[News] Pfizer says early data signals COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by peter12

Pfizer's annual manufacturing capacity is 15-20M doses total so the PM saying that we ordered 20M doses is a bit ... hilarious. We probably won't be getting much of that first batch except for essential personnel.

Hmm, Pfizer is estimating they'll produce nearly 1.5 billion doses in the next year. Not sure who to believe on this.

The AZ vaccine is the one to watch, but that's the want where we are fourth down on the waiting list? So again, due to unsurprising issues with Canadian procurement, we will all have to wait awhile to get this vaccine - certainly behind the Americans and Brits. That said, AZ is already producing their vaccine candidate and should have hundreds of millions ready to go in January.

Why is it "the one to watch"? They were already falling behind their competitors because of their smaller study size, and that was even before they had to pause their US study for nearly 1.5 months. Pfizer and Moderna are likely both ahead of the Oxford Vaccine and Johnson & Johnson is likely on par. Oh, and Canada already has deals for all 4 of those (including signing on with Pfizer prior to the EU).

Posting this again. Read it and see how far behind Canada is in the vaccine game. We've chosen to support bungling national firms, instead of going with the big companies.

https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/how-...ccine-endgame/

Yeah, out of date articles with false information are totally useful. This in particular aged really well:

Where this leaves Canada so far is without an actual purchase of any vaccine in any number of doses that the government will confirm. As for its nebulous agreements with Pfizer and Moderna, betting on those vaccines as a package is risky because both use near-identical mRNA technology and are likely to succeed—or, perhaps, fail—together.

[peter12]

Hmm, Pfizer is estimating they'll produce nearly 1.5 billion doses in the next year. Not sure who to believe on this.

Just going with what Amir Attaran is saying on his Twitter. You have a source for 1.5 billion doses? I believe that is the AZ one.

Why is it "the one to watch"? They were already falling behind their competitors because of their smaller study size, and that was even before they had to pause their US study for nearly 1.5 months. Pfizer and Moderna are likely both ahead of the Oxford Vaccine and Johnson & Johnson is likely on par. Oh, and Canada already has deals for all 4 of those (including signing on with Pfizer prior to the EU).

Strong supply chain and manufacturing capacity spread over several nations.

Yeah, out of date articles with false information are totally useful. This in particular aged really well.

Prove any of the claims in that article wrong. They point to our government's painfully incompetent vaccination purchase strategy. What's changed?

Show me sources.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by peter12

Show me sources.

Posts no sources.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Posts no sources.

I posted a Maclean's article written by a prominent Canadian scientist who has been on this for over 6 months now.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by peter12

I posted a Maclean's article written by a prominent Canadian scientist who has been on this for over 6 months now.

An opinion piece three months old isn’t much of a source.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by peter12

Just going with what Amir Attaran is saying on his Twitter. You have a source for 1.5 billion doses? I believe that is the AZ one.

You seriously think the 2nd biggest pharmaceutical company in the world is going to spend billions developing a vaccine that it can only produce 15-20M doses of a year? Really? Anyway, this is from their press release today:

Based on current projections we expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses in 2021.

Strong supply chain and manufacturing capacity spread over several nations.

Yeah, Pfizer/BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson are just mom and pop operations.

Prove any of the claims in that article wrong. They point to our government's painfully incompetent vaccination purchase strategy. What's changed?

Show me sources.

Canada has secured the following:

Pfizer (20M doses)
Moderna (56M doses)
Novavax (76M doses)
Johnson & Johnson (38M doses)
AstraZeneca (20M doses)

Several of those companies have already begun a rolling review process with Health Canada so they can be approved as early as possible. Canada is also likely going to import doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine prior to approval so they can be distributed faster. Why would these companies be spending money on this fast tracking in Canada if they weren't going to be selling them in Canada any time soon?

As for where that article is wrong, the author claimed that Canada hadn't actually secured any doses for any vaccines, which was completely false (the Pfizer and Moderna orders pre-dated the article). He also seems to be the source of your 15-20M annual production by Pfizer, so he's either a liar or is grossly misinformed.

[opendoor]

Seriously does that Amir Attaran guy have his life savings in AstraZeneca stock? He sounds desperate:

The Pfizer vaccine news is great, like I predicted. But it is also the hardest dose to deliver, and in very short supply. Watch AstraZeneca, which I think will be successful too, except that’s far, far easier to deliver, with supplies in the billions.

The Astra product is FAR MORE PROMISING because they will have hundreds of millions of doses manufactured and ready to ship in January, while Pfizer is estimating only 15-20 million.

Another killer problem is that the Pfizer vaccine must be frozen at -70C at all times, requiring cryogenic liquid nitrogen or an ultra-cold laboratory freezer. The Astra vaccine can be kept in a household fridge. Guess which will be easier to distribute and use?

