Oxford-Astrazeneca Vaccine Approved - Good News

[drmorgans]

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, and should start being used early in the New Year. The vaccine is easier to distribute and administer than the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The UK has bought enough doses for 50 million people.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55280671

[KARL]

What strikes me as really odd is that I saw somewhere in the last two days that Astra-Zeneca have apparently not even applied for approval of the vaccine by the EMA. Thus its use anywhere else within Europe is some way off - what are the implications and what are A-Z's intentions ? I am unsure what is happening vis-á-vis other parts of the world.

[pixie374]

Great news. I have a couple of (probably stupid) questions...
If you have actually had covid, should you still go for the vaccine?
And also, if you happen to have covid at the time you are vaccinated, would it make it better, worse or no different?

[Sqad]

/////The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, and should start being used early in the New Year. /////

But the UK has bought over 40,000,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. How are the AstraZenica vaccines going to be used, in conjunction with or subsequent to ?

[mushroom25]

// what are the implications and what are A-Z's intentions ? //

the US government put up £1bn to fund R&D into the vaccine - maybe there were strings attached as to approved distribution?

[Sunk]

Oxford/AstraZenecca sort of messed up their trial, mixing the dosage and getting a result they couldn’t explain. The US drug regulator were not happy so O/AZ have been re-doing the trials.

[New Judge]

Is this the version where it turned out that one and a half doses was the optimum (which they found out by accident)?

[Sqad]

NJ...yes. the doses were mixed up and they found that the smaller dose was most effective.

[Bobbisox1]

To answer Pixie, yes you can according to this mornings news conference

[Sqad]

pixie

//////And also, if you happen to have covid at the time you are vaccinated, would it make it better, worse or no different?///

I don't think anybody knows.

[pixie374]

Thanks bobbi and sqad xx we are going to have to be extra careful, working with vulnerable people. And while I will suggest to anyone who asks, to speak to their GP, it would also help for us to understand it as much as possible.

[KARL]

NJ, I think I am right in saying that the "by accident" found that a "half" dose given first with a second dose administered later produced increased efficacy at somewhere around 90%. Since there is some public reluctance to take the PfizerBioNtech vaccine, presumably a UK only approval is not going to lead to greater acceptance of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine, or even if it is eventually more widely approved.

[bobbinwales]

sqad- from BBC website "Orders have been placed for 40 million in total - enough for 20 million people, as two courses are needed. However, most supplies are not expected to become available until next year."
I think we're in a biq queue so may take a year to get them all delivered whereas Britain is first in line for the Oxford one so its almost guaranteed we can get them quickly. And with the storage issue of Phizer maybe Oxford one is a better bet for mass vaccinnation centres

[ToraToraTora]

sunk; "But the UK has bought over 40,000,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. How are the AstraZenica vaccines going to be used, in conjunction with or subsequent to ? " - well that's enough for 20m people, we have more than that. As for your second question it should be bleed1n obvious. They both need 2 doses so it'd be a bit stupid to mix and match wouldn't it? Also the AZ one needs half a dose followed by a full dose. so I'd say they'll not mix them

[ToraToraTora]

sorry the above was to sqad, sorry sunk

[jno]

the AZ one needs half a dose followed by a full dose

TTT, I think this is still open to question. They found it out by accident, but it means the people who got the half-plus-one hadn't been chosen to do so and weren't a representative sample. In particular, I don't think there were many under 55s, so they don't know about its effectiveness for the most vulnerable.

As far as I know, at present the plan (in the UK) is still to give everyone two full doses - the first of which has an efficacy of about 70%.

[Sqad]

///As for your second question it should be bleed1n obvious.///

Thank you TTT.

[Peter Pedant]

if you vaccinate someone who is neg
they get protected ( moer or less)

if you vaccinate someone who is a carrier ( and possibly in the early stages of infection ) nothing seems to happen - and they are not sure if it terminates carrier status. Basically we know this because they vaccinated a hell of a lot of normals and waited to see who got covid. - and those vaccinated basically didnt

if you vaccinate someone who has it - hasnt been tried. In the past, it just didnt work. no protection that is in other diseases

Vaccination of infected people must occur if you are vaccinating in a the middle of an epidemic - such as measles, typhoid, cholera, ebola

and no one gets a vaccine, leaves the clinic and goes uuuuuuuuurrgh in the street. Like sort of scanner which was on tel a ffew nights ago

[Sqad]

So to continue...Will some folks have the pfizer and some folks the astrazenica and if so how will they decide OR will the Government start with the already ordered Pfizer vaccine until it is exhausted and then start on the astrazenica vaccine ?

[ToraToraTora]

I doubt you'll get the choice, it'll be what they have where and when you go for the jab.

[Peter Pedant]

// As far as I know, at present the plan (in the UK) is still to give everyone two full doses - the first of which has an efficacy of about 70%.//

might have changed as they know that one dose gives 52% protection and cuts severe disease lots

and boys and girls what everyone seems to have missed - so you heard it here first .....
altho herd immunity is 60%
which is cloosely related to an Ro of around 1.3

all you need is to reduce R to below 1 - say 0.9 and the epidemic will peter out ( pun intended) - yeah wivva as they say on AB
and THAT may require much less than 60% vaccination

anyway they may ve going for large numbers ( twice in fact) of first vaccs

apparently all the trials have taken into account delayed second vaccs.