VAKCINA

They blame a lack of vaccine. But even with shortages they say they could be doing 1000 vaccines a day.

— Jean Mackenzie (@jeanmackenzie) February 25, 2021

On people’s reluctance in Europe to take the AstraZeneca vaccine... Belgium’s medical advisor has told me that people here have nicknamed it the “Aldi vaccine” - after the supermarket - because they see it as the budget option.

— Jean Mackenzie (@jeanmackenzie) February 25, 2021

For the full story on my trip to the empty Belgian vaccine centre - and how AstraZeneca has been nicknamed the "Aldi Vaccine" - listen to the latest #BBCNewscast on @BBCSoundshttps://t.co/sqf9LVGdC9

— Jean Mackenzie (@jeanmackenzie) February 26, 2021

(Reuters) - The head of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Mark Machin, has resigned after traveling to the United Arab Emirates to be vaccinated against COVID-19, flouting Canadian government’s travel advice and drawing criticism.

You love to see it.

Vaccine effect clearer every day in the UK. Amazing how much faster hospital admissions & deaths are falling in older groups than younger.

These are on a log scale, so steepening descent means rate of decrease among vaccinated groups grows every day pic.twitter.com/qwa4slGc0f

— John Burn-Murdoch (@jburnmurdoch) February 26, 2021

Erős Pista wrote:

buffalo bill wrote:Ja sam pička, prećutao bih i vakcinisao se (ako nemaš alergije i auto-imune bolesti koje su glavni problem). Ne znači da tako treba ali eto.

+1

Vaccinating the oldest against COVID-19 saves both the most lives and most years of life

Many competing criteria are under consideration for prioritizing COVID-19 vaccination. Two criteria based on age are demographic: lives saved and years of future life saved. Vaccinating the very old against COVID-19 saves the most lives, but, since older age is accompanied by falling life expectancy, it is widely supposed that these two goals are in conflict. We show this to be mistaken. The age patterns of COVID-19 mortality are such that vaccinating the oldest first saves the most lives and, surprisingly, also maximizes years of remaining life expectancy. We demonstrate this relationship empirically in the United States, Germany, and South Korea and with mathematical analysis of life tables. Our age-risk results, under usual conditions, also apply to health risks.

Prognosis
J&J Shot to Get EU Nod in Early March, Easing Supply Squeeze

By Nikos Chrysoloras and Morten Buttler
February 26, 2021, 5:16 AM EST Updated on February 26, 2021, 8:07 AM EST

- Bloc’s medicines regulator is said to plan March 11 opinion
- Supply surge puts onus on governments to administer vaccines

The European Union’s medicines regulator is set to recommend Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine early next month, bolstering supplies even as governments struggle to get shots into people’s arms.
The European Medicines Agency’s nod is expected on March 11, an EU official said on condition of anonymity. It would clear the way for market authorization of a fourth Covid-19 vaccine, alongside those from Moderna Inc., AstraZeneca Plc and a partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE.
An EMA spokesperson said the agency is working toward issuing an opinion by mid-March but it couldn’t confirm a date. The EU official also said EMA talks are ongoing with Russian authorities on the Sputnik V vaccine and may receive data soon to begin a rolling review process.
The European Commission has said deliveries of the J&J shot are expected to begin in early April, adding to a surge in supplies over the second and third quarter. President Ursula von der Leyen showed a slide to EU leaders during a video summit Thursday projecting a dramatic increase in vaccine deliveries over the coming months.
While some leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, have said they aren’t convinced about the reliability of such forecasts, independent analysis from London-based research firm Airfinity Ltd. shows that EU supplies should suffice to vaccinate 75% of the region’s adult population by the end of August.
The EU’s advance purchase deal with J&J allows member to purchase vaccines for 200 million people, with an option for another 200 million. The EMA is also carrying out a rolling review of the CureVac NV and Novavax Inc. shots. The Commission has struck deals for the initial purchase of 225 million CureVac shots and concluded exploratory talks with Novavax to purchase 100 million doses.
The increase in deliveries puts the onus on EU governments to speed up inoculations. Governments have attributed the underwhelming rollout to delays in the procurement of shots, which has been managed by the commission, and the EMA’s slow approval process.
In the U.S., a committee of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration is meeting to review J&J’s shot on Friday.
Data shown by Von der Leyen to leaders illustrate that more than 20 million shots delivered to the EU’s 27 member states have yet to be administered, raising doubts about the national health authorities’ ability to handle the looming supply surge and mobilize the resources needed to ramp up vaccinations.
Questions around the efficacy of the shot from AstraZeneca and its partner, the University of Oxford, and restrictions on its use among the elderly in many EU countries have fueled skepticism. Vast stocks of the vaccine have been left unused in France and Germany.

Trailing the U.S., U.K.

