Russia has approved a vaccine

[SouthEastBuses]

Russia has approved a Coronavirus /COVID-19 vaccine.

Coronavirus: Russia becomes first country to approve COVID-19 vaccine - but experts have doubts

The move prompts concerns that the country is putting national prestige before sound science and safety.

news.sky.com

Russia has become the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine, Vladimir Putin has announced, amid concerns the process was rushed for political purposes.

The Russian president said that one of his daughters has already been inoculated and is "feeling well".

The announcement came after less than two months of human testing, sparking concerns that the country is putting national prestige before sound science and safety.

Putin: Russia's Covid-19 vaccine approved for use - BBC News

Russia's president says the vaccine - named Sputnik-V - has passed checks but experts are sceptical.

www.bbc.co.uk

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said a locally developed vaccine for Covid-19 has been given regulatory approval after less than two months of testing on humans.

Mr Putin said the vaccine had passed all the required checks, adding that his daughter had already been given it.

Officials have said they plan to start mass vaccination in October.

But it may not work...

 

[Jonny]

It would be very interesting to know where they got the vaccine formula from (espionage perchance).

 

[BJames]

Although I suppose this is good news, it's not really ideal that we have had basically no information whatsoever about the vaccine, how effective it is (other than "take our word for it, it works") and its safety, given that it has not even gone into phase 3 (or even combined 2/3) trials.

Despite the Guardian's anti-Tory stance usually, this is a really good article and definitely brings out some of the points concerning scientists around this vaccine: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...no-vaccine-the-challenges-faced-by-scientists

In 1977, Scott Halstead, a virologist at the University of Hawaii, was studying dengue fever when he noticed a now well-known but then unexpected feature of the disease.

Animals that had already been exposed to one of the four closely related viruses that cause dengue and produced antibodies to it, far from being protected against other versions, became sicker when infected a second time, and it was the antibodies produced by the first infection that were responsible, allowing the second infection to hitchhike into the body.

The effect was called antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). The reason it matters today, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, is that unexpected glitches such as ADE are the kind of problems vaccine developers look for in phase-3 testing of vaccines – testing that has yet to be carried out on Russia’s newly approved Sputnik V vaccine.

In recent weeks, as announcements on the development of scores of vaccines around the world have come in rapid succession, the still poorly understood mechanisms of ADE have been thrust into the spotlight as scientists speculate on whether vaccine-produced antibodies could trigger this effect.

ADE “is a genuine concern”, Kevin Gilligan, a virologist and senior consultant with Biologics Consulting, told Nature Biotechnology in June. “Because if the gun is jumped and a vaccine is widely distributed that is disease-enhancing, that would be worse than actually not doing any vaccination at all.”

This week, following Russia’s announcement that it is pushing ahead with mass production of Sputnik V and mass inoculation , the fears expressed by the likes of Gilligan became a chorus, underlining the concerns among scientists that Russian researchers have jumped the gun.

See the bolded bit for why phase 3 is so important... so desperate to push ahead, they're cutting out important safety checks. And that final bit - a bad vaccine is worse than no vaccine.

To be trusted more it is vitally important they share as much information about this vaccine and the safety steps taken.

 

[A Challenge]

Russia are first because they haven't finished testing it before approving it (they aren't even claiming to have completed stage 3 trials)

 

[NorthOxonian]

Although I suppose this is good news, it's not really ideal that we have had basically no information whatsoever about the vaccine, how effective it is (other than "take our word for it, it works") and its safety, given that it has not even gone into phase 3 (or even combined 2/3) trials.

Despite the Guardian's anti-Tory stance usually, this is a really good article and definitely brings out some of the points concerning scientists around this vaccine: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...no-vaccine-the-challenges-faced-by-scientists


See the bolded bit for why phase 3 is so important... so desperate to push ahead, they're cutting out important safety checks. And that final bit - a bad vaccine is worse than no vaccine.

To be trusted more it is vitally important they share as much information about this vaccine and the safety steps taken.

Yes, unfortunately the secrecy around their vaccine and ridiculously fast turn around will be ammunition for the anti-vaxxers, who will use any issues with this to portray all vaccines as dangerous.

For the time being I think this news is best ignored - Russia may have a vaccine but if there's no evidence supporting it then we can't act like it's any kind of solution.

 

[squizzler]

It would be very interesting to know where they got the vaccine formula from (espionage perchance).

You wouldn’t trust it in that basis because counter-intelligence might have planted heavens-knows-what in any formula they left for the Russians to find!

 

[AdamWW]

Russia are first because they haven't finished testing it before approving it (they aren't even claiming to have completed stage 3 trials)

And there'sa cheerful thought:

And although only a possibility, less than complete protection could provide a selection pressure that drives the virus to evade what antibody there is, creating strains that then evade all vaccine responses. In that sense, a poor vaccine is worse than no vaccine. Careful virus tracking will therefore need to accompany any early release.

 

[AdamWW]

You wouldn’t trust it in that basis because counter-intelligence might have planted heavens-knows-what in any formula they left for the Russians to find!

I have heard that as a theory for why the Russian "Concorde" was a little unsuccessful...

 

[brad465]

Yes, unfortunately the secrecy around their vaccine and ridiculously fast turn around will be ammunition for the anti-vaxxers, who will use any issues with this to portray all vaccines as dangerous.

For the time being I think this news is best ignored - Russia may have a vaccine but if there's no evidence supporting it then we can't act like it's any kind of solution.

I imagine there will be a lot of "anti-that-vaccine-ers" but as long as other vaccines continue the trials safely and effectively hopefully the ant-vax movement in general won't increase.

 

[HSTEd]

You wouldn’t trust it in that basis because counter-intelligence might have planted heavens-knows-what in any formula they left for the Russians to find!

Doing that for a vaccine would be a rather... horrifying thing to do however.

 

[Scrotnig]

The Russian vaccine is almost certainly completely bogus and could fuel the anti-vaxers.

However it won't bother me. Whilst I would need to evaluate any individual vaccine that may eventually become available, I'm reasonably confident I'd be happy to take it. Especially if it's the Oxford one in which I have great confidence.

 

[HSTEd]

The Russian vaccine is almost certainly completely bogus and could fuel the anti-vaxers.

Why is it "completely bogus"?

Oxford have a vaccine that they think works, as do numerous other groups.
It appears Russia have just skipped over the validation steps that Oxford are currently engaged in.

 

[squizzler]

Doing that for a vaccine would be a rather... horrifying thing to do however.

I suspect the Russian in the claphamgrad omnibus, subject to years of misrule, would disagree. Apparently Putin has given the shot to much of his regime, and their oligarch chums. If there is an Easter egg in there, it couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of people.

 

[birchesgreen]

It would be very interesting to know where they got the vaccine formula from (espionage perchance).

Or their decades of excellence in science of course