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We may have 10 more varieties of vaccine to choose from over the next few months.

And Pfizer's claim of 90% awaits more work. That's preliminary based on small sample size I think.

@P*D: I think you are right; there will be more working vaccines in the future. With some luck there will be some "old-fashioned"-ones, that don´t need refrigerating and thus will be better suited for poorer countries without possibilities for frozen transport and storage.
And yes, this is preliminary data, but not on the Phase I trial, they are from the phase III trial. This means the data is based on tests with about 44.000 people, so there really is reason to be optimistic .

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That will be a huge challenge with covid. Last I heard, there were at least eight different strains circulating the globe and it was established early on that even if you got immunity after infection, you only had immunity against that strain.

@PJ: Hey, stop being pessimistic. I´m the german here!
Most vaccines (and the nasal spray mentioned above) will target the spike-protein (S-Protein) of the virus. It needs this structure to dock onto human cells via ACE2 (angiotensin converting enzyme 2). Most researchers think, that this s-protein is a rather conserved structure. Should this protein mutate in a significant way, the virus cannot dock onto human cells via ACE2 any more. What then? If we are lucky it stops being pathogenic. If we are VERY unlucky, it might dock onto some other human enzyme...

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And yes, this is preliminary data, but not on the Phase I trial, they are from the phase III trial. This means the data is based on tests with about 44.000 people, so there really is reason to be optimistic

I read somewhere that the 90% fraction wasn't coming from the full Phase III data set, but from a much smaller sample, and was pending further clarification from the full sample.

You are right: the combined Phase II/III trial is not finished, as 164 new Covid-cases after the second vaccine shot are required to finalise the trial.
As of Sunday there have been 94 cases in the phase II/III trial, of which more than 90 percent were in the placebo group.
Source: German national broadcasting company, sorry in german only

Martin, how are things looking in Germany with respect to the pandemic?

Well, after we got lucky in spring, people became a bit.....too relaxed.
In September Chancellor Merkel said something about having to be cautious and a possibility of "more than 19.200 cases per day before Christmas". Nobody really cared.
The second wave hit us fast, good and hard, we had more than 20.000 daily cases for a few days recently.
But things are not that bleak:
- "Lockdown light" started November 2nd, and this week (eight days later) numbers stagnate (so far) and might be falling next week.
- There are still thousands of free intensive care beds.
- Treatment of Covid improved since March, so casualties are not higher than in the first wave (keeping finger crossed). We might end up with another 10.000 dead, which is bad enough.

Lockdown light is not that bad:
You can leave your house whenever you want, but social distancing is encouraged. Mass gatherings are forbidden and police will enforce that (see below).
All shops are open, but masks are required. Everybody goes to work, but homeoffice is encouraged.
Schools and Kindergardens are open (keeping fingers crossed several times!), but masks are required for older children.
Restaurants are closed, but takeaway is possible.
Social meetings at home with members of one other family per meeting are allowed.
Museums, Opera- and Concerthouses, Cinemas and other nice spots are closed, sadly.

All venues that had to suspend business because of this new lockdown will be refunded 75% of their income of 2019 by the government.

Most people really responded well, but there is a core of maybe 100.000 persons that "don´t believe" in Covid. They call themselves "Querdenker" i.e. "Lateral thinkers" or "Open minded thinkers", a wild mixture of esoterics, neonazis, conspiracy theorists (5G!) and plain idiots. They were allowed to demonstrate for their cause in Leipzig last weekend, but as they did not wear masks and distancing was not even tried, police dissolved the demonstration of around 20.000 people.

Oh, and one thing that lifted our mood and spirits in the last days: Most of us are sooo happy with your new team Biden/Harris. A President and a Vice-President able to feel and show empathy. Fact-oriented politics! What a change.
Now lets hope for a working vaccine, and 2021 could be a good year.

Thanks for all the information, Martin! Really hoping for a good 2021.

Well, I for one am encouraged by the vaccine news that's coming out. In particular (and echoing Kamala's sentiment), the fact that Fauci is guardedly optimistic means a lot to me.

In the meantime, Trump's refusal to sign transition papers means that none of the logistics of finalizing trials, ramping production and delivering a working vaccine can move forward.

Those damn immigrants.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/10...uple-intl/index.html

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Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has said pharmaceutical company Pfizer is "very much part" of Operation Warp Speed after the COVID-19 vaccine maker distanced itself from the Trump administration program.

Azar made the comments on CNBC's Squawk Box on Tuesday, after Kathrin Jansen, the head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer, told The New York Times it was "never part" of Operation Warp Speed. Launched in May, the effort aims to speed up the creation and distribution of vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Health Secretary told CNBC: "I don't know why they [Pfizer] made that [statement] originally. I've got a 2 billion contract for 100 million doses and an option for 500 million more that says they're very much part of Operation Warp Speed." The U.S. struck the $1.95 billion deal with Pfizer in July.

"We assisted them with ingredients, we're assisting them with distribution syringes, needles, dry ice for shipment, distribution, planning," he said.

Following Jansen's comments, the company clarified that it is involved in Operation Warp Speed as a supplier, but did not receive government funding. A spokesperson for Pfizer said on Monday in a statement seen by Newsweek they did not accept money for research and development from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which is an office of the Department of Health and Human Services.

This was followed by Trump administration officials and allies linking the program to the results. Vice President Mike Pence broke his silence following President Trump's defeat in the 2020 election to tweet: "Thanks to the public-private partnership forged by President @realDonaldTrump, @pfizer announced its Coronavirus Vaccine trial is EFFECTIVE, preventing infection in 90% of its volunteers."

https://www.newsweek.com/pfize...rump-program-1546594

Nice try, Mike. Thanks for playing.

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Originally posted by wtg:
Show me the data.....

https://www.businessinsider.co...vaccine-data-2020-11

Yes, I'm not celebrating yet.

And, has anyone else looked at the US pandemic data over the last few days? It's horrifying.

I didn't realize that the Pfizer vaccine only has a ten day shelf life, on top of the extra cold storage requirements.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/l...ion/?sh=5636c9654090

Behind the scenes of the timing of the Pfizer announcement.

https://www.sciencemag.org/new...esult-was-suppressed

Don't underestimate the problems that will arise from the double dose requirement.


It wouldn't surprise me at all if it was one of the other technologies that ended up winning out in the end.

That and the side effects.

https://news.yahoo.com/covid-1...asant-100438136.html

This is from August, but was an interesting look at the different vaccine technologies and the search for a one shot solution.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/...ne/story?id=72053977

After I read this, I was like holy carp....people are going to have to know which vaccine they got for their first shot so they get the same one second time around....think they'll be creating a tracking system so that there's a central place to store that info?