Are vaccines the light at the end of the tunnel?

[TeeRick]

A bit of insight on the going forward EUA process for COVID vaccines in the USA.

https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2021/5/eua

[TeeRick]

Interesting study published on the longevity of antibodies after natural COVID infection.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(21)00182-6/fulltext

[nocl]

Interesting study that 30% of those taking methotrexate for RA do not create enough antibodies after getting vaccinated.

 

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/05/25/coronavirus-vaccine-methotrexate-study/5521621966599/

[TeeRick]

17 hours ago, nocl said:

Interesting study that 30% of those taking methotrexate for RA do not create enough antibodies after getting vaccinated.

 

https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2021/05/25/coronavirus-vaccine-methotrexate-study/5521621966599/

That is interesting but I would imagine that this result was probably expected.

[TeeRick]

Here is the study published yesterday in the New England J of Medicine on the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine in adolescents.

 

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2107456

[TeeRick]

CVS is having a sweepstakes giving away free cruises for vaccinations.  With all of the state lottery initiatives and incentives do some of us wish we had waited a bit to get vaccinated?  Not me.😀

Other parts of the world desperate for Covid vaccines must be astonished about these incentives in the USA.  As an American it is embarrassing to me anyway. 

 

https://cvshealth.com/news-and-insights/press-releases/cvs-health-announces-sweepstakes-to-encourage-vaccinations

[Laurab23]

13 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

CVS is having a sweepstakes giving away free cruises for vaccinations.  With all of the state lottery initiatives and incentives do some of us wish we had waited a bit to get vaccinated?  Not me.😀

Other parts of the world desperate for Covid vaccines must be astonished about these incentives in the USA.  As an American it is embarrassing to me anyway. 

 

https://cvshealth.com/news-and-insights/press-releases/cvs-health-announces-sweepstakes-to-encourage-vaccinations

Yes my husband is very upset that he got the vac in January and now they are offering all the incentives to get the shot. I'm just glad I was able to get it in Feb.

 

Laura

[Homosassa]

On 5/26/2021 at 9:21 AM, TeeRick said:

A bit of insight on the going forward EUA process for COVID vaccines in the USA.

https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2021/5/eua

From the article:

 

"The updated guidance has a new section on how it will prioritize requests for issuance of an EUA. The guidance said that when FDA assesses investigational COVID-19 vaccines for use under an EUA, their review includes a “stringent” evaluation of product quality, including whether the facilities producing the product meet appropriate standards, and an evaluation of the conduct of clinical trials and the assessment of the data integrity of the trials."

 

This section could be a reason to not file an EUA from Ocugen (Bharat Bioyech, India). Ocegen is mentioned in the article for those who have not read the article.

 

FDA would want an FDA performed inspection of the manufacturing facilities in India. 

 

I can't see FDA sending an investigator to India at this point due to the number of Covid 19 cases in the country.

 

 

[TeeRick]

25 minutes ago, Laurab23 said:

Yes my husband is very upset that he got the vac in January and now they are offering all the incentives to get the shot. I'm just glad I was able to get it in Feb.

 

Laura

Well at least you have been protected for several months! Keep hopeful that they will offer these incentives and lotteries in the future for booster shots!😀

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

CVS is having a sweepstakes giving away free cruises for vaccinations.  With all of the state lottery initiatives and incentives do some of us wish we had waited a bit to get vaccinated?  Not me.😀

 

Not us either, We got ours in March and our state opened up in March 100%, so we are living relatively normal life since here in Texas.  We are flying to Oregon for a postponed memorial for my wife's mother who passed last summer from Alzheimer's.   If vaccinated as of last week we will not have to wear a mask indoors and outdoors while there for the week. The state of Oregon does require that businesses check for CDC vaccination cards before allowing people to enter. My sister in law told us in Salem they have security people in the local grocery stores checking for proof of vaccination before they let you in without a mask.

[mimbecky]

On 5/25/2021 at 5:05 AM, D C said:

On 5/24/2021 at 7:43 AM, TeeRick said:

Current Green, Amber and Red countries for UK travelers.  Some examples. The USA and most parts of the northern hemisphere world are Amber.  India is Red as is all of South America.  Portugal and Iceland as well as AUS/NZ and Singapore are Green.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2021/may/24/england-covid-travel-which-countries-are-on-the-green-amber-and-red-lists

 

That's a pretty nonsensical list.   No consideration for vaccination status either.  Weird. 

Also nonsensical in that one can't travel to AUS/NZ anyway, they won't let you in! 

[mimbecky]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

With all of the state lottery initiatives and incentives do some of us wish we had waited a bit to get vaccinated? 

Fortunately, California's lottery plan includes everyone who has been vaccinated already too.  Wish me luck 🤣

California offering $116M in prize money as incentive for getting COVID-19 vaccine – WSOC TV

[TeeRick]

22 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Not us either, We got ours in March and our state opened up in March 100%, so we are living relatively normal life since here in Texas.  We are flying to Oregon for a postponed memorial for my wife's mother who passed last summer from Alzheimer's.   If vaccinated as of last week we will not have to wear a mask indoors and outdoors while there for the week. The state of Oregon does require that businesses check for CDC vaccination cards before allowing people to enter. My sister in law told us in Salem they have security people in the local grocery stores checking for proof of vaccination before they let you in without a mask.

Sorry to hear about your MIL.  Hope you have a good trip.  Security guards acting as vaccine card checkers in grocery stores?  Now that is a bit over the top.  Oregon used to be a place I admired.  

[terrydtx]

54 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Sorry to hear about your MIL.  Hope you have a good trip.  Security guards acting as vaccine card checkers in grocery stores?  Now that is a bit over the top.  Oregon used to be a place I admired.  

