Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #109

[anneg]

Is it being reported that the newest vaccine version has only been tested on mice. I’m vaccinated and boosted. Is anyone concerned that there have been no human trials?

I'm not really concerned about that.

Why the New COVID-19 Booster Was Authorized Before Testing on People

New COVID-19 boosters could be authorized by the FDA before full data from human trials are in because of past data on similar vaccines. With the COVID-19 vaccines, there is already a long track record of safety to support the new boosters.

www.healthline.com

Science | AAAS

www.science.org

From the Science article:
The companies say clinical trials for the BA.4/BA.5 vaccines will begin next month; they need clinical data both for full approval of the vaccines—their recent submissions are only for emergency use authorization—and to help develop future updates. Presumably they will measure recipients’ antibody levels, but not the vaccine’s efficacy against infection or severe disease. Such trials are very expensive and were not done for the BA.1 shot either.

How can authorities consider authorizing vaccines without data from human trials?​

Influenza vaccines are updated each spring to try to match the strain most likely to circulate in the fall and winter. The reformulated shots don’t have to undergo new clinical trials unless the manufacturers significantly change the way they make the vaccine. A similar approach for new COVID-19 variants makes sense, says Leif Erik Sander, an infectious disease expert at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin. The changes to the mRNA are minor and providing updated vaccines as quickly as possible is “an ethical issue,” Sander says. “We need to allow people to protect themselves from a virus that we can’t fully control.”

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Covid vaccines will likely become annual like flu shots, White House officials say

Dr. Anthony Fauci said he anticipates a schedule "similar to that of the annual influenza vaccine, with annual updated Covid-19 shots matched to the currently circulating strains."

www.nbcnews.com

Covid vaccinations will likely become an annual affair, White House officials said Tuesday, with a schedule resembling that of flu shots.

"In the absence of a dramatically different variants, we likely are moving towards a path with a vaccination cadence similar to that of the annual influenza vaccine, with annual updated Covid-19 shots matched to the currently circulating strains for most of the population," Dr. Anthony Fauci said at a White House briefing.

The reasoning behind this expectation, according to Fauci and White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha, has to do with improved protection from newly updated Covid booster shots...

 

[anneg]

Just got a text from our DIL urging us to go ahead and get the bivalent booster now that it's available. She's an infectious disease doc and I pay attention to what she says! We can probably get it tomorrow. Might get the flu shot too while we are at it.
ETA: remember folks, we are old! Later 70s.

 

[Lilibet]

Just got a text from our DIL urging us to go ahead and get the bivalent booster now that it's available. She's an infectious disease doc and I pay attention to what she says! We can probably get it tomorrow. Might get the flu shot too while we are at it.
ETA: remember folks, we are old! Later 70s.

I just called our doctor. They don’t know when they’re getting it. Then I called our local Rite Aid pharmacy and they don’t have it, even though the Rite Aid website says this particular store does have the updated vaccine. Guess we’ll wait a bit as planned.

 

[Teche]

I just called our doctor. They don’t know when they’re getting it. Then I called our local Rite Aid pharmacy and they don’t have it, even though the Rite Aid website says this particular store does have the updated vaccine. Guess we’ll wait a bit as planned.

Check with Walgreen’s. A friend lives in a different area of my state and she was able to schedule one for Thursday.

 

[jjenny]

Is it being reported that the newest vaccine version has only been tested on mice. I’m vaccinated and boosted. Is anyone concerned that there have been no human trials?

I just got the updated booster. I am not concerned. They don't do trials for flu vaccine variations anymore. This is a very similar thing. They just changed the sequence of the spike protein to represent omicron.

 

[jjenny]

I just called our doctor. They don’t know when they’re getting it. Then I called our local Rite Aid pharmacy and they don’t have it, even though the Rite Aid website says this particular store does have the updated vaccine. Guess we’ll wait a bit as planned.

I got mine at CVS today. They already have an updated version.

 

[Teche]

I just got the updated booster. I am not concerned. They don't do trials for flu vaccine variations anymore. This is a very similar thing. They just changed the sequence of the spike protein to represent omicron.

Thanks! I’m going to try to schedule my booster this week. I use a small pharmacy in my old hometown for my vaccines. I’m going to try to schedule my flu vaccine and booster. My pharmacist is vaccinated and boosted. Both he and his wife (also a pharmacist) have been out down with Covid. They are super careful, wear masks and limit there outings besides work and church. He faired ok but his wife struggled for 2 weeks.

 

[ilovewings]

Providers report dozens of errors giving Pfizer's COVID vaccine. Experts worry new boosters will fuel more.

