Topic: COVID-19:VERIFIED news sources, 0 politishit, 0 CONSPIRACY SHITE

[daindan]

What I’m not liking about the vaccine rollout is how it’s being delivered. I should be one of the last people to get it due to age etc . But I have been offered it twice both the Pfizer and Oxford vaccines by mates that are doctors and pharmacists. They said they can get me the vaccine as those doses would otherwise be wasted as people don’t turn up etc.

[Welshred]

What I’m not liking about the vaccine rollout is how it’s being delivered. I should be one of the last people to get it due to age etc . But I have been offered it twice both the Pfizer and Oxford vaccines by mates that are doctors and pharmacists. They said they can get me the vaccine as those doses would otherwise be wasted as people don’t turn up etc.

If people aren't turning up to appointments then it's better to just give it to anyone than waste it no?

[TepidT2O]

Well vaccinating the over 70s is not gong to stop covid cases.  People over 70 are far less likely to be exposed to it and yet are far more likely to be hospitalised and get really sick.

Of course, vaccinating over 70s will relive pressure on hospitals (say by April), but not ICUs as only 25% of people in ICU are over 70.

So, loads of people in ICU will still be there if we do not mass vaccinate.  We owe it to those who cannot be vaccinated to get ourselves vaccinated to stop the spread of it (if it does indeed do so, although evidence suggests it should).

And we need to remember that 5-10% of those who get covid are getting long term debilitating symptoms.  It’s not just a touch of flu.

And that’s why only c*nts wouldnt get vaccinated.  Hear endeth the gospel.

[daindan]

If people aren't turning up to appointments then it's better to just give it to anyone than waste it no?

True but for me, I’d rather it go to someone that needs it rather than me. Don’t know how they can manage this though

[Welshred]

True but for me, I’d rather it go to someone that needs it rather than me. Don’t know how they can manage this though

It's pretty hard to manage it mate but it's much better in someone's arm than in the bin. If they have to go out and ask the first person in they see in the street if they want one they should do that, but only at the end of the day when they've got some left.

[RainbowFlick]

Sweden and Finland had the narcolepsy issue with the GSK swine flu vaccine eleven years ago. General vaccination rates for tried vaccines that have been around for decades such as against measles etc are very high but people are very reluctant over here unless they feel like the illness is going to personally affect them. Myself included. I'm glad I was vaccinated with known quantities when I was little, but now as an adult, 29 years old and rather fit, extremely far from being in a risk group I prefer not to just take anything novel being offered to me. We're still not even past one year of trials beginning and I prefer to stay on the cautious side about that.

I think the "sure" rates would've been a lot higher here and in Finland if not for that 2009-10 episode, however.

As far as I'm concerned, once it's been given to the risk groups, it's time to forget worrying about covid and return straight back to February 2020 no questions asked. I really don't see the need to mass vaccinate the entire populace against something that is only harmful to a few.

So I lean towards not taking it for that reason. It's better they save my dose for someone who's in more need. It's for the very reason I don't take the annual flu shot. If I decide to, it will be in November because it's evidently a seasonal illness once it's reached a certain immunity threshold, so I much prefer to have strong antibodies in December than in July. Covid passports are just fascist bullshit and within an EU framework most definitely illegal so I'm not all that worried about it because it'd get struck down in court. Worst-case scenario I'll just have to travel by land or take a test before flying and I have no desire to visit anywhere outside of Europe anyway. Hell, I might choose to stay in Scandinavia for the rest of my life seeing how repressive the political cultures elsewhere have been.

Disclaimer: no insults needed 

[Hedley Lamarr]

True but for me, I’d rather it go to someone that needs it rather than me. Don’t know how they can manage this though

My sister is a treatment nurse who carries out vaccinations, her practice have been offering spare vaccines to family members of staff, it's either that or the doses are wasted.  There's very little they can do about it and these 'spare' doses are often given at the end of the day at very short notice.  Its simply a matter of put it in someone's arm or the bin.

