1. COVID-19 𧡠It has been a while since I've updated on COVID-19, but following a few DM questions I think it is worth sharing my thoughts for what they're worth.
It would be a massively long thread if I tried to cover everything, so I'm going to try and stick to the main issues
It would be a massively long thread if I tried to cover everything, so I'm going to try and stick to the main issues
2. Current infections. They are on the rise, largely due to the omicron sublineages BA. 4 & BA. 5, it's been suggested that these account for more than 80% of current worldwide cases. They are more infectious than previous variants. Whilst vaccines are still effective..
3. against these variants, there is clear evidence that, due to mutations in spike proteins, they have been able to adapt to avoiding the full effect of vaccine derived antibodies. It is still anecdotal in terms of disease severity, and that is difficult to qualify as..
4. ..so many people, especially in the West, are fully vaccinated, along with finer weather and other measures. Currently we are seeing 'less severe disease', with fewer people by comparison to previous waves requiring hospitalisation and ventilation...
5. ..On the face of it, that is a good thing, but we do have a concern over what happens in the autumn/winter, especially along with flu infections - we are already seeing flu cases at much higher levels in Australia than we've seen in quite a while, so the 'double whammy' ..
6. ..remains a risk in the UK and Europe. So that's the stark news. 'Is there anything more positive?' I hear you cry! Thankfully YES!!!! I'm a little limited as to what I can share due to confidentiality agreements, but here is what is in the public domain..
7..along with a little speculation.
Moderna. They have an mRNA vaccine which many of you may have had as a booster, but they are new in trial with a new version termed a 'bivalent vaccine', this means that it will target both the original virus and the omicron variant.
Moderna. They have an mRNA vaccine which many of you may have had as a booster, but they are new in trial with a new version termed a 'bivalent vaccine', this means that it will target both the original virus and the omicron variant.
8. Sanofi/GSK partnership. Recent trial results show very positive results with a vaccine targeted at omicron, sequencing analysis performed to date shows 72% efficacy in all adults and 93.2% in seropositives
9. Pfizer. Have developed a vaccine target at omicron, as far as I can tell this is against BA.1 , but retains decent efficacy against BA.4 & BA. 5. A press release last week suggested Pfizer and BioNTech are working on a vaccine that would cover a wide range of coronaviruses.
10. On a more general front, whatever the politicians say we are still firmly in the grip of a pandemic. There are still appreciable infection levels, hospitalisations and deaths worldwide. One of the areas I hope to work on soon is around vaccine inequity, the lack of vaccine..
11. coverage in lower economy countries is startling low in some areas - the world seems to have forgotten that this is a pandemic and we are not safe until we are all safe. You'll hear more about this from me in coming weeks!
12. In other non-vaccine areas there is more coming through in terms of therapies, with a particular focus on oral anti-virals. I'll leave further discussion about Long COVID, masks & other public health issues to experts like @dgurdasani1 @Dr2NisreenAlwan @chrischirp and others
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