Booster shots and re-vaccinations could be needed. Drug companies are planning for it.

[maestrob]

Scientists have long said that giving people a single course of a Covid-19 vaccine might not be sufficient in the long term, and that booster shots and even annual vaccinations might prove necessary.

In recent days, that proposition has begun to sound less hypothetical.

Vaccine makers are getting a jump-start on possible new rounds of shots, although they sound more certain of the need for boosters than independent scientists have.

Pfizer’s chief executive Albert Bourla said on Thursday that a third dose of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine was “likely” to be needed within a year of the initial two-dose inoculation — followed by annual vaccinations.

Albert Bourla, the Pfizer chief, said in a conversation hosted by CVS Health, that people may need to get Covid vaccine shots annually, like flu shots. Some vaccines are only given once, while others need annual boosters, he said. (An earlier version of this post included a quoted comment in which he misstated the number of vaccine doses required for polio immunity — more than one dose is needed.)

Dr. David Kessler, who runs the Biden administration’s vaccine effort, told a House subcommittee on Thursday that the government was also looking ahead. One factor at play is the spread of coronavirus variants and whether further vaccination could better target mutant strains.

Mr. Bourla said that “a likely scenario” is “a third dose somewhere between six and 12 months, and from there it would be an annual re-vaccination.” Moderna said this week that it was at work on a booster for its vaccine, and Johnson & Johnson has said that its single-shot vaccine will probably need to be given annually.

Dr. Kessler emphasized the “strong efficacy” of the current vaccines, including against the variants, but said that the government was “taking steps to develop next generation of vaccines that are directed against these variants if in fact they can be more effective.”

He was one of a handful of top federal health officials at the House hearing who implored Americans to get vaccinated and sought to reassure the nation that all three federally authorized vaccines are safe. They said little about restarting Johnson & Johnson shots, which came to a halt after the Food and Drug Administration called for paused to examine a rare blood-clotting disorder. It is unclear whether the vaccine was responsible for the clots.

Late Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had scheduled a new emergency hearing for April 23. The agency’s independent vaccine advisory panel, known as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, has been scheduled to meet then for a second time since shots were halted, to discuss safety data related to a small number of blood-clotting cases in Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients.

“We recognize the critical importance of moving quickly. That’s why we will have two unscheduled ACIP meetings in a 10-day period,” Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the C.D.C. director, said at a White House news conference Friday.

She said that the C.D.C. had contacted over 10,000 providers “to ensure that they know what kinds of cases to look for.”

As of Thursday, more than 125 million people in the country had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, including about 78 million who have been fully vaccinated by Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine or the two-dose series made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

In February, Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech, said that they planned to test a third shot and to update their original vaccine. The F.D.A. has said that vaccine developers will not need to conduct lengthy trials for vaccines that have been adapted to protect against variants.

On Tuesday, Moderna said that its vaccine continued to provide strong protection in the United States against Covid-19 six months after it is given, and the company’s chief executive, Stéphane Bancel, told CNBC that he hoped to have booster shots ready by the fall.

— Remy Tumin

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/16 ... irus-cases

[Holden Fourth]

The author of this article neglects to state exactly why regular vaccination might be needed. The simple fact of the matter is that none of the current vaccines will prevent you from getting Covid19. Instead, what they are designed to do is to significantly minimise the effects of coronavirus if and when you do get it. This is where Covid and the flu are remarkably similar as both are capable of mutating into newer versions of itself. This is the reason why flu shots, aimed at the mutant versions, are given annually. It's also the reason that similar to influenza, people will still continue to die from Covid19 unless, like it cousin SARS, it just dies out naturally.

[Belle]

The author of this article neglects to state exactly why regular vaccination might be needed. The simple fact of the matter is that none of the current vaccines will prevent you from getting Covid19. Instead, what they are designed to do is to significantly minimise the effects of coronavirus if and when you do get it. This is where Covid and the flu are remarkably similar as both are capable of mutating into newer versions of itself. This is the reason why flu shots, aimed at the mutant versions, are given annually. It's also the reason that similar to influenza, people will still continue to die from Covid19 unless, like it cousin SARS, it just dies out naturally.

Selective reporting. Again. From the Stockholm Syndrome Times.

I'm not a fearful person and I'm not afraid of dying from Covid-19; not when I've already had cancer.

[jserraglio]

The simple fact of the matter is that none of the current vaccines will prevent you from getting Covid19. Instead, what they are designed to do is to significantly minimise the effects of coronavirus if and when you do get it.

