Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #83

[SouthAussie]

And the world is running out of Remdesivir.... most is coming to the US.

You may have missed an earlier post of mine. Remdesivir is manufactured in California. And, yes, the US govt bought 80% of its existing stock, some time ago.

The same product, generically called Desrem, is now made in India. Gilead provided an Indian company called Mylan with a license to produce it. Mylan supplies Desrem to other countries.

Manufacturing is happening in both places. I don't believe there is a world shortage.

I have read that there is a hospital shortage in the US, as Remdesivir is allotted to the hospitals by the government. I posted an article way back in the threads where a doctor said that when they get low, they borrow from another hospital, and when their next allotment comes in they pay it back.

Remdesivir is way overpriced in the US. Desrem is hugely cheaper to buy.

Mylan launches Remdesivir’s generic version ‘Desrem’ in India for Covid-19 patients
Gilead announces long-awaited price for Covid-19 drug remdesivir - STAT
Mylan prices its generic remdesivir in India at $64 per 100 mg vial

 

[JerseyGirl]

"It is not immediately clear that the people contracted the virus at the rally.

The Minnesota Department of Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill."

Through contact tracing, Minnesota Department of Health spokesperson Doug Schultz said “One of the nine was likely infectious while at the rally.”

Nine People Test Positive For Covid After Attending Minnesota Trump Rally

 

[sds71]

@GovChristie

I am happy to let you know that this morning I was released from Morristown Medical Center. I want to thank the extraordinary doctors & nurses who cared for me for the last week. Thanks to my family & friends for their prayers. I will have more to say about all of this next week.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

You may have missed an earlier post of mine. Remdesivir is manufactured in California. And, yes, the US govt bought 80% of its existing stock, some time ago.

The same product, generically called Desrem, is now made in India. Gilead provided an Indian company called Mylan with a license to produce it. Mylan supplies Desrem to other countries.

Manufacturing is happening in both places. I don't believe there is a world shortage.

I have read that there is a hospital shortage in the US, as Remdesivir is allotted to the hospitals by the government. I posted an article way back in the threads where a doctor said that when they get low, they borrow from another hospital, and when their next allotment comes in they pay it back.

Remdesivir is way overpriced in the US. Desrem is hugely cheaper to buy.

Mylan launches Remdesivir’s generic version ‘Desrem’ in India for Covid-19 patients
Gilead announces long-awaited price for Covid-19 drug remdesivir - STAT
Mylan prices its generic remdesivir in India at $64 per 100 mg vial

Gilead priced remdesivir at $2,340 per patient for rich nations, and $64 / 100-mg vial in India (about 80% below the price tage on the drug for wealthy nations).

Mylan manufactures Desrem in India at its injectables facilities and is working toward expanding access for patients in the 127 low- and middle-income countries where it is licensed by Gilead Sciences to do so.

Mylan prices its generic remdesivir in India at $64 per 100 mg vial

Mylan launches Remdesivir’s generic version ‘Desrem’ in India for Covid-19 patients

ETA: "In May, Mylan and domestic pharma firms Hetero, Cipla and Jubilant Life Sciences had entered into non-exclusive licensing agreements with drug major Gilead Sciences Inc for manufacturing and distribution of Remdesivir.

Hetero and Cipla have already launched their generic versions of Remdesivir in India."

 

[BUF]

Through contact tracing, Minnesota Department of Health spokesperson Doug Schultz said “One of the nine was likely infectious while at the rally.”

Nine People Test Positive For Covid After Attending Minnesota Trump Rally

This is how this stuff spreads, especially when not using safety protocol.

 

[SouthAussie]

Gilead priced remdesivir at $2,340 per patient for rich nations, and $64 / 100-mg vial in India (about 80% below the price tage on the drug for wealthy nations).

Mylan manufactures Desrem in India at its injectables facilities and is working toward expanding access for patients in the 127 low- and middle-income countries where it is licensed by Gilead Sciences to do so.

Mylan prices its generic remdesivir in India at $64 per 100 mg vial

Mylan launches Remdesivir’s generic version ‘Desrem’ in India for Covid-19 patients

ETA: "In May, Mylan and domestic pharma firms Hetero, Cipla and Jubilant Life Sciences had entered into non-exclusive licensing agreements with drug major Gilead Sciences Inc for manufacturing and distribution of Remdesivir.

Hetero and Cipla have already launched their generic versions of Remdesivir in India."

We are quite lucky here in Australia, Gilead donated enough remdesivir to us for all of our needs.
Obviously, we don't have as much need for it as other places, at the moment.

