Tweet

Katherine Ellen Foley

19 Nov, 11 tweets, 5 min read

@pfizer

The race to be the first to get a a #COVID19vaccine available is getting spicy: @pfizer / @BioNTech_Group, @moderna_tx, and @AstraZeneca are all close to releasing partial/full phase 3 trial data. But being 1st isn't the only way to win: qz.com/1935017/ A thread: 1/x

@pfizer

One excited thing buried in @pfizer's announcement yesterday was that it seemed like their candidate had 94% efficacy in adults over 65. 41% - 45% of their trial participants were 56-85 yo 2/x

pfizer.com/news/press-rel…

3/x This is huge*: The changes in older adult immune systems mean that generally, vaccines don't work as well in these populations. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

*If true beyond the press release!! We want data!

4/x Why? Well, older immune systems tend to be more innate (generalized inflammatory body slam responses) than adaptive (making specialized antibodies). I wrote about it a little back here: qz.com/1913864/what-a…

5/x This same, over-active innate immune response is why older adults tend to have much more severe cases of Covid-19 and have made up the majority of deaths. (Older adults are also more likely to have other health complications.)

6/x In the past, scientists/docs have gotten around this poor vaccine response by adding additional adjuvants to vaccines; these are chemicals that boost the overall immune response. But they also boost the innate immune response, which can lead to more side effects.

@pfizer

7/x That doesn't seem to be the case with @pfizer's vaccine. Older adults reported FEWER side effects like headaches and fatigue than the younger population (and that was still less than 5% of the participants).

@moderna_tx

8/x Why? Who knows! But it's TANTALIZING to think that it's because it's an mRNA vaccine. The first of its kind! I wrote about how they work here:

qz.com/1931483/is-the…

@moderna_tx's vaccine is also an mRNA vaccine, but we don't know how it works in older adults yet.

9/x A vaccine that can protect the most vulnerable from #Covid like older adults would mean that—if distributed to them properly—we could safely reopen wide swaths of the economies without putting them at risk.

10/x Of course, older adults aren't the only people more vulnerable to Covid. There are also BIPOC communities, pregnant people, and people with other conditions. We need to see the data on vaccine effectiveness/side effects for these groups, too. And we need the actual data!

11/11 But still, this news is exciting: It highlights that for a vaccine, being first isn't really winning—it's actually protecting the most vulnerable populations: qz.com/1935017/modern…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @katherineefoley

Katherine Ellen Foley

@katherineefoley

10 Nov

@pfizer

One thing I don't see anyone talking about in the @pfizer #CovidVaccine discussion is the difference between efficacy and effectiveness. It's a small nuance, but it matters when we're talking about how to end the pandemic. A short thread: 1/x qz.com/1930285/

@CDCgov

2/x We got the news* yesterday that Pfizer's vaccine candidate seemed "90% effective." If we're going by the @CDCgov's definition, the company really meant "efficacy."

*It's from a press release. We want independent, peer-reviewed, published data before we make any conclusions

3/x "Efficacy" means a vaccine seemed to work at preventing illness in a randomized controlled trial. These trials are the gold-standard of scientific data, but they're also not reflective of the real world.
cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ss…

Read 8 tweets

Katherine Ellen Foley

@katherineefoley

8 Nov

Folks, a lot of you are hearing about Wilmington, Delaware. As someone who essentially grew up in the biggest city in Delaware (pop: 71k) here’s what you’ve been missing every time you merely drove by it going up and down the east coast instead:

1) The Wilmington Blue Rocks, our minor league baseball team. Our mascots are, I kid you not, a stalk of celery and a blue moose named Rocky Bullwinkle (to avoid copyright infringement with the show “Rocky & Bullwinkle”)

2) Bellevue, Brandywine, Rock Creek, and White Clay creek state parks, where I spent my Saturday mornings running cross country races. These courses featured some of Delaware’s only hills (the state is a pancake). We have only 1 national park in the whole state (thanks, obama!)

Read 10 tweets

Katherine Ellen Foley

@katherineefoley

29 Oct

💩 Back in May, I heard about scientists trying to use wastewater as an early #covid19 warning signal. As I dug into that idea, I learned about their much larger ambition: giving one of the oldest public health tools a major glow-up.
A ~crappy~ thread: 1/x
qz.com/1923774/covid-…

2/x We've got a love/hate relationship with poop. On the one hand, VERY BAD bc it transmits a lot of diseases; hence why we built sewers to keep it out of our drinking water. But on the other, a complete record of everything we've eaten, drank, or otherwise been exposed to...

3/x In the past, wastewater #Epidemiology has shown where there were pockets of polio outbreak or opioid usage—even before cases or overdoses popped up. Turns out, it looks like we can do the same thing with #COVID—it's RNA shows up in poop days before cases do.

Read 14 tweets

Katherine Ellen Foley

@katherineefoley

11 Oct

An important reminder that just bc Trump's doc says he's no longer #COVID contagious, he STILL may not be out of woods. Older immune systems respond differently to infectious than younger ones; to understand how, we gotta talk about PUS! A thread 1/x qz.com/1913864/what-a…

2/x There are hundreds of types of immune cells in your body. Broadly, they're classified as innate or adaptive. Innate = faster and less specialized; they hit HARD w/ collateral damage. Adaptive = slower and more like assassins that go for specific cells + cause less damage

3/x Pus is the result of neutrophils, innate immune cells that patrol your blood lookin for infection. When they see one (like bacteria from a cut or scrape), they rush in and BLOW THEMSELVES UP, making that yellowish liquid. The sticky, slimy aspect is neutrophils' shredded DNA.

Read 10 tweets

Katherine Ellen Foley

@katherineefoley

21 Sep

A lot of people, myself included, have taken a #Covid_19 test before going to see a new group of family or friends. Practically, though, these tests can create a false sense of security bc of their high false negative rate. I'll explain in a thread: 1/x
qz.com/1905604/should…

@LabCorp

2/x Some context: In the US, there are still some local testing shortages. But bc capitalism, private companies like @LabCorp, @everly_well, and @LetsGetChecked have started offering @US_FDA emergency-use authorized at home collection kits that get shipped off to a lab.

3/x These kits are ~$120 out of pocket, but insurance can cover them. It's a swab + PCR test, looking for SARS-CoV-2 genetic material. They typically return results in a couple of days, and you don't have to leave your home.

Read 10 tweets

Katherine Ellen Foley

@katherineefoley

13 Aug

Worried about your #neckgaiter and/or #buff you've been using as a mask cos of some headlines you've seen? I gotchu. Tl;dr that study did NOT say that all neck gaiters are worse than not wearing a mask. I'll elaborate in the thread: 1/x
qz.com/1891253/can-yo…

2/x First, the study itself: You can find it here: advances.sciencemag.org/content/early/… published Friday, peer-reviewed and all that. It was NOT a paper testing different kinds of masks; it was showing that there may actually be another way to test masks.

@niosh

3/x Why come up with another way? It's wonky: the big standard ways that groups like @niosh and the EU test masks—like N95 masks—require a lot of precise lab work. It's so hard to measure, a casual DIY mask maker can't do it at home, or even a small lab without the right gear)

Read 9 tweets

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!