Fogbow

Andy Slavitt

18 Dec, 23 tweets, 4 min read
COVID Update: A setback is a setback. And we’ve had 3 setbacks with vaccine testing this week.

But all of those setbacks remind me of how blessed we have been so far by science and the people who monitor safety.

1/
One setback, announced yesterday, is the change of position from the CDC on Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. 2/
J&J’s vaccine was flagged and pulled from the market temporarily in the Spring when reports of several blood clotting issues arose.

Many criticized the decision for causing doubt & disruption of vaccines at a critical moment after it was ultimately put back on the market. 3/
Having been in the WH at the time, there were 2 incontrovertible reasons the vaccine was temporarily pulled.

One was the standard treatment for w blood clot turned out to be the wrong clinical response. Flagging the vaccine was the only way to be sure docs treated it right. 4/
There were 2 deaths at the time & the FDA wanted to see if more reporting would come in if people hunted for the problem. Not much was there.

But today the death toll = 9, enough for the recommendation to say people are better off w Pfizer or Moderna. 5/
A setback? Yes. We need more safe & effective vaccines, not fewer.

But this should be massively comforting as well. Vaccines have been used over 8.5 BILLION times. Thee safety profile is extraordinary. And the safety regulators are monitoring closely. 6/
And only 9 deaths, considering the millions of times it has been given, means that in places where mRNA vaccines are not available, makes J&J still a very safe vaccine.

But this call is exactly right. It’s not as safe as the others given a choice. 7/
The bigger concern- and a real one— is how J&J holds up in effectiveness against Omicron. And it appears not very well.

Which is why people w J&J are being encouraged to revaccinate & boost. 8/
The second setback that was announced today was the lack of a response in Pfizer’s testing of the dose given to 2 to 5 year olds (it had a good response on 6 Mo to 2 year olds).

For many parents this is incredibly frustrating & disappointing. Small kids are at risk to Omicron.9/
The latest thinking is that it will be 6 months before a dosing can be approved now for kids under 5. And then it may be 3 doses— also disappointing for parents.

This creates barriers & inequities for the many parents who will find that very difficult. 10/
We’re not used to reading disappointing news about vaccine trials. We’ve had a streak of successful first trials from the original vaccines to teens to kids that it’s easy enough to forget that the vast majority of trials fail. 11/
Getting the dosing right in children is obviously something to test & roll out carefully. Too much vaccine in a 25 pound healthy child is something people who make vaccines are expert at preventing.

So it is smarter to test smaller doses than bigger. 12/
But this means of you err, this is what happens. A safe bit ineffective dose is far better than an unsafe effective one.

Just imagine if we were reading today that a vaccine trial hospitalized toddlers. It would be a long time before parents trusted the vaccine. 13/
Thanks to the safety regulators & people who conduct these trials, we are not in that situation.

There’s no denying how worrying it is to go into 2022 without a vaccine for pre-school age kids in the face of Omicron. As a baseline parents & gparents need to boost. 14/
On that note Pfizer filed to extend boosters down to age 12. 15/
More in the “the news isn’t always good” front is early signs from the UK that the booster may wane over the first few months with Omicron.

This would be another setback. But like the others not one we can’t deal with. 16/
Vaccine makers can adjust the vaccine to target the variant better. Two & three doses seem to do a great job protecting against severe disease. 17/
The reality is the virus is highly adaptable & fit. But I still think science is better.

It’s not always as fast as we want. Doesn’t always get us what we need in time. And every day feels costly. But our ability to prevail isn’t in doubt. 18/
There are many at risk while science adjusts. People who can’t be vaccinated & boosted. Older people & those with chronic conditions or immuno-compromised. Our policies & our resources should protect them. 19/
Our policies, including disability policies & health coverage policies, should also be cognizant of long-term COVID effects.

Where science has temporary shortcomings, our policies should fill the gap. 20/
And so should our behavior. A very opinionated news anchor read me what he considered to be his tough common sense wisdom.

“Nobody’s going to alter their plans over Christmas so Biden better do something else.” 21/
Aside from being classic gaslighting, believe me the president doesn’t expect people to be safe on his account.

But if you’re going to be around kids under 5, older people or sick people, if science won’t protect them, that means we have to. 22/
Our will ought to harden in the face of setbacks. Their presence makes me appreciate or progress I’ve taken for granted.

But no matter how good science gets, we won’t be able to science away indifference. /end

tek wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 6:07 am Boston Globe has a headline:
Most of the world’s vaccines likely won’t prevent infection from Omicron

But the link doesn't go to a story about that.

