News   Mar 28, 2024
 1.2K     2 
News   Mar 28, 2024
 623     2 
News   Mar 28, 2024
 906     0 

Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 (nCoV-2019)

Covid vaccine: First vaccine offers 90% protection
...

However, there are logistical challenges as the vaccine has to be kept in ultra-cold storage at below minus 80C.

There are also questions about how long immunity lasts.


Dry ice has a surface temperature between -78 and -110 degrees Celsius.

Expect an uptick in dry ice manufacturing. Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide ( CO₂ ).

good-humor-man-400.jpg

From link.
 
Dry ice would work well if the vaccine is tolerant of a range of temperatures. If it needs to be held in a narrow temperature range, dry ice may not be effective. You still need warehouses that can store the vaccine at -80C, which is quite extreme. Most equipment is only rated for -30C, which is as much as you would need for frozen food.
 
The key thing here is that it must be kept at -80. Even Dr Njoo said a few days ago that this presents a challenge.

Pharmacies and doctor offices don't have the capability to keep things that cold currently.

Depending on the allowable time lag between storage and injection, talk about sangfroid ! o_O
 
All the suggestions about making a more practical vaccine are valid; however, one of many fundamental questions was definitively answered. That's a big step.

As I mentioned the government will certainly botch the implementation. I would doubt Canada would get an effective vaccine to people like me (families with young kids) any sooner than for Labour Day 2021 (for the new school year next year).

Getting medical professionals and people in LTC homes vaccinated would be the highest priority clearly so as long as you can do that it will be a big step forward.

Really, given the importance of the vaccination implementation program to human health and the economy this should be a war-time-like measure. I'm talking about an all society, all economic sector, conscription, nationalization of assets whatever. Zero chance of anyone making that call.
 
In order to do that and ensure a reliable delivery you would need to withstand a charter challenge and require military assistance.

I don't see Trudeau invoking the emergency measures act to mandate a vaccine.
Absolutely I see Trudeau doing that. Emergency Measure Act isn't necessary, just use Section 33 of the Charter and pass a law demanding that all residents of Canada be vaccinated. The NDP and Cons will go along with it.
 
It seems most people are worried about cases but do like the ability to mostly function as a society. It's a balancing act that can either last or will come crashing down badly.
Doesn’t sound like we’re on the right track:

 
Pfizer Vaccine’s Funding Came From Berlin, Not Washington

From link.

It’s said that success has many authors, and the encouraging data from Pfizer Inc.’s experimental Covid-19 vaccine had plenty of people in Washington lining up to take credit.

Vice President Mike Pence was among Trump administration officials saying support from the government’s Operation Warp Speed program helped accelerate the development of the vaccine, which was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing the virus in an interim analysis.

The truth is that Pfizer didn’t receive any funding from Operation Warp Speed for the development, clinical trial and manufacturing of the vaccine. But its partner, BioNTech SE, did receive money -- from the German government. Berlin gave the German company $445 million in an agreement in September to help accelerate the vaccine.

What the U.S. did, meanwhile, was commit to buying hundreds of millions of vaccines in advance to ensure Americans were among the first in line if it clinches an emergency-use authorization or approval from the FDA. The Trump administration agreed in July to pay almost $2 billion for 100 million doses, with an option to acquire as many as 500 million more, once that clearance comes.

As part of that agreement, the U.S. gets to decide who gets the vaccine first, and will work with the company on logistical support. While most vaccine front-runners that have been tapped by Operation Warp Speed will distribute their doses through a government partnership with McKesson Corp., Pfizer is handling its own delivery of its products. The company has designed reusable containers that can keep the doses at ultracold temperatures, and is organizing trucks and flights to move them.

Operation Warp Speed is credited with speeding along several other vaccine programs, including one from Moderna Inc. that uses similar technology to Pfizer’s and could produce trial data later this month. The Trump administration’s rapid-vaccine operation, led by the Health and Human Services Department, the Defense Department, and other agencies, could well prove to be the reason many Americans get a vaccine in 2021, even if it’s not made by Pfizer.

Some Republicans, including Donald Trump Jr. and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, questioned the timing of Pfizer’s release of its positive data on Monday, almost a week after the presidential election -- with the implication that the information could’ve changed the outcome and tipped the scales toward President Donald Trump, who lost to former Vice President Joe Biden.

Pfizer said on Oct. 27, a week before Election Day, that it hadn’t met the threshold for positive cases that would’ve allowed it to report the data. After that, it revised its trial protocols to raise that threshold higher, after consulting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on what would be acceptable to gain approval. The FDA has been under pressure from scientists to set tough standards for a vaccine so that Americans will feel it has been rigorously vetted and is safe to use.

If Pfizer hadn’t raised its threshold in response to the FDA’s recommendations, it’s possible it could’ve hit the lower bar of 32 positive cases before the Nov. 3 election. But it’s unclear when the trial hit that number. The company didn’t find out it had surpassed the new, revised threshold of 62 positive cases until Sunday.

All along, Pfizer’s top executives have attempted to quell notions that it has been influenced by political players.

Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla has repeatedly said that the drug giant has avoided taking taxpayer dollars for research and development purposes. “I wanted to liberate our scientists from any bureaucracy,” Bourla said in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sept. 16. “When you get money from someone, that always comes with strings. They want to see how we are growing to progress, what types of moves you are going to do. They want reports. I didn’t want to have any of that.”

“Basically I gave them an open checkbook so that they can worry only about scientific challenges, not anything else. And also, I wanted to keep Pfizer out of politics, by the way,” he added.
 
Then you've become everyone else's problem, no better than the inevitable anti-vaxxers we're soon to see.

It's ok if he doesn't take the vax. And it will be ok when he can't get on a plane, go to a concert, a movie theatre or a hockey game. Or get on a bus, Or a wedding. Or a funeral.
 

Back
Top