Share this page!

Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
Twitter logo
1 Apr, 4 tweets, 1 min read
Updated Pfizer results have been released.

➡️ 91% (95% CI 89-93%) efficacy against symptomatic infection.

➡️ 100% (88-100%) efficacy against severe disease as per the CDC definition (based on 32 cases); 95% (71-99%) efficacy as per FDA definition (22 cases, 1 in vaccine group).
Additionally, Pfizer also reported data from South Africa, in which 800 people received the vaccine.

Nine cases were detected in the placebo group, 6 of which were the South African variant.

No cases were detected in the vaccine group.
This provides tentative evidence that the Pfizer vaccine may be effective against the South African variant, although the confidence interval is wide (53-100%).

Link to announcement: pfizer.com/news/press-rel…
Minor correction: the second tweet in this thread should have said that 800 people were enrolled in the study in South Africa, not that 800 people received the vaccine.

• • •

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

Keep Current with Dr Zoë Hyde

Dr Zoë Hyde 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 @DrZoeHyde

Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
2 Apr
The California variant (B.1.427/B.1.429), appears more transmissible and possibly more virulent (but less than the UK variant).

Concerning new data suggest vaccine efficacy against symptomatic disease might be reduced (though probably not as much as the South African variant).
However, vaccines have better efficacy against severe disease than mild-to-moderate disease.

It’s therefore likely that efficacy against severe disease will be largely preserved, but we may see reduced protection with regard to transmission.
There is also the potential for reinfections to be more common with this variant, particularly for people who had only very mild COVID-19, and did not develop much in the way of neutralising antibodies.
Read 4 tweets
Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
1 Apr
Today, the UK’s Office for National Statistics released an enormously important report on long COVID.

The data now have a control group.

Over 1 in 10 people (14%) have persistent symptoms at 12 weeks. This is 8x higher than controls.

Look at the children’s data: 7-8% affected!
We can clearly see the difference between people who have long COVID, and people who are controls, in this graph showing the proportion of people with persistent symptoms at the 5-week mark.

Blue = tested positive.
Green = controls.
The proportion of people who had persistent symptoms was lower at 12 weeks, which suggests improvement in many people.

This is to be expected.

However, a substantial proportion of people appear to be left with protracted symptoms.
Read 5 tweets
Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
30 Mar
It's increasingly clear this is a real & very serious adverse effect.

In much of the world, use of the AstraZeneca vaccine still makes sense. The benefits still outweigh the risks.

That's not the case in Australia, and we should pivot to an alternative vaccine. #auspol
Australia doesn't have widespread community transmission. That means the AstraZeneca vaccine could harm more people than it helps - at this point in time.

This picture could of course change, if Australia were to experience a major wave.
But what about Europe, or the Americas? A case could be made for continuing to use the vaccine, but restricting its use to older age groups, who seem less likely to experience this adverse effect.

This is now the case in France or Germany.
Read 6 tweets
Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
29 Mar
The #Brisbane outbreak is the result of incompetence.

Doctors aren’t getting airborne PPE (P2/N95 respirators). If distance can be maintained, masks aren’t required at all!

SARS-CoV-2 is airborne, so why is Queensland following substandard guidance?
#BrisbaneLockdown #auspol
Additionally, the doctor at the centre of the Brisbane outbreak should have been vaccinated.

Currently, the greatest risk to Australia comes from overseas arrivals. We need to put a protective ring around the quarantine system, by vaccinating these Australian workers first.
Here’s a link to the infection control guidelines for Queensland.

Healthcare workers are routinely given inadequate protection - or perhaps no protection at all, if distance can be maintained!

This is inadequate for an airborne virus like SARS-CoV-2.
health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/…
Read 9 tweets
Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
24 Mar
I've just seen an editorial calling for people to be more polite on social media. Sounds good, doesn't it? I agree.

But there's some background to this piece that I think people ought to be aware of, because it looks to me like an attempt to re-write history.
In June last year, one of the authors of the editorial falsely accused me of misrepresenting the findings of a study.

Here's how the interaction played out:
This strikes me as hypocritical, given his own conduct.

In this study, Dr Munro said there was "no increase in death". That was so for younger adults, but not those aged >65, who had an increased risk of death from COVID-19.

That's quite an omission.
Read 10 tweets
Dr Zoë Hyde Profile picture
20 Mar
(1/7) Pre-print study (interpret carefully) showing that monkeys infected with SARS-CoV-2 developed abnormal proteins in their brains (Lewy bodies) that are linked to the development of Parkinson's disease and a type of dementia.

H/T: @fitterhappierAJ.
biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
(2/7) In this study, 4 rhesus macaques and 4 cynomolgus macaques were infected with SARS-CoV-2, and developed mild-to-moderate symptoms.

Lewy bodies developed in all 4 rhesus macaques, and one old cynomolgus macaque.

i.e., Lewy bodies developed in 5 of 8 monkeys.
(3/7) Animal studies do not always translate well (or even at all) to humans, and so these results need to be interpreted very carefully.

The monkeys also received a higher dose than most humans would likely be exposed to.
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 @DrZoeHyde has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @DrZoeHyde!

Read all threads by @DrZoeHyde