No vaccine is 100% effective? That’s like pointing out that a pitcher who hurls a no-hitter failed to throw a perfect game. It’s absurdly wrong-headed.

And it is at best misleading to state that the COVID vaccines act merely as a palliative.

[Holden Fourth]

The research I've done suggests that the vaccines could minimise any infection to the point where you wouldn't feel ill at all so it's more than a palliative. In many cases Covid just won't get a chance to take hold but this won't apply to everyone. It's the same for the flu jab where there is always a subset of people who still get the flu despite being vaccinated.

[barney]

The research I've done suggests that the vaccines could minimise any infection to the point where you wouldn't feel ill at all so it's more than a palliative. In many cases Covid just won't get a chance to take hold but this won't apply to everyone. It's the same for the flu jab where there is always a subset of people who still get the flu despite being vaccinated.

Indeed, or react badly to the vaccine. But I'm not quite sure of your purpose. Are you advocating against being vaccinated? I'm not attacking you if so - my wife shares your caution; just curious. I'm in category 1B myself, and I do plan to have the vaccine when availalbe to me. That won't be until June at the earliest, according to my doctor.

[barney]

The author of this article neglects to state exactly why regular vaccination might be needed. The simple fact of the matter is that none of the current vaccines will prevent you from getting Covid19. Instead, what they are designed to do is to significantly minimise the effects of coronavirus if and when you do get it. This is where Covid and the flu are remarkably similar as both are capable of mutating into newer versions of itself. This is the reason why flu shots, aimed at the mutant versions, are given annually. It's also the reason that similar to influenza, people will still continue to die from Covid19 unless, like it cousin SARS, it just dies out naturally.

Selective reporting. Again. From the Stockholm Syndrome Times.

I'm not a fearful person and I'm not afraid of dying from Covid-19; not when I've already had cancer.

Congratulations for leaving the Left (almost) out of it. I suppose a reference to the Stockhom Syndrome Times serves that purpose. But again an absurd, irrelevant post. No one's accused you of being afraid of dying. I don't accept for a second your claim not to be fearful - your posts reveal a constant terror that the carpetbaggers of the left will somehow part you from your fortune. They might raise taxes to provide better education and health.

Indeed, on the news today (ABC, I fear) your beloved Mr Morrison was floating the idea of an extra $10 billion for aged care. I approve of that. It seems to me that far and the best way to reduce Australia's debt is a temporary levy of one cent in the dollar on income (including family trusts and shares etc). Like the Medicare levy.

[jserraglio]

The research I've done suggests that the vaccines could minimise any infection to the point where you wouldn't feel ill at all so it's more than a palliative. In many cases Covid just won't get a chance to take hold but this won't apply to everyone. It's the same for the flu jab where there is always a subset of people who still get the flu despite being vaccinated.

I agree: the Covid vaccine affects everyone differently, with more or less efficacy. I would just point out—this hardly amounts to a breakthrough medical discovery. It is true of all vaccines.

I would put it this way: Covid vaccines are highly effective in preventing the overwhelming majority of those inoculated from getting Covid, and in minimizing the disease should some actually get it. Bottom line: these vaccines do both — they prevent and, failing that, they minimize this disease. I think, however, that this may boil down to a mere semantic difference between us—similar views, different emphasis.

But the larger picture strikes me as a vein richly laced with irony. The very same folks who about a year ago were telling us, rather irresponsibly I would contend, to simply let nature take its course and achieve herd immunity via infection at the cost of many thousands of lives are now fighting shy of vaccines that would achieve via inoculation the very herd immunity they only recently were advocating.

I am not, like Belle, made of sterner stuff. I lived in fear of a polio outbreak all of my childhood; I had close relations die in the flu epidemic a century ago; and I just lost my best friend to Covid. I am a very fearful person. I fear death at the hands of Covid for my wife, kids, grandkids, students, and for the teachers at my school (one of whom died a horrible death from this pernicious disease).

So in my view, these new vaccines, developed and administered so rapidly, have been a game changer. I was ecstatically vaccinated two months ago and lived to tell about it, to no one’s surprise except that of antivaxxers who most likely would have burnt incense before altars to ward off the Black Death.

[Holden Fourth]

The research I've done suggests that the vaccines could minimise any infection to the point where you wouldn't feel ill at all so it's more than a palliative. In many cases Covid just won't get a chance to take hold but this won't apply to everyone. It's the same for the flu jab where there is always a subset of people who still get the flu despite being vaccinated.

