So... there is a worrying “reasonable concern… that the South African 🇿🇦 #SARSCoV2 variant might be more resistant” to current vaccines, Prof Shabir Madhi, who led trials for Oxford vaccine in SA. Earlier, UK🇬🇧 govt advisors echoed this concern. #COVID19
bbc.com/news/world-afr…
2) “Prof Madhi said a definitive answer would probably come in a matter of weeks, with extensive testing already under way in South Africa. The concern arises from the fact that the virus here has mutated far more than the variant in the UK...
3) “and one of those mutations might mean it can evade attack by antibodies that would normally fight coronavirus.

Prof Madhi said it was "unlikely" that the mutation in South Africa would make the current vaccines useless, but might "weaken the impact".
4) “As the new variants are already spreading to other countries, the importance of ensuring that vaccines remain effective against new variants is a global imperative," said Prof Rees.
5) “Prof Barry Schoub, who chairs the government's advisory committee on vaccines, said the "preliminary evidence" from tests did not suggest that mutations would allow the virus to "escape" the impact of the current vaccines.
"The vaccines seem to be very effective," he said...
6) “citing laboratory tests that appeared to show the current vaccines still "neutralise this new variant".

Prof Madhi said the crucial laboratory experiments were yet to start and the efficacy of the vaccines would only be known "over the next few weeks".
7) Simon Clarke, an associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said that while both variants had some new features in common, the one found in South Africa “has a number additional mutations ... which are concerning”.

reuters.com/article/us-hea…
8) “He said these included more extensive alterations to a key part of the virus known as the spike protein - which the virus uses to infect human cells - and “may make the virus less susceptible to the immune response triggered by the vaccines”.
9) Lawrence Young, a virologist and professor, also noted that the South African variant has “multiple spike mutations”.
“The accumulation of more spike mutations in the South African variant are more of a concern and could lead to some escape from immune protection,”
10) “Scientists including BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin and John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford, have said they are testing the vaccines against the new variants and say they could make any required tweaks in around six weeks.”
11) Statement of concern by UK health minister.
12) My earlier thread last month on the SA variant.

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More from @DrEricDing

6 Jan
BREAKING—Teargas released inside US Congress’s inner Rotunda to stop MAGA insurgents who have breached the building. Members of Congress told to wear their assigned gas masks.

Now the Republicans finally #MaskUp when US Congress has been stormed and penetrated.
2) There are now shooting inside the chamber.
3) Violent clashes inside halls of Congress
Read 6 tweets
6 Jan
⚠️CRUSH VIRUS NOW OR ELSE WE ARE SCREWED: Denmark’s CDC thinks new B117 #SARSCoV2 variant is so much more contagious (R +0.4 to +0.7) & inevitable that **if any country does not crush the R<0.7 now**, we will be completely #COVID19 screwed by Feb/March.🧵
ssi.dk/aktuelt/nyhede… Image
2) "it is crucial to turn the epidemic curve around and get the reproduction number significantly below 1 in the coming weeks, so that the infection rates are as low as possible when cluster B.1.1.7 becomes the dominant virus in mid-February."
3) Basically, Denmark 🇩🇰’s CDC (@SSI_dk) is so pessimistic that it believes the B117 will inevitably dominate the country and likely the world by Feb/March. And with its higher R of contagiousness, we either stop it now or we are completely screwed by spring time.
Read 7 tweets
6 Jan
Pro-tip: don’t rollout the vaccine via @Facebook-only appointments.

C’mon Oklahoma. No more amateur hour. #COVID19 Image
2) Maybe install more phone operators too. 75+ year old seniors don’t do Facebook or online well. Image
3) Don’t punt to local hospitals either. Image
Read 4 tweets
6 Jan
📍Shocking videos from Egypt show chaos inside two hospitals as oxygen supplies allegedly ran out, sending people into a panic and leaving at least 6 patients dead.

Two investigations underway. Verified by AP & Al-Jazeera. details in post below. #COVID19
middleeasteye.net/video/everyone…
2) Here is the full footage of one ICU. Details in the thread 🧵 👇
3) Most shocking is the photos of the nurse who was in shock— supposedly she was punished for being curled up in the corner. Can’t imagine the trauma. Image
Read 5 tweets
6 Jan
MORE GOOD NEWS—Dems can now fully use the Congressional Review Act—which allows the new Dem Congress to rescind any Trump regulation or rule issued by Trump WH/agency in last “60 legislative days”—back to: 8/21/2020.

Dems can now repeal them all!
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressi…
2) Can’t undo pardons or Medals of Freedom unfortunately.

But good news is that anything CRA repeals only needs a simple majority — which also cannot be blocked by cloture/filibuster!
3) Good list of regulations to target immediate repeal via CRA. eenews.net/stories/106371…
Read 4 tweets
6 Jan
📍RECORD—2 HOURS FOR 600 VACCINE SHOTS! A N. California hospital’s freezers holding Modern vaccines went kaput. HCWs thus began giving vaccines to local residents at a furious pace—giving an unintentional roadmap for how mass inoculation can work. #COVID19
latimes.com/california/sto… Image
2) At 11:35 on Monday morning, senior staff at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Medical Center in Mendocino County were holding their first 2021 executive meeting when the hospital pharmacist interrupted:
3) “The compressor on a freezer storing 830 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine had stopped working hours earlier, and the alarm meant to guard against such failure had failed.
The doses were quickly thawing.
Read 5 tweets

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