[TepidT2O]

Vaccination in Glasgow today..


And in Salisbury cathedral...


Spring is coming

[Zeb]

Good summary article on the variants of coronavirus known to be circulating around the world and educated speculation on what it may mean for future vaccination: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/new-coronavirus-variants-could-cause-more-reinfections-require-updated-vaccines

(Spoiler: Won't mean much for current vaccines or the very immediate future but some experts are arguing that we need to be thinking of a time beyond that and preparing for it now.)

[WorldChampions]

(Spoiler: Won't mean much for current vaccines or the very immediate future but some experts are arguing that we need to be thinking of a time beyond that and preparing for it now.)

So exactly the kind of foresight our government is incapable of.

[CraigDS]

So exactly the kind of foresight our government is incapable of.

You’d hope the drug companies are doing so at least though.

[Zeb]

I wouldn't be so down on the expertise in Britain. eg from that article "The United Kingdom today launched a new consortium, G2P-UK (for “genotype to phenotype-UK”), headed by Wendy Barclay of Imperial College London, to study the effects of emerging mutations in SARS-CoV-2. One idea discussed at the 12 January WHO meeting is to set up a biobank that would aid studies by housing virus samples, as well as plasma from vaccine recipients and recovered patients." Government's a shitshow but there's obviously some thought going into it as guided by those best placed to say what's needed. The international part of it is also going to be important to track and monitor around the world so if a specific vaccine is needed for a new strain then there's as much warning as is possible there.

[west_london_red]

What I’m not liking about the vaccine rollout is how it’s being delivered. I should be one of the last people to get it due to age etc . But I have been offered it twice both the Pfizer and Oxford vaccines by mates that are doctors and pharmacists. They said they can get me the vaccine as those doses would otherwise be wasted as people don’t turn up etc.

The benefits of being Indian and knowing lots of doctors and pharmacists!

Unfortunately the few that I know live too far away, but if I was in your shoes I would be running to the doctors or pharmacy, as others have said it’s better then it going in the bin, and even if you are low risk you come into contact with people who are not and if your protected your helping them if nothing else.

[filopastry]

[Hedley Lamarr]

That's a huge drop from last Saturday, my heart goes out to the families of those poor 1300 souls though.

[west_london_red]

Just hit 4 million doses administered, 3.6 million first doses, 400k second doses.

[Motty]

It's mad, put your feet on a seat and get a fine though.

Interrogated like a criminal and fined to be more precise.

[Thepooloflife]

It's pretty hard to manage it mate but it's much better in someone's arm than in the bin. If they have to go out and ask the first person in they see in the street if they want one they should do that, but only at the end of the day when they've got some left.

I'm not sure if this issue has been explained earlier in the thread or not, and I might be completely dense here over understanding the administration of the vaccine - but, how is it that there is 'some' vaccine left over ? What is meant by this ? So, are the vials containing the vaccine not filled with a finite amount of vaccine eg. enough for 5 doses say - or is it that there is a 'little' left over in a vial after those 5 doses have been given ? In which case, is this left over bit enough vaccine to give 'another' dose to someone else and, if not,  what is done with it ?

Or, are people referring to a situation where there are some vials 'left over' once all people have been vaccinated at a particular site for that day - in which case can't they be given to people the next day......or does that mean the shelf life expires before they can ?

[djahern]

I'm not sure if this issue has been explained earlier in the thread or not, and I might be completely dense here over understanding the administration of the vaccine - but, how is it that there is 'some' vaccine left over ? What is meant by this ? So, are the vials containing the vaccine not filled with a finite amount of vaccine eg. enough for 5 doses say - or is it that there is a 'little' left over in a vial after those doses have been given ? In which case, is this left over bit enough vaccine to give 'another' dose to someone else and, if not,  what is done with it ?

Or, are people referring to a situation where there are some vials 'left over' once all people have been vaccinated at a particular site for that day - in which case can't they be given to people the next day......or does that mean the shelf life expires before they can ?