Thank you. My SIL calls Oregon the peoples republic of Oregon. I used to love Oregon as well. I graduated from Oregon State University back when it was a swing state politically. 

[nocl]

On 5/28/2021 at 7:15 AM, terrydtx said:

Not us either, We got ours in March and our state opened up in March 100%, so we are living relatively normal life since here in Texas.  We are flying to Oregon for a postponed memorial for my wife's mother who passed last summer from Alzheimer's.   If vaccinated as of last week we will not have to wear a mask indoors and outdoors while there for the week. The state of Oregon does require that businesses check for CDC vaccination cards before allowing people to enter. My sister in law told us in Salem they have security people in the local grocery stores checking for proof of vaccination before they let you in without a mask.

Just spent a week in Oregon.  Did not see security checking cards at any of the businesses we visited.  However the businesses still required masks vaccinated or not.

[Ken the cruiser]

Hi all! I just wanted to post this latest "Flattening the Curve" link as this is the first time I can ever remember the entire US map ever being all green or white without having at least one state with a "brown" hue denoting an upward trend. Hopefully, this trend will continue.

 

Happy sailing everyone and stay safe! 😎

 

Have we flattened the curve in the US? - Johns Hopkins (jhu.edu)

 

[TeeRick]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Hi all! I just wanted to post this latest "Flattening the Curve" link as this is the first time I can ever remember the entire US map ever being all green or white without having at least one state with a "brown" hue denoting an upward trend. Hopefully, this trend will continue.

 

Happy sailing everyone and stay safe! 😎

 

Have we flattened the curve in the US? - Johns Hopkins (jhu.edu)

 

Thanks Ken.  Overall very good news in the USA.  Hopefully the additional holdouts will be convinced to be vaccinated soon.  If not there will be a late fall/early winter surge again.  But hopefully not as bad.  The concept of "Flattening the Curve" was all we wanted to do in Feb/March 2020.  Manage the outbreak without overwhelming health care systems.  Then we seemed to forget about that for some reason.  Everything shifted to No Risk, COVID-Zero and complete herd immunity.  Not at all logical or practical.  It paralyzed everybody really.  The virus will be with us for years to come in the US and worldwide.  It is back to managing the virus and flattening the curve.  That is the only sensible path forward in the vaccine era.

[TeeRick]

Moderna applies for full FDA approval.  Just like Pfizer.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/01/covid-vaccine-moderna-applies-for-full-fda-approval.html

[TeeRick]

July 1 is the date for EU countries to lift travel restriction quarantines  for the vaccinated and previously infected.  It seems to apply to travel within EU countries.  Also the use of EU vaccine passports.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/31/eu-plans-to-lift-covid-quarantine-rules-for-vaccinated-from-1-july

[TeeRick]

Brazil did a real world type of clinical study in a town called Serrana with 45,000 inhabitants being vaccinated with the Chinese inactivated whole virus CoronaVac.  Interesting results achieved at 75% vaccination of the population.  The CoronaVac has been controversial but it does have efficacy.  It is important because many countries which supply crew for cruise lines are using this vaccine.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57309538

[coffeebean]

On 5/28/2021 at 8:59 AM, Laurab23 said:

Yes my husband is very upset that he got the vac in January and now they are offering all the incentives to get the shot. I'm just glad I was able to get it in Feb.

 

Laura

I'm not upset at all. I see it this way.....I practiced all the CDC guidelines always but that was no guarantee that I would not contract Covid. I'm older so my chances of not having a good outcome were not in my favor. I'm thankful to have received the vaccine in January/ February and the protection it has afforded me to continue to enjoy my life.

[coffeebean]

On 5/28/2021 at 10:15 AM, terrydtx said:

Not us either, We got ours in March and our state opened up in March 100%, so we are living relatively normal life since here in Texas.  We are flying to Oregon for a postponed memorial for my wife's mother who passed last summer from Alzheimer's.   If vaccinated as of last week we will not have to wear a mask indoors and outdoors while there for the week. The state of Oregon does require that businesses check for CDC vaccination cards before allowing people to enter. My sister in law told us in Salem they have security people in the local grocery stores checking for proof of vaccination before they let you in without a mask.

The honor system is being used here in Florida and of course, as we all know, proof of vaccination is banned. It is a crap shoot but it is what it is. I feel protected by my vaccine so I'm not worried about un-vaccinated people in any building I may enter.

[coffeebean]

On 5/29/2021 at 11:43 AM, nocl said:

Just spent a week in Oregon.  Did not see security checking cards at any of the businesses we visited.  However the businesses still required masks vaccinated or not.

No need for security then as the honor system is not in practice.

[docsneeze]

On 5/28/2021 at 5:59 AM, Laurab23 said:

Yes my husband is very upset that he got the vac in January and now they are offering all the incentives to get the shot. I'm just glad I was able to get it in Feb.

 

Laura

I am glad that they are offering incentives even though we got our vaccines back in January.  Anything that increases vaccination among the hesitant or resistant population only gets us closer to herd immunity and a more "normal" lifestyle for all.  I consider this a winner for all of us regardless of the lotteries, free donuts, free drinks, etc.  Unfortunately, there are enough resistant folks out there that we may never get to herd immunity for the next few years.

[Pinboy]

On 5/28/2021 at 8:59 AM, Laurab23 said:

Yes my husband is very upset that he got the vac in January and now they are offering all the incentives to get the shot. I'm just glad I was able to get it in Feb.

 

Laura

What are" all the incentives " he missed out on that he's " very upset " ? 

Trust me, I'm very upset also--- still waiting another few months for a 2nd shot !!!