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COVID 19 Good News Stories

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Bantamzen

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I expect it will, at a minimum, be mandatory to produce a vaccination certificate to travel to certain countries, as is currently the case with respect to yellow fever in some parts of the world.

Could it become necessary within the country as well? Maybe, to enter extremely crowded venues such as stadia and concert halls. Who knows?

Well given that it is not being proposed to make the vaccine mandatory in this country at least, that might be a problem.
 
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Chester1

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I expect it will, at a minimum, be mandatory to produce a vaccination certificate to travel to certain countries, as is currently the case with respect to yellow fever in some parts of the world.

Could it become necessary within the country as well? Maybe, to enter extremely crowded venues such as stadia and concert halls. Who knows?

I doubt that will happen in Europe in the next year or so. Too much tourist revenue would be lost waiting for large sections of the public in many countries to be offered the vaccine. Countries with very low rates in other parts of the world will probably only lift entry bans for vaccinated people.

Its one of the few pieces of good news this year and its looking like the much more practical Oxford vaccine is only a few weeks behind.
 

matt

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Its one of the few pieces of good news this year and its looking like the much more practical Oxford vaccine is only a few weeks behind.
Yes the preliminary results for Oxford should be out within the month and I believe it does not need to be kept so cold.
 

Chester1

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Yes the preliminary results for Oxford should be out within the month and I believe it does not need to be kept so cold.

Yep, it needs to be refrigerated while Pfizer vaccine needs to be kept at minus 80C.
 

sheff1

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I expect it will, at a minimum, be mandatory to produce a vaccination certificate to travel to certain countries, as is currently the case with respect to yellow fever in some parts of the world.

Could it become necessary within the country as well? Maybe, to enter extremely crowded venues such as stadia and concert halls. Who knows?
Is this on the correct thread ? Another restriction on travel/access doesn't sound like good news to me.
 

nlogax

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Good news - the upcoming Moderna vaccine is deemed to be almost 95% effective.

Bad news - the UK didn't secure any of this type.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11/16/covid-moderna-vaccine/

Biotechnology firm Moderna announced Monday that a preliminary analysis shows its experimental coronavirus vaccine is nearly 95 percent effective at preventing illness, including severe cases — a striking initial result that leaves the United States with the prospect that two coronavirus vaccines could be available on a limited basis by the end of the year.
 

brad465

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philosopher

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If the Oxford vaccine gets clearance (results are due in the next few weeks apparently) I doubt us not ordering any will be of major concern, given we have ordered 100 million doses and should get a sizeable proportion promptly if successful.
Assuming the Oxford vaccine works then the UK will have enough Oxford and Pfizer vaccine doses for the entire UK population, even if two doses are required.
 

nlogax

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Assuming the Oxford vaccine works then the UK will have enough Oxford and Pfizer vaccine doses for the entire UK population, even if two doses are required.

As seems to have been reported in recent days, 'speed over efficacy'. I'm keen to see how the Oxford vaccine compares, but it's all good news from what I can tell.

Edit - the UK has now confirmed it's bought 5m Moderna doses. More good news. I wonder if specific vaccine types will be targeted at certain demographics.
 
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brad465

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The Pfzier and BioNTech vaccine has been found to be 94% effective in over 65s:


The coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to protect 94% of adults over 65 years old.

More data released from their ongoing phase three trial suggests it works equally well in people of all races and ethnicities.

The companies say they will now apply for authorisation for emergency use of the jab in the US.

The findings are based on two doses given to more than 41,000 people around the world.

Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech published preliminary data showing the vaccine offered 90% protection against Covid-19 and there were no safety concerns.

This was based on 94 cases of Covid in volunteers who had been vaccinated, with the majority in the group receiving a dummy jab.

This should I think mean we can lift almost everything, if not everything, by the time all those over 65 who accept having the vaccine have had both doses needed. It's just a question of if the Government take such a stance.
 

Bantamzen

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The Pfzier and BioNTech vaccine has been found to be 94% effective in over 65s:




This should I think mean we can lift almost everything, if not everything, by the time all those over 65 who accept having the vaccine have had both doses needed. It's just a question of if the Government take such a stance.