However, there are even more manufacturers of remdesivir now.


The US pharmaceutical giant Gilead has donated a supply of the antiviral medication remdesivir to Australia’s national medical stockpile, with the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, saying there will be enough of the drug to meet Covid-19 patient demand.

“Gilead has licensing agreements with manufacturers in Egypt, India and Pakistan to supply remdesivir to 127 low to middle-income countries.
Gilead donates Covid-19 drug remdesivir to Australia’s medical stockpile after US buys up supply

 

[tresir2012]

@GovChristie

I am happy to let you know that this morning I was released from Morristown Medical Center. I want to thank the extraordinary doctors & nurses who cared for me for the last week. Thanks to my family & friends for their prayers. I will have more to say about all of this next week.

That's good news. Will be interesting to know what treatment he had.

 

[Sundog]

Innate resistance to HIV - Wikipedia

We know that some people do not get HIV, even after repeated exposure.

There has been a lot of discussion about the "Super Spreader" event at the White House, and that many of the White House staff caught Covid. I am interested in the people who were in the same proximity to President Trump, and they did NOT catch the disease.

Are some people immune to Coronavirus? Has there been testing done to identify what is the reason?

In Fauci's co-authored paper published in the journal Cell on September 3, 2020, on the history of pandemics up to, and including, COVID-19, they have a section on host immunity. See pages 1085-1086 for what they have to say in their article at link below.

https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(20)31012-6.pdf

 

[JerseyGirl]

That's good news. Will be interesting to know what treatment he had.

Christie had not given a public update on his condition only saying that doctors prescribed remdesivir.

Christie’s stay in Morristown is longer than an average COVID-19 hospitalization.

Ex-N.J. Gov. Chris Christie says he’s out of the hospital after a week of treatment for COVID-19

 

[tresir2012]

Yeah, he's "technically" immune at this MOMENT IN TIME because he was pumped full of Regeneron antibodies. And presence of antibodies = immune. MOO. Assumption is that his cells also should have been sensitized and his own immunity kicked in also to gear up with inate (T cells) and neutralizing (B cell antibodies). But since the doc didn't state IgM antibodies yet.. we don't know if he has such... but the assumption is by this date.. he should now have IgM antibodies being produced (which comes before IgG production by his body cells)

MOO

google defintion: im·mu·ni·ty
/iˈmyo͞onədē/

noun
noun: immunity
the ability of an organism to resist a particular infection or toxin by the action of specific antibodies or sensitized white blood cells.

Some of those EUA's I linked were for IgM tests. I'll go back and look again.

ETA actually they were for IgG antibodies, not IgM. I don't know the significance or difference between G and M.

10/06/2020 10/06/2020

• Entity ZEUS Scientific, Inc.
• Diagnostic (Most Recent Letter of Authorization) (PDF)ZEUS ELISA SARS-CoV-2 IgG Test System (127KB)
• Product Attributes 3, 4 Serology IgG, ELISA
• Authorized Setting(s) 1 H, M
• Authorization Labeling 2 (PDF) HCP (159KB)
  Recipients (150KB)
  IFU (364KB)
• Amendments and Other Documents (PDF)
  • None currently
• Federal Register Notice for EUA
  • None currently
• Other Brand Name(s)

 

[tresir2012]

Christie had not given a public update on his condition only saying that doctors prescribed remdesivir.

Christie’s stay in Morristown is longer than an average COVID-19 hospitalization.

Ex-N.J. Gov. Chris Christie says he’s out of the hospital after a week of treatment for COVID-19

So average Covid hospitalisations are less than a week now. That is an incredible improvement.

 

[Sundog]

In Fauci's co-authored paper published in the journal Cell on September 3, 2020, on the history of pandemics up to, and including, COVID-19, they have a section on the role of host immunity]

ETA
Seems the link I posted doesn't work. For section on The Role of Host Immunity, scroll down until you pass the section on The Role of the Infectious Agent.

Emerging Pandemic Diseases: How We Got to COVID-19 - ScienceDirect

 

[dixiegirl1035]

RSBM I don’t like that we have Mondays announcement hanging over our heads, but I assume my area will be going into Tier 3

Dr. Campbell today is focused on the UK in his 19:17 minute video. If you don't have the time, you can read the summary below the video, (he always has great links below too) but video is much better for those of you here that are UK especially?

