Coronavirus thread

[T. D.]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-09/which-countries-have-reserved-the-most-covid-19-vaccines-u-s-is-32nd-on-list

Might be paywalled.

The U.S. Operation Warp Speed program is credited with shaving years off the typical development timeline for vaccines that are now on the brink of being deployed. But after leading that effort, the U.S. has yet to exercise some options to lock down additional supplies that could offer extra insurance against manufacturing problems or scientific delays.

Bloomberg has reviewed more than 80 agreements between vaccine makers and countries around the globe to reserve allocations while they are still in development. Canada, the U.K. and Australia top the list, with enough vaccine doses reserved to cover their populations several times over.

The U.S., meanwhile, ranks 32nd in per-capita vaccine reservations. It is behind the 27 European Union countries that banded together to pre-order vaccines in larger quantities, and sandwiched between Chile and Japan in 31st and 33rd, respectively, according to Bloomberg's analysis.

"On any dimension you want to talk about, it's a shocking abdication of government responsibility," said Craig Garthwaite, the Director of the Program on Healthcare at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "I'm so demoralized this will delay by another month or two getting the economy going."

[André]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-09/which-countries-have-reserved-the-most-covid-19-vaccines-u-s-is-32nd-on-list

Might be paywalled.

The U.S. Operation Warp Speed program is credited with shaving years off the typical development timeline for vaccines that are now on the brink of being deployed. But after leading that effort, the U.S. has yet to exercise some options to lock down additional supplies that could offer extra insurance against manufacturing problems or scientific delays.

Bloomberg has reviewed more than 80 agreements between vaccine makers and countries around the globe to reserve allocations while they are still in development. Canada, the U.K. and Australia top the list, with enough vaccine doses reserved to cover their populations several times over.

The U.S., meanwhile, ranks 32nd in per-capita vaccine reservations. It is behind the 27 European Union countries that banded together to pre-order vaccines in larger quantities, and sandwiched between Chile and Japan in 31st and 33rd, respectively, according to Bloomberg's analysis.

"On any dimension you want to talk about, it's a shocking abdication of government responsibility," said Craig Garthwaite, the Director of the Program on Healthcare at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. "I'm so demoralized this will delay by another month or two getting the economy going."

To the bolded text: some countries have tried to avoid a repeat of the mishaps that marred the distribution of protection equipment in the spring and left them waiting for cargo that were 'hijacked'  by a higher bidder. The recent move by Trump on vaccine distribution was widely anticipated in some capitals. The vaccine orders are not necessarily redundant, as the bulk of them are options for additional orders - just in case an expected order would be 'rerouted' somewhere else...

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Not yet, P. The big concern is the anti-vaccine brigade who already had a base with the mumps vaccine for children which was an issue before the Covid crises. I find it irresponsible for parents to refuse that their children to be inoculated due to unsubstantiated so called risks, then if their child falls ill to expect the NHS cure the child of mumps or similar at the cost of the taxpayer.   

I understand your feelings Irons.  Here, there are a number of people from various backgrounds who refuse to get their children inoculated for either so-called 'scientific findings' (which aren't true = rumors) or religious reasons and are causing previously controlable illnesses to spread and go skyrocketing in some areas.

PD

[71 dB]

Poll in Finland: Are you taking the vaccine when available?

YES 64 %
CAN'T SAY YET 16 %
NO 20 %

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-09/which-countries-have-reserved-the-most-covid-19-vaccines-u-s-is-32nd-on-list

Might be paywalled.

Fortunately not paywalled.  Canada is doing so great in this vaccine thing! 

[Que]

Poll in Finland: Are you taking the vaccine when available?

YES 64 %
CAN'T SAY YET 16 %
NO 20 %

Shows that Fins are not smarter than anyone else.....

Score for the Netherlands: 73% - 18% - 8%

[prémont]

Shows that Fins are not smarter than anyone else.....

Score for the Netherlands: 73% - 18% - 8%

Danish score:

Yes                80%
No                 10%
Don't know     10%

[Que]

Danish score:

Yes                80%
No                 10%
Don't know     10%

Danes are obviously smart!   

[T. D.]

Might I venture a guess as to where the dumbass USA ranks on that scale? 

On that subject...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-10/cdc-chief-says-he-told-staff-to-ignore-email-from-trump-official

The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said he told staff to ignore an email by a top Trump administration health official who had sought changes to a scientific report on Covid-19's risk to children.

The email i[n] question was written by Paul Alexander, a senior adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Charlotte Kent, the editor of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, told congressional investigators that while on vacation in August she received instructions to delete the email.

"I instructed CDC to ignore Dr. Alexander's comments," CDC Director Robert Redfield said Thursday at a virtual event held by the Council on Foreign Relations. He also said he instructed staff that they didn't need to reply to the message. "I would never delete an email," he said.

The comments came in response to allegations Thursday from Representative James E. Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat and head of a congressional oversight subcommittee. In a letter to Redfield and Azar, Clyburn said the Trump administration had attempted to "destroy evidence that senior political appointees interfered with career officials' response to the coronavirus crisis" at the CDC.

[71 dB]

Shows that Fins are not smarter than anyone else.....

Certainly not. That Finnish poll is nothing to brag about. One explanation for these numbers is the vaccine Finland got for swine flu decade ago caused many Finns to get narcolepsy as a nasty side effect. It was really bad and compromised the trust for vaccines among Finns. Many believe that in the end more Finns will want the corona vaccine when it has (hopefully) shown to be safe.