It will still likely be some time before all 65+ get offered the vaccine. However we really don't need to wait until then, the absolute priority are those in health & care as well as those who care for them. These are the very most likely to require hospitalisation and so once you get these people vaccinated, the risk to the healthcare system reduces dramatically, meaning that restrictions could & should start to be lifted fairly swiftly.
 

yorksrob

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It will still likely be some time before all 65+ get offered the vaccine. However we really don't need to wait until then, the absolute priority are those in health & care as well as those who care for them. These are the very most likely to require hospitalisation and so once you get these people vaccinated, the risk to the healthcare system reduces dramatically, meaning that restrictions could & should start to be lifted fairly swiftly.

We can also put in extra support for the over 65's over that time, so that they don't feel the need to go to crowded supermarkets etc. Perhaps offer alternative accommodation options to younger relatives sharing a house etc.
 

Bantamzen

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We can also put in extra support for the over 65's over that time, so that they don't feel the need to go to crowded supermarkets etc. Perhaps offer alternative accommodation options to younger relatives sharing a house etc.
Indeed, there could be all sorts of mitigations offered to the over 65s should they want them that would allow everyone to get back to normal, or as close as possible at least. Of course this would annoy Ferguson and his Staff of Aging Grumpy Experts, but hey ho!
 

adc82140

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This was the major reason the SAGE eeyores told us not to get excited earlier in the week. So at the risk of sounding like a seven year old, yah boo sucks to you SAGE. It works even better in the elderly. So there.
 

sheff1

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Indeed, there could be all sorts of mitigations offered to the over 65s should they want them that would allow everyone to get back to normal, or as close as possible at least. Of course this would annoy Ferguson and his Staff of Aging Grumpy Experts, but hey ho!
I am glad you said "should they want them". I don't want any mitigations, I just want to get back to normal.
I want to resume travelling around the country, staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, meeting people, supporting businesses and putting money into the economy.

The good news which I would most want to see on this thread is that the extremely annoying one-dimensional SAGE have been shunted into the long grass.
 

Yew

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It looks like Oxford are weighing in with the results of their phase II/III trial.

In those receiving two standard doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, after the prime vaccination local reactions were reported in 43 (88%) of 49 participants in the 18–55 years group, 22 (73%) of 30 in the 56–69 years group, and 30 (61%) of 49 in the 70 years and older group, and systemic reactions in 42 (86%) participants in the 18–55 years group, 23 (77%) in the 56–69 years group, and 32 (65%) in the 70 years and older group. As of Oct 26, 2020, 13 serious adverse events occurred during the study period, none of which were considered to be related to either study vaccine. In participants who received two doses of vaccine, median anti-spike SARS-CoV-2 IgG responses 28 days after the boost dose were similar across the three age cohorts (standard-dose groups: 18–55 years, 20713 arbitrary units [AU]/mL [IQR 13898–33550], n=39; 56–69 years, 16170 AU/mL [10233–40353], n=26; and ≥70 years 17561 AU/mL [9705–37796], n=47; p=0·68). Neutralising antibody titres after a boost dose were similar across all age groups (median MNA80 at day 42 in the standard-dose groups: 18–55 years, 193 [IQR 113–238], n=39; 56–69 years, 144 [119–347], n=20; and ≥70 years, 161 [73–323], n=47; p=0·40). By 14 days after the boost dose, 208 (>99%) of 209 boosted participants had neutralising antibody responses. T-cell responses peaked at day 14 after a single standard dose of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (18–55 years: median 1187 spot-forming cells [SFCs] per million peripheral blood mononuclear cells [IQR 841–2428], n=24; 56–69 years: 797 SFCs [383–1817], n=29; and ≥70 years: 977 SFCs [458–1914], n=48).

Looking at fig.5. the short-term response doesn't seem to be too bad with a single dose, either, with antibodies rising in a similar manner to the two-dose structure, and then falling off with time; which is pretty much as one would expect.
 

RomeoCharlie71

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Jeane Freeman, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Health, is currently setting out the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Holyrood right now. See here for the BBC News live reporting page.

4.4m people in Scotland (the population is 5.45m) will be vaccinated (eventually), with more than 1m vaccinated by the end of January 2021.

Jeane Freeman begins her statement on the plans to deliver a programme of Covid-19 vaccination to everyone over the age of 18 in Scotland.

The health secretary refers to the good news from Pfizer last week and Moderna this week on Covid-19 vaccines.

The health secretary says: "I want to be very clear to members and people across Scotland that the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine is paramount for us."

