Share this page!

Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Twitter logo
Jul 13 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Breaking: FDA authorizes Novovax. It's welcome news and I only wish it had happened sooner. #CovidVaccine nbcnews.com/health/health-…
Now we have to figure out how to best incorporate into the overall COVID vaccination strategy.

It's a whole different vaccine than Pfizer or Moderna. Protein-based vs mRNA. Beyond being an alternative it may offer something more.
*Novavax
It will likely offer protection against current omicron variants, especially against severe illness.

A retooled BA.4 / BA.5 covering Novavax vaccine may be ready by end of the year.
It's been a long wait considering we knew about 90% efficacy of Novavax in a randomized trial over a year ago.

• • •

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
Jul 12
BA.5 is a threat. I spoke to @DrEricDing on new COVID variants, boosters, and retooled vaccines. @ConvSix @ambassadorbrief

BA.5 is surging and is much more evasive to prior immunity. Full 6 minutes here: conversationsix.com/p/7ATicfMXjimG…
We are not testing enough two we have no idea of the case load or extent of spread.

Waste water readings point to higher spread than we count. wsj.com/articles/hopes…
We are hoping for retooled vaccines that work against BA.4 and BA.5 by fall. The FDA has asked Pharma companies to modify the vaccines accordingly.

The ones that were promising against omicron BA.1 and BA.2 (see below) may not work against BA.5. That's how fast its evolving.
Read 5 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Jul 11
Those interested in myeloma should know about the costs of treatment.
So when we choose a particular regimen or dose over the other, the cost difference is astronomical. We need good data to justify the cost difference.

For example look at cost difference between KRd at two dose levels.
Except for CAR-T which right now is a one time treatment, these are annual costs. Patients take these kind of treatments for years. It adds up.

Choosing the sequence wisely depending on access and affordability is critical.
Read 5 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Jul 10
There are 335 million people in the US. Even if 0.1% are troubled, that's >200,000 who can crack under pressure. You cannot possibly know or track a fraction of them, let alone all.

Preventing mass shootings by trying to identify these people just in time is wishful thinking.
The proportion of people with mental illness is far higher than 0.1%. All countries have the same problem. But we stand alone in the number of mass shootings.

With 400 million guns it's too easy for troubled people to get one.
This is an important article with a lot of detailed data and graphics. @markberman @LennyMBernstein @abtran @arturgalocha @washingtonpost apple.news/A0L_zteKjSOe81…
Read 5 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Jul 8
Efficacy of mRNA vaccines & prior Covid against omicron. Large study based on total population of Qatar

2 doses, no prior COVID: 0%
Prior Covid, no vaccine: 51%
3 doses, no prior COVID: 54%

2 doses + prior COVID: 55%
3 doses + prior COVID: 77%
nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
@NEJM
2/ Importantly, vaccines alone, prior COVID alone, and prior COVID plus vaccine (hybrid immunity) all had >70% efficacy against severe infection and in preventing deaths from omicron.
3/ Protection as a result of prior infection or vaccines does wane over time. Less so after prior Covid. Quite a bit more after just 2 doses of vaccine.

Boosters are therefore highly important for vaccines.
Read 6 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Jul 8
Reducing racial disparities in medicine:

1/ Promoting racial equality, having a diverse workforce, enrolling African American, Hispanic, and Native American patients on clinical trials, is just the start.

We need to do more. #MedTwitter
2/ Reducing racial disparities is about providing access to affordable care. Our healthcare system is designed to charge much more for the exact same test or procedure for people who are uninsured or underinsured. We make it hard for them to access care. We must rectify this.
3/ Reducing disparities is about understanding the mechanisms of disparity. There are many disease which affect certain racial groups much more than others. Understanding mechanisms of disparity can provide clues that eventually helps all people of all races. This is hard work.
Read 5 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Jul 5
FAQ: How does myeloma happen?

It's a 2-step process:

1) Normal plasma cell becomes MGUS clone. Triggered most likely by infection/inflammation leading to either trisomies or chromosome 14 translocations.

2) MGUS clone becomes malignant (myeloma) due to random 2nd hit.
The 2nd hit occurs at a rate of 1% per year. The nature of the second hit likely varies by one of the 6 main primary cytogenetic types of myeloma (see below).
It's also not a single second hit, but there is one of those in a series of hits which represents the tipping point.
Read 5 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

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(