Indeed, or react badly to the vaccine. But I'm not quite sure of your purpose. Are you advocating against being vaccinated? I'm not attacking you if so - my wife shares your caution; just curious. I'm in category 1B myself, and I do plan to have the vaccine when availalbe to me. That won't be until June at the earliest, according to my doctor.

Good question. I am pro vaccine and happy to have the Astrazeneca jabs. I had an interesting chat with my oncologist a few weeks ago. This is a very astute man and when I suggested that I may have already contracted Covid and didn't know it, he smiled knowingly. Covid19 is still being found in our waste water system and he says that this proof that Covid is alive and well in the community. He also said that our low death rate/severe infection rate is an indication that Covid is not a threat for the vast majority of the population. We have a good health system in OZ and just about everybody is living well, healthy and the comorbidity rate is low. I suspect that those most affected are either quite old or have those comorbidities. Socio-economic status might also be a factor.

[jserraglio]

our low death rate/severe infection rate is an indication that Covid is not a threat for the vast majority of the population.

That’s what they thought in Canada, pooh-poohing the threat, not bothering to produce their own vaccine though they were more than capable of doing so, only to find themselves scrambling right now to assemble a vaccine supply to combat two, plus a likely third, dangerous infection surges.



BBC Covid: Canada sounds the alarm as cases overtake US https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56779428

CNN Canada's healthcare workers brace for the painful blow of a punishing third wave
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/18/americas ... index.html

[maestrob]

The research I've done suggests that the vaccines could minimise any infection to the point where you wouldn't feel ill at all so it's more than a palliative. In many cases Covid just won't get a chance to take hold but this won't apply to everyone. It's the same for the flu jab where there is always a subset of people who still get the flu despite being vaccinated.

Indeed, or react badly to the vaccine. But I'm not quite sure of your purpose. Are you advocating against being vaccinated? I'm not attacking you if so - my wife shares your caution; just curious. I'm in category 1B myself, and I do plan to have the vaccine when availalbe to me. That won't be until June at the earliest, according to my doctor.

Good question. I am pro vaccine and happy to have the Astrazeneca jabs. I had an interesting chat with my oncologist a few weeks ago. This is a very astute man and when I suggested that I may have already contracted Covid and didn't know it, he smiled knowingly. Covid19 is still being found in our waste water system and he says that this proof that Covid is alive and well in the community. He also said that our low death rate/severe infection rate is an indication that Covid is not a threat for the vast majority of the population. We have a good health system in OZ and just about everybody is living well, healthy and the comorbidity rate is low. I suspect that those most affected are either quite old or have those comorbidities. Socio-economic status might also be a factor.

Just to clarify your remarks I bolded above, Holden, you may be interested to know that in the USA, roughly 60+% of our more than 560,000 deaths from covid were of obese people. Fat-shaming is a real issue here (as it may be in Australia), so this has not been reported or discussed widely, but doctors are aware of the issue. In regards to socio-economic status, that's also true, as most of our "essential workers" in Amazon warehouses, supermarkets, cars for hire drivers & food-processing plants are minimum wage earners and thus members of minority races.

[Rach3]

I'm not a fearful person and I'm not afraid of dying from Covid-19; not when I've already had cancer.

Wonderful to hear you beat cancer !! As I'm sure you more than agree !

But, I'd be wary of Covid as more transmissible and more deadly variants are now rampant, efficacy of vaccines against the British,Brazil variants believed to be less than against the " original", and no clue I've seen reported yet whether the vaccines work at all against the South African . More variants will likely develop since the World,including US and OZ, are far from herd immunity, and the vaccine makers already indicate a third jab of Pfizer and Moderna will likely be needed 6-12 months after the second, and then annually thereafter, with one suspects another dismal appointment- distribution process for the third jab. 560000+ Americans were not afraid of dying from COVID until they did so, and many posting here are in the high -risk "elderly" group even if not obese. My biggest fear here is probably the fact there are so many idiots who ignore the masking, social distancing,hand washing, avoid crowds, stay outside ,etc.guidelines under the "freedom " excuse, ie. " I regret that you have but one life to give for my freedom."

Do take care and stay safe, all.

"Horse sense is that thing horses have which keeps them from betting people." WC Fields

[jserraglio]

Canada pooh-poohed the threat, not bothering to produce their own vaccine though they were more than capable of doing so, only to find themselves scrambling right now to assemble a vaccine supply to combat three dangerous infection surges.