The EU lags behind the U.S. and the U.K. in its inoculation campaign, having delivered just 6.8 doses per 100 people, according to Bloomberg’s global tracker. But performance varies between member states, with Denmark delivering about four times as many doses as Bulgaria per 100 people, even though each government has access to the same number of shots relative to its population.
Although about 33% of all vaccines delivered to the EU have gone unused, Denmark is using every drop available. It’s also aiming to immunize all adults by the end of June, faster than the EU-wide target of Sept. 21.
If other countries are leaving unused vials, Denmark is happy to purchase more, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.
“We will very much like to bring them to Denmark,” Frederiksen told reporters in Copenhagen on Friday. “And we will also pay a good price for the vaccines.”

Novavax Inc expects data from a late-stage U.S. trial of its COVID-19 vaccine at the start of April, after which it will apply for emergency use authorization, the drug developer’s R&D head Gregory Glenn said on Wednesday.

“We are expecting results right in the beginning of quarter two and shortly thereafter we will be filing for EUA (in U.S.),” he said at a Washington Post online event.

Single dose of Pfizer BioNTech vaccine reduces asymptomatic infections and potential for SARS-CoV-2 transmission

New data from Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge suggests that a single dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine can reduce by 75% the number of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. This implies that the vaccine could significantly reduce the risk of transmission of the virus from people who are asymptomatic, as well as protecting others from getting ill.
...
The study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, found that 26 out of 3,252 (0·80%) tests from unvaccinated healthcare workers were positive. This compared to 13 out of 3,535 (0.37%) tests from healthcare workers less than 12 days post-vaccination and 4 out of 1,989 (0·20%) tests from healthcare workers at 12 days or more post-vaccination.
This suggests a four-fold decrease in the risk of asymptomatic COVID-19 infection amongst healthcare workers who have been vaccinated for more than 12 days (75 per cent protection). The level of asymptomatic infection was also halved in those vaccinated for less than 12 days.
Dr Mike Weekes, an infectious disease specialist at CUH and the University of Cambridge’s Department of Medicine, who led the study, said:  “This is great news – the Pfizer vaccine not only provides protection against becoming ill from SARS-CoV-2 but also helps prevent infection, reducing the potential for the virus to be passed on to others.
...
When the team included symptomatic healthcare workers, their analyses showed similar reductions. 56 out of 3,282 (1·71%) unvaccinated healthcare workers tested positive. This compared to 8 out of 1,997 (0·40%) healthcare workers at 12 or more days post-vaccination, a 4·3-fold reduction.

Sredinom veljače na Kubi je započela masovna proizvodnja cjepiva protiv Covida-19, nazvanog Soberana 2 ("suverena"), nakon čega bi u ožujku trebala započeti završna faza kliničkog ispitivanja na 150 tisuća ljudi, koja će se provesti na Kubi te u Meksiku i Iranu. Ako kliničko ispitivanje bude uspješno i cjepivo dobije odobrenje, Kuba bi ubrzo zatim mogla postati prva država svijeta koja će vlastitim cjepivom cijepiti kompletno stanovništvo, koje broji 11 milijuna ljudi, a zatim ga i početi izvoziti.

Soberana 2 jedno je od ukupno četiri cjepiva koja se razvijaju na Kubi, a najdalje je odmaklo upravo ovo na bazi proteina koji sadrži djelić koronavirusa i vezuje se uz stanice izazivajući imunološku reakciju. Budući da podaci o efikasnosti i sigurnosti još nisu objavljeni u recenziranim člancima, Svjetska zdravstvena organizacija Soberanu 2 još nije uvrstila na svoju listu 15 cjepiva koja su trenutno u nekoj fazi evaluacijskog procesa. No Vicente Vérez, direktor Instituta Finlay u kojemu je cjepivo proizvedeno, potvrdio je nakon druge faze kliničkih ispitivanja da su ispitanici razvili jaku imunološku reakciju dva tjedna od primitka cjepiva.

Lani je u sklopu Medicinske brigade Henry Reeve 3700 kubanskih liječnika pomagalo u borbi protiv epidemije Covida-19 u tridesetak zemalja, uključujući i Italiju, zbog čega je Južnoafrička Republika Kubu nominirala za Nobelovu nagradu za mir

Uz Soberanu 2 i Soberanu 1, koja napreduje sporije, u drugoj ustanovi, Centru za genetsko inženjerstvo i biotehnologiju, razvijaju se još dva cjepiva koja su u vrlo ranim fazama, pri čemu se u jednom slučaju radi o intranazalnom cjepivu koje se ne prima injekcijom već ubrizgavanjem kroz nos. Ta dva cjepiva nazvana su Abdala i Mambisa: prvo je dobilo ime po drami kubanskog pjesnika i borca za oslobođenje od španjolske kolonijalne vladavine Joséa Martija, dok drugo ime, Mambisa, označava borkinje u kubanskom ratu za neovisnost.
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https://www.portalnovosti.com/suverena-vakcina