The decision last week to change the COVID-19 boosters for everyone 12 and older will add another layer of complexity.

www.freep.com

 

[Yesiamapirate]

I have an appt for the updated booster tomorrow at Walgreens here in Michigan. I never got a second booster so my last COVID vaccine was back in October 2021. Mr. Pirate did get a second vaccine this summer and will probably hold off a month or two.

 

[ilovewings]

Scientists Discovered an Antibody That Can Take Out All COVID-19 Variants

Researchers hope to create a new vaccine with it.

www.prevention.com

An antibody has been developed that can neutralize all Covid 19 variants- so far this has been tested in mice but seems to have a lot of potential. we shall see. I imagine it will take a few years to come to fruition -- obviously it must be tested in humans and have a good safety profile.

 

[Elley Mae]

Scientists find COVID-19 antibodies that can make boosters unnecessary

https://m.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/coronavirus/article-716545

Researchers at Tel Aviv University found two antibodies that neutralize all known strains of COVID-19 with up to 95% efficiency

The new research is a continuation of a preliminary study conducted in October 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, Freund and her colleagues sequenced all the B immune system cells from the blood of Israelis who had recovered from the original COVID strain and isolated nine antibodies that the patients produced. The researchers now found that some of these antibodies are very effective in neutralizing the new coronavirus variants, Delta and Omicron.

…
Conformational flexibility in neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by naturally elicited anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

Conformational flexibility in neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by naturally elicited anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies - Communications Biology

The neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern by nine monoclonal antibodies (mAb) isolated from convalescent donors infected with the Wuhan-Hu-1 strain alongside structural characterization of two of the mAbs in complex with the RBD and spike are presented.

www.nature.com

 

[dmac55]

Covid-19 Pfizer Updated Booster and Influenza Vaccine:
Done

 

[Yesiamapirate]

Just got my updated COVID vaccine by Pfizer. All so well so far!

 

[jjenny]

Just got my updated COVID vaccine by Pfizer. All so well so far!

I got updated Moderna on Tuesday. Only minor arm pain this time. I guess my organism is used to it by now and doesn't react much at all.

 

[jjenny]

Scientists find COVID-19 antibodies that can make boosters unnecessary

https://m.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/coronavirus/article-716545

Researchers at Tel Aviv University found two antibodies that neutralize all known strains of COVID-19 with up to 95% efficiency

The new research is a continuation of a preliminary study conducted in October 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, Freund and her colleagues sequenced all the B immune system cells from the blood of Israelis who had recovered from the original COVID strain and isolated nine antibodies that the patients produced. The researchers now found that some of these antibodies are very effective in neutralizing the new coronavirus variants, Delta and Omicron.

…
Conformational flexibility in neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by naturally elicited anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies

Conformational flexibility in neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by naturally elicited anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies - Communications Biology

The neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern by nine monoclonal antibodies (mAb) isolated from convalescent donors infected with the Wuhan-Hu-1 strain alongside structural characterization of two of the mAbs in complex with the RBD and spike are presented.

www.nature.com

The problem with antibodies is that they are expensive and have to be injected (you can't prescribe them to be taken at home). So even if they work really well they are not going to make boosters un-necessary.

 

[Sundog]

Check with Walgreen’s. A friend lives in a different area of my state and she was able to schedule one for Thursday.

Our Walgreen's has the Pfizer bivalent vaccine and you can sign up for an appointment online. They were doing walk-in appointments until today, but starting tomorrow you have to make an appointment online.

ETA: Eligibility is two months after vaccination or booster. I will wait until early October, and get the flu vaccine at the same time. My husband didn't get the second booster, so he will probably get the bivalent shot next week, before an outpatient surgery he has scheduled for later this month.

 

[ilovewings]

The Most Common Side Effects Of The New Bivalent COVID Booster

Here's what you can expect when you get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and how you can ease any symptoms.

www.yahoo.com

This article describes the most common side effects of the new bivalent vaccine and SURPRISE! the side effects are pretty much the same as side effects from the older vaccine- and that is good. no surprises here.

 

[ilovewings]

‘We are only beginning to know what it is’: Why doctors struggle to identify treatments for long COVID

The different experiences people face with long COVID show the challenge of treating a condition that creates so many profound and varied problems.

www.usatoday.com

A good article discussing Long Covid-- how difficult it is to diagnose and treat.

 

[ilovepierre]

‘We are only beginning to know what it is’: Why doctors struggle to identify treatments for long COVID

The different experiences people face with long COVID show the challenge of treating a condition that creates so many profound and varied problems.

www.usatoday.com

A good article discussing Long Covid-- how difficult it is to diagnose and treat.

Yep

My doctor has medically recognized that I have Long COVID, but because it involves so many systems, we’re just focusing on treating everything separately.