60% efficacy against B1351 is decent, but not amazing.
Important to point out that the numbers are still very small in this trial & this could change with more data. Also if the vaccine prevents severe #COVID19 disease (which it likely does), it would still be extremely helpful.
Just to clarify, in the South Africa study, efficacy is ~60% in those who were HIV negative, ~50% in entire trial including HIV+ individuals.
Still, no severe disease seen in #COVID19 cases confirmed to have B1351 (variant discovered from South Africa) in those vaccinated.
3/ Long Term Care - a significant black eye for Canada, is also improving. We failed to protect our most vulnerable (twice!), but cases are rapidly declining, perhaps mirroring reduced community transmission, widespread vaccination, or both.
"85% effective overall in preventing severe disease & demonstrated complete protection against #COVID19 related hospitalization and death as of Day 28"
If this can keep people from getting very sick/prevent hospitalization/death then this is an obvious win.
3/ This is a single dose vaccine, requires conventional refrigeration for storage & would be much easier to administer to populations.
"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.
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."