Vaccine

[hk blues]

13 hours ago, TerryP said:

Excuse me snowy I was under the impression you were stranded here also.

I agree it's not looking good for any form of organised rollout there.

After what the missus said to me about the vaccination nurse being in the family I doubt even the WHO insisting upon health workers first it's going to make any difference let alone using the voters register.

It's not going to be done by the needy first either. It's going to be who's in the inner circle as usual.

IMHO

 

13 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

I think track and trace was just a method to give contracts to their mates.  As for the vaccine I'm sure the UK has it in hand it's the implimenting of it here that has me worried.  I've seen how DOLE failed to help many workers even though they had their details and how the Barangays can't even organise aid to their residents due to electoral registers being well out of date.  You just know it will only be given to registered voters within local government areas and in some places especially with transient workers there's thousands not registered.

All fair enough assessments based on previous experiences but we live in hope that the gravity of the situation will help with a better outcome - it won't be perfect but hopefully better than other initiatives that have been undertaken.  The eyes of the world are all around these days and this may influence the equity of the roll-out.

Again, we can but live in hope.

[Terry P]

On 31/01/2021 at 7:37 PM, Kuya John said:

I digress slightly.....Sir / Captain Tom Moore in Hospital with the virus!!!!

British Expats will know he raised over £33m for the Health Service by walking up and down his garden path leading up to his 100th Birthday. and was Knighted by the Queen for his efforts

Good luck and speedy recovery Sir Tom

Covid-19: Captain Sir Tom Moore in hospital with coronavirus - BBC New

Tragic news

We lose a national hero today

RIP Captain Sir Tom Moore

 

 

[Mike J]

On 2/1/2021 at 11:16 AM, hk blues said:

And therein lies the problem - ensuring the equitable distribution of the vaccine globally, and then ensuring the equitable distribution of the vaccine locally. 

That is an admirable goal, but the reality is that we live in a very inequitable world where vaccine is still in short supply.  Inequitable distribution of goods and wealth is certainly nothing new, look at food, clean water, medical care, energy, education, shelter, natural resources, etc.  It is relatively rare for those that "have much" to give to those who "have little.  And that was pre-covid, now governments/people are trying to prevent more casualties and keep their economies from collapsing.  We are still living in a very much "me first" world and I really do not see that changing anytime soon.  I am not saying it is right, just saying it is what it is.  Poor countries are gong to be back at the end of a long line. 

[hk blues]

6 hours ago, Mike J said:

That is an admirable goal, but the reality is that we live in a very inequitable world where vaccine is still in short supply.  Inequitable distribution of goods and wealth is certainly nothing new, look at food, clean water, medical care, energy, education, shelter, natural resources, etc.  It is relatively rare for those that "have much" to give to those who "have little.  And that was pre-covid, now governments/people are trying to prevent more casualties and keep their economies from collapsing.  We are still living in a very much "me first" world and I really do not see that changing anytime soon.  I am not saying it is right, just saying it is what it is.  Poor countries are gong to be back at the end of a long line. 

Agreed.

But, in the case of a pandemic, it's folly to assume that protecting the rich and ignoring the rest won't work in the long term - we're either all safe or none of us are.  Unless we live in a bubble that is!  

Nobody actually expects the roll-out to be done on an equitable basis but it's reasonable to highlight the weakness in that strategy. 

[GeoffH]

18 hours ago, hk blues said:

Nobody actually expects the roll-out to be done on an equitable basis but it's reasonable to highlight the weakness in that strategy. 

Which is fair enough.  

One issue that is being raised with the exclusion of poorer countries from vaccine supplies (well to a large extent anyway) is that it runs the risk of mutations appearing which are either more transmissable (aka the British and South African variants) or are more or less resistent to the first wave of vaccines (the South African varient).

Existing vaccines still work normally against the British variant but show reduced efficacy against the South African variant and there is some evidence that these variants are outcompeting earlier variants.

And yes the vaccines can be tweaked (that's done every year for flu) but it adds another layer of complexitiy.

It's going to be difficult enough to vaccinate most of the world, let alone having to go back and do it again after 12 months.

The sheer scale of this task is almost unimaginable.

NB there is no evidence that more vaccinated people are dying as a percentage of people who have caught the British strain but because more people are catching it more people are dying.  The South African varient does not appear to be more lethal and the vaccines still appear to be 100% effective in preventing serious illness but they are less effective in stopping a person getting infected.  I have seen figures that suggest that the Pfizer vaccine is only about as effective against the South African variant as the Astra Zeneca vaccine is effective against the original variants.

