"Vaccination with the Moderna #COVID19 Vaccine produced neutralizing titers against all key emerging variants tested, including B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, first identified in the UK and Republic of South Africa, respectively."
(Also, yes this is science by press release, but see how they included valuable information/data here?)
There may still is an attenuated response to the variant discovered in South Africa, but it appears the vaccine will still provide some protection - and there is a lot more to an immune response than these antibodies.
Other helpful points here are that they are now evaluating if a booster vaccine, or even an "emerging variant booster candidate (mRNA-1273.351)" for the variant in South Africa could help.
But currently there is likely sufficient protection from the existing vaccine.
Details in the article are a bit more rosy than the headline.
(STAT has some of the best reporting of the pandemic).
The vaccine is likely to still work but *may* have some reduced efficacy, and plans underway to look at boosters/upgrades.
1/ Colchicine may be an effective treatment for #COVID19.
In a well designed trial (prospective, randomized, >4000 people) colchicine "resulted in a 25% decrease in hospitalizations, a 50% decrease in the use of ventilation & a decrease in deaths by 44%.“ bit.ly/39Vwpls
2/ This was in non-hospitalized patients with confirmed infection.
Standard caveats: Press release, no preprint data, etc.
Colchicine is a cheap, widely available pill.
If this pans out it will be very helpful - works via anti-inflammatory (& immunomodulatory?) mechanism.
Also, I'm still baffled that a pre-print (with actual data/analyses) could not be made available at the time of press release. That should be standard.
"Of 11 participants who developed severe Covid while on the trial, all were in the placebo group."
"The results also suggest the vaccine is effective in older people and those from diverse ethnic backgrounds."
Nice.
From a logistical standpoint - MUCH easier to transport.
"the vaccine can be kept in a conventional freezer at -20C for up to 6 months and that once thawed the vaccine can be kept for up to 30 days at standard refrigerator temperatures of 2 to 8C."
"A vaccine against #COVID19 is in sight, with the announcement of the first interim results in large-scale trials showing the Pfizer/BioNTech candidate is 90% effective"
Pro: Amazing- if this holds true.
Con: Science by press release, let's see the data.
pps: While clearly very promising and exciting, best to see the final data on safety and efficacy.
ppps: "People from black and minority ethnic backgrounds appear to have been as well protected as everyone else, the company says."
Additional helpful details:
-Trial is enrolling 43000 people
-They've had 94 cases of #COVID19
-Much more covid in non-vaccinated group...less than 10% of those vaccinated diagnosed with covid
-Protection seen 7 days after 2nd dose of vaccine
-Goal is to enroll up to 164 cases
"Our findings suggest that environmental contamination leading to SARS-CoV-2 transmission is unlikely to occur in real-life conditions, provided that standard cleaning procedures and precautions are enforced."