@CoverMeCagney, Are you UK folks doing the COVID symptom tracker app he has been talking about for many weeks and how it has really shown to precede the numbers that UK wants folks to do? (even though it underestimates as doesn't catch asymptomatics, it shows a trend much earlier)





I also had no idea that you guys in England were doubling every week now. (Wales is actually down in the past week, exemplifying that no matter where in the world you go, it's regional - yet YOUR national standards/math is our friend with data - as the local areas can apply as to when to do shut downs.. analogous to what is going on in the NYC area that has targeted communities for resorting back to tighter mitigations to get under control at this time)


As he says... Deja Vu, and bad at this time of year.

Also, very interesting and was shocking to me how they are doing random testing just like political polls. WOW! They sent out for 20,000 and got 19,933 folks.

 

[Sundog]

@GovChristie

I am happy to let you know that this morning I was released from Morristown Medical Center. I want to thank the extraordinary doctors & nurses who cared for me for the last week. Thanks to my family & friends for their prayers. I will have more to say about all of this next week.

FANTASTIC NEWS!

 

[tresir2012]

This is from the CDC from a month ago and discusses the isolation period and procedures.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

From the bottom of the article.

Recommendations

1. Duration of isolation and precautions
   • For most persons with COVID-19 illness, isolation and precautions can generally be discontinued 10 days after symptom onset1 and resolution of fever for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing medications, and with improvement of other symptoms.
     • A limited number of persons with severe illness may produce replication-competent virus beyond 10 days that may warrant extending duration of isolation and precautions for up to 20 days after symptom onset; consider consultation with infection control experts.
   • For persons who never develop symptoms, isolation and other precautions can be discontinued 10 days after the date of their first positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 RNA.
2. Role of PCR testing2 to discontinue isolation or precautions
   • For persons who are severely immunocompromised, a test-based strategy could be considered in consultation with infectious diseases experts.
   • For all others, a test-based strategy is no longer recommended except to discontinue isolation or precautions earlier than would occur under the strategy outlined in Part 1, above.
3. Role of PCR testing2 after discontinuation of isolation or precautions
   • For persons previously diagnosed with symptomatic COVID-19 who remain asymptomatic after recovery, retesting is not recommended within 3 months after the date of symptom onset for the initial COVID-19 infection.
   • For persons who develop new symptoms consistent with COVID-19 during the 3 months after the date of initial symptom onset, if an alternative etiology cannot be identified by a provider, then the person may warrant retesting; consultation with infectious disease or infection control experts is recommended. Isolation may be considered during this evaluation based on consultation with an infection control expert, especially in the event symptoms develop within 14 days after close contact with an infected person.
   • For persons who never developed symptoms, the date of first positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 RNA should be used in place of the date of symptom onset.
4. Role of serologic testing
   • Serologic testing should not be used to establish the presence or absence of SARS-CoV-2 infection or reinfection.

[1] Symptom onset is defined as the date on which symptoms first began, including non-respiratory symptoms.
[2] PCR testing is defined as the use of an RT-PCR assay to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA..

I copied the below info from JG's link about Chris Christie.

"Christie’s stay in Morristown was longer than an average COVID-19 hospitalization. Five days is the median length of hospital stays for coronavirus patients outside of China, according to an analysis of 52 studies published last month in BMC Medicine."

5 days shows what amazing improvements have been made since the early days. I have not had a chance to look at the individual studies.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Dr. Campbell today is focused on the UK in his 19:17 minute video. If you don't have the time, you can read the summary below the video, (he always has great links below too) but video is much better for those of you here that are UK especially?

@CoverMeCagney, Are you UK folks doing the COVID symptom tracker app he has been talking about for many weeks and how it has really shown to precede the numbers that UK wants folks to do? (even though it underestimates as doesn't catch asymptomatics, it shows a trend much earlier)

View attachment 267382



I also had no idea that you guys in England were doubling every week now. (Wales is actually down in the past week, exemplifying that no matter where in the world you go, it's regional - yet YOUR national standards/math is our friend with data - as the local areas can apply as to when to do shut downs.. analogous to what is going on in the NYC area that has targeted communities for resorting back to tighter mitigations to get under control at this time)

View attachment 267384
As he says... Deja Vu, and bad at this time of year.

Also, very interesting and was shocking to me how they are doing random testing just like political polls. WOW! They sent out for 20,000 and got 19,933 folks.

Thanks for this @dixiegirl1035, I like this guy!

Interesting to see that there are thought to have been around 200,000 per DAY back at the peak in April (remember - only hospital admissions were tested back then, everyone who suffered at home was untested). So we are nowhere near those figures yet, thankfully, but the upward trend is worrying nonetheless.