BBC Covid: Canada sounds the alarm as cases overtake US https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56779428

CNN Canada's healthcare workers brace for the painful blow of a punishing third wave
https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/18/americas ... index.html

WAPO

OPINION
Doug Ford must resign
by David Moscrop

As Ontario Premier Doug Ford sat down at a Friday afternoon news conference to announce his plans to extend the province’s covid-19 measures, social media feeds erupted with posts from around the province, from around the country, uniformly expressing outrage, frustration, shock and despondence.

Ford opened by blaming the federal government for not providing the province with sufficient vaccine supply, abdicating his responsibility for a pandemic that was never going to be solved immediately by vaccines. He moved on to the absurd claim that Ontario has the toughest measures in North America, which is untrue. He said he was restricting outdoor gatherings (which tend to be far safer than indoor gatherings) while permitting factories, food-processing plants and warehouses to operate, intimating that a seesaw is a greater threat than a fulfillment center — or, at least, that outdoor recreation and the physical and mental health that comes with it are less important than moving goods. On Saturday, he reversed a decision to close playgrounds but kept other outdoor restrictions in place.

Gaunt and drawn on Friday, he announced that his government was empowering police to arbitrarily stop anyone who is outside their residence during the province’s lockdown, giving law enforcement extraordinary powers that threaten civil rights, especially among vulnerable and racialized populations. Within hours of the news conference, several police departments indicated they would not being conducting “random” checks, including Ottawa, Waterloo and Peterborough. Others soon followed, including Toronto and Hamilton. That may seem welcome news, but it is not nearly good enough. These statements are not guarantees that individuals won’t be harassed, intimidated, fined or arrested. On Saturday, Ford updated this measure, too; the regulation, however, remains a civil liberties threat.

As he deflected blame and lost the plot, Ford made no mention of paid sick days, which advocates have been begging for. Indeed, aside from promising to improve hot-spot vaccination distribution and limit interprovincial travel, he offered little of value to fight Ontario’s third wave, as cases surge and the health system nears the brink of collapse. We’ve all heard that we ought not to let the perfect become the enemy of the good, but it’s a bit too much to expect us to let whatever is politically expedient for the premier take the place of what is necessary for the rest of us.

Ford was never fit to be premier of Ontario. The pandemic didn’t reveal that; it just bathed it in the garish light of emergency. Both before his time in provincial politics and since, he has shown no distinction other than his extraordinary capacity to alienate, divide and fail. And the failures are many and epic. As I argued in 2018, he brought U.S.-style culture wars to Ontario. He interfered in local politics during an election and desecrated Toronto’s city council. He froze the minimum wage and rolled back protected, paid sick days. He cut Toronto public health funding, and library funding, and legal aid funding, and flood funding. He opposed safe injection sites. He couldn’t even figure out how to produce license plates that work. The list goes on and on.

Over a year into the pandemic, things are worse in Ontario than they have been since it began. Despite warnings from health experts and dire predictions from modeling, the province was slow to adopt necessary measures to slow transmission. They even waited, as QP Briefing reports, “an extra week to implement a stay-at-home order to see if the modeling that predicted overflowing hospitals was coming true.” Now, Ford’s latest measures miss the mark while exacerbating stressors and risks for essential workers, parents and others struggling day to day. Instead of sick days, a coherent and accessible vaccination program, and better testing and tracing, Ontarians are getting lectured for not yanking up their bootstraps enough while they go nuts at home or drag themselves into an unsafe workplace.

Enough is enough. It’s time for Ford to go. He must resign.

Getting rid of a premier with a majority government is difficult outside of an election. But Ontarians cannot wait to hold Ford accountable at the ballot box. A caucus revolt might do it. But even without one, for the good of the province and his own party, Ford should catch the next train to political oblivion.

David Moscrop is a contributing columnist for The Washington Post and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Communication at the University of Ottawa.

[maestrob]

Looks like Ford is a victim of the Peter Principle.

When it was made plain that Sarah Palin couldn't cut it as Alaska's Governor, she resigned half-way through her first term.

Boris Johnson in England is another such. Remember, please, that when Covid hit, he went around without a mask shaking hands with constituents and fellow pols, until he caught the virus and had to be hospitalized.

Too many politicians get elected by spinning a web of nonsense and fooling the voters who, many times, are just too busy to judge candidates properly.

Wish I knew how to change this, but I don't.

Still, democracy, however flawed, is better than any of the alternatives we've invented so far.