Share this page!

Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Twitter logo
3 Feb, 4 tweets, 2 min read
I will repeat: Not having Astra Zeneca COVID vaccine approved in the US is a blunder. A huge blunder. bbc.co.uk/news/health-55…
See thread by @DrEricDing on how the Astra Zeneca vaccine can cut transmission. This was totally expected. Basic immunology.
Once we knew results of the RCT that the Astra Zeneca vaccine was safe and at worst was 60% effective we should have moved. We knew quite well that there simple wasn’t enough Pfizer and Moderna vaccine to get the vulnerable vaccinated quickly.
I have seen this time and time again with COVID: Inability to make risk benefit judgment calls. Trying to be “scientific” has consequences when you don’t consider what if you are right versus what if you are wrong. The risks of approval were mild compared to the risk of delaying.

• • •

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

Keep Current with Vincent Rajkumar

Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

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

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @VincentRK

Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
3 Feb
If we focus on getting as many people vaccinated as possible, and continue basic precautions till each country reaches herd immunity, COVID will be history, mutants and all.
COVID minus its ability to make people severely ill or cause deaths is nothing. Vaccines work. And that’s what they will reduce COVID to.
Every month will bring news of a new variant or mutant. But for vaccinated people the chances of getting seriously ill will be very low. Not zero. But very low. In the range of what annual influenza outbreaks are. Time will tell. But I’m optimistic.
Read 4 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
2 Feb
Breaking: Over 50% of Delhi is seropositive for COVID. @ndtv @divyanshu @rishika625 @GargiRawat @nramind @bimalarya

This supports my earlier thread on protection through cross reactive immunity. Otherwise the loss of life would have been 50 times higher. ndtv.com/india-news/cor…
The population of Delhi is 20 million. So far estimated deaths is 10,000. If 10 million have had COVID, we cannot reconcile the two numbers.

What are the factors besides lower age, less obesity, & underreporting that results in so much asymptomatic & mildly symptomatic COVID?
Of these 4 factors, low viral dose is likely not operational in India because of the lack of masking and the impossibility of social distancing.

There is also no special reason why innate immunity will be stronger & no data on unique genetic factors that protect Indian people.
Read 9 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
30 Jan
What’s happening in India?
Is the pandemic burning out? How? Where is the post Diwali surge that we worried about? #COVID19

I wrote about India in August. I was convinced that cross reactive immunity was at play. Along with younger age & less obesity, this is protecting India
People are often quick to criticize the numbers. But keep in mind you can miss asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic cases. But you cannot hide 10 times more deaths or ICU admissions.

This is real. And is not explained by just younger age and less obesity.
This is more than that. Sometimes epidemiological observations are much more powerful and give better insight than lab studies.

India is a country where social distancing outdoors or indoors is not easy.

We are seeing this play out. It’s staring at us: Cross reactive immunity.
Read 7 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
29 Jan
A nice review of the 4 main types of COVID vaccines. @cddpress @nature nature.com/articles/s4141…

1) Inactivated Virus

Eg: CoronaVac (Sinovac), SinoPharm, Covaxin (Bharat Biotech)
2) Spike Protein

Eg: Novovax
3) Spike protein mRNA

Eg., Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna
Read 4 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
29 Jan
Mayo Clinic staging and risk stratification systems for plasma cell disorders. @MayoClinic @MayoCancerCare @MayoMyeloma @Rfonsi1 @MorieGertz @myelomaMD

1) Mayo 2005 MGUS Risk Stratification. ashpublications.org/blood/article/…

3 risk factors:
M spike size
M spike type
FLC ratio
2) Mayo 2012 Staging for AL Amyloidosis:

3 risk factors:
Cardiac Troponin T􏰁 >0.025 ng/mL
NT-ProBNP 􏰁 >1,800 pg/mL, and FLC-difference 􏰁 >18 mg/dL

4 stages (I, II, III, IV) with 0, 1, 2, and 3, risk factors respectively. ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JC… @myelomaMD
3) Mayo 2018 Risk Stratification for smoldering multiple myeloma. The 20-2-20 system.

3 risk factors:
Bone marrow plasma cells >20%
M spike >2gm/dL
FLC ratio >20

nature.com/articles/s4140…
Read 4 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
25 Jan
1/ When you get vaccinated you don’t make just one type of antibody. You make a whole portfolio of antibodies against various epitopes. So unless there is a huge number of mutations, vaccines will protect you, especially from severe disease. #VaccinesWork #Covid_19
2/ You not only make matching keys to fit multiple locks when all you need is to open just one lock, but you also make multiple slightly different keys for each lock in the process of making the perfect key. All of this redundancy is why vaccines work even if the virus mutates.
3/ The sheer number of COVID infections in such a short period of time, and the lack of significant pre existing immunity means a lot more viral replications, & a lot more opportunities for mutations to arise. Not every mutation will change the behavior of the virus. But some do.
Read 7 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

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!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @VincentRK has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @VincentRK!

Read all threads by @VincentRK