For Pfizer, each vial already contains 0.45ml and when it’s thawed it’s then diluted with 1.8ml and is ready for use.

Each vial then officially contains 6 doses and each dose is 0.3mL So if they are removed from the vial carefully without any loss, there can be up to 0.45ml remaining in the vial - enough for 1 more dose. So for some, you might get an additional dose and some you won’t get any additional doses. This is where it’s coming from with the Pfizer vaccine - you can’t really plan to have some 80 year old lined up on the off chance you do have some spare doses at the end of the vial so they are likely to just vaccinate anyone nearby with it.

The Pfizer vaccine once diluted also has to be used within 6 hours so that adds to the rush in just getting into anyone’s arm.

Edit - 6 doses in each vial, not 5

[Thepooloflife]

For Pfizer, each vial already contains 0.45ml and when it’s thawed it’s then diluted with 1.8ml and is ready for use.

Each vial then officially contains 6 doses and each dose is 0.3mL So if they are removed from the vial carefully without any loss, there can be up to 0.45ml remaining in the vial - enough for 1 more dose. So for some, you might get an additional dose and some you won’t get any additional doses. This is where it’s coming from with the Pfizer vaccine - you can’t really plan to have some 80 year old lined up on the off chance you do have some spare doses at the end of the vial so they are likely to just vaccinate anyone nearby with it.

The Pfizer vaccine once diluted also has to be used within 6 hours so that adds to the rush in just getting into anyone’s arm.

Edit - 6 doses in each vial, not 5

Interesting, thanks - is this the same for the AZ/Oxford one ? When you say diluted with 1.8ml........what with, water ?

[Welshred]

The number of vials brought out of fridges/freezers will correspond with how many appointments there are that day as well, they then can't be placed back in after they've been taken out so if someone doesn't turn up for their appointment then there will also be doses going spare from that.

[Thepooloflife]

The number of vials brought out of fridges/freezers will correspond with how many appointments there are that day as well, they then can't be placed back in after they've been taken out so if someone doesn't turn up for their appointment then there will also be doses going spare from that.

I see - that makes sense (I assumed you could put unused vials back in the fridge - at least for the AZ one)

[No666]

Opening a new vaccine 'super' factory later this year:

Spoiler

Britain will be able to vaccinate the entire nation against dangerous new Covid strains within four months after a £158m super-factory opens later this year, The Telegraph can disclose.

Dr Matthew Duchars, chief executive of the Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VMIC), revealed the Oxfordshire facility will be capable of producing 70m doses of an emergency vaccine manufactured entirely on British soil.

The news comes amid fears that a new Covid strain from Brazil may prove resistant to current vaccines. All travel corridors into the UK were scrapped this week to prevent new variants entering the country.

“We’ll be able to make 70 million doses within a four to five month period, enough for everyone in the country, when we open late this year,” Dr Duchars told The Telegraph.

“New Covid variants are absolutely part of the thinking. We probably will need to make seasonal vaccine variants because there may well be mutations in the virus, as well as vaccines for other diseases. You never know what’s coming next.”

Currently under construction at the Harwell Science & Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, the VMIC was first conceived in 2018 and originally planned to open in 2022. When the Covid pandemic struck, the UK government pumped a further £131 million into the not-for-profit company to bring the project forward by a year.

The centre is already helping to manufacture the Oxford vaccine by lending expertise and giant bioreactors to the AstraZeneca team and its partners.

This week Sir Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceuticals research and development at AstraZeneca, told MPs that the UK’s lack of manufacturing capacity had been a major stumbling block in the development of the Oxford vaccine, and urged ministers to “urgently address” the issue.

Much of the Pfizer and Oxford vaccine doses currently being rolled out in the UK are made in factories in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Dr Duchars said the VMIC would be equipped to produce different types of vaccines including MRNA varieties like the Pfizer jab and adenovirus-based technology like the Oxford AstraZeneca jab.