A couple of friends have had the random antibody tests sent through. And I'm sure another had a blood test at the doctors. All negative. Impressed that they've had an overwhelmingly good return response to it, 19,933 out of 20,000.

On Monday Boris is announcing a simplified lockdown system for the whole country. Tier 1 being the least stringent measures, tier 3 meaning near lockdown with hospitality closed again. I live in the north of England and anticipate going into tier 3.

And yes, I have the symptom tracker app you mentioned and log in every day like a good girl! There is a new track and trace app too, which the NHS and Gov are pushing everyone to have... I haven't downloaded it yet as I have concerns about how accurate it is. Maybe not such a good girl after all lol.

 

[Sundog]

A top US drugmaker is teaming up with the Gates Foundation to get a promising new coronavirus treatment to low-income countries before April 2021

Eli Lilly, the US drugmaker, said it is partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to supply its COVID-19 antibody therapy to low- and middle-income countries.

Eli Lilly is seeking an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The company said that it would aim to distribute the therapy to low-income countries before April 2021, depending on when the drug was approved in different nations.

Eli Lilly said that commercial manufacturing of its treatment will commence in April 2021 in Denmark. Lilly also said it will make some of its antibody therapy available to lower-income countries before then, depending on when its treatment is authorized in different nations. Any drugs provided earlier than 2021 would be made outside of Denmark, it said in a statement released on Thursday morning.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Thanks for this @dixiegirl1035, I like this guy!

Interesting to see that there are thought to have been around 200,000 per DAY back at the peak in April (remember - only hospital admissions were tested back then, everyone who suffered at home was untested). So we are nowhere near those figures yet, thankfully, but the upward trend is worrying nonetheless.

A couple of friends have had the random antibody tests sent through. And I'm sure another had a blood test at the doctors. All negative. Impressed that they've had an overwhelmingly good return response to it, 19,933 out of 20,000.

On Monday Boris is announcing a simplified lockdown system for the whole country. Tier 1 being the least stringent measures, tier 3 meaning near lockdown with hospitality closed again. I live in the north of England and anticipate going into tier 3.

And yes, I have the symptom tracker app you mentioned and log in every day like a good girl! There is a new track and trace app too, which the NHS and Gov are pushing everyone to have... I haven't downloaded it yet as I have concerns about how accurate it is. Maybe not such a good girl after all lol.

@CoverMeCagney, I found it fabulous, and had no idea, that y'all were doing the same math/science levels to rate for LOCAL levels to change that to my understanding, only the State of New York /Cuomo has said for about 6 months. It was all science based/math and depended exactly on WHO /other science said to do. Test, trace, isolate, focus on the hot spots as priority and target specific mitigations accordingly. Logical isn't it!

Does anyone know if any other states in the US are doing what UK and New York state are doing?

@SouthAussie, is that how you guys are doing also?

 

[tresir2012]

@CoverMeCagney, I found it fabulous, and had no idea, that y'all were doing the same math/science levels to rate for LOCAL levels to change that to my understanding, only the State of New York /Cuomo has said for about 6 months. It was all science based/math and depended exactly on WHO /other science said to do. Test, trace, isolate, focus on the hot spots as priority and target specific mitigations accordingly. Logical isn't it!

Does anyone know if any other states in the US are doing what UK and New York state are doing?

@SouthAussie, is that how you guys are doing also?

You don't remember whack a mole ? Only know it is whack some moles now. :-(

 

[CoverMeCagney]

@CoverMeCagney, I found it fabulous, and had no idea, that y'all were doing the same math/science levels to rate for LOCAL levels to change that to my understanding, only the State of New York /Cuomo has said for about 6 months. It was all science based/math and depended exactly on WHO /other science said to do. Test, trace, isolate, focus on the hot spots as priority.

Does anyone know if any other states in the US are doing what UK and New York state are doing?

@SouthAussie, is that how you guys are doing also?

Yes, we've been doing that since the proper lockdown ended in June. Different cities/regions have had different restrictions at different times, but as time goes on restrictions are becoming more common and widespread. Monday is big news day; millions of us will be affected by the new rules - and many of those rules have now become law.

I am not seeing a huge problem being caused directly by school aged children (approx 10 million) returning to education, but I do think there should have been a hiatus on university starting this year. So many students (approx 2 million) suddenly filling pubs and bars in high density student areas, as well as living together in halls of residence or shared houses. They think they're invincible, turns out they're definitely not!