commitment to or is it availability of the vaccine? I've heard that Israel took a very pro-active stance yet the USA would seem a lock on getting as much vaccine as it wants. Trying to reconcile these (I'm probably just wrong.) YMMV

If what I read is correct, countries like Israel, the UK and the USA rushed to the vaccine makers with things like money up front to buy necesary equipment and supplies, guaranteed payments even if the vaccine was a failure, government muscle to ensure necessary goods and supplies, and access to real life data to help with long term studies of the vaccine. We called it Warp Speed.

Meanwhile, others (such as the European Union) treating buying the vaccine like they were bargaining for the best deal on new salt shakers for the kitchen table. They ended paying less per dose, but also ended up at the back of the line when it came to shipments. The US had locked in its purchases literally months before the EU. One Italian economist estimated that for every euro saved on the cost of a dose, the EU will lose 10-20 euros worth of economic activity due to slower vaccine rollout and resulting longer lock-downs. Not so good.

The United States made the negotiations easy — its critics say far too easy — by signing away any right to intellectual property and absolving the drug companies of any liability if the vaccines disappointed. Washington paid for the development and the trials; the companies had essentially nothing to lose.

 

[MuirWannabe]

If what I read is correct, countries like Israel, the UK and the USA rushed to the vaccine makers with things like money up front to buy necesary equipment and supplies, guaranteed payments even if the vaccine was a failure, government muscle to ensure necessary goods and supplies, and access to real life data to help with long term studies of the vaccine. We called it Warp Speed.

Meanwhile, others (such as the European Union) treating buying the vaccine like they were bargaining for the best deal on new salt shakers for the kitchen table. They ended paying less per dose, but also ended up at the back of the line when it came to shipments. The US had locked in its purchases literally months before the EU. One Italian economist estimated that for every euro saved on the cost of a dose, the EU will lose 10-20 euros worth of economic activity due to slower vaccine rollout and resulting longer lock-downs. Not so good.

If that’s accurate, which I bet it is, then thank goodness for Warp Speed and the powers that put that into place. The lives saved and the lives restored by vaccinations are an answer to prayers. I’m grateful the program was put in place to make these vaccines available to Americans as quickly as possible. There’s a lot of government spending on just about everything. But that was worth every penny!

 

[Gearhead Jim]

If what I read is correct, countries like Israel, the UK and the USA rushed to the vaccine makers with things like money up front to buy necesary equipment and supplies, guaranteed payments even if the vaccine was a failure, government muscle to ensure necessary goods and supplies, and access to real life data to help with long term studies of the vaccine. We called it Warp Speed.

Meanwhile, others (such as the European Union) treating buying the vaccine like they were bargaining for the best deal on new salt shakers for the kitchen table. They ended paying less per dose, but also ended up at the back of the line when it came to shipments. The US had locked in its purchases literally months before the EU. One Italian economist estimated that for every euro saved on the cost of a dose, the EU will lose 10-20 euros worth of economic activity due to slower vaccine rollout and resulting longer lock-downs. Not so good.

I recall a recent quote from some bigwig in the EU claiming that just because the US had placed it's orders first, that shouldn't mean we get the vaccines first.
Duh, it actually does mean that we get the vaccines first. We took the chances and spent big money first, and are now reaping the benefits. Chuckanut's description of the situation matches all the info I've seen.

What national leader would send vaccines to another country, knowing that lives saved there will be paid for in lives at home?
Aside from the humanitarian aspect, it's also to our benefit to help everyone in the world get vaccinated to reduce transmission and reduce new variants popping up. As soon as we get our own epidemic under control...