A booster shot of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine significantly raises the level of antibodies that can thwart the Omicron variant, the company announced on Monday. The news arrives as Omicron rapidly advances across the world, and most coronavirus vaccines seem unable to stave off infection from the highly contagious variant.

Moderna’s results show that the currently authorized booster dose of 50 micrograms — half the dose given for primary immunization — increased the level of antibodies by roughly 37-fold, the company said. A full dose of 100 micrograms was even more powerful, raising antibody levels about 83-fold compared with pre-boost levels, Moderna said.

Both doses produced side effects comparable to those seen after the two-dose primary series. But the dose of 100 micrograms showed slightly more frequent adverse reactions relative to the authorized 50-microgram dose. The results are based on laboratory tests that do not capture the full range of the body’s immune response against the virus. Although vaccines may not prevent infection from the variant, they are expected to prevent severe illness in the vast majority of people.

The data have also not been published or reviewed by independent experts. Moderna said it was preparing a manuscript with the data that would be posted online. The pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech announced earlier this month that a booster shot of their vaccine also increased the level of antibodies against Omicron.

Jerusalem (CNN)Israel is to begin rolling out a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine with immediate effect for people ages 60 and over, medical workers and people with suppressed immune systems, the Prime Minister's Office announced Tuesday, following a recommendation from the country's panel of coronavirus experts.

Those eligible for the fourth dose can receive it provided at least four months have passed since the third dose, it said. In Israel, almost all vaccinated citizens have received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

One of the members of the expert panel told Israeli radio Tuesday evening that the decision to recommend a fourth dose had not been an easy one.

"We don't really have data yet on the level of immunity, like we did when we decided on the third dose, but on the other hand, there is really scary data out there in the rest of the world, Professor Galia Rahav said

Within weeks, scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research expect to announce that they have developed a vaccine that is effective against COVID-19 and all its variants, even Omicron, as well as from previous SARS-origin viruses that have killed millions of people worldwide.

The achievement is the result of almost two years of work on the virus. The Army lab received its first DNA sequencing of the COVID-19 virus in early 2020. Very early on, Walter Reed’s infectious diseases branch decided to focus on making a vaccine that would work against not just the existing strain but all of its potential variants as well.

Walter Reed’s Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle COVID-19 vaccine, or SpFN, completed animal trials earlier this year with positive results. Phase 1 of human trials, which tested the vaccine against Omicron and the other variants, wrapped up this month, again with positive results that are undergoing final review, Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, director of Walter Reed’s infectious diseases branch, said in an exclusive interview with Defense One.

Unlike existing vaccines, Walter Reed’s SpFN uses a soccer ball-shaped protein with 24 faces for its vaccine, which allows scientists to attach the spikes of multiple coronavirus strains on different faces of the protein.

TrumpWorld Becomes Unglued Over Trump’s Praise of Vaccine and Booster Shots
‘BOOMER LEVEL ANNOYING’
The former president is losing hardcore supporters over his support for COVID-19 vaccines.
Zachary Petrizzo Media Reporter Updated Dec. 24, 2021 2:22PM ET / Published Dec. 24, 2021 12:14AM ET

Some of Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters and right-wing allies have turned on the twice-impeached ex-president following his glowing public endorsement of the COVID-19 vaccine, and subsequent positive messaging around receiving a booster shot. The fringe characters have come out of the woodwork to try and throw down with the political leader they once praised. While on stage with disgraced former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly this past weekend, Trump praised his own administration’s rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, a sticking point in TrumpWorld as pundits have been apprehensive about backing the shots. “We did something that was historic,” Trump told the crowd, which he was booed over. “We got a vaccine done.”

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, along with countless other far-right types, weren’t pleased with Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement of the vaccine. “Sign on to it. Take credit for it. Take this, sign on, believe it. Hell, we’re fighting Bill Gates and Fauci and Biden and the New World Order and Psaki and the Davos Group,” Jones fumed on his daily show this past week, “and now we’ve got Trump on their team!” Far-right “Stop the Steal” and Jan. 6 organizer Ali Alexander also took a swing at Trump over his outspoken support for the vaccine. “Remember when Trump said you would be playing right into the Democrat’s hands by mocking the rushed, ineffective shot?” Alexander wrote Thursday afternoon on Telegram. “Yeah, Joe Biden praises him and his booster shot. Trump, stop. Just stop. Have your position (backed by Fauci) and allow us to have ours (which is backed by science). This losing is getting boomer level annoying.”