*just a small add on to the above*

If the Pfizer vaccine was 90%+ efficacious against the original strains but only 60-70% agains the South Africa strain (which is still well over the 50% the WHO say is needed) where does that leave the original AstraZeneca vaccine (which was 60-70% efficacious against the original strain)?  On a positive note Astra Zenecas makers have said that they will have a tweaked vaccine available later in the year.

NB the RNA vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna etc) can be modified more quickly than traditional vaccines like the Astra Zeneca one. 

Edited February 3, 2021 by GeoffH

[Terry P]

Where is the Philippines Vaccine programme going next.

A few months ago central government had enough funds set aside to vaccinate 70% of the population and were negotiating with reportedly great success to secure supplies with much celebration whenever another contract was nearing completion.

Then we have several big businesses striking deals to purchase Vaccines to vaccinate their own employees giving 50% for vaccinating front liners.

Then there's the to and fro between chinese russian and western supplies and a few fallouts with various countries

After several reports of pharmaceutical companies and various countries letting them down some obscure tripartite agreement between LGUs central government and pharmaceutical companies was concocted. I'm not aware of any of these that have come to fruition

Today apparently there are some 800 private companies signing up for their own supplies with as few as 20 employees.

There were supposed to be 117000 doses going into the arms of health employees at 2 Manila hospitals this week with great fanfare. Woops! thats been delayed because of paperwork errors.

Am I missing something here or are things not going very well?

 

[KC813]

1 hour ago, TerryP said:

Am I missing something here or are things not going very well?

 

No, I think that was a great summary!

On the money issue, I also remember early on hearing that money was set aside for the vaccine, but it was a very low figure.  Maybe part of that paid the US$80 Million to be part of the COVAX group plan for lower income countries.  For the other vaccines, the last I recall was the government was paying for the other deals with about $2 Billion in loans.

I like your phrase "paperwork errors".  Very diplomatic!

 

[Old55]

3 hours ago, TerryP said:

Where is the Philippines Vaccine programme going next.

A few months ago central government had enough funds set aside to vaccinate 70% of the population and were negotiating with reportedly great success to secure supplies with much celebration whenever another contract was nearing completion.

Then we have several big businesses striking deals to purchase Vaccines to vaccinate their own employees giving 50% for vaccinating front liners.

Then there's the to and fro between chinese russian and western supplies and a few fallouts with various countries

After several reports of pharmaceutical companies and various countries letting them down some obscure tripartite agreement between LGUs central government and pharmaceutical companies was concocted. I'm not aware of any of these that have come to fruition

Today apparently there are some 800 private companies signing up for their own supplies with as few as 20 employees.

There were supposed to be 117000 doses going into the arms of health employees at 2 Manila hospitals this week with great fanfare. Woops! thats been delayed because of paperwork errors.

Am I missing something here or are things not going very well?

 

Nope. You nailed it Terry. 

My best guess is screw the Filipino people and follow the money. Daddy needs a new SUV.

[Explorer]

On 1/18/2021 at 10:12 AM, TerryP said:

if you want to eat celery, jog off down to the health food store every morning, make your nightcap a low-fat cocoa and rely on your zinc supercharged immune system to fend off the grim reaper be my guest.

I'm standing in line with a ciggy in one hand and a can of lager in the other waiting for my turn to contribute to some pharmaceutical giants profits

 

On 3/12/2021 at 8:33 PM, TerryP said:

Apparently vitamin D and a jog round the park stops you from getting it

For how many years scientists told us that obesity, smoking and excessive drinking are the three biggest modifiable risk factors increasing morbidity and mortality?

Apparently many in the West ignored science.

But now, those who ignored science are lecturing us, "Listen to the science you dummy, stand in line and take your vaccine"... 

CNN reporting -

"The risk of death from Covid-19 is about 10 times higher in countries where most of the population is overweight, according to a report released Wednesday by the World Obesity Federation.

In the US, close to three-quarters of the population is either overweight or obese, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the UK, 67% of men and 60% of women are overweight or obese, according to a National Health Service (NHS) report

Vietnam had one of the world's lowest Covid-19 death rates, with 0.04 deaths occurring per 100,000 people. The country's overweight population comes in at 18.3%. Other countries on the low death rate list with similar patterns include Japan, Thailand and South Korea.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/04/health/obesity-covid-death-rate-intl/index.html

[GeoffH]

The pause on the Astra Zeneca vaccine (which was done as a result of concers about clotting) seems to be (with extra evidence now gathered) no longer needed so I'd expect to start to see the Astra Zeneca vaccine roll out in Europe recommence.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-19/coronavirus-australia-live-news-covid-19-latest/100017086#live-blog-post-1199151785