Today’s news also shows how Trudeau exaggerates about his vaccine plan. He announced Canada would have “minimum of 20 million doses” from Pfizer, but Pfizer says that’s nearly its entire global production for the year! So get real, Trudeau.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by IGGYFORMVP

Anyone happen to know what companies make ultra cold freezers for healthcare?

I wouldn’t get too excited with this (assuming you’re going with the pick and axe model here). There are a number of other vaccines in the works which don’t require those kinds or temperatures. (There is also one through J&J which is a one shot vaccine as well).

[blankall]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

Wouldn't dry ice work?

Yes. -70 is warmer than dry ice, at -78. Every science lab and pharmacy will already have the ability to store dry ice.

[Buff]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

You become a Republican and an Oilers fan.

[PaperBagger'14]

This will be me, the exact day a vaccine is available

NSFW!

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by blankall

Yes. -70 is warmer than dry ice, at -78. Every science lab and pharmacy will already have the ability to store dry ice.

It's also important to remember that -70º is more for long-term storage and even then is considered a sort of worst case scenario. The stability data isn't finalized, and apparently Pfizer and BioNTech are confident that it can handle being thawed and stored in normal refrigerator temperatures for 5 days or so and think even 2 weeks might be possible at those temperatures.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by peter12

We haven't signed any licensing agreements (to my knowledge), unlike the Aussies and Japanese. In typical Canadian fashion, we bungled this.

Wasn't talking about Canada. Not sure why you thought that.

[EldrickOnIce]

This is from Government of Canada website:

Preliminary guidance on key populations for early COVID-19 immunization

Key populations include:
Those at high risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19

Advanced age
Other high-risk conditions (to be defined as the evidence base evolves)
Those most likely to transmit COVID-19 to those at high risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 and workers essential to maintaining the COVID-19 response

Healthcare workers, personal care workers, and caregivers providing care in long-term care facilities, or other congregate care facilities for seniors
Other workers most essential in managing the COVID-19 response or providing frontline care for COVID-19 patients
Household contacts of those at high-risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19
Those contributing to the maintenance of other essential services for the functioning of society

To be defined, prioritized and informed by federal/provincial/territorial (FPT) discussions
Examples: those who cannot work virtually and have differential exposure to COVID-19 (e.g., police, firefighters, grocery store staff)
Those whose living or working conditions put them at elevated risk of infection and where infection could have disproportionate consequences, including Indigenous communities

To be defined based on COVID-19 epidemiology and previous pandemic experience
Examples: settings where physical distancing and other infection prevention and control measures are challenging, access to healthcare infrastructure is reduced, and infection could have disproportionate consequences

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-heal...unization.html

[GGG]

Originally Posted by opendoor

Seriously does that Amir Attaran guy have his life savings in AstraZeneca stock? He sounds desperate:

I believe for the year he is misconstruing that Pfizer is predicting 20 million vaccines (40 million or so /2 per patient) by end of 2020 not their annual production.

He does sound ridiculous.

[Huntingwhale]

Here in Poland the government is signing the contract tomorrow for this vaccine. Great news given how many cases there are here each day.

"This is very good news that brings hope," said Morawiecki, however, adding that the vaccine "cannot be distributed here and now," but said that "we are closer to this moment than we imagined a week or two ago."

Morawiecki said Poland wants to have at least 20 million coronavirus vaccines, adding that they should be delivered in the spring and said that Poland would receive the vaccines at the same time as other EU countries.

https://www.thefirstnews.com/article...day---pm-17451



Looks like spring is the timeline for the EU distribution, with up to 300M doses ordered.

The European Union will buy up to 300 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the head of the European Commission said Monday.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/eu-t...accine/2037677

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

The fact that the vaccine is 90% effective is great because it really lessens the worry that a large group of people will not want to take the vaccine for whatever reason. If it's 90% effective, I can just take it and not worry too too much that I'll end up with it. And all the better if I don't have to wait in a long line.

If it was 50% effective, I'd be worried because I'd need more of the population to have it to create the protection that herd immunity affords.

So the fact that a large number of people are nervous about the vaccine becomes more of a non-story. With that said, I fully expect there to be massive demand for the vaccine, especially knowing that it'll probably be approved within the next month but not available to a lot of us until March or April.

What I think will happen is a lot of countries will ask for proof of vaccination before entering (I've experienced this in the past with yellow fever when I went to Brazil in 2014). This alone will probably make more reluctant adopters to relent. But like I said, at 90% it probably doesn't matter a ton.

[MoneyGuy]

Will those who take it be tested afterward to determine if it was successful?

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Will those who take it be tested afterward to determine if it was successful?

Doubtful. That’s what the clinical trials are for, not scalable for general population

There is no general testing after taking the flu vaccine

Maybe I misunderstood the question

[MoneyGuy]

No you got the question. So I get the vaccine and could get the virus and not be aware.