https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/health/covid-19-vaccine-johnson-and-johnson.html
The Solipsist has agreed to surrender the virginity of its oropharynx as a participant in the Ensemble Clinical Trials, which is a Phase III trial hoping to enroll 60,000 people. Swabs will be inserted, blood will be drawn, the stab will follow. The vaccine uses an adenovirus vector, which is from a cold virus which has made replication -deficient, which means it cannot multiply. Instead of the genes it needs to multiply inside your body and produce symptoms, genes have been swapped with Covid-19 DNA encoding instructions to make the spike protein. The hopes is that your body will then generate antibodies which will neutralize the Sars-Co-V2 virus if it is presented. There will be no viral challenge, as that is unethical. From the article, "The adenovirus vaccine technology used in Johnson & Johnson’s trial was developed by Dr. Barouch (Deanconess) in the early 2000s. The company acquired it and used it to make vaccines for Ebola, H.I.V., respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and Zika. All told, 100,000 people have received the adenovirus vaccine in clinical trials for those four diseases, without any serious side effects."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/health/coronavirus-swiss-cheese-infection-mackay.html
This is an NYT article about the "swiss cheese" model of pandemic defense. The virologist Ian Mackay describes an impenetrable barrier composed of social distancing, hand washing, testing and tracing, ventilation and government messaging. None of these measures is perfect (surprised that vaccination isn't in there somewhere) and each can be envisaged as a slice of swiss cheese. When the holes align, risk of infection is increased. Quenching the transmission of the virus relies on all, not some, of these things. The SC concept came originally from a cognitive psychologist, James T Reason (great name!), who wrote about the swiss cheese model of accidents in his book "Human Error". The limitations of this model were also noted in his address in 2004. The article goes through the layers re: Covid-19 and talks about the additive successes of multiple layers. Distance, according to Mackay, is the most effective intervention because of aerosolation and the involvement of aerosols in superspreader events. Misinformation can erode any of the layers. Individual responsibility is important but our leadership also has to be working to keep us safe. I think the article should stress that mistrust is a sword that can penetrate all of the most protective layers and that lack of trust in our government is running pretty high.
This link connects to a Statnews article describing the mRNA vaccine's invention. Pfizer and BioNTech have developed a vaccine consisting of synthetic messenger RNA, a version of the molecule that is transcribed from DNA, the molecule that contains the letters that confer all of our traits and our individuality. The article calls mRNA the recipe book for the body's trillions of cells. And the technology used "tweaks" synthetic mRNA and injects it into bodies to transform them into drug factories. A U of Wisconsin researcher, Katalin Kariko, worked on this molecule with the idea that it could be used to create proteins in the body, antibodies, enzymes or growth agents. But it could easily be destroyed by the body's natural defenses. It could also cause an immune reaction called auto-immune disease, In some autoimmune diseases, the body makes anti-RNA antibodies. So Kariko and collaborators made a hybrid mRNA with modified nucleosides that could avoid rejection. The article calls this development a "starter pistol" for the vaccine sprint. There were other developments to follow and that's why these biotech pioneers are entrepreneurs and live on the edge where the rubber meets the road, as the expression goes.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/health/covid-vaccine-blood-test.html
Another NYT Covid-19 article called new day, new marker, since the science is unfolding at such a rapid rate. Biological markers are signs that predict a response and are sought after in drug development. An anti-cancer compound I worked on was stopped in its tracks when it finally got to be tested in primates (the "gold standard" for drug development achieved after years of cell culture and small animal studies) and it was shown that it reacted with the brain neuraminic acid receptor.If we had had a marker it would have saved time and money. The blood marker PSA or prostate specific antigen supposedly is an indicator of cancer but it has proven an imperfect one at best. The article describes blood markers in monkeys that may predict whether a monkey's immune system is prepared to wipe out coronaviruses on presentation. Interestingly, the fact that the vaccines seem to be achieving the same degree of efficacy (about 95%) means that they will probably be compared with each other instead of placebo. This is a high bar. The monkeys produced IgG antibodies after they recovered from Covid-19. Then they injected other monkeys with antibodies and exposed them to coronaviruses and the ones that got the highest dose were completely protected. This is the first time it has been shown that antibodies protect.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/opinion/covid-vaccines-patents.html
Opinion posted in the NYT decrying intellectual property rights. The article mentions a proposal by India and South Africa asking the WTO to exempt member countries from enforcing trade-related intellectual property rights due to the exceptional circumstances created by the pandemic. This idea was opposed by the EU, the US and other countries. Vaccines developed by Pfizer, Moderna and A-Z were created using taxpayer money. As such, they belong to taxpayers who will be required to pay for them again and who may not get the vaccines fast enough. 82 percent of the vaccines Pfizer says it can present through next year and 78 percent of of Moderna's have already been sold to rich countries. A-Z has made deals with manufacturers in India and Latin American countries to make sure poor countries have access to the vaccine and not to make a profit during the pandemic. This is not a new problem. Gilead Sciences, the monopoly owner of sofosbuvir, a breakthrough treatment for Hepatitis C is deadlocked with the government of Brazil. When the drug company got the patents it hiked the price there from $16 to $240 a capsule. If it were produced locally under a compulsory licensing scheme it would be about eight dollars. Keep in mind that this was the drug that won the discoverers the Nobel Prize this year!
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