Markets are surging on vaccine news

People texting me like crazy. No time to google - freaking out!

I am FREAKING OUT!!!

Sounds like good news on the first vaccine. Iā€™ve read sources saying this is a good sign for other vaccines having similar effectiveness.

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They actually have 2 vaccines up! Go figure.

@mohe0001:

You mean Pfizer and BioNTech? If so they are partners and it is the same vaccine. Or did I miss a second announcement today?

Yes, this is exciting, but we canā€™t let our guard down. Pfizer thinks that they can produce a billion doses by the end of 2021. Thatā€™s 500 million people out of 7.75 billion. How many of us think that we will be among that first 500 million patients a year from now? I donā€™t ā€¦ and Iā€™m old which should boost my priority a bit.

Hopefully Oxford/AstroZeneca, Moderna, J&J will have equally encouraging and exciting results soon.

Stay safe!

John

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Moderna also started their mRNA phase 3 vaccine trial in April, and are about 2 weeks behind Pfizer / BioNTech in releasing results

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I tried and tried to get into this study but too many people were interested.

I think that we are scheduled for vaccine in December (if they are able to meet that timeline - they suggest that everything is online for them to meet that long term timeline because they keep reiterating it).

Current schedule is:
December - High risk patient populations
January - 1st Responders, Healthcare workers, and the elderly
Feb & March - Everybody else

What are we gonna do? Are we going to have some kinda diabetic DDay celebration?
I think we need to start planning some sort of party.

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I thought the first 2 were reversed however I think Iā€™m in both

Yeah, I thought healthcare workers and first responders are first, which makes sense IMO since they canā€™t quarantine, whereas everyone else can and should remain as socially distanced as possible until they can get a vaccine.

Maybe high-risk are those more likely to die or require respirators, intensive care (seniors, nursing homes, etc).

It is my understanding that medically vulnerable areā€¦

ā€œmedically vulnerable groups should be among the first to receive a vaccine, according to the NASEM draft plan. These include older people living in crowded settings, and individuals with multiple existing conditions, such as serious heart disease or diabetes, that put them at risk for more-serious COVID-19 infection.ā€

There have been statements made that the hospitals seem to have a good plan about how to stay safe. Vulnerable populations come first. that includes people in long term care.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02684-9

Azar made a similar statement again today. He just keeps reiterating the same thing.
But, if you have a different interpretation, bring it forth. Try to include the source, so we can sort this out.

From articleā€¦

The United States leads with 10 million cases and nearly a quarter-million deaths since the pandemic broke out earlier this year.

@mohe0001 the nature link you posted says (emphasis mine)

ā€œThe NASEM guidance goes a step further by ranking priority groups in order of who should get a vaccine first (see ā€˜A tiered approachā€™). After health-care workers, medically vulnerable groups should be among the first to receive a vaccine, according to the NASEM draft plan.ā€

Medical providers have absolutely gotten COVID and died throughout this. My main concern for COVID transmission is that I still have to go to in-person medical care of various sorts. I get targeting nursing homes/care facilities first, but Iā€™d honestly say health care workers should be prioritized above me (late 30s, multiple medical conditions increasing risk), since they are the potential vectors the very folks at higher risk canā€™t avoid contact with.

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I am guessing that this represents a logistical, practical sort of damage control. Diabetics are 30% of the hospitalizations and 40% of the deaths, so if they take us out of the equation, it relieves a lot of the heaviest burden on hospital system.

I think they are more concerned about the overburdening of the hospital, as opposed to hospital transmission.

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Yes, thatā€™s a good point. I included that (thereā€™s so many sources) because it references diabetes specifically as a medical priority. But, its pretty old. Newer sources and announcements seem to keep saying that spread in the hospital isnā€™t that bad.

I dunno. We gotta sort this out. Let me find the last source from azar I was referencing, incase I am wrongā€¦maybe we are Jan, not Dec. I guess that either way, its coming soon.

Here is something from 1 month ago (although he has made MUCH more recent statements).

OCTOBER 8th

ā€œThe Trump administrationā€™s vaccine program Operation Warp Speed expects to have up to 100 million doses by the end of the year, Azar said during a keynote speech at the Goldman Sachs Healthcare virtual event on the coronavirus. Thatā€™s ā€œenough to cover especially vulnerable populations,ā€ he said.ā€

Todayā€™s press release - November 10th

Listen to this for yourself and try to interpret. I guess that when I listen, I hear them saying healthcare workers by the END of January. I think we are December (along with long term care facilities). ???

Iā€™m freaking out. I want a date.

My understanding is that the results have to be replicated by other entities before it will be released. As for how quickly it can be produced, I just read an article online (through pocket news) that explained, in way too much detail for me to understand, lol, that mRNA vaccines are much easier to produce, so if this works, we can expect it to be ramped up pretty quickly.

Of course, no data yet, as far as I can tell, on how long the vaccineā€™s effect will be active.

On the whole, though, this is very optimistic news.

They have already manufactured the 1st lot of vaccine, so they are just waiting for FDA to approve before administering it. They have said that some independent evaluation was performed. Its on its way. As far as I can tell, they have kept the schedule they hypothesized 8 or 9 months ago. Its amazing. I tell ya! If anybody knows how to do schedule projections, its the US gov. When they are spending big $, they get their scheduling right. Its remarkable.

Iā€™ve had my heart set on Dec or Jan since the start of this thing. They did it, God bless 'em. The only question left is - is it Dec? Or, is it Jan?

Ok, Azar might be responding to Komo by saying that the Feds distribute to the States and the States make final distribution decisions. So, there is room for variation. This might be kinda tricky to figure out for each of us on a state by state levelā€¦ they will prob be figuring this out during the last leg of November. That seems pretty consistent with everything that has always happened historically and in recent history, right?