BREAKING—Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine is 70% effective overall. But one of its dosing regimens of low-then-high yields 90% effectiveness.
Oxford #COVID19 vaccine cheaper than the Pfizer & Moderna vaccines, and does *not* does not require freezing transport. bbc.com/news/health-55…
2) When volunteers were given two "high" doses the protection was 62%, but this rose to 90% when people were given a "low" dose followed by a high one. Not clear why yet.
The 90% effectiveness data was "intriguing" and would mean "we would have a lot more doses to distribute."
3) There were also lower levels of asymptomatic infection in the low followed by high dose group which "means we might be able to halt the virus in its tracks," Prof Pollard said.
In the UK there are 4 million doses ready to go, with another 96 million to be delivered.
4) “regimen that was 90 percent effective involved using a halved first dose and a standard second dose. Oxford also said that there were no 🏥 or severe cases of the coronavirus in anyone who received the vaccine, & a reduction in asymptomatic infections” nytimes.com/live/2020/11/2…
5) Separately, IMPORTANT EXPLANATION to vaccine questions. @michaelmina_lab explains:
📌“why is a vaccine better source of immunity, if already have antibodies & T-Cell response?”
📌“How does vaccine give me more protection than some earlier immunity?”
6) As explained, a vaccine is more targeted to the #SARSCoV2 receptor while natural infection has a more “choose your own adventure” what parts of virus one develops antibodies to. Targeted likely better.
7) The analogy @michaelmina_lab explains is that natural infection can develop non-useful antibody recognition like to a less useful “pinky toe” part.
8) Further, noted earlier that Pfizer & Moderna vaccines both showed better antibody binding & neutralization in vaccinated people in P1 trials, than convalescent natural infected cases.
➡️another reason vaccine better than Scott Atlas’s “herd”. #COVID19
9) That said, Harvard immunologist Michael Mina is slightly unsure if the initial >90% efficacy of the vaccine will hold forever long term because immunity response is often stronger early on but plasmablasts can wane.
11) Two key takeaways why the Oxford vaccine could be better overall:
📌Refrigerator storage (no freezing needed, unlike the mRNA ones by Pfizer and Moderna)
📌Just $2.50 per dose for Oxford/AZ vaccine ($15 a dose per US govt paid for the mRNA vaccine). #COVID19
12) actually, the Pfizer vaccine is $20/dose while Moderna is $15-25 per dose.
➡️ Oxford AZ vaccine? Just $2.50. 🎈
13) We aren’t entirely certain why the half dose initial priming shot is better - but one scientist who developed the Oxford vaccine says it may be related to the ChAdOx1 adenovirus vector. Don’t worry—no chimpanzee involved in the vaccine. sciencemag.org/news/2020/11/a…
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
NEW—Trial of Hydroxychloroquine post-exposure in Spain for prevent onset of #COVID19: results found a big fat null. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Again. Checked many subgroups too.
We have wasted so much energy and time goose chasing this. But important to debunk. nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
2) I’ve spent what feels like eternity now debunking HCQ. So here it is hopefully for the last time... thread 🧵 on all almost trial studies HCQ.
2) we honestly shouldn’t hold any Thanksgiving gatherings. But if you must, or already committed (never too late to cancel), make sure you ventilate your home sufficiently—but this is not zero risk. The better option is outdoor gathering only.
3) Personally, I’m not gathering for thanksgiving. But if I were to, I would only do it outdoors. That is the safest honestly. Wear jackets and use heat lamps.
📍BAD UPDATE—14 morgues—El Paso has to expand another 5 mobile morgues & plan to build a new refrigerated warehouse w/ **3000 square feet of refrigeration** to handle the surging of deceased bodies that need medical examination, amid the #COVID19 surge. 🧵 kfoxtv.com/news/coronavir…
2) “I don’t know what else we could do. I’m really focusing on a moral appeal to our community,” El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said.
“As soon as we get one solution, it’s not sufficient,” Judge Samaniego said.
3) “The deadly impact of COVID-19 on El Paso reached an all-time high on Monday, with more than 250 bodies now being held at the county morgue, part of over 480 total deaths under investigation for the coronavirus.”
My take—I personally think the Oxford AstraZeneza #COVID19 vaccine at 90% efficacy (with its half-then-full dose regimen) simple refrigeration vaccine that costs $2.5-4/dose is superior. Cheaper + much easier to ship ➡️ means save more lives worldwide.
2) For the record, we need to stop quoting the 70% efficacy number. It’s a mix of regimen 1&2, which is not possible in the real world. You only take either 1 or 2, not both. Thus it’s either 90% or 62%. Many new outlets made this error, which I myself at first read. 90% folks!
3) Eventually, I think all 3 vaccines might be in the 90% ballpark for efficacy once more data comes out. Also Oxford vaccine reported also asymptomatic infections. While Pfizer did not—only symptomatic. Because asymptomatic can also spread it, I think that is key.