Ms Freeman adds the global community has been impressive in coming together to develop these vaccines and "it is not at the expense of safety".

The timeframe is never at the expense of safety, she says.

Ms Freeman says 4.4m in Scotland will be vaccinated, with the first delivery of vaccines expected in December.
(my emphasis)

This is very good and promising news IMO.
 

52290

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I am glad you said "should they want them". I don't want any mitigations, I just want to get back to normal.
I want to resume travelling around the country, staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, meeting people, supporting businesses and putting money into the economy.

The good news which I would most want to see on this thread is that the extremely annoying one-dimensional SAGE have been shunted into the long grass.
Me too and I'm 76. I hope the pubs will open on December 2nd and the breweries are given enough notice to enable them to fire up the mash tuns and have some decent real ale available.
 

brad465

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As well as all the vaccine revelations of late, it looks like another drug treatment is on the way:


The rheumatoid arthritis drugs tocilizumab appears to treat people who are critically ill with Covid-19, early trial data shows.

The researchers in the UK and the Netherlands said it was "an absolutely amazing result".

The drug is no longer being trialled as the researchers are so confident in the data, but the precise effect on survival is still being calculated.

Other experts have urged caution until the full data is released.

Tocilizumab targets the immune system, which goes into overdrive in some patients with coronavirus. It is this reaction, rather than the virus itself, which can be deadly.

The trial was run by Imperial College London, the UK's Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre, and Utrecht University. It focused on the most severely ill patients, who needed to be put on a ventilator.

Trials of the drug were stopped two days ago as independent monitors said there was enough evidence, from the first 303 patients, to show it was working.

However, interpreting the results is complex.

They show an improvement in "outcomes", but this is a statistical conflation of other measures such as survival rates and time in intensive care. Doctors know the drug is doing something, but it will take time to know whether it is saving lives or just speeding up recovery.

"We don't know that yet, we are hopeful it does both," said Prof Anthony Gordon from Imperial.

However, he said it was "very encouraging", a "big result", and that tocilizumab could "become the standard of care".

It will still take weeks to properly assess the data, which has not yet been formally published.

The treatment costs between £500 and £1,000 and is given intravenously.
 

MikeWM

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It looks like hydroxychloroquine may well work after all:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924857920304258
First COVID-19 outpatient study based on risk stratification and early antiviral treatment at the beginning of the disease.

Low-dose hydroxychloroquine combined with zinc and azithromycin was an effective therapeutic approach against COVID-19.

Significantly reduced hospitalisation rates in the treatment group.

Reduced mortality rates in the treatment group.

If it turns out HCQ does work *when used early and in the correct dose*, as I've suspected it does for a good few months now (ever since I looked into the actual available evidence), then the media and big pharma have been directly responsible for the unnecessary deaths of a great many people over the last year.
 

Mag_seven

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Just seen this potential "good news" story on BBC Website:

Ten people have been given antibodies as a form of emergency protection after being exposed to coronavirus, in the first trial of its kind.
The experimental jab is being offered to people who have been in close contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case within the past eight days.
If it proves effective, it could protect vulnerable people who have not yet been, or cannot be, vaccinated.
And it could help to contain outbreaks.

Covid: Post-exposure antibody protection trialled - BBC News
 

C J Snarzell

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Hopefully 2021 will bring slightly more positive day to day news than 2020. It really has been a year all of us will be glad to see the back of.

CJ
 

RomeoCharlie71

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The Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine has been approved by the MHRA:

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-oxford-astrazeneca-vaccine-approved-for-use-in-uk-12155958

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has become the second coronavirus jab to be approved for UK use.

It has been given the go-ahead by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The vaccine, codenamed AZD1222, was developed at Oxford University with support from the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

Excellent news!
 

C J Snarzell

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2020 will be over in just under 40 hours - that has to be a good news story in itself!!!!

CJ
 

Jamesrob637

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Hopefully 2021 will bring slightly more positive day to day news than 2020. It really has been a year all of us will be glad to see the back of.

CJ

2020 started off well, in the West at least. The first approx. 20% of the year was normal.
 

C J Snarzell

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2020 started off well, in the West at least. The first approx. 20% of the year was normal.

Don't forget in February the UK was battered by Storm Ciara then Storm Dennis within a couple of weeks, so I wouldn't go too far in saying early 2020 was 'normal'.

CJ
 
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