Score for the Netherlands: 73% - 18% - 8%

Pretty damn good numbers. I suppose Netherlands did not have narcolepsy problem with swine flu vaccinations?

[71 dB]

Might I venture a guess as to where the dumbass USA ranks on that scale? 

https://news.gallup.com/poll/327425/willingness-covid-vaccine-ticks.aspx

YES 63 %
NO 37 %

Apparently there was no "no opinion yet" option.

[MusicTurner]

Some local Danish news:
- vaccines to start in about 3 weeks, very early in January, which will hopefully then mark a gradual turning point. We're 5.6 mio people & vaccines were bought from these companies, via the EU
Astra Zeneca: ca. 2,6 mio. vaccines
Sanofi-GSK: ca. 2 mio. vaccines
Johnson & Johnson: ca. 5,6 mio vaccines
Pfizer/BioNTech: ca. 2 mio vaccines
CureVac: ca. 2,6 mio. vaccines
Moderna: ca. 1 mio. vaccines
Some locally produced vaccines are also being created.

- 80% say they'll take the vaccine (it's going to be free), 14% decidedly not, and 6% are undecided.
https://www.berlingske.dk/virksomheder/80-procent-af-danskerne-er-klar-til-at-lade-sig-vaccinere-med-gratis

- infections going up a lot, but also tests. Yesterday 3100+, however 111.000 were tested, which is 25-30 % above the average number of tests.

- as a result, new restrictions, known from earlier in the year, are implemented in most of the country, such as eating places only serving take-aways, jobs preferably at home if possible, only youngest children now going to schools, gatherings above 10 people not allowed, many public institutions closed, etc. We're even recommended to stay at home, and to reduce Christmas visits.

- I got a flu vaccine yesterday, for free, they'd been put on a halt for some months for most people due to popularity/being less available, but my mild asthma didn't qualify for a pneumonia vaccine, which is said to be much more beneficial for corona cases. Have experienced zero side effects.

- health sector workers are stressed by the unusual work conditions, a majority of them are even considering finding other jobs, a poll finds. The health sector has been "slendered" in recent decades, it's not that there aren't beds, but more work pressure, and middle-layer and upper layer leaders plus reporting have been be prioritized, at the expense of basic ground work.

- Sweden facing further problems, also in the health sector now, clearly shown by presented statistics. I'd like a native Swede to explain to me, how they continue to put so much trust in their strategy/strategist over there, since reports tend to be bad.

[steve ridgway]

One explanation for these numbers is the vaccine Finland got for swine flu decade ago caused many Finns to get narcolepsy as a nasty side effect. It was really bad and compromised the trust for vaccines among Finns.

Yes plus we have become very distrustful of the pharmaceutical industry in general as a result of the wife's investigations into statins. It's an area you'd have to investigate for yourself though, it's extremely difficult to convince other people.

[71 dB]

Yes plus we have become very distrustful of the pharmaceutical industry in general as a result of the wife's investigations into statins. It's an area you'd have to investigate for yourself though, it's extremely difficult to convince other people.

Convince other people of what?

[steve ridgway]

Convince other people of what?

Of anything contradicting what their preferred "authorities" tell them really - medicines, diet, religion, politics, the later music of Tangerine Dream...

[Karl Henning]

Biogen conference in Boston likely linked to 330,000 COVID-19 cases worldwide, researchers say.

[T. D.]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-11/sanofi-gsk-delay-covid-vaccine-after-elderly-get-little-boost

Vaccine makers, including two of the biggest in the world, suffered setbacks in the push to get more Covid-19 shots across the line, tempering a run of positive news.

Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline Plc delayed advanced trials of their experimental Covid-19 shot after it failed to produce a strong enough response in older people, pushing its potential availability to the end of next year. In another blow, trials of a vaccine being developed by CSL Ltd. and the University of Queensland in Australia ran into difficulties.

Sanofi and its U.K. partner will begin a new second-phase study with a more concentrated antigen in February after they said the current dosage failed to generate a good immune response in people 50 years and older. Younger adults showed a response similar to patients who have recovered from the disease.

The problem arose after two different reagents used to measure vaccine formulations provided inaccurate information about the concentration of antigens, Sanofi said in an emailed statement. The companies notified U.S. officials about the matter.

[71 dB]

Of anything contradicting what their preferred "authorities" tell them really - medicines, diet, religion, politics, the later music of Tangerine Dream...

I thought your wife had found out something alarming about statins, but it seems you were simply advocating critical thinking skills.

[steve ridgway]

I thought your wife had found out something alarming about statins, but it seems you were simply advocating critical thinking skills.

Oh she found loads about cholesterol actually being an essential part of cell membranes, the vital biochemical reactions that statins break, what damage they do etc. We certainly wouldn't be taking them. Twitter seems to be the platform to look on if you're interested, there are a lot of professionals on there.

[T. D.]

Cheeto being Mussolini:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/11/white-house-threatens-to-fire-fda-chief-unless-covid-vaccine-oked-friday-report.html

[steve ridgway]

Cheeto being Mussolini:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/11/white-house-threatens-to-fire-fda-chief-unless-covid-vaccine-oked-friday-report.html

The FDA have now "decided" it's safe for emergency use and the US public can look forward to receiving it starting from Monday.