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, however, told The Daily Beast he isn’t concerned with Trump supporting the vaccine because “he is 100% against mandates!” Lindell added that, unlike Trump “I am 100% against the vaccine! You know that.” Similarly, pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood urged followers to hold back, calling the Trump vaccine push a part of the former president's “wartime strategy.” “I believe We The People should wait until ALL the facts are known before passing judgment on the President's wartime strategy and the tactics designed to achieve victory,” he wrote, which left him in hot water with some of his followers. On Friday morning, Wood played coy when speaking to The Daily Beast while claiming he has “deferred to him [Trump]” on the vaccine matter. “I don't consider myself a public advocate against the vaccine,” he said, while noting he is an advocate “against child sex trafficking.” “I leave the question of taking the vaccine up to individuals,” he said, despite having previously calling the vaccine “a planned bioweapon” on Telegram, another social media platform favored by the far right.

Alleged QAnon ringleader turned Arizona congressional candidate Ron Watkins chimed in after Trump doubled down on his vaccine support later in the week during an interview with right-wing commentator Candace Owens. “Oh no, the vaccines work, but… the ones who get very sick and go to the hospital are the ones that don’t take the vaccine,” Trump told Owens. “But it’s still their choice… Look, the results of the vaccine are very good, and if you do get it, it’s a very minor form. People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine.” Watkins fired back at Trump, calling the vaccines “subscription suicide shots” while telling his loyal QAnon adherents to “choose life” rather than “comply” and get vaccinated.

A few other hardcore MAGA types have since turned on Trump, including the ultra-pro-Trump cartoonist Ben Garrison, who recently depicted the president that he once praised in his controversial cartoons as riding the “Big Pharma Vaccine Bandwagon.” The cartoon further features Trump supporters booing the ex-president as he rides a carriage with signs endorsing “vax passports” and “vaccine mandates.” On Thursday afternoon, the pushback hit a bit closer to home for Trump, as a group of anti-vaxxers rolled up on the Trump Tower in Manhattan where they insisted on not wearing masking in the glitzy building and called Trump "controlled opposition." "Trump is a fraud if he enforces this," one protester yelled, referring to the local mask mandate. "Trump is a billionaire," the protester continued, "he can't afford a thousand dollar fine… to stand up for what's right?"

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the use of a Pfizer-BioNTech booster in adolescents 12 to 15 years old.

The agency on Monday also shortened the time between the completion of primary vaccination of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and a booster dose to five months from six.

Finally, the FDA allowed for a third dose of vaccine in immunocompromised children 5 to 11 years of age.

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 2:57 pm We're going to be getting boosters for years, aren't we?

Sam the Centipede wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 6:14 pm

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 2:57 pm We're going to be getting boosters for years, aren't we?

Yes.

Upside: we will have better science on the persistence of immunity so it will be easier to defer or enhance vaccination according to the prevalence of the virus and different groups' vulnerability.

Foggy wrote: ↑Wed Jan 05, 2022 8:12 am

Sam the Centipede wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 6:14 pm

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Tue Jan 04, 2022 2:57 pm We're going to be getting boosters for years, aren't we?

Yes.

Upside: we will have better science on the persistence of immunity so it will be easier to defer or enhance vaccination according to the prevalence of the virus and different groups' vulnerability.

That's what makes living in the 21st century so exciting and cool. Yeah, we have horrible people like Trump and DeSantis and ... many others.

But when I want to feel better about the state of the planet, I try to remember that, of all the scientists who ever lived throughout history, something like 95% are still alive and still doing science - "the only religion that really works," according to Isaac Asimov.

As long as I manage to survive, we will ALWAYS have better science.

I am living in a world far beyond the scope of my imagination.

Pfizer is racing ahead with plans to manufacture 50 million to 100 million doses of a new omicron-specific version of its coronavirus vaccine, a reflection of rising concerns that current vaccine formulations may need to be tweaked for the new threat.

Pfizer also is testing hybrid combinations of vaccine to target multiple coronavirus forms, as well as larger doses.

The omicron-specific doses will be created “at risk,” CEO Albert Bourla said Monday, meaning that if they are not needed, Pfizer will absorb the costs. The company has climbed to the lead in global vaccine production with 3 billion doses in 2021 and is planning to produce up to 4 billion doses in 2022.

If it turns out to be necessary to roll out an omicron-targeting vaccine, Pfizer will be ready, Bourla said.

Compounds in cannabis can prevent infection from the virus that causes Covid-19 by blocking its entry into cells, according to a study published this week by researchers affiliated with Oregon State University. A report on the research, “Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and the Emerging Variants,” was published online on Monday by the Journal of Natural Products.

The researchers found that two cannabinoid acids commonly found in hemp varietals of cannabis, cannabigerolic acid, or CBGA, and cannabidiolic acid, also known as CBDA, can bind to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. By binding to the spike protein, the compounds can prevent the virus from entering cells and causing infection, potentially offering new avenues to prevent and treat the disease.