“Covid came a year early for us, unfortunately,” he said.

“But when we open we’ll have a sovereign capability to manufacture different types of vaccines and still be able to make a large number of doses.

[close]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/16/britain-will-able-vaccinate-nation-against-new-covid-strains/

[djahern]

Interesting, thanks - is this the same for the AZ/Oxford one ? When you say diluted with 1.8ml........what with, water ?

The Oxford vaccine doesn’t require dilution but there is some extra liquid in the vials and it’s possible to get an extra dose from some of them.

For Pfizer it’s diluted with a sodium chloride solution.

[Motty]

My daughters friend who is 18 and works one day a week in the local chemist has had the job when there are loads of elderly and vulnerable waiting for one. Are chemist staff classed as front line now? Don't think it was a had some left over scenario.

[Motty]

The Oxford vaccine doesn’t require dilution but there is some extra liquid in the vials and it’s possible to get an extra dose from some of them.

For Pfizer it’s diluted with a sodium chloride solution.

Don't forget the microchips [emoji23]

[Thepooloflife]

The Oxford vaccine doesn’t require dilution but there is some extra liquid in the vials and it’s possible to get an extra dose from some of them.

For Pfizer it’s diluted with a sodium chloride solution.

Brilliant - thanks dj   

[CraigDS]

My daughters friend who is 18 and works one day a week in the local chemist has had the job when there are loads of elderly and vulnerable waiting for one. Are chemist staff classed as front line now? Don't think it was a had some left over scenario.

I don’t see too much of an issue with this if she’s coming into contact with potentially sick people, or people coming in to be vaccinated.

[west_london_red]

Opening a new vaccine 'super' factory later this year:

Spoiler

Britain will be able to vaccinate the entire nation against dangerous new Covid strains within four months after a £158m super-factory opens later this year, The Telegraph can disclose.

Dr Matthew Duchars, chief executive of the Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VMIC), revealed the Oxfordshire facility will be capable of producing 70m doses of an emergency vaccine manufactured entirely on British soil.

The news comes amid fears that a new Covid strain from Brazil may prove resistant to current vaccines. All travel corridors into the UK were scrapped this week to prevent new variants entering the country.

“We’ll be able to make 70 million doses within a four to five month period, enough for everyone in the country, when we open late this year,” Dr Duchars told The Telegraph.

“New Covid variants are absolutely part of the thinking. We probably will need to make seasonal vaccine variants because there may well be mutations in the virus, as well as vaccines for other diseases. You never know what’s coming next.”

Currently under construction at the Harwell Science & Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, the VMIC was first conceived in 2018 and originally planned to open in 2022. When the Covid pandemic struck, the UK government pumped a further £131 million into the not-for-profit company to bring the project forward by a year.

The centre is already helping to manufacture the Oxford vaccine by lending expertise and giant bioreactors to the AstraZeneca team and its partners.

This week Sir Mene Pangalos, executive vice president of biopharmaceuticals research and development at AstraZeneca, told MPs that the UK’s lack of manufacturing capacity had been a major stumbling block in the development of the Oxford vaccine, and urged ministers to “urgently address” the issue.

Much of the Pfizer and Oxford vaccine doses currently being rolled out in the UK are made in factories in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Dr Duchars said the VMIC would be equipped to produce different types of vaccines including MRNA varieties like the Pfizer jab and adenovirus-based technology like the Oxford AstraZeneca jab.

“Covid came a year early for us, unfortunately,” he said.

“But when we open we’ll have a sovereign capability to manufacture different types of vaccines and still be able to make a large number of doses.

[close]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/16/britain-will-able-vaccinate-nation-against-new-covid-strains/

Fuck me some government forward planning - I need a lie down.

[CraigDS]

Fuck me some government forward planning - I need a lie down.

I don’t think it was a Govt. idea, although they have helped fund it.

[west_london_red]

My daughters friend who is 18 and works one day a week in the local chemist has had the job when there are loads of elderly and vulnerable waiting for one. Are chemist staff classed as front line now? Don't think it was a had some left over scenario.

I don’t think that’s too unreasonable - there’s perks in a lot of jobs I guess and this the perks of working in a pharmacy. What does worry me slightly with it so easy for a pharmacist or doctors to decide who gets it that they don’t give in to temptation and start trying to charge people for it.

[Motty]

I don’t see too much of an issue with this if she’s coming into contact with potentially sick people, or people coming in to be vaccinated.

Don't think there is any plans to  vaccinate people in the chemist as far as i know, only thing it could be is coming into contact with sick people but surely those that have any symptoms are staying away from chemist's? If so it's no different to working in any shop really.

[Motty]

I don’t think that’s too unreasonable - there’s perks in a lot of jobs I guess and this the perks of working in a pharmacy. What does worry me slightly with it so easy for a pharmacist or doctors to decide who gets it that they don’t give in to temptation and start trying to charge people for it.

I was thinking this the other day, too good a money maker for somebody not to end up doing that I reckon.

[djahern]

I see - that makes sense (I assumed you could put unused vials back in the fridge - at least for the AZ one)

Technically you probably can put it back in the fridge and it would be fine (Oxford anyway), but the MHRA were never going to allow it.

They would fear that dipping a syringe needle into a vial multiple times has the risk of introducing some bacteria to the vial. Leaving it overnight in those cases would give the bacteria enough time to multiply before you then inject it into someone’s arm. Hence the 6 hour window once a vial has first had a needle stuck into it - for both Pfizer and Oxford vaccines.

[west_london_red]

I don’t think it was a Govt. idea, although they have helped fund it.

Yeah your right, I only read the first half of the article.

[west_london_red]

I was thinking this the other day, too good a money maker for somebody not to end up doing that I reckon.

There was a story I read a few days ago of a company offering £5000 for the bits of left over vaccine in the vials.

[djahern]

Public Health England on their findings so far about how long immunity lasts for.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/past-covid-19-infection-provides-some-immunity-but-people-may-still-carry-and-transmit-virus

Brass tacks of it is, so far as is known up to now, the vast majority of us won't catch it again within at least 5 months of first having it. But. There's also some evidence to suggest that there are some who'll be able to continue to pass it around even while not being sick themselves and having had it themselves before.

Paper is out now:

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.13.21249642v1

Interesting one here just out from Qatar too. Followed over 43k people who had a positive test for up to 35 weeks. They confirmed 129 reinfections and estimated the reinfection rate at 0.1%

Their conclusions: “ Reinfection is rare. Natural infection appears to elicit strong protection against reinfection with an efficacy >90% for at least seven months”

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.15.21249731v1

[CraigDS]

Don't think there is any plans to  vaccinate people in the chemist as far as i know, only thing it could be is coming into contact with sick people but surely those that have any symptoms are staying away from chemist's? If so it's no different to working in any shop really.

She’ll have the most vulnerable coming to be vaccinated there (if I’m reading it right), so it makes sense for her to be vaccinated to minimise the risk of her giving it to those vulnerable people.

I highly doubt people working in other shops are coming into contact, as regularly, with so many of the most vulnerable.

[RJH]

There was a story I read a few days ago of a company offering £5000 for the bits of left over vaccine in the vials.

Yeah, it was a property investment company offering to buy any left over doses - they said it was for their employees, but I think only the top guys would be getting it for 5k a time.

It wouldnt surprise me if it turned out there were a few unscrupulous individuals who were willing to make a bit of extra cash.

That company's "mistake" was they just apparently sent out mass mails making it absolutely clear what they were up to, so it only took one honest person to rat them out.

[Macphisto80]

Don't forget the microchips [emoji23]

And the 'microparticles'...and the unborn baby fetus cells...

Can everyone hurry up and get vaccinated and be healthy so that people that say